NEW BIRTH, THE GOSPEL AND ETERNAL LIFE
[p. 508] NEW BIRTH, THE GOSPEL AND ETERNAL LIFE
John 3: 1 - 17; John 4: 13, 14
These two chapters point to a certain sequence of truths. In chapter 3 for instance, we find new birth and the gospel, whilst the following one deals with the gift of living water. A divine order is revealed here. First the Lord spoke to Nicodemus of the necessity of new birth, then He unfolded the gospel and showed him the basis on which that rested (verses 14 to 16), and finally He speaks to the Samaritan woman of the value and the activity of that living water, which springs up into eternal life.
Nicodemus came to the Lord as a teacher sent from God, and the Lord’s answer shows His thoughts were occupied with the kingdom of God. The Jews were taught to expect the kingdom. The prophets spoke often of it as the time when God would take over the government and Israel, saved out of the hand of its enemies, would serve Him in piety and righteousness all its days (Luke 2). Nicodemus said: “We know that thou art come a teacher”; but the Lord answered him with the words: “Except any one be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God”. The kingdom of God was already there, indeed in the Person of the Lord Jesus Himself, but Nicodemus was not able to see it. The principles and power of the kingdom were revealed in Him, as He could say in another place: “The kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Luke 17). The proof of it lay in the fact that the works of power of the coming age were already present. But for the Jews the Lord was as a root out of dry ground; He had no beauty that they should have desired Him. It needed, therefore, a divine work in the soul of man if he was to see the kingdom in the Person of Jesus, and therefore the Lord said: “Except any one be born anew”, and so on. The power accompanying the kingdom was there and manifested itself actively in the healing of sicknesses, the casting out of the devil and in the raising of the dead. The kingdom was already there, but man as he is has no eye for it.
The kingdom is the rule of God in grace. Grace reigns through righteousness. That means that the heart is controlled by grace, but what do unconverted men know of these things? We read in the end of chapter 2 that many saw the works of power, but in order to see the kingdom man must be born anew. It follows from all this that God must make the beginning with man. If the Jew must be born again, he was just as distant from the kingdom as the gentile. Nicodemus would have admitted that the gentile needed new birth, but he had to hear that it was also an indispensable necessity for the Jew if it was a question of seeing the kingdom. In this way we see the way prepared for the gracious word in verses 14 and 16 of our chapter: “That every one (whether Jew or gentile) who believes on him”. In the future, when God actually sets up the kingdom, Israel, as we know, will have to be born again in order to enter it.
Let us consider the order here. In order to come under-the reign of grace, man needs above all things to be born anew. But then it is just as necessary that he should be enlightened with regard to God, and this leads us to the second part of the chapter, which treats of the gospel. The Lord continues to speak of the heavenly things standing in relation to the Son of man, and in this connection we find eternal life mentioned (see verses 12 to 16). It is a question here of the gospel. First man must be born again and then he will be enlightened through the gospel with regard to God. The Son of man must be lifted up, but then we read further: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son”. We see here the course which divine love has taken in order to [p. 510] set itself in touch with man. It is demonstrated in the fact that a point of contact, if I may so say, is available, and indeed for all men. God has no relationship with the world as a system, but He has loved the world (men) and has given His only-begotten Son that everyone who believes in Him should not perish but should have eternal life.
We are in a certain measure in this passage of scripture led back to the beginning. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus must the Son of man be lifted up”, said the Lord. Through the serpent man was ruined and brought under the power of death, but the Son of man stands here in contrast to the serpent. It is not a question here of the Messiah, the head of the Jews, but the Lord speaks of Himself as the Son of man, who is the Head of every man (see Psalm 8). Man, whether Jew or gentile, was ruined through the deadly bite of the serpent, but the Son of man has been lifted up and is there as an object of faith for all. God has thus opened a door for man out of this world which is under judgment, and the way of salvation is through faith in the Son of man lifted up. He is the centre and the Head of God’s world, and in Him the love of God is presented to us.
Through the death and the resurrection of Christ a door has now been opened for man, so that he can reach Christ through faith, as we read: “That whosoever believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal”. The thought of God for man is nothing less than eternal life, but in order to have eternal life he must reach by faith the Son of man lifted up and raised up, and all this lies outside the world (John 12: 31, 32).
In the following chapter, we see the Lord as the Giver of living water. The teaching of this chapter rests on chapter 3, which treats of the revelation of the love of God in connection with the lifted up Son of man. The fourth chapter teaches us now how the believer, through the gift of living water (the Holy Spirit), is [p. 511] capacitated to answer to this love of God and to enjoy eternal life.
From chapter 3 we see that new birth was a necessity for the refined religious man, whilst chapter 4 shows us that even for a poor woman who was a sinner living water was there. The Lord said to the Samaritan woman: “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that says to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water”. The intention of God in the gospel is to enlighten man with regard to Himself and to give him living water, the Holy Spirit. Through the gospel Christ is presented to men, and as a result of enlightenment through it the soul turns to Christ in order to receive living water from Him.
The living water represents the Holy Spirit, through whom the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. In that lies the secret of true satisfaction, as the Lord said: “Shall never thirst for ever”. Let us consider the word “for ever”. The love of God is not only our portion for time, but also for eternity. In the world everything is valued according to silver and gold, and few concern themselves about the greatest blessing, the enjoyment of the love of God, but for true believers there is nothing more valuable than the knowledge of God and the consciousness of His love. In the world, everything has gone away through sin, and therefore men value material things such as silver and gold more than the love of God, but for him who really knows God the enjoyment of His love is of more value than anything. The living water, the Holy Spirit, is given to the believer so that he might satisfy himself with the infinite love of God; but then we read further: “But the water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life”. The purpose of God (eternal life) for man is set before us in chapter 3, but here it is a question of our entering into the life. The source refers to the power and activity of the [p. 512] Spirit in the believer, through which he is capacitated to answer to the revelation of the love of God in Christ according to the previous chapter. The apostle Paul gives expression to a similar thought in the scripture where it says: “But he that sows to the Spirit, from the Spirit shall reap eternal life”.
This is I believe the divine order. Considered from the divine standpoint, the world lies in death, but God works among men, and the beginning is new birth, through which in a certain sense the eyes of man are opened. Then comes the gospel to enlighten him as to God. Everything must proceed from God, and His work in man capacitates him to enjoy the love of God, which is revealed in relation with the lifting up of the Son of man. The gift of the Holy Spirit follows this divine enlightenment, as we see from the fourth chapter. It is a wonderful thought that our bodies in this manner have become temples of the Holy Spirit. The first work of the Holy Spirit consists in shedding abroad the love of God in our hearts and then He is in us as a spring of water. He works in us in order to set us free from all things which hinder our growth and our enjoyment, and in order to capacitate us to answer to the love of God which is revealed in the Son of man.