Life-Study of Johnpor Witness Lee
ISBN: 0-7363-0957-8
Copia impresa: Living Stream Ministry disponible en línea
ISBN: 0-7363-0957-8
Copia impresa: Living Stream Ministry disponible en línea
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In the previous message we saw that Christ, as the Word, came as life and light for the purpose of bringing forth many children to be God’s enlargement and corporate expression. This is revealed in John 1:1-13. May we keep this point deep within us.
In this message we come to the second section of John 1, which is composed of verses 14 through 18. This section shows us that the very Christ who was the Word and who came as life and light to produce many children for God’s enlargement and expression was incarnated for our enjoyment. John 1:1-13 tells us that Christ came to produce the children of God; verses 14-18 indicate that all the children of God need the enjoyment of Christ.
How can we enjoy Christ? By His incarnation. To be incarnated means to be consolidated. As the Word before His incarnation, Christ was mysterious. However, when He was incarnated, He became so real to us. Before His incarnation, He was intangible, invisible, and untouchable. By becoming flesh, He became solid, real, visible, and touchable. Verse 14 says, “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” That was something solid. In becoming flesh to tabernacle among man, He became tangible. People could not only see Him, but could also touch Him. Hence, John says, “We beheld His glory as of an only begotten from a father.” In his first epistle, John tells us that they touched Him (1 John 1:1). Thus, in His incarnation, Christ became tangible.
Although He became tangible through His incarnation, we needed something more before we could enjoy Him. Therefore, 1:14 says that He was “full of grace and reality.” It does not say that He was full of doctrines and gifts. When He became visible and touchable, He was full of grace and reality. When Christ was in the flesh with the disciples, they not only saw and touched Him, but they also enjoyed Him. If you could have asked Peter and Mary why they loved Him so much and why they liked being in His presence, they would have said, “We simply cannot put it into words. As long as we stay with Him, we have a certain enjoyment. No words can utter it. But we can all testify that it is so sweet to sit in His presence. There is such enjoyment and reality. We don’t know how to explain it or define it, but we know for sure that we enjoy it.” What did they enjoy? It was the Word in the flesh, full of grace and reality.
We have just stated that the Word became flesh for our enjoyment. Now we must see that He was incarnated that He might declare God (v. 18). God “was manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). How did He declare God? He declared God in the flesh by presenting Himself to us for our enjoyment. He did not say to the early disciples, “My little children, I want you to know that I am the Son of God and that I have come in the flesh to declare God to you. You all must know God. Look at My face. You must realize who I am. When you know Me, you know God the Father.” If He had declared God in this way, all His disciples would have withdrawn from Him. Peter would have said, “I will return to my fishing in Galilee,” and Martha would have said, “Lord, I will go home and tend to my affairs.” No, Christ did not come in the flesh to declare God in the way of teachings, but in a way that was full of grace and reality. He did not say, “Little children, you must seek God in Me. Learn the lesson that I am here to declare God.” He declared God in the way of enjoyment, by presenting Himself as grace and reality. Thus, Peter could have said, “I will never go back to fishing. I will stay with this man forever. Although I don’t know who He is, whether He is the Son of God, the Father, the Word, or the Creator, I do know that staying with Him is so sweet.” This is the way that Jesus, the Son of God in the flesh, declared God. He did not declare God to His disciples by teaching them, but by affording them such a sweet enjoyment. By simply looking at people He could capture them. How enjoyable was His presence! His presence was so charming. So many of the early disciples were charmed by Him. It seemed that no one could withstand His charming presence. That was His way of declaring God.
God is not a God of teaching, doctrine, regulations, laws, or gifts. God is a God of enjoyment. God is grace and reality to us. God is our full enjoyment, and Jesus as the Son of God is the very embodiment of all the enjoyment of God. When He abides with you, you enjoy God. You taste God as One who is sweet, dear, and precious. Eventually, you gain His reality. We have no human words to explain this. Although we lack the utterance to describe this, we may enjoy it today. When we stay with the Lord for a period of time, calling on Him, saying, “Lord Jesus, I love You,” we sense sweetness, comfort, rest, refreshment, and strength. Not only so, we have His reality. People may ask you, “What kind of reality do you have?” Although I do not know how to describe it, I do have reality. Before spending time in the presence of the Lord I was empty, but now I am full. I have reality. I am satisfied and filled to the brim.
The Word was incarnated to declare God, becoming flesh for our enjoyment. The Son of God declares God to man in the way of enjoyment. This is wonderful.
When the Word became flesh, He was “in the likeness of the flesh of sin” (Rom. 8:3). In the Bible, the word “flesh” is not a good term; it denotes something fallen and sinful. Romans 7:18 says that nothing good dwells in our flesh. When the Word says that Christ became flesh, does this mean that He became something sinful? Absolutely not. He became flesh in the “likeness of the flesh of sin.” The brass serpent lifted up on a pole by Moses (Num. 21:4-9) was a type of Christ being made in the likeness of the flesh of sin. Although that brass serpent was in the form of the serpent, it did not have the poisonous nature of the serpent. Its nature was pure, clean, and good. It was made in the form of the serpent for the purpose of substitution. We shall see more of this when we come to John 3:14. For the time being it is sufficient if we realize that when Christ became flesh, He did not have the sinful nature of the flesh, but only the likeness of the flesh of sin. By His becoming flesh in this way, man was able to touch Him, participate in Him, and enjoy the fullness of God that was in Him. When He became flesh, He apparently became sin, for 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that God made Him to be sin. Actually, He did not have the sinful nature, but only the form, the likeness, of the flesh of sin.
In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we are also told that He “did not know sin.” We do not have the language to explain this. How can we say that the Lord Jesus did not know sin when He knew everything? Since He knew everything, He knew sin thoroughly. Nevertheless, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that He knew no sin. What does this mean? According to my understanding, it means that Jesus had no sin and that He had nothing to do with it. In His nature and His substance there was no such thing as sin. Although He was made sin, within Him there was no nature of sin. All we can say is that He was in the form, in the likeness, of the flesh of sin.
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