Let us now consider the Gospel of John. Although this book is familiar to us, most Christians, including many of us, do not realize what the spirit, the reality, or the essence of the Gospel of John is. Although we have released numerous messages based on this book and have spent a great deal of effort to study it, most of us who are in the churches have not realized the essence of the Gospel of John.
Most Christians’ knowledge of the Gospel of John is limited to the following points: First, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (1:29); second, “God so loved the world” (3:16); and third, “I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (10:11). Some have also seen that we have received a new commandment to love one another (13:34). Others have seen that since we love one another, we should wash one another’s feet (v. 14). Still others have seen even more, realizing that the Lord is the vine, that we are the branches, and that we abide in Him and He in us (15:1, 4-5). However, most of them do not understand how we can abide in Him and how He can abide in us. They have some amount of knowledge but very little experience. Still others have seen the Lord’s prayer for oneness in John 17. As a whole, this is the extent of most Christians’ knowledge of the Gospel of John. If this is our case, this indicates that we do not realize what the essence of the Gospel of John is.
The Gospel of John mainly speaks about God. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Hence, the Gospel of John is a book concerning God, not man. Its purpose in speaking about God is to show us that God has a heart’s desire, which is to work Himself into man. Its intention is not to teach us how to worship and serve God, how to work for God, or how to improve ourselves so that we could become noble people. There is no such thing in the Gospel of John. Among the sixty-six books of the Bible, the Gospel of John speaks exclusively concerning one thing: God intends to work Himself into man to be man’s life and life supply. Moreover, He wants to be altogether one with man. Because He desires to enter into us and to put us into Himself, we should abide in Him, and then He will also abide in us. Not only so, He and we, we and He, will live together. He will come into us to abide with us. He also wants us to live by Him and with Him.
The highest gospel is not merely concerning the forgiveness of sins and deliverance from hell that we may receive eternal blessing. Rather, the highest gospel is that we would be saved to the extent that God and we, we and God, are completely mingled as one, having one life and one living. We were fallen sinners-wicked, degraded, evil, and desolate-yet we can have one life and one living with God. God can abide with us and live with us. Do we believe this? If we do believe this, it may be our belief in theory but not be our living. We may have been Christians for decades, yet we may have never had the deep realization that the gospel of God saves us into Him to live with Him so that He and we can have one life and one living. We may have read the Bible every day and read the Gospel of John several times, yet we may have never had this concept. What have we seen in the Gospel of John? We may have seen the sweetness of the Lord Jesus in His words, acts, and conduct. Nevertheless, regardless of how sweet He is, He is still He, and we are still we. We should read John 15:4, which says, “Abide in Me and I in you.” We should read John 6:57, which says, “As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.” These words are much deeper, showing us that the Lord is not only near us but is also mingled with us.
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