GOD’S INTENTION

Many Christians think that the place spoken of in John 14:3 is the heavenly mansion. But if we consider this verse in its context, we will see that this place is the Father, not the heavenly mansion. We were born in Adam, not in the Father. However, it is a basic concept in the New Testament that God’s intention is to put us into Himself through the death and resurrection of Christ. The fact that Christ’s death and resurrection have opened the new and living way for us to enter into the presence of God is revealed in Hebrews 10. To enter into God’s presence is to enter into God, for the Holy of Holies is actually God Himself.

When the Lord Jesus was speaking to His disciples the night before He was crucified, His disciples had not yet been brought into the Father, although they had been following the Lord for three and a half years. At that time, only the Lord Himself was in the Father. However, the Lord told the disciples that He was going to prepare a place for them and to cut the way into that place so that they could be in the Father where He was. The highest definition of God’s salvation is that to be saved is to be brought by God into Himself. When we repented to God and believed in the Lord Jesus, we were brought into God the Father, although we might not have realized this at the time. According to the context of John 14, this is God’s highest intention. Through the crucified and resurrected Christ, God has brought us into Himself.

ONE IN THE FATHER
AND IN HIS EXPRESSION

Entering into the Father is for oneness. Today many Christians are talking about oneness or unity. There is a difference between unity and oneness. We are not united, but we are one. For example, although the fluorescent lamps in the meeting hall are not united, they are one in the electricity and in the shining of the light. In a similar way, we are not united, but we are one in the indwelling Spirit. The indwelling Spirit is our oneness. We are not united to express God; however, we are one in God’s expression, just as these fluorescent lamps are one in the shining of light. We are one in the Father and in His expression. Outside the Father and His expression there is no place for us to be one. Therefore, in order to have the genuine oneness, we must be brought into the Father.

Ephesians 4 tells us to keep the oneness of the Spirit. The way to keep the oneness is to remain in the Father. In ourselves we are separated from one another. But as long as we remain in the Father, we are in the oneness.

PERFECTED INTO ONE

In His prayer in John 17 the Lord did not pray that the disciples would be brought into the Father, for He assumed that they were in the Father already. By being in the Father the disciples had the genuine oneness, but they still needed to be perfected in this oneness. The reason you may not have the boldness to say that you are in the glory of the Father is that you have not yet been perfected into one. To be perfected into one means to be rescued from worldliness, ambition, self-exaltation, and opinions and concepts.

John 17:23 is a difficult verse to understand: “I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one.” As you read this verse, you may wonder what “I in them” and “You in Me” have to do with being perfected into one. Here the Lord does not say, “You in Me, and I in them.” This seems more logical than saying, “I in them, and You in Me,” for then the Father would be working in the Son, who would in turn be working in the believers to perfect them into one. But looking at this verse according to our experience, I believe it means that while Christ is working in us, the Father is working in Him. In other words, while the Son moves in us, the Father moves in Him. This twofold movement causes us to be perfected. “I in them”—this means that the Son is living and moving in us. “You in Me”—this means that the Father is living and moving in the Son. By this twofold living and moving, we are perfected into one.

Recently, in one of the meetings in Anaheim, the saints were praying and sharing about the renewing of the mind. In order for our mind to be renewed, we must drop our concepts and opinions. However, in ourselves it is difficult to drop our opinions. The more we try to forsake our opinions, the more opinions we have. Actually, every thought is an opinion. None of us can stop thinking; we think even in our sleep. Even a little child has opinions. When the Son lives and moves in us with the Father living and moving in Him, we are rescued from opinions and are thereby perfected. Genuine oneness does not come from being taught or from holding certain doctrinal concepts. Real oneness comes from the Son living and moving in us with the Father living and moving in Him. Through this twofold living and moving we are perfected into one, and we express the Father.