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Exploring Life in John – The Need of the Hungry – Life’s Feeding (2)

LIFE MEETING THE NEED OF MAN’S EVERY CASE

The Need of the Hungry –

Life’s Feeding (2)

Verses:

John 6:47-63 

47  Truly, truly, I say to you, He who believes has eternal life.

48  I am the bread of life.

49  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

50  This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die.

51  I am the living bread which came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; And the bread which I will give is My flesh, given for the life of the world.

52  The Jews then contended with one another, saying, How can this man give us His flesh to eat?

53  Jesus therefore said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within yourselves.

54  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day.

55  For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.

56  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him.

57  As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.

58  This is the bread which came down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread shall live forever.

59  He said these things in a synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

60  Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this, said, This word is hard; who can hear it?

61  But Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were murmuring about this, said to them, Does this stumble you?

62  Then what if you saw the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?

63  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

John 6:66-68 

66  From that time many of His disciples went back to what they left behind and no longer walked with Him.

67  Jesus therefore said to the twelve, Do you also want to go away?

68  Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life,

 Ministry Excerpts:

Food Abiding to Eternal Life

In verses 32 through 71 we find the food that abides to eternal life. If we read this portion carefully, we find that the Lord was incarnated, crucified, resurrected to indwell us, and ascended, and we see that He has become the life-giving Spirit who eventually is embodied in His living Word. Let us now consider each of these aspects.

Coming to Man by Being Incarnated to Give Life to Man

Verses 35 through 51 reveal that the Lord has come to man by being incarnated that He might give life to man. By what way can we take the Lord as food, as the bread of life? This chapter reveals the way figuratively, but for many generations people have overlooked it. First of all, the Lord said that He “came down from heaven” (6:33, 38, 41, 42, 50, 51, 58). By what way did He come down from heaven? He came down by incarnation. He became a man by partaking of flesh and blood (Heb. 2:14). He came in the flesh and He came as a man. The devil and the evil spirits hate this. The only way to test whether or not a person has an evil spirit is to ask the demon or spirit if he would confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (1 John 4:2). Incarnation is the first step that the Lord took in order to become our life.

Being Slain to Be Eaten by Man

The Lord’s death was the second step that He took to make Himself available for us to partake of as our food.  He died for us, not in an ordinary way, but in a very extraordinary way. He was slain by being crucified on the cross. This death separated His blood from His flesh….In verse 51b the Lord says, “And the bread which I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” At this point, the bread becomes the flesh. We have seen that the bread is of the vegetable life and is only for feeding and that the flesh is of the animal life and is not only for feeding, but also for redeeming. Before the fall of man, the Lord was the tree of life (Gen. 2:9), only for feeding man. After man fell into sin, the Lord became the Lamb (John 1:29), not only for feeding man, but also for redeeming him (Exo. 12:4, 7-8). The Lord gave His body, that is, His flesh, to die for us that we might have life. The blood is added in verse 53, where the Lord says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.” The blood is added here because it is necessary for redemption (John 19:34; Heb. 9:22; Matt. 26:28; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rom. 3:25).

Resurrected to Indwell

We have seen that incarnation is the first step and that crucifixion is the second. Resurrection is the third step by which the Lord has made Himself available as our life. Several times in John 6 the Lord mentions something about “life” and “living.” On the one hand, He said that He was the bread of life; on the other hand, He said that He was the living bread (6:35, 51). Do you understand the difference between the bread of life and the living bread? Perhaps you may feel that both phrases mean the same. However, the proper way to study the Word is to investigate both phrases and determine the reason for the difference between them. The bread of life refers to the nature of the bread, which is life; the living bread refers to the condition of the bread, which is living. He is the living bread. Although He was crucified and slain, He is still living. He alone is the living One in resurrection. Verse 56 implies the matter of resurrection. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him.” This indicates that the Lord had to be resurrected that He might abide in us as our life and life supply. The Lord could not have abode in us before His resurrection. He could only abide in us after His resurrection. Thus, verse 56 indicates that He was going to be resurrected and become the indwelling Spirit.

Ascended

Ascension follows resurrection. The Lord’s ascension is referred to in verse 62. Responding to His disciples who were murmuring about His words, the Lord said, “What then if you should see the Son of Man ascending where He was before?” Here in this verse His ascension is clearly mentioned. Ascension is the proof of the completion of His redemptive work (Heb. 1:3). The Lord ascended to the Father, and the Father accepted Him. That was a proof that His work on the cross for our redemption was acceptable to the Father. Thus, the Lord was seated at the right hand of the Father. His work on the cross satisfied God the Father.

