In John 6 there is Christ as the bread of life. Included in the bread of life is the Lamb with the blood to shed and the meat for eating (v. 35; 1:29; 6:51 and footnote 512, Recovery Version). In chapter 7 the Spirit is the rivers of living water (vv. 38-39 and footnote 382, Recovery Version). In chapter 8 there is Christ as the great I Am. This title, I Am, is mentioned at least three times in this chapter: (1) “Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins” (v. 24); (2) “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am” (v. 28); and (3) “Before Abraham came into being, I am” (v. 58). I Am indicates that Christ is all-inclusive. He is whatever we need. He is like a blank, endorsed check. As the I Am, He is whatever you need. If you need healing, I Am is healing. If you need life, I Am is life. If you need power, I Am is power. If you need light, I Am is light. What you need, He is. He is I AM WHO I AM, the great I Am (Exo. 3:14). How rich is the Gospel of John!
In chapter 9 Christ is the light of the world (v. 5). Chapter 10 reveals that Christ is the Shepherd (v. 11; Psa. 23:1) and the door (John 10:2, 9). This door in chapter 10 is not only for God’s elect to enter but also for His people to come out. It is not a door for entering heaven; it is a door to come out of the bondage of the law. We all must come out of the fold. Who is the door for us to come out? Christ is the door. Christ is the door not only for God’s elect to enter into the custody of the law, as did Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others, in the Old Testament time before Christ came; but also for God’s chosen people, such as Peter, John, James, Paul, and others to come out of the fold of the law after Christ came. Thus, the Lord indicates here that He is the door not only for God’s chosen people to go in but also for God’s chosen people to go out.
Christ is not only the door but also the pasture (v. 9). Pasture signifies Christ as the feeding place for the sheep. When the pasture is not available in the wintertime or in the night, the sheep must be kept in the fold. When the pasture is ready, there is no further need for the sheep to remain in the fold. To be kept in the fold is [117] transitory and temporary. To be in the pasture to enjoy its riches is final and permanent. Before Christ came, the law was a ward, and to be under the law was transitory. Now, since Christ has come, all of God’s people must come out of the law and come into Him to enjoy Him as their pasture (Gal. 3:23-25; 4:3-5). This should be final and permanent. Christ is our Shepherd, the door for us to leave the fold of the law, and the pasture, the feeding place, after we leave the fold. Ultimately, in John 10 He said that He is one with the Father (v. 30), so He is the Father (14:9; Isa. 9:6).
In John 11 Christ is resurrection (v. 25). He is not only life but resurrection. Resurrection is life which has been tested even with death. The strongest thing in the whole universe besides God is death, yet even death cannot hold the resurrection life. Christ is the resurrection and the life.
In chapter 12 Christ is the grain of wheat (v. 24). If a grain of wheat is sown into the earth, it dies and then grows up to become many grains. His death released the divine life concealed within Him (1:4). In chapter 13 is the significance of the Lord washing the disciples’ feet (v. 5). This is like the laver in the outer court of the tabernacle (Exo. 30:18-21), which washed the priests from earthly defilement. The washing of feet in John 13 indicates that until this chapter, the things are still only in the outer court and not yet in the Holy Place or in the Holy of Holies. It is not until chapter 14, following the experience of the laver, that we enter into the Holy Place.
In chapter 14 Christ is the Father (vv. 9-11) and the Spirit (vv. 16-18). The Lord Jesus is the embodiment and expression of the Father, and as the Spirit, the Son is revealed and realized. The Father is His fullness, and all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily (Col. 2:9). The Father as the fullness and the reality dwells in the Son, and the Son is now the Spirit. The Spirit is the transmission of the Triune God, as revealed in 2 Corinthians 13:14, which says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” The fellowship of the Spirit is the Spirit Himself as the transmission of the grace of the Lord with the love of God for our participation.
In John 15 Christ is the great, universal vine. In chapter 16 are the Spirit (vv. 7, 13-15) and the newborn child (v. 21). Christ is this newborn child. He is the Firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18), the [118] Firstborn of the newborn ones. He is the firstborn Son of God brought forth in resurrection (Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5; Rom. 1:4).
The prayer of the Lord concerning the divine oneness in John 17 is fully answered and realized in the New Jerusalem. Verse 23 says, “I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one.” The believers are to be perfected into one in the Triune God that they might be perfect. The universal building, the mingling of the Triune God with all the believers, is the New Jerusalem, which is the answer to the prayer of John 17. In the New Jerusalem all the believers will be perfected into one in the Triune God. In chapter 18 Christ is the real Lamb who was judged, the One who bore the universal judgment. He was the real Passover lamb examined for four days before He was put to death (See Mark 12:37 and footnote 1, Recovery Version; Exo. 12:3-6).
In John 19 is the cross with the blood and the water (vv. 17, 34), and in chapter 20 is the breath of life. The Lord Jesus breathed into the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (v. 22). In chapter 21 there are fish and lambs. With the fish there is also bread for eating (vv. 9, 13). There is no need for us to fish; the Lord has the fish already (vv. 5, 9 and footnote 91, Recovery Version). After our satisfaction we have to take care of the little lambs (vv. 15-17). These are the items of Christ as God’s embodiment in the Gospel of John for us to enjoy.
THE ULTIMATE CONSUMMATION
OF OUR ENJOYMENT OF GOD
The whole Scripture reveals nothing but God, the Triune God, the Father in the Son as the Spirit. Such a wonderful Triune God offered Himself to us as our enjoyment in many items. This enjoyment starts with the Lamb and consummates in its fullest way with the temple. Eventually, the temple is enlarged into a city, the New Jerusalem, where God Himself is the temple (Rev. 21:22). In 1 Samuel (1:9; 3:3) the tabernacle in Shiloh was called the temple before the temple was built by Solomon. Thus, the tabernacle is the temple. The New Jerusalem is called the tabernacle of God (Rev. 21:3). We are God’s tabernacle for God to dwell in, and He is our temple for us to dwell in. This city is a mutual abode for God and His chosen and redeemed people. The New Jerusalem is the climax of our enjoyment of the Triune God, where we will enjoy God in the fullest way. [119]
We have to see the heavenly vision that God is the tree of life for us to enjoy. All of the items of what Christ is in John are the outcome, the outflowing, of the tree of life. If we read the Scriptures again to find out what are the aspects, the items, of God being our enjoyment, the Bible will become a new book to us. It will become a book of life instead of a book of knowledge. Many take the Bible as a book of knowledge, but we have to change our realization of this book. The Bible is a book of life. This wonderful Triune God is our enjoyment in many aspects revealed in the Scriptures.