“And He said to him, Truly, truly I say to you, you shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (v. 51). The ancient Jews knew that this was a reference to Jacob’s dream (Gen. 28:10-22). When Jacob was fleeing from his brother, he slept one night in the open air, using a stone for a pillow. He dreamed that he saw heaven opened and a ladder set up on the earth which reached to heaven and on which angels were ascending and descending. When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (Gen. 28:17). He then poured oil upon the stone which he had used for a pillow and called the name of it Bethel. The Lord’s word to Nathanael was the fulfillment of Jacob’s dream. Christ, as the Son of Man with His humanity, is the ladder which is set up on the earth and leads to heaven, keeping heaven open to earth and joining earth to heaven for the house of God. Jacob poured oil (the symbol of the Holy Spirit, the last Person of the Triune God to reach man) upon the stone (symbol of the transformed man) that it might be the house of God. Here in John 1 are the Spirit (v. 32) and the stone (v. 42) for the house of God with Christ and His humanity. Where these are, there is an open heaven. Thus Christ, as a man, is the ladder that opens the heavens and joins earth to heaven and brings heaven to earth. Wherever Christ is in His humanity, there is the gate of heaven, there is Bethel, the building of God’s house with all the stones, that is, with all the transformed persons.
As the introduction to the Gospel of John, John 1 introduces Christ as both the Son of God (vv. 34, 49) and the Son of Man. Nathanael recognized Him as the Son of God and addressed Him as such (v. 49), but Christ said to Nathanael that He was the Son of Man. The Son of God is God with the divine nature—divinity. The Son of Man is man with a human nature—humanity. For declaring God (v. 18) and for bringing God to man and man to God, He is the only begotten Son of God. But for building God’s habitation on the earth among man, He is the Son of Man. God’s building needs His humanity. In eternity past Christ had only divinity, but in eternity future Christ will have both divinity and humanity forever.
There are three distinct sections in John 1. The first section, composed of the first thirteen verses, ends with the children of God. The second section, composed of verses 14 through 18, ends with the only begotten Son of God. The third section, composed of the last thirty-three verses, ends with the Son of Man. The children of God are the expansion and enlargement of God for His corporate expression. The only begotten Son of God is God’s declaration, making Him known to all the people who enjoy God’s fullness as grace and reality. The Son of Man is for the building of God’s house. Thus, the children of God are many and are the expression of God, expressing Him in a corporate way. The only begotten Son of God is unique and is for the declaration of God, making Him known to all who enjoy Him as grace and reality. The Son of Man is for the building of the house of God. For God’s corporate expression there is the need of the many children of God, for God’s declaration there is the need of the unique, only begotten Son of God, and for the house of God there is the need of the Son of Man.
John 1 starts with the Word and ends with Bethel, the house of God. There is a long way between verse 1 and verse 51. Along the way we find many items: God, creation, life, light, the flesh, the tabernacle, grace, reality, the declaration of God, the Lamb, the dove, the stone, the ladder, the humanity of Jesus, and eventually the house of God. This is life and building. In this one chapter, we can see the beginning, the Word, God, creation, life, light, the many children of God brought forth in life, the flesh, the tabernacle, grace, reality, the full declaration of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and the dove which regenerates, anoints, transforms, unites, and builds; we can see a stone, a ladder, an open heaven, and the house of God. We are a part of this house of God. Hallelujah!
The Gospel of John is marvelous and profound. In this gospel we do not have a great religious leader; we have a little Lamb with an even smaller dove. The Lamb and the dove make us stones for God’s building. We are not doctors of theology, but stones for the building. We are not a religious organization, but Bethel, the house of God.
After Jesus was introduced as the Lamb with the dove, people began to follow Him. The Lamb with the dove is crucial in fulfilling God’s purpose. There was a problem between God and man, the problem of sin. Man also had a shortage, a shortage of life. God’s intention for man is that he have life. However, sin was present and life was absent. Thus, the Lamb came to take away sin. Although the Lamb has removed sin and has solved the problem of sin, what about life? The dove has come to impart life. Hallelujah, sin has been removed and life has been imparted! Sin is gone and life has come.
