SOME THOUGHTS ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

I think we ought to say that the climax of this gospel is expressed in three verses. “This is the eternal life, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent”, John 17: 3. “In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you”, John 14: 20. “Father, as to those whom thou hast given me, I desire that where I am they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory”, &c., John 17: 24. They give us the conditions in which we enjoy eternal life now, and shall enjoy it in its fulness for ever. This involves seven things. (1) The coming in of light, that is, the revelation of God in the Person of His Son; (2) the death of Christ; (3) His resurrection; (4) His ascension as Man to the Father; (5) the work of God in us; (6) the gift of the Spirit; (7) the coming of the Lord.

The first great fundamental thought is the knowledge of God as revealed in Him whom He has sent. The next thing is to know our relation to Him, in His Son Jesus Christ, who is our life. And then the final result, our being with Him in the Father’s house for ever.

God always works by light. The devil is the power of darkness. The first thing God did in the creation was the introduction of light. He said, ‘‘Let there be light. And there was light”, Gen 1: 3. God is light: the outshining of God, in His Son, is the light which has reached us, that is, God revealed in the name of Father. One who was Himself God became flesh and dwelt among us, a real Man, among men. The incarnation is the most wonderful thought we can contemplate. God came down to men in a Man. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men”, John 1: 4. All that God is shone out in Christ here below. Thus only could we have a full revelation of God. The light shone for every one, “The true light was that which, coming into the world, lightens every man” (v 9), that is, it shone for every man. It was like the sun rising in the morning and shining upon all and for all, but those who are blind do not perceive the light. The light appeared in the darkness of this world, but it proved that men were blind, for they did not perceive the light. But for those who had eyes to see, the light was wonderful. He could say, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father”, John 14: 9. But His death was necessary that the light might be available for us. “The Son of man must be lifted up”, John 12: 34. Indeed it was only in His death that the light fully shone out, it shone out in all His works and words, but most brightly in His death, in the presence of all the darkness of man’s sin. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son”, John 3: 16. There is no other light for men. In Him, God is in the light, 1 John 1: 7. To walk in that light is life for us. He could say, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”, John 8: 12. When that light shines into our hearts we begin to live, we pass out of a state of darkness into light, out of death into life. We are delivered from the influence of the devil, and become the sons of light. But like the man in chapter 9 we were blind and hence needed the work of God to open our eyes.

What has been revealed of God in His Son is preserved for us in apostolic writings. The Spirit of God is here to clothe the words of scripture with spirit and life. So that we have not only inspired writings, but the living and abiding word of God. That is how the light has reached us. It is received by faith, and made living in us by the Spirit. What is presented as divine light becomes life in our souls by the operation of the Spirit of God. But this not apart from the Person of the Son of God; the light still shines in Him, He is the effulgence of the glory of God, the light shines in His face. The Spirit here reveals Him to us, glorifies Him, takes of His things and shews them unto us. The Son of God is the Sun in whose light we walk, as Paul could say, “The life which I now live in flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”, Gal 2: 20. God has opened our eyes that we may receive the full light that shines in the Son of God, but we do not receive this full light all at once, but gradually; we do not begin by knowing Him as Son of God, like the man whose eyes the Lord opened. He got a measure of light, he was faithful to what he had received, and he followed it up and got more, on the principle that, to him that hath shall more be given, Mark 4: 24. He gradually increased in light till he arrived at the full light of the Son of God. Cast out he found himself in the solitude of light. It is impossible for any one to have the full light of Christianity while linked up with any worldly association, religiously or otherwise. This is the great hindrance with most believers. Abram had very little light before he obeyed the call, and came out from country, kindred, and father’s house.

In the Son of God we have the full light, on the one hand, the revelation of the Father Himself, and on the other hand the revelation of His purpose for us as to our relationship to Himself. He is in the Father, we are in Him, and He is in us. The Son makes us free by conducting us into His own place in the house, that is the place of sonship, it is eternal.

All this depends upon the fact that God has been glorified in the death of Christ, all that we were by nature was condemned there, and thus removed out of God’s sight. The Son of God has come by water and blood. In appropriating His death we are cleansed from all that characterised us in our natural state, and are relieved from the pressure of death. This must be known before we can enter into life. The Spirit has come, and is the witness in us of what has been effected for us in the death of Christ. We know Him now as risen in life beyond death, and as ascended to the Father, as Man in the Father. And we are in Him. There is nothing now to hinder the free activity of the love of God in the carrying out of the purposes of His love. The result is that He has given us the most wonderful and blessed place in relation to Himself, in association with His beloved Son.

We can gather from the Lord’s prayer in John 17 what is the will of the Father concerning those whom He has given to His Son out of the world. He prays, “that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us”, that is, that we may be one in the love of the Father and the Son. Further, He says, “The glory which thou gavest me I have given them”. That is, He would have us to share His glory in the coming day. Then He expresses the desire that we may be with Him, where He is, to behold His glory, given Him of the Father. And lastly He says, “I have made known to them thy name, and will make it known; that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them”. This is our present portion, and what more could we desire than to enjoy the love of the Father to the Son. Thus the Son of God as Man in heaven is the expression of the place and portion the Father has given us in Him. He delights to share with us His part and place and glory. He lives in us, so that we are capacitated to enjoy it all, and to respond to the love that procures it all for us. It is but feebly realised at present, but when perfected in glory we shall know as we are known, and be able to praise and worship as we would in response to such wonderful love. It is good to remember that in doing all this the divine Persons are acting for the satisfaction of divine love. It is the Father’s pleasure to surround Himself with those who shall be able intelligently to enter into communion with His thoughts and with adequate affections to respond to His love. The Son has undertaken to bring to pass all the Father’s will, and thus to glorify His name.

For the full result we await His coming again. “I go to prepare you a place; and if I go and shall prepare you a place, I am coming again and shall receive you to myself, that where I am ye also may be”, John 14: 2. We await this blessed consummation of the purpose of divine love. When the full complement of those who are to occupy this unique place is gathered out, then He will fulfil His word, and we shall be perfected in glory; we shall be like Him, and with Him, before the Father, for the satisfaction of His love.

From Mutual Comfort vol 16 (1923)