Next, let us look at an illustration in the New Testament. Luke 15 speaks about a son who left home to wander abroad and became a prodigal son. One day the prodigal son clothed in rags returned home. Although he was still his father’s son, he appeared outwardly as a prodigal son. When he was still a long way off, his father saw him and ran to embrace and kiss him. Afterward, his father immediately ordered the slaves, saying, “Bring out quickly the best robe and put it on him.” That robe was known to all the household because it had been prepared earlier by the father to be put on his son upon his return. The son had become the prodigal son, and even though he came back to the father’s house, he still had to put on that robe so that he might look like a son before his father. This is the aspect of redemption. The father had certain qualifications, and to be his son there were certain requirements. When the son left home to wander abroad, he lost his status as a son and became a prodigal son. When the father put that robe upon him, he immediately became a son again. This refers to the judicial aspect of God’s salvation.
However, it is not sufficient merely to be clothed with the robe and become a son. At this time, on the one hand, the son was happy, but on the other hand, he must have said in his heart, “Father, what I need now is not to be clothed with a robe outside. I am not fed inside. I was feeding on carob pods for several years. Today I come back with an empty stomach. Please hurry and give me some food.” Perhaps the son was ashamed to say it, but the father went on to say, “Bring the fattened calf; slaughter it, and let us eat and be merry.” At that time the son must have been dancing with joy. After eating the fattened calf, the son was satisfied and no longer hungry. Hence, the robe signifies the judicial aspect of God’s salvation, and the calf signifies the organic aspect of God’s salvation.
Once a week we come to the Lord’s table, and on the table the bread and the cup are displayed. The cup, signifying the blood which the Lord shed for our sins, is for meeting the need of redemption; hence, it is related to the judicial aspect of God’s salvation. The bread, signifying the Lord as the bread of life, is related to the organic aspect of God’s salvation. In John 6 the Lord said, “My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink” (v. 55). This word was spoken based on the type of the Passover. In the type of the Passover in the Old Testament, the children of Israel sprinkled the blood of the lamb and ate the flesh of the lamb. However, in the fulfillment of the Passover in the New Testament, we drink the Lord’s blood and eat the Lord’s flesh. To drink the blood is judicial for redemption; to eat the flesh is organic for the move after receiving redemption. When the Lord established His table before His death, He used the bread and the cup as symbols (Matt. 26:26-28). When we eat the bread and drink the cup, this signifies that we eat the Lord’s flesh and drink the Lord’s blood. The total result of these two items is that we receive God as our eternal life, for the Lord said, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life” (John 6:54). Therefore, we eat and drink the Lord in order that we may have Him as our eternal life. Only by the drinking of the blood, which is judicial, and by the eating of the flesh, which is organic, can the goal of God’s salvation be accomplished.
Receiving the eternal life is spoken of in four ways in the Gospel of John. First, John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that every one who believes into Him...would have eternal life.” Next, John 3:14-15 says, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that every one who believes into Him may have eternal life.” Then John 6:54 says, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.” Finally, in a simple way, John 3:36 says, “He who believes into the Son has eternal life.” These four portions show us that the purpose of God’s loving us is that we may have His eternal life; that the Lord was lifted up on the cross as the brass serpent to deal with the old serpent, Satan, for the purpose also that we may have the eternal life of God; that we eat the Lord’s flesh and drink the Lord’s blood for us to be redeemed and to enjoy everything that the Lord Jesus has given to us in life-all this is for us to have the eternal life of God; and, finally, that we believe into the Lord in order that we may have the eternal life of God.
The eternal life spoken of in the holy Scripture is called by the general Christians the everlasting life. According to their understanding, to receive the everlasting life means that one day we will all go to heaven to enjoy blessings and happiness forever. When I heard this kind of speaking in my youth, I was not satisfied. Gradually, I began to know that the everlasting life is the eternal life, which is the very life of God. This life is the very God Himself. God loves us that we may receive Him as our eternal life. The Lord Jesus died for us on the cross as a serpent and dealt with Satan that we may receive God as our eternal life. He sacrificed His life and shed His blood that we may receive God as our eternal life. Simply speaking, we believe in the Lord that we may receive God as our eternal life.
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