Becoming the Life-giving Spirit

Verse 63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.” At this point, the Spirit who gives life is brought in. After resurrection and through resurrection, the Lord Jesus, who had become flesh (1:14), became the Spirit who gives life, as is clearly mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:45. It is as the life-giving Spirit that He can be the life and life supply to us. When we receive Him as the crucified and resurrected Savior, the Spirit who gives life comes into us to impart eternal life to us.

Embodied in the Word of Life

Christ, as the bread of life, is embodied in the Word of life. Although the Spirit is wonderful, it is too mysterious. We need something solid, visible, tangible, and touchable—the Word of life. In verse 63 the Lord says that “the words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life.” The Word is substantial.

The “words” in this verse is rhema in Greek, which means the instant and present spoken word. It differs from logos, which means the constant word, as in John 1:1. At this point, the words follow the Spirit. The Spirit is living and real, but rather mysterious, intangible, and difficult for people to apprehend, but the words are substantial. Firstly, the Lord indicated that for giving life He would become the Spirit. Then He said that the words He speaks are spirit and life. This shows that His spoken words are the embodiment of the life-giving Spirit. He is now the life-giving Spirit in resurrection, and the Spirit is embodied in His words. When we receive His words by exercising our spirit, we receive the Spirit who is life.

We have seen six steps whereby Christ has made Himself available for us to receive—incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, becoming the life-giving Spirit, and being embodied in the Word of life. The Lord has been incarnated, crucified, resurrected, ascended, has been transfigured from the flesh into the Spirit, and has been embodied in the Word. The Word is the embodiment of the Spirit of the Lord. You cannot say that you do not know how to contact the Lord, for the Lord has been embodied in the Word. He is the Spirit and the Word. If you receive the Word, you will have the Spirit as your enjoyment of Christ.

The strongest and strangest sentence in the entire Bible is verse 57. “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me shall also live because of Me.” The Lord who is the Almighty God and the Creator of the universe exhorts us to eat Him. Man could never have such a thought. If this word had not been spoken by the Lord, I believe that none of us would possess enough courage to say that we must eat the Lord. Of course, we can say that we must worship and fear the Lord, trust and obey the Lord, pray and work for the Lord. We may use many other verbs to explain what we must do for the Lord, but we would be afraid to think that we should eat Him. We all must eat three meals a day in order to live. In other words, we live by eating. Likewise, we must eat the Lord so that we can live by the Lord. The most important point in the whole chapter of John 6 is that the Lord is our food, the bread of life. To eat Him is not a once-for-all matter. It is a daily matter and even a moment by moment experience of the Lord. Whether in the East or West, people continually eat so that they may live. So, we all must also contact the Lord and eat Him. We are not merely weak people, but hungry people who need the Lord as our life supply. The Lord is edible because He is the bread of life. He is as edible as a piece of bread. We must exercise our spirit to feed on Him as the Word and as the Spirit. Then we shall receive Him into us, digest Him, experience Him, and apply Him moment by moment. This is all—there is nothing else. We must forget about our doing and our working and learn to eat Christ and live by what we have eaten of Him. This is the divine way of life for our daily living. (Life-study of John, msg. 16)

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Exploring Life in John – The Need of the Hungry – Life’s Feeding (1)

LIFE MEETING THE NEED OF MAN’S EVERY CASE

The Need of the Hungry –

Life’s Feeding (1)

Verses:

John 6:5-15 

5  Jesus then lifting up His eyes and seeing that a great crowd was coming toward Him, said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread that these may eat?

6  But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He was about to do.

7  Philip answered Him, Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that each one may take a little.

8  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,

9  There is a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are these for so many?

10  Jesus said, Have the people recline. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men reclined, in number about five thousand.

11  Jesus then took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed to those who were reclining; likewise also of the fish, as much as they wanted.

12  And when they were filled, He said to His disciples, Gather the broken pieces left over that nothing may be lost.

13  So they gathered them and filled twelve hand baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves which were left over among those who had eaten.

14  The people therefore, seeing the sign which He did, said, This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.

15  Then Jesus, knowing that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him King, withdrew again to the mountain, Himself alone.

John 6:26-35 

26  Jesus answered them and said, Truly, truly, I say to you, You seek Me not because you have seen signs, but because you ate of the bread and were filled.

