In such a profound book as the Gospel of John, the first verse of the first chapter says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” When you read this verse, it really sounds like scriptural writings. However, in chapter 20, after the Lord Jesus had resurrected, He came into the midst of the disciples and did one thing. Everyone would think that this wonderful Savior coming back in resurrection would definitely teach the disciples with a long discourse. No one would have thought that the Lord Jesus would not give a sermon, but would breathe into them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This portion of the record does not sound at all like scriptural writings. But the mystery of the Gospel of John is right here. This mysterious book talks about this One, who was the Word and God originally, becoming flesh, passing through human living, being put to death, buried, and resurrected. Then in resurrection He came back into the midst of His disciples and breathed into them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). His very breath was the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we may say that the first key word in the Gospel of John is the Word, and the last key word is the Spirit. Every believer’s knowledge of the Lord should emphasize these two points: the Lord is the Word and also the Spirit to us.
This mysterious book of the Gospel of John talks about the relationship between God and man. Verse 16 of chapter three says, “God so loved the world.” This sentence encompasses the relationship between God and man. The relationship between God and man is love, but this is only the shallow, initial relationship. The relationship between God and man begins with love and is concluded with life. God loving you is the beginning; the result is that He wants to come into you to become your life. Concerning the relationship between God and man being love, any scholar or philosopher can understand. When it comes to the matter of God entering into man to become his life, however, the philosophers will not be able to understand even after much thought, because this matter of God becoming our life is something that does not exist within the boundary of philosophy. But this book, the Gospel of John, is to show people that this God, who has a relationship with man and who loves man, has an ultimate goal of entering into man to become his life that he may live like a man and also like God. And eventually, such men would become a group of people who take God as life, live God, and express God. Yes, we are human beings, real human beings; but we are a group of human beings who take God as our life, live God, and express God. This corresponds to the record in the beginning of the Bible. In Genesis 1:26, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” The man God created was truly a man, yet he had God’s image.
When some people rebuke others, they may say, “You see, you really look like a monkey,” or, “You see, you really look like a turtle.” Why would anyone look like those animals? Because that one expresses the monkey or the turtle. The Chinese call the drunkards “drinking demons,” and the gamblers “gambling demons.” Formerly, when I was in mainland China, I even saw “opium demons” and “morphine demons.” These designations are very fitting. When those gamblers were carried away with their gambling, none of them looked like human beings; they all looked like demons. It was the same with the opium-smokers. When they lay on the bed smoking opium, every one of them really looked like a demon. They lived out the demon, and they expressed the demon. We Christians are not like that. We are those who live God. We dare not blaspheme God by saying that we are God, but we can say that for us to live is God, just like Paul said, “For to me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). The profoundness of the Gospel of John lies in the fact that God enters into man to become his life, and then God is lived out through man that man may be like Him.
In the Gospels there are records of some who were possessed by demons and who were one with demons. In our recent revision work on the Recovery Version of the New Testament, we found pronouns used in some places that were very difficult to translate. One particular term clearly refers to the demon, yet it also refers to the one possessed by a demon. Therefore, it is very difficult to determine which pronoun to use—“it” or “he.” Also, is it actually the one possessed who was speaking or the demon itself speaking? This is also very hard to explain, because the demon had become that person, and that person had become the demon. The two had become one. We Christians are not demon-possessed; rather, we are filled and saturated with God. We and God, and God and we, have fully become one. Eventually, He is us, and we are Him. This is God’s ultimate purpose. How could God have this deep and mysterious relationship with us? How could God carry out His work to this extent? Because first, He is the Word, and second, He is the Spirit. The issue of this is life.