The Lord is the Word who was in the beginning (1:1). As the Lamb of God (v. 29), He passed through a process to be food to man (6:51) that man might eat Him and receive Him. After a lamb has been slain and eaten, it gets into us. After the lamb has been eaten, however, is it gone? No! Instead, the lamb enters into us, becomes us, and is now “living” in us. The lamb has become us and is living in us to be our life; the lamb is not gone. What has become life in us? In spiritual terms, it is resurrection. Death is a process through which the lamb passed; the resurrected lamb is within us.
In John 12:24, the Lord said, “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” For the grain of wheat to bear much fruit is for it to bring forth many grains, that is, for it to enter into many grains. The Gospel of John is a record of how the God who was in the beginning became flesh, and how through being slain, He became edible “meat” for us who believe in Him to eat and digest so that He can be with us forever and never leave us again. This is called resurrection. Resurrection is the Lord Himself entering into us and living in us. This is the reason the Gospel of John has no record of the Lord’s ascension. It contains a record only of His becoming flesh, passing through death, and making a turn to come into us and live in us. This is resurrection.
How did the Lord enter into us? How did He make this turn and come into us? In the Gospel of John He made several turns. The first turn is in chapter 1: the Word became flesh to bring God into man. The second turn is in chapter 14: the Lord in the flesh became the Spirit through death and resurrection. We need to remember that resurrection is the Holy Spirit and that the Holy Spirit is resurrection. In chapter 7 the Lord linked resurrection, the Holy Spirit, and glorification: “The Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified” (v. 39). Then in chapter 14 the Lord explained even more clearly how He became the Spirit. This is a great turn in the Gospel of John.
In chapter 14 the Lord spoke of His transfiguration from the flesh into the Spirit. The Lord told His disciples that He would go, and this troubled them (vv. 1-2). His going refers to His death. However, the Lord also said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you” (v. 18). His coming to us refers to His resurrection. There is no mention of the Lord’s ascension and His second coming in John 14. Brethren teachers, even though they are rich in truth, interpret coming in chapter 14 as being related to the Lord’s second coming; this is incorrect. In chapter 14 going refers to the Lord’s death, and coming refers to His resurrection. His going and coming are His death and resurrection. He went into death in the flesh and came back in resurrection as the Spirit. Through His going and coming, which is His death and resurrection, He became the Spirit.
In the beginning the Lord’s life was intangible, but one day, the Word, who was in the beginning, became flesh and tabernacled among us. When the Lord Jesus was with the twelve disciples, He was tabernacling among them. Then in chapter 14 He spoke of His going and coming, which refer to His death and resurrection. Through His death and resurrection He was transfigured from the flesh into the Spirit. Chapter 1 says that the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. Chapter 14 says that when the Spirit of reality comes, He will abide with us and be in us; this abiding is an eternal abiding. His becoming the Spirit, referred to in chapter 14, transpired in resurrection.
There are at least six issues of the Lord’s entering into us as the Spirit. First, He enters into us to abide with us forever (v. 16). Second, He causes us to live as Christ lives; that is, He causes Christ to live in us (v. 17). Third, He reminds us of the things which the Lord said; that is, He speaks and explains Christ to us inwardly (v. 26). This means that the Christ in the four Gospels is being spoken of and explained to us by Himself as the Spirit in us. These points are seen in chapter 14. Fourth, the Spirit testifies in us concerning Christ; this is seen in chapter 15 verse 26.
Fifth, the Spirit in us guides us into all the reality; this is seen in chapter 16. To guide us into all the reality is to guide us into all the reality of God that is in Christ (v. 13). Sixth, the Spirit glorifies Christ in us so that Christ may have the preeminence in us, just as He has the preeminence in the universe; this is seen in chapter 17. The Spirit shows how Christ inherits all things in the universe and all that is of God, and in the same way, Christ in us should gain all that is of us. His entering into us has at least these six issues which are the content of life.
In summary, from the Gospel of John we see that the Lord in us is life, that He became the Spirit so that He can live in us. We see that the Spirit speaks Christ to us, explaining to us the Christ who is recorded in the four Gospels. Moreover, the Spirit testifies in us concerning Christ, guides us into all the reality, and glorifies Christ in us. All these items are the functions of life, and they are also the resurrected Christ as the content of life in us. I hope that all of us will enter into and muse on these messages carefully. If we would know the content of life, we need to know these six points; nearly all the contents of life can be found in these six points.