27  Work not for the food which perishes, but for the food which abides unto eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you; for Him has the Father, even God, sealed.

28  Then they said to Him, What shall we do that we may work the works of God?

29  Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe into Him whom He has sent.

30  They said then to Him, What sign then will You do that we may see and believe You? What work will You do?

31  Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, “He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.”

32  Jesus therefore said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has not given you the bread out of heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread out of heaven.

33  For the bread of God is He who comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.

34  They said therefore to Him, Lord, give us this bread always.

35  Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst.

 Ministry Excerpts:

THE HUNGRY WORLD AND THE FEEDING CHRIST

The case in chapter six portrays a scene which reveals where we are in our condition. There is a contrast between the scene of chapter five with the one in chapter six. The scene in chapter five is in the holy city, but the scene in chapter six is in the wilderness. A pool is in the scene of the previous case, and a sea is in this case. The people in the former case are associated with the pool, and the people in the latter case are involved with the sea. The pool is related to religion’s healing, while the sea is related to the people’s living. The person in the fourth case was very weak, needing healing and enlivening, but the people in the fifth case are hungry, needing food and satisfaction. The pool is sacred, being of the Jewish religion; the sea is secular, being of the human society. The person by the pool was impotent, needed life’s enlivening, and was waiting for healing. The people in this case are hungry, need life’s feeding, and are seeking for nourishment.

In Genesis 2:9, Christ was typified by the tree of life. The tree of life, belonging to the vegetable life, is good for producing and generating, but has no blood for redeeming. At the time of Genesis 2, man was not yet involved with sin and thus had no need for redemption. However, in Genesis 3 man fell. Immediately after man’s fall, God came in to deal with that fall by slaying sacrificial lambs to redeem Adam and Eve and to make coats of skins to cover their nakedness (Gen. 3:21). Thus, the vegetable life itself is no longer adequate for fallen man; there is the need of the animal life. We need life not only for feeding, but also for redeeming. So, in chapter six of John we firstly have the barley loaf, which belongs to the vegetable life and is good for feeding. As we shall see, since man has fallen and needs redeeming as well as feeding, the Lord Jesus turned the bread into flesh (6:51b). The bread is made from barley, while the flesh contains blood. Barley bread is of the vegetable life, but the flesh with the blood is of the animal life. Eventually, in John 6 Christ is shown not only as the tree of life signified by the bread, but also as the Lamb of God signified by the flesh and blood. In the Lamb of God there are two elements: the blood for redeeming and the meat, the flesh, for feeding. At the Passover, the people struck the blood and ate the meat. It is the same with us today. We accept Christ in the way of redeeming as well as in the way of feeding. He is both the vegetable life and the animal life, the feeding life and the redeeming life.

Five Barley Loaves Signifying the Generating Aspect of Christ’s Life

The loaves are of the vegetable life, signifying the generating aspect of Christ’s life. As the generating life, Christ grows in the land, the God-created earth. In order to regenerate us, He grew on the God-created earth for reproducing.

Barley signifies Christ resurrected. According to the Scriptures, barley represents the firstfruit of resurrection. The Lord told His people in Leviticus 23 to offer the firstfruits of their harvest each year. In the land of Palestine, barley ripens earlier than any other crop and is the first of the harvest. Hence, it typifies the resurrected Christ (Lev. 23:10). Therefore, barley signifies the resurrected Christ, who is our life supply. As the firstfruit, He can become our bread of life. So, barley loaves represent Christ in resurrection as food to us. The feeding Christ is the resurrected Christ.

Two Fishes Signifying the Redeeming Aspect of Christ’s Life

The two fishes are of the animal life, signifying the redeeming aspect of Christ’s life. As the redeeming life, He lives in the sea, the Satan-corrupted world. The barley comes out of the land, representing the earth created by God, while the fishes come out of the sea, signifying the world corrupted by Satan. The Lord Jesus came not only to the earth created by God, but also to the world corrupted by Satan. If He had come only to the earth created by God, He would only have been represented by the barley loaves. But since He also came into the world corrupted by Satan, He is also represented by the two fishes. He had nothing to do with the corrupted world. Just as fish are not salty though they live in salt water, so the Lord was not corrupted by Satan though He lived in the Satan-corrupted world. The Lord is like the fish that can live in the salty environment of the sea without being salted by it. In order to redeem us, He lived in the satanic and sinful world. But yet He was sinless, unaffected by the sinful world. As the generating life, Christ lived as a proper man in the God-created earth. As the redeeming life, Christ lived in the Satan-corrupted world without being affected by its corruption.

