«　WEEK 6　DAY 6　»

　　John 3:30-31 He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all; he who is from the earth is of the earth and speaks out of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.

　　35 The Father loves the Son and has given all into His hand.

　　In chapter 3 of John we can see at least nine aspects of the unlimited Christ. First, the unlimited Christ is from above, that is, from the heavens …(v. 31). At that time Christ was in the flesh, and the flesh is from earth. But within Him there was a part that was from above, from the heavens. The unlimited Christ not only comes from above but also is above all. The One who comes from the heavens is above all. Even though He was on earth, under the heavens, yet He was above all. Because Christ is all-inclusive, unlimited, and universal, He is above all. While He was on earth, He was still in the heavens (v. 13). (CWWL, 1982, vol. 2,”The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” pp. 154-155)

　　John 3:35 says not only that the Father loves the Son but also that the Father has given all things into the Son's hand. The Father has given all things, including us, to Christ. The entire universe has been given to the Christ whom God the Father loves. He is the unique recipient of the Father's love and gifts…. If we would enjoy God's love, we need to be in Christ. Likewise, if we would participate in what God gives, we also need to be in Christ. Paul says that all things are ours and that we are Christ's (1 Cor. 3:21-23).

　　This One who is from above, who is above all, who is loved by the Father, and who has been given all things by the Father, has also been sent by God….Christ is God's Ambassador. He was sent by God and from God.

　　According to John 3:34, Christ as the One sent by God speaks the words of God….First, 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.

　　John 3:34 says of the unlimited Christ,”He gives the Spirit not by measure.”…He gives us the Spirit by speaking the word of God….If we handle the Word of God rightly and digest it in our spirit, we will be filled with the Spirit of God. The unique way for us to become the universal increase of the unlimited Christ is to receive the Spirit and be filled with the Spirit. The more we have of the Spirit, the more we will be Christ's increase. This increase begins with our regeneration, and it consummates with our being filled with the immeasurable Spirit.

　　We need to learn not merely to read the Word or study it but also to eat it. We must learn to receive the Word of God into our spirit and digest it there. This is to enjoy the Word of God in our spirit. Through the Word we receive the Spirit, and when we have the Spirit, we have eternal life….The unlimited Christ is the One who gives eternal life to His believers [vv. 15-16].

　　The unlimited Christ has the bride as His universal increase [vv. 29-30]. This universal increase, Christ's bride, is the aggregate of all those who have been regenerated. It is a living composition of all regenerated human beings. This is the bride as the universal increase of the unlimited Christ. This is possible only as we receive the rhema of God so that we may be filled with the life-giving Spirit. If we receive the word and are filled with the Spirit, we will enjoy eternal life. The result is that we become the bride, the universal increase of the unlimited Christ. (CWWL, 1982, vol. 2,”The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” pp. 155-156, 161-163)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1982, vol. 2,”The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” chs. 12-13