In John 16:10 the Lord Jesus said that the Spirit will convict the world concerning righteousness: “Because I am going to the Father and you no longer behold Me.” Righteousness is the resurrected Christ (1 Cor. 1:30). Christ the Son in resurrection went to the Father in the heavens. This is a strong sign that Christ has accomplished God’s redemption and that His redemption has been accepted by God the Father. If we believe into Christ, we receive God’s righteousness in Christ, and this righteousness is Christ Himself. Through this righteousness we are justified by God. God’s Son, having fulfilled the righteous requirements of the Father and having been accepted by Him, was given to the believers to be our righteousness; in Him we are justified before God.
Finally, the Spirit of reality convicts the world concerning judgment, “because the ruler of this world has been judged” (John 16:11). Through the death of Christ on the cross, Satan, the ruler of this world, has been judged (12:31-33; 3:14). Therefore, the judgment in 16:11 is related to Satan, the devil, the author of sin, the origin of death, the father of sinners, and the ruler of the world. The lake of fire is prepared for God’s judgment upon Satan; the lake of fire is not intended for human beings, but those who refuse to be transferred from Adam into Christ will share in the judgment upon Satan. This means that all those who do not believe into the Son will be with Satan, sharing his judgment. God loves the world (3:16), and He has no intention of casting man into the lake of fire; this judgment is for the devil. However, if a person refuses to believe in the Son and remains a companion to Satan, then God has no choice but to allow him to suffer Satan’s judgment.
The three major items in John 16:8-11 are related to Adam, Christ, and Satan: sin is related to Adam, righteousness to Christ, and judgment to Satan. We were born in Adam, but we believed into Christ and have received Him as our righteousness. However, those who do not believe into Christ and remain followers of Satan will share in the judgment upon Satan. The Spirit came to convict us concerning sin, concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment. Those who have repented and believed into the Lord Jesus have escaped the judgment upon Satan. We have been transferred out of Adam into Christ to become the children of God and the members of Christ. We are Christ’s members, living in the organism of the Divine Trinity and participating in the dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
The believers also live in the organism of the Divine Trinity and participate in the dispensing of the Divine Trinity by being born as a newborn child (vv. 19-22). In His resurrection Christ gave birth to a corporate child—the corporate new man—with Himself as the firstborn Son of God and His many brothers as the many sons of God. In verses 20 and 21 the Lord Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow because her hour has come; but when she brings forth the little child, she no longer remembers the affliction because of the joy that a man has been born into the world.” Here the Lord indicated that the disciples were like a woman travailing in birth and that He was the child to be brought forth in resurrection (Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5; Rom. 1:4).
Actually, the child in John 16:21 is a corporate man, comprising Christ and all His believers. The birth accomplished by Christ was not merely an individual birth but also a corporate birth, which includes the firstborn Son of God and the many sons of God. Through this one birth, many sons were born. All God’s chosen people were born together with Christ in His resurrection. This resurrection was the birth of a corporate child.