We have seen that barley, which is of the vegetable life, represents the generating life and that the fish, which are of the animal life, represent the redeeming life. Now we must ask, if the human race had never fallen, would Christ as our regenerating life still have been necessary? Yes. Before the fall of Adam, God put him in front of the tree of life. The tree of life has nothing to do with sin. Therefore, man must take God as his life by eating the tree of life. Even John 12:24 states that the Lord was the one grain of wheat that fell into the ground and died, after which He was raised up to become many grains. This too had nothing to do with sin, for, according to the Scriptures, the vegetable life is to produce or to generate much fruit. The one grain of wheat bears many other grains. Hence, it represents the generating life.

As we have seen, before man fell, he ate only of the vegetable life (Gen. 1:29), but after he fell, he also ate of the animal life (Gen. 9:3). Before the fall there was no need for the shedding of blood. But after man fell he needed the animal life because redemption requires the shedding of blood. The vegetable life was sufficient before man sinned, but after he sinned the animal life became necessary.

We need the Lord Jesus to be both our generating life and our redeeming life. By His death on the cross two things came out of Him—the blood to redeem us and the water to generate us (John 19:34). His shed blood brought redemption to us, and the water from His wounded side imparted His life to us. The five barley loaves were accompanied by the two fishes. It is impossible for barley to shed blood; therefore, it could never redeem us. The two fishes represent the animal life for redemption. The Lord is represented by both the barley loaves and the fishes, for He is our vegetable life to generate us and our animal life to redeem us.

It is interesting to note that the five barley loaves and two fishes came from a small boy, not a big man. This is very meaningful, because the Lord wants to indicate to us that He is our life, not as someone big, but as someone small. Both barley loaves and fishes are small items, signifying the smallness of Christ as the life supply to us. The miracle-seeking people considered Him as the promised prophet (6:14; Deut. 18:15, 18) and would have forced Him to be their king (6:15), but He would not assume the position of a giant in religion. Rather, He preferred to be small loaves and little fishes that He might be small enough for people to eat. All of this reveals the smallness of Christ. He is small enough for us to eat. Whatever we eat must be considerably smaller than we are. We are much bigger than the bread and fish that we eat. We cannot eat something that is larger than we are. If it were larger than we are, it could eat us. Everything we eat is even smaller than our mouth. If it is larger than our mouth, it must first be cut into pieces. A small boy brought five small loaves and two small fishes. This means that the smallness of the Lord Jesus is most precious to us.

This chapter not only brings out the smallness of the Lord, but also the richness of the Lord. Just five loaves are rich enough to feed five thousand people. The twelve baskets left over signify the overflow of the riches of Christ’s life supply, which fed people over one thousand times. That five loaves fed five thousand people means that it fed them one thousand times. According to the Scriptures, the number one thousand signifies a complete unit. For example, one day in the court of the Lord is better than a thousand (Psa. 84:10). One thousand is a full unit. Hence, five loaves can fill five thousand people. This reveals how rich and how unlimited the Lord is. The multitude could eat as much as they wanted, for the supply was unlimited. Even two little fishes were sufficient for all.

Seekers After the Perishing Food

In verses 22 through 31 we find the seekers after the perishing food. They were seeking satisfaction. Regardless of the kind of food people are seeking, they all are seeking satisfaction. These people were trying to do something and to work for God. They were also seeking for signs and miracles. The concept of fallen man toward God is always that he must do something for God and work for God. This is the principle of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Genesis 2. The Lord’s concept concerning man toward God is that he believe in Him, that is, receive Him as the life and life supply. This is the principle of the tree of life in Genesis 2. The answer to the seeking after the perishing food is to receive the Lord by believing in Him (6:29). (Life-study of John, msg. 15)

 

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Verse Memorization-Fall24-Wk5

Week 5

John 4:13 – Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again,

John 4:14 – But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life.

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Exploring Life in John – The Need of the Moral – Life’s Regenerating (2)

LIFE MEETING THE NEED OF MAN’S EVERY CASE

The Need of the Moral –

Life’s Regenerating (2)

Verses:

John 3:14-18  

14   And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

15   That everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life.

16   For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.

17   For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

18   He who believes into Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed into the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Ministry Excerpts:

Man’s Real Condition

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” When Jesus said this, Nicodemus was clear. When the children of Israel spoke against the Lord and against Moses, “the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died” (Num. 21:6). The people then came to Moses and asked him to pray that the Lord would take the serpents away. Moses prayed for them, and God showed Moses the way of salvation, telling him to make a serpent of brass and to put it upon a pole (Num. 21:8-9). When the people who had been poisoned by the fiery serpents looked upon the serpent of brass, they lived (Num. 21:9).

