Matthew 1:20-23 also refers to the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. Verses 20 and 21 show us the divine conception of the Holy Spirit and the birth of Jesus [the Son]. Then verse 23 tells us that this One was called by men, Emmanuel, which means God [God the Father] with us. These verses again reveal the working of the Divine Trinity in the Savior's incarnation. God the Father's being with us was the issue of the divine conception of the Holy Spirit and the birth of Jesus, the Son.
The Divine Trinity in the divine move and in our experience is also revealed in John 14:6-24. In verse 6 the Lord said, "I am the way, and the reality, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me." This verse shows that the believers come to the Father through the Son—the Father being the object of the believers. John 14—16 records the last conversation the Lord had with His disciples while He was on this earth. In His last talk to them, He indicated that all His believers should seek after the Father. In other words, they should take the Father as their object. If we are going to reach the Father as our object, we must reach Him through the Son, who is the way.
Verses 7 through 14 show the Father embodied in the Son seen among the believers—the Son being the Father's embodiment among the believers. In these verses the Lord showed us that He is in the Father and that the Father is in Him. The Son and the Father are one. They mutually indwell each other. The Son dwells in the Father, and the Father dwells in the Son. In this way, the Son was the Father's embodiment among the believers.
Verses 15 through 20 go on to show us the Son realized as the Spirit abiding in the believers—the Spirit being the realization of the Son abiding in the believers. The Father is embodied in the Son, and the Son is realized as the Spirit. The Son as the Father's embodiment was only among the believers, but the Spirit as the realization of the Son is now abiding within the believers. The Father is the object; the Son is the Father's embodiment; and the Spirit is the realization of the Son. The Son as the Father's embodiment was still outside of us. He needed to become the Spirit so that He could abide in the believers. Now that we have the Spirit as the realization of the Son abiding in us, we also have the Father's embodiment and the Father as our object. Actually, the Father as our object is within us, because the object is embodied in the Son and the Son is realized as the Spirit who indwells us. If we have the Spirit, we have the Son, and if we have the Son, we have the Father. Thus, the Three of the Divine Trinity are in us.
The Father as the object, the Son as the embodiment, and the Spirit as the realization are in us, the container. As the container, we contain the realization. Within the realization is the embodiment, and within the embodiment is the object. The object, the embodiment, and the realization are the excellent treasure in us, the earthen vessels (2 Cor. 4:7). As earthen vessels, we contain the excellent deity in three aspects.
Verses 21 and 23 show the Son manifesting Himself to His lover and the Father coming with Him to make an abode with the Son's lover. After the abiding of the Spirit in us, the Son will manifest Himself to His lovers. It is possible to be a believer of Jesus Christ but not be a lover of Him. When we believe in Him, the Three of the Divine Trinity come to abide in us. But after we believe in Him and now that He is abiding in us, we need to love Him. In verses 21 and 23 we see the request of our love toward Him. We may be the believers of Christ, but how many among us are the lovers of Jesus? The Father as the object is in Jesus as the embodiment; this embodiment is in the Spirit as His realization; and this realization is the very Spirit who is now abiding in all of us. But we need to ask whether or not we enjoy the manifestation of the Lord Jesus to us daily and even hourly.
In the morning we may have had a time with the Lord to enjoy His manifestation, but later we might become unhappy with our spouse and lose the Lord's manifestation to us. This, however, does not mean that we have lost the abiding of the Spirit within us. Some Christians feel that when they lose the manifestation of Jesus, they have lost their salvation, but this is not true because the Spirit always abides in the believers. Those who believe they can lose their salvation actually believe in "elevator salvation." When the "elevator" is up, they are saved. When it is down, they are unsaved. Our salvation, however, is not an elevator but a "stairway," from which we can never be removed. Although we are on this stairway, we want to enjoy the blessing of the top part of the stairway. We want to be on the "top floor," not in the "basement." This is why we need to love the Lord Jesus and say, "Lord Jesus, I love You." As we love Him, we are brought up to the top floor. Then we see everything in the heavens. If we do not love Him, we are at the bottom of the stairway where we can see very little. But this does not mean that we have lost our salvation. We are still on the stairway of His salvation.
When we love Him, not only does His Spirit abide in us but also He Himself will manifest Himself to us. This means that we have the presence of the One whom we love in our fellowship with Him. If we love Jesus, Jesus loves us and the Father loves us also. When the Son manifests Himself to us, the Father comes with Him to make an abode with us, to stay with us. We need to be brought more and more into the manifestation of the Son to us, with the Father and the Son making an abode with us. We need to go up the stairway of the Lord's salvation by loving Him. Then He will manifest Himself to us, and the Father and the Son will make Their abode with us for our enjoyment.