CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE INITIAL SPIRIT 
BECOMING THE UNITING SPIRIT (2)

The oneness mentioned by the Lord in His prayer in John 17 is mysterious, for it is a oneness realized and practiced in the Triune God. Thank the Lord for the clear picture of this oneness in the building of the tabernacle in the Old Testament. The building of the tabernacle in Exodus corresponds to the oneness in John 17. The Lord prayed that all His believers would be one so that God could have a dwelling place on earth. The tabernacle was such a dwelling place. The oneness seen in the tabernacle is simply the building of the tabernacle.

The tabernacle had forty-eight boards. Because these boards were built together to be the dwelling place of God, the tabernacle is a clear picture of the oneness in the Triune God. This oneness is not in the acacia wood out of which the boards were made; it is in the gold that overlaid them. The wood and the gold signify the Christian’s human and divine natures. The human nature is signified by the acacia wood, and the divine nature, by the gold. Each board was made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Because we Christians are both wooden and golden, we are wonderful.

We have seen that acacia wood signifies not our fallen nature but our transformed and uplifted nature. We have been regenerated, and now we are undergoing the process of transformation. Day by day a change is taking place in our nature. This change is transformation. Although I have not been fully perfected yet, I can testify boldly that a great change has taken place within me since I became a Christian. This is not a mere change in behavior but a change in nature. As we are being transformed into acacia wood, we are also being overlaid with gold. We worship the Lord and give Him praise that daily He is overlaying us with Himself as the gold. Our oneness is in this gold.

THREE ASPECTS OF ONENESS

This oneness has three aspects. The first aspect, the initial aspect, is with the golden rings. I am quite certain that the golden rings were attached to the boards before the boards were overlaid with gold. Thus, the first step was to attach the rings to the boards, and the second step was to overlay the boards with gold. The third step was to make the uniting bars, which held the forty-eight boards together and brought them into oneness. This oneness is the building, which is the dwelling place of God.

Without the picture of the tabernacle, we cannot adequately understand the oneness spoken of in John 17. Since my youth I have devoted much attention to John 17. But because I was short of experience and did not see the picture of the oneness portrayed in the tabernacle, I did not have an adequate understanding of the Lord’s prayer for oneness in John 17. But now, after years of experience and even of suffering, I can say that the oneness for which the Lord prayed in John 17 is the very oneness seen in the tabernacle. By considering the picture of the tabernacle, we can have the proper understanding of the practical oneness for which the Lord Jesus prayed.

ONENESS IN THE TRIUNE GOD

This oneness is in the Triune God. The boards were one in the gold, and the gold signifies the nature of God. We have pointed out that on each board there were the three rings signifying the Triune God, who is the sealing Spirit we have received. This Spirit is not merely the Spirit of God, but the Spirit of God with the Father and the Son. In John the Lord Jesus said that the Spirit would be sent from the Father (15:26). The Greek preposition rendered “from” should actually be rendered “from with.” This means that the Spirit is sent not only from the Father but also with the Father. After He sent the Spirit, the Father did not remain in the heavens. No, when the Father sent the Spirit, the Spirit came to us with the Father. Therefore, to have the Spirit in us is also to have the Father in us. In like manner, the Son is with the Father. From eternity to eternity the Son has always been and always will be with the Father. Therefore, to have the Spirit in us is also to have the Father and the Son in us. Hence, we have the Triune God as the three rings. The Father is embodied in the Son, and the Son is realized as the Spirit. Therefore, when we have the Spirit, we have the Father and the Son. This is the initial Spirit, the sealing Spirit, we have received as the rings. This life-giving Spirit has regenerated us and now is dwelling in us.