When John wrote his first Epistle, there were certain heretical teachings regarding the Person of Christ. One of these heresies claimed that Jesus was not Christ. This heresy denied the deity of Jesus. Such a heretical teaching nullifies the enjoyment of the Triune God.
Another heresy concerning Christ’s Person claimed that Christ was God, but denied that He became flesh. According to this heresy, Christ was God, but He was not a man. Due to the influence of Gnosticism, those who taught this heresy said that matter is inherently evil. Then these heretics went on to say that Christ as the holy God could not possibly have become flesh. Therefore, they claimed that Christ’s physical body was merely a phantasm. This means that they did not believe that He had an actual material body. This heresy also eliminates the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ.
In the second section of this Epistle (2:12-27), John tells the “little children” (2:12) that they have an anointing from the Holy One (2:20) and that this anointing teaches them concerning all things (2:27). John seems to be saying, “The anointing is the moving and saturating of the Triune God within you. This inner anointing teaches you all things concerning the Triune God. Do not listen to Cerinthus and his followers or to the Docetists. They are false prophets.” Moreover, these false prophets were antichrists (2:18, 22; 4:3), for they were anti some aspect of Christ. They have a spirit which does not have its source in God, which is not out of God: “And every spirit which does not confess Jesus, is not out of God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now is already in the world” (4:3).
As we pointed out in foregoing messages, there is more than one antichrist. Antichrist is anyone who is anti something of Christ. To be an antichrist is to be against Christ and to replace Christ with something else.
In the first century Satan in his subtlety used the Cerinthians and the Docetists to frustrate Christians from the enjoyment of the Triune God and even to cut them off from this enjoyment. By the time of the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325) doctrine that seemed to be orthodox concerning the Triune God had been established. The Nicene Creed is commonly considered a statement of orthodox doctrine. However, this creed actually is not complete concerning the Person of Christ. This creed does not indicate clearly that the Son came in the name of the Father and with the Father and even is called the eternal Father. Neither does this creed make it clear that the Son in His resurrection became the life-giving Spirit. Moreover, this creed does not say that the Spirit of God eventually consummates in the seven Spirits. In addition, the Nicene Creed does not have a clear statement concerning Christ as the Firstborn of God’s creation. By this we can see that only the Bible is complete. No creed is complete.
In his subtlety Satan, the enemy, tries to cut off certain basic items of what Christ is in His Person. Hence, those who follow the creeds and traditional teaching may emphasize only that Jesus Christ is the Son of God incarnate. They may not see that Christ is also the Father, the Spirit, and the Firstborn of God’s creation. The effect of this subtlety is to present a Christ who is not all-inclusive. But the Christ revealed in the Bible is all-inclusive. He is God, and He is man. He is the Son, the Father, and the Spirit. He is also the Creator and the Firstborn of the creatures. According to the Bible, Christ is still a man, and He has a spiritual body that can be touched (John 20:27). Today the Christ who is on the throne in the heavens still has a human nature (Matt. 26:64; Acts 7:56).
Christ is the first in God’s old creation and also the first in resurrection, that is, in God’s new creation (Col. 1:15, 18). This all-inclusive One is our power, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, life, life supply, and all our human virtues, including kindness, humility, patience, and meekness. This wonderful One is our enjoyment, our feast, our new moon, our Sabbath, our food, our drink, and our clothing. Truly, the Christ revealed in the Bible is all-inclusive.
Because we minister the all-inclusiveness of Christ as revealed in the Bible, some falsely accuse us of teaching pantheism. They claim that we teach that everything is God. This accusation is utterly false, and we repudiate it. However, we are not fighting for doctrine but for the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ.
We have seen that one subtlety of the enemy is to deny certain aspects of Christ and thereby restrict Him and make Him no longer all-inclusive. Another subtlety is to deny that the Triune God is subjective to us for experience and enjoyment and to present the Divine Trinity merely as an objective doctrine for religion. The religion of many Christians is based on the creeds. In certain denominations the Apostles’ Creed is recited in their services every week. Many of those who recite the creed have no experience of the Triune God. To them, the Divine Trinity is merely a belief in doctrine. But the Bible reveals that the Triune God is not merely the object of our faith; He is subjective to us, dwelling in us to be our life and life supply. Daily, even hourly, we need to experience Him and enjoy Him in this way. This is confirmed by the word concerning the enjoyment of the Triune God in 2 Corinthians 13:14.
The Bible reveals clearly that the Triune God, after passing through the process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, has consummated in the all-inclusive Spirit, who has come to dwell in our spirit. Hallelujah for the wonderful all-inclusive Spirit dwelling in our human spirit! Our spirit may be a small organ, but this Spirit nonetheless dwells in it.
A human being can be compared to a transistor radio. Such a radio has a receiving apparatus that enables it to receive radio waves. When the radio is tuned properly, it will play music. We may say that we human beings are like transistor radios, and that the receiving apparatus is our human spirit. When our receiver is properly tuned, we enjoy heavenly music. This is an illustration of the enjoyment of the Triune God, who is now the life-giving Spirit dwelling in our regenerated human spirit. This is the reason we stress the importance of the human spirit. It is by our spirit that we touch, enjoy, and experience the all-inclusive Spirit.
According to the Scriptures, we testify strongly that our Lord today is not merely a part of the Triune God—He is the embodiment of the entire Triune God, the Son with the Father and as the Spirit. In our experience today, He is the Spirit as the reality of the Son with the Father to be our life for our enjoyment. Realizing that He is such a wonderful One, we do not care for dead doctrines, vain religion, or meaningless rituals. Our concern is to have the daily experience and enjoyment of the Triune God.