In John 3:14, the Lord Jesus applied that picture to Himself, saying that He, the Son of Man, would be lifted up as the brass serpent was lifted up by Moses. Please notice that the Lord here refers to Himself as the Son of Man, not as the Son of God. The Lord was telling Nicodemus, “Nicodemus, you appear to be a gentleman, but you must realize that you are actually a serpent. Regardless of how gentle you are, you have a serpentine nature within you. You have been poisoned. You were poisoned in Adam. When Adam was poisoned by the serpent, you were there. You were born of that poisoned nature, and so your nature is also serpentine.” Nicodemus never realized this before. Likewise, very few people today realize that they are serpents. Do you like to have this said of you? If you were to tell an unbeliever that he is not only a sinner, but also a serpent, he would be highly offended. No, Nicodemus had never thought that he had a serpentine nature. However, the Lord Jesus, the best preacher, indicated a great deal by one brief sentence, telling Nicodemus that he was a serpent.

In John 1:29, John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God.” In 3:14, the Lord Jesus likens Himself, not as the Lamb of God, but as a brass serpent. The Lamb of God deals with sin, but the brass serpent destroys the old serpent. Our trouble as fallen people is not only with sin, but also with the serpent. Although Christians have heard many messages on the Lamb of God, they have not heard very many on the brass serpent as the type of Christ.

Christ Lifted Up on the Cross in the Form of a Serpent

When the Lord Jesus was dying on the cross, He was in the form of a serpent. This is a hard saying and it needs some explanation. Romans 8:3 says, “God, sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” This verse tells us that Christ was made in the likeness of the flesh of sin. Second Corinthians 5:21 says that Christ was made sin for us. What a strong word this is! What does it mean? When Satan in the serpent tempted Adam to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge and to take his concept, Satan, as the old serpent, injected his nature into man. That serpentine nature was injected into man’s body. Although the human body was created by God as something good, when Satan’s serpentine nature was injected into it, it was transmuted into the flesh. The body is something good created by God, but the flesh is something bad, being the body transmuted by the poison of the serpent. The term “body” is good, but the term “flesh” is bad. But what about John 1:14 which says that, “The Word became flesh”? Is the flesh there good or bad? When Christ became flesh, did He become something good or bad? Be careful of your answer. John 3:14 indicates and guarantees that when Christ became flesh, He did not actually become something bad, and Romans 8:3 says that He was in “the likeness of the flesh of sin,” which likeness is equal to the form of the brass serpent. It had the form of the serpent without the poison of the serpent. Christ was made in “the likeness of the flesh of sin,” but He had no participation in the sin of the flesh (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). Christ became the flesh of sin in form, not in actuality. Look at the serpent made of brass. In form, appearance, and likeness, it looks like a real serpent; however, it has no poison in it. It has the serpentine appearance, but it does not have the serpentine nature. Likewise, Christ became the flesh of sin in appearance, in likeness. In appearance, He was exactly the same as a sinful man, but within Him there was no sinful nature. Although He was made sin, He knew no sin. He was only in the form, in the likeness, of the flesh of sin.

When Christ was lifted up on the cross, Satan, the devil, the old serpent, was dealt with (John 12:31-33; Heb. 2:14). This means that the serpentine nature within fallen man has been dealt with by the death of Christ. We may use the illustration of a mousetrap. Mice are a nuisance and they are difficult to catch. However, you may catch them if you use a trap and some bait. When a mouse comes out of hiding seeking for something to eat, he will see the bait, walk into the trap in an attempt to seize the bait, and immediately be caught. In this way the mouse is caught and destroyed. In the universe there is a little “mouse,” Satan. Humanity became a trap in which he was caught. Adam became both the trap and the bait. Satan seized the bait, thinking that he had gained the victory by injecting himself into man’s body, but he did not realize that in doing so he became trapped. He was trapped, located in man’s flesh. One day the Lord Jesus put on the likeness of this flesh of sin. Then He brought this flesh to the cross and crucified it. By crucifying the flesh, He destroyed the devil who had injected himself into man. Now we can understand Hebrews 2:14 which says, “He took part of flesh…that through death He might destroy him who has the might of death, that is, the Devil.” Christ destroyed Satan in the flesh by His death. If we do not understand all of these verses, it will be difficult to have the proper meaning of Hebrews 2:14. How did Christ destroy Satan on the cross? By taking on the likeness of the flesh of sin and by bringing this flesh to the cross. There, through His crucifixion, Satan was destroyed.

