Now we must see that for God to be our enjoyment, there was the need of the process of incarnation. If God was not incarnated, He could never have been our food. When Jesus said that He was the bread of life, He was already processed. He was God who was processed to become flesh. The second step of the process was after He had become flesh: He became the life-giving Spirit. As God, He became flesh. Then as the flesh, He became the life-giving Spirit. “The last Adam was made a life-giving Spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45b). Jesus as God became flesh, and as the flesh, He became the life-giving Spirit. Can you see the process?
This is why we say that our Jesus is a “processed” God. Our God today is not a “raw” God. He is fully processed. Now He is on the “dining table” for us to eat. All good food is processed food. The cooking is a process. Praise the Lord that He passed through all the “cooking”! Now He is on the table. Everything is ready. We only need to come and dine.
Our Jesus is indeed wonderful. He is the seed, the root, the branch, the fruit, and the bread for eating. In the theology of today’s Christianity, there are many studies concerning Christology. This is the study of who Christ is. Throughout all the centuries, there have been many disputations regarding the person of Christ. All the different concepts have caused great division. Some have said that Christ was only divine, without any humanity. There were some so-called Christians even in the first century who did not believe that Christ was man as well as God. They could not believe that Christ as God became flesh. Some others believed that Christ was merely human, without any divinity. Church history shows us that in the first four or five centuries there was much dispute among the great teachers of Christianity concerning the person of Christ.
The Bible gives us an all-inclusive revelation of Christ. Christ is not only one thing, neither a few things. Christ is everything! He is all in all. He is the Father, He is the Son, and He is the Spirit. I realize that this offends the theology of Christianity, but I have some verses from the pure Word as the ground to say this. We have already read Isaiah 9:6, which clearly says that a Son is given to us, yet His name is called the Eternal Father. Is He the Son or the Father? It is so clear that He is not only the Son, but also the Father.
In John 14, Philip said, “Lord show us the Father, and it will satisfy us” (v. 8). His request really surprised the Lord. “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, show us the Father?” (v. 9). It is just as if someone came to Brother Benson this morning and said, “Brother Benson, please show us Benson Phillips and we’ll be satisfied.” But if you have seen Brother Benson, you have seen Benson Phillips. The Lord said to Philip, “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (v. 10). The Lord was saying, I speak, but the Father works. It is equivalent to saying that Brother Benson speaks, and Benson Phillips works. This simply proves that Brother Benson and Benson Phillips are one. It is the same with the Son and the Father. For the Son to speak and the Father to work means that the Son and the Father are one. From these verses we see that Christ is both the Son and the Father.
Now we must look at the verses which show us that Christ is also the Spirit. We have already read 1 Corinthians 15:45b which says that the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. We must also read 2 Corinthians 3:17. “Now the Lord is that Spirit.” These verses tell us clearly that the Lord Jesus is now the Spirit. After His death and resurrection, He has become the life-giving Spirit.
I realize that there are some who will argue with me by asking, “If the Son is the Father, how then could the Son pray to the Father?” But this is just mental analysis. We have already seen in Isaiah 9:6 that a child is born to us and His name is called the mighty God. This means that He is the mighty God. Then Isaiah 40:9 says, “O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!” All Bible students agree that this verse speaks of Christ. When Christ comes there will be the announcement and declaration, “Behold your God!” It is clear that the coming Christ is God. Then Isaiah 53:2 tells us that Christ shall grow up in the presence of God. If He is God, how can He grow in the presence of God?
Moreover, Isaiah 32:2 says, “And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” How can a man be rivers of water in a dry place? It is because this man is also God. In our mental concept we think that if He is God, He is God; if He is man, then He is man. To say that He is both God and man is not reasonable or logical. But this is why Jesus is wonderful. He is all in all. He is everything. You can never analyze Him according to logic or reason.