The Lord’s word is not so simple. Some people who have a smart mind consider the Bible to be too simple to be counted as religious writings. However, I would like to ask you what John 1:1 means. It says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” To say that the Word was with God means there are two. To say that the Word was God means there is one. Then is there one or are there two? This is not simple. The book of John is an exceedingly mysterious book. What is the beginning? How early was the beginning? What is the meaning of dao (Word)? Does it denote daoli (doctrine), daolu (way), daode (morality), or daomen (doorway to truth)? The Word was with God. This God is a mystery. So the beginning is a mystery, the Word is also a mystery, and God is still another mystery. There are mysteries upon mysteries; eventually the Word who was in the beginning was God.
God is the beginning. The beginning means the starting point. The starting point of the universe is neither space nor time; rather, it is God. If there is God, there is the starting point. If you do not have God, you do not have a starting point. Some say that human life begins at forty, while others say it begins at seventy. However, I would like to tell you that you may live to be four hundred years old, but without God, you have yet to have a start. Only when you have God can you have a beginning. Many of us can testify that we were living in a muddled and befuddled way; we had no beginning of our human life. Then one day we believed in the Lord, and when we called, “O Lord,” God came in, and we had a beginning. Therefore, God is the beginning. With God, there is the beginning; without God, there is no beginning.
Then who is the Word? Who is daode (morality)? Who is daoli (doctrine)? Who is daolu (way)? Who is daomen (doorway to truth)? All are God. Only God is the Word. This is very good. But, not only so, one day the Word became flesh. Tell me, is the flesh good or bad? The thing I hate most is my flesh, for it has given me a lot of trouble. I hate it, yet hallelujah, the Word became flesh, even though the flesh is not good! “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....The Word became flesh” (1:1, 14a). What is precious is not the flesh but the Word becoming flesh. Did He become flesh, full of doctrines, knowledge, and theology? No! Instead, “the Word became flesh...full of grace and reality” (v. 14). Grace is God Himself. That God came to be our enjoyment is truly grace. Reality is also God Himself. Only God is truthfulness, and only God is reality. Without God, everything is empty; with God, everything is real.
Therefore, you can see that the beginning is God, the Word is God, God is God, grace is God, and reality is God. This is wonderful! However, no matter how wonderful it is, this wonderful thing cannot be in us. Why then must the Lord become flesh? After He became flesh, while He was walking on earth in His flesh, one day suddenly a voice said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (v. 29). Therefore, you have to know that the flesh is not good. The Lord became flesh not because the flesh is good; rather, He became flesh that He might become the Lamb to take away our sin. If He did not become flesh, He would not have blood to shed for us. The Bible says, “Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22b). In order to have forgiveness of sins, there must be the shedding of blood, and in order to shed His blood to make redemption for our sins, the Lord had to become flesh. Thank the Lord that He indeed became flesh! He became flesh to become the redeeming Lamb to bear our sins-to have flesh and blood so that He might shed His blood for us to receive forgiveness.
Not only do we see the Lamb in John 1, but we also see the dove descending on the Lamb (v. 32). The dove is wonderful. The Lord is not only the Lamb, who takes away our sin, but He also has the dove descending on Him. He is the One who was baptized in the Holy Spirit. In other words, this Redeemer will baptize us into the Holy Spirit. This is truly wonderful.
The Gospel of John is not simple, but by the Lord’s grace, we will make it simple. I believe that now you are all absolutely clear. The beginning is God, the Word is God, and God is God. God became flesh, and even though the flesh is not so good, He had to become flesh. Without the flesh, He could not have blood to shed in order to accomplish redemption for our sins, and therefore we could not be forgiven of our sins. Hallelujah! He became flesh, He died, and He shed His blood. Then He had the Spirit upon Him, and He can baptize us, not in water but into the Spirit.
In chapter three the Lord told us, “The wind blows where it wills,...so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (v. 8). This tells us that if you receive the Lord, you are regenerated of the Spirit. To be born of the Spirit is not something physical but spiritual; it is just like the wind. In Greek, wind, breath, and spirit are all the same word-pneuma. Therefore, the translators of the Bible had difficulty here since in this one verse the word pneuma is used twice. The first time is that pneuma blows where it wills, and the second time is that one can be of pneuma. How these two instances of pneuma should be translated could not be resolved even after much debate. In any case, what it means is this: One who is born of his parents is a person of the flesh, a physical person, while one who is born of the Spirit is a spiritual person. Although this is invisible and seemingly intangible, there is the blowing. This is just like the wind that cannot be seen or touched, yet you can feel it blowing. Today we have been saved and regenerated; within we have become another person. This other person is not physical but spiritual. How do we know that we have the other person, the spiritual person? It is not by seeing or touching but by sensing.
A person might have quarreled with someone last night, yet this morning without knowing why he says, “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Amen!” The wind has blown upon him, and he no longer has any desire to scold others or do anything bad. Instead, he desires to pray, praise, and meet with the saints. This is “the wind” blowing where it wills, and this blowing has made him different. This is not a physical blowing but a spiritual blowing.
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