This is redemption plus anointing. Redemption removes our sin, and anointing brings in the life and the life supply. Since we have redemption and are under the Spirit’s anointing, we have no problem with sin and no shortage of life. As a result of the removing of sin and the imparting of life, we are in the process of transformation. Transformation is the work of the anointing Spirit. After regenerating us, the Spirit works within us to transform us into stones. We are not stones by our natural birth, but we are clay. Having been reborn, we are under the process of transformation, for the regenerating Spirit is now the transforming Spirit.
The stones into which we are being transformed are for the building of the house of God. Few Christians have seen the building of the house of God that is revealed in John 1. Although many Christian teachers have pointed out the matter of life in this chapter, nearly all of them have missed the goal. The building is the goal. Life is not the goal; it is the procedure by which God obtains the building. Thus, life is for the building and it maintains the building, but life is not the goal. The building of the house of God is God’s goal.
The Lord had this goal in mind as men began to be attracted to Him and to follow Him. According to John 1, a large crowd did not follow the Lord. Only five disciples followed Him. Perhaps John the Baptist was disappointed at this. He had declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God,” and, as a result of this declaration, only two disciples followed the Lord Jesus. If you think that the Lord’s recovery has been moving too slowly, I would ask you to look at the following the Lord Jesus had. Acts 1 tells us that at the end of three and a half years of ministry the Lord had gained only one hundred twenty people. The Lord is not seeking a movement. In a movement there is mushrooming growth, for movements grow and increase overnight. However, the Lord’s way is not that of mushrooming growth, but of a seed that is sown into the ground and that needs time to grow. Thus, John 1 does not give us the record of a great movement, but of the narrow way of life. Only two followed Him at the beginning. Then came Simon, Philip, and Nathanael. Although the number was small, there was a stone and there was also the house of God. Therefore, it is not a question of the number of people following Jesus; it is a matter of stones for the building. As long as there are stones, there is the possibility that the house of God can be built. God is not concerned about the number of people. He is interested in the stones and the building. This is God’s need today. God wants people who will be transformed into stones for the building of His house.
The Lord spoke to Nathanael about Jacob’s dream. Where is the house of God of which Jacob dreamed? When this dream was revealed to Jacob, he was homeless and a wanderer. When man is homeless, God also is homeless. At the time Jacob needed a house, God also needed a house. Therefore, God gave Jacob this revelation by means of a dream. The house of God can only be realized when there is a stone upon which oil is poured. We have already pointed out that the stone represents the regenerated and transformed people of God and that the oil represents the coming of God as Spirit into man. When God is finally joined to a transformed people, then God has a house. This was accomplished by Christ’s becoming the Lamb with the dove to redeem us from our sins and to join us to God. By this accomplishment, we can all become transformed stones for the house of God. The Son of Man as the heavenly ladder can then join earth to heaven and mingle God with man. At this point, we can realize that God’s ultimate intention is to have a house built up with regenerated and transformed persons who are joined to God in the Son of Man by the Holy Spirit. This is a picture of the New Jerusalem, which is the building of living stones with the glory of God. The ultimate consummation of God’s work in the eternal future will simply be the actual existence of this habitation of God.
We must abandon all religious concepts and take the divine concept which is Christ as the Lamb with the dove, the Redeemer with the Spirit. Christ is the Redeemer with the Spirit as the regenerating, transforming, and uniting power. The Spirit of Christ will regenerate, transform, and unite us to God and to one another. We must forget the religious concepts of trying to do good to please God and of attempting to do things for God. We must see that God’s intention is to regenerate us and to transform us into stones—i.e., to change us from Simon to Cephas. All who have been attracted to the Lamb of God with the dove will be transformed into stones for the house of God. We must have the vision that all we need is to be transformed and built together as the very house that God desires. God is seeking this and will accomplish it by His Son, who became the Son of Man as the heavenly ladder joining earth to heaven. The ultimate issue will be that God is mingled with man so that God and man become a mutual habitation. Man will become His dwelling, and He will become man’s dwelling—this is the eternal dwelling of God according to His eternal plan.