Nicodemus might have considered himself as a good and moral man. But the Lord’s word in 3:14 implies that regardless of how good Nicodemus might have been outwardly, he had the serpentine nature of Satan inwardly. As a descendant of Adam, he was poisoned by the old serpent, and the serpent’s nature was within him. He not only needed the Lord to be the Lamb of God to take away his sin; he also needed the Lord to be in the form of the serpent that his serpentine nature might be dealt with on the cross and that he might have eternal life. In the principle set forth in chapter two, this is changing death into life. The serpent’s death is swallowed up by the divine life. By telling this to Nicodemus, the Lord Jesus seemed to be saying, “Nicodemus, you are a serpent. I am going to die for you as your substitute in the form of a serpent, not only to take away your sin, but also to deal with your serpentine nature and to destroy Satan.”

Verse 15 shows the purpose of verse 14. “That every one who believes in Him may have eternal life.” The word “that” in verse 15 indicates that this verse is an issue, an outcome, of verse 14. Christ died on the cross in the form of a serpent as our substitute. In doing so, He dealt with our serpentine nature and destroyed the serpent in our flesh. The issue of this is that we may have eternal life by believing in Him. Just as the poisoned Israelites lived by looking unto the brass serpent on the pole, we may experience the same thing today if we repent, lift up our heart, and gaze upon the very Jesus crucified on the cross. When we do this, our sin is removed, our serpentine nature is dealt with, Satan is destroyed in us, and we have life eternal. This is what it means to be regenerated. When we are regenerated, we receive the divine life other than our human life which was corrupted by the serpent and dealt with by Christ on the cross.

What is the way for us to be regenerated? How can we receive regeneration? In verses 15, 16, 18, and 36, the Lord said, “That everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life”; “that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life”; “he who believes in Him is not judged”; “he who believes in the Son has eternal life.” These emphatic words spoken repeatedly by the Lord tell us clearly and definitely that the way for us to be saved and regenerated is simply to believe in the Lord. To believe is the only way for us to receive salvation and regeneration. It is absolutely a matter of faith. Regardless of how much we can work or how good our work may be, we cannot be saved and regenerated by our work. Our work does not count in this matter. Only faith counts. Salvation and regeneration must be by faith. It is by faith in the Lord, by believing in the Lord, that we receive the forgiveness, the release from God’s condemnation negatively. It is also by faith, by believing in the Lord, that we receive eternal life, the divine life of God, positively for our regeneration. The Lord has accomplished the redemptive work for us. By His redemptive death on the cross, He has met all of God’s righteous demands on us and has fulfilled all the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory for us. By His death on the cross in the form of the serpent, the Lord has even destroyed Satan, the devil that usurps us and enslaves us, that we might be delivered from the evil one’s slavery and power of death (Heb. 2:14). All negative things have been solved by His all-inclusive death on the cross. We do not need to do anything except believe in what the Lord has accomplished. He has dealt with and solved all of our problems. He has left no room for our doing or work. So, there is no need of our work, only of faith in His finished, completed, and all-inclusive redemptive work.

To believe in the Lord means to receive Him (John 1:12). The Lord is receivable. He is now the life-giving Spirit, with His complete redemption, waiting for and expecting us to receive Him. Our spirit is the receiving organ. We can receive the Lord’s Spirit into our spirit by believing in Him. Once we believe in Him, He, as the Spirit, enters into our spirit. Then we are regenerated by Him, the life-giving Spirit, and become one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). The phrase “believes in” in verses 16, 18, and 36 literally translated should be “believes into Him.” When we believe in the Lord, we believe into Him. By believing in Him, we get into Him to be one with Him, to partake of Him, and to participate in all that He has accomplished for us. By believing into Him, we are identified with Him in all that He is and in all that He has passed through, accomplished, attained, and obtained. As we become one with Him by believing into Him, we are saved and regenerated by Him as life. It is by believing into Him that we partake of Him as life and are regenerated in Him. (Life-study of John, msg. 12)

 

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Verse Memorization-Fall24-Wk3

Week 3

John 3:15 – That everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.

John 3:17 – For God did not send the Son in to the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.