Ⅲ
The Gospel of John is the gospel of Christ as life for the building up of the church as the temple of the living God; this building work is carried out through our experience and enjoyment of the crucified and resurrected Christ as the tree of life—Rev. 2:4-7; 1 Pet. 2:24; John 11:25; 6:57, 63; 2 Cor. 6:16:
A
The principle of life is to change death into life (John 2:1-11), and the purpose of life is to build the church as the house of God, the temple of God (vv. 12-22); thus, the Lord declared, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (v. 19).
B
Through His death, the destruction of His physical body on the cross, He bore our transgressions and iniquities to redeem and justify us, and His death was for the healing of our diseases—Isa. 53:4-6; Rom. 3:23-26; 1 Pet. 2:24.
C
The destruction of the Lord’s physical body was also the destruction of the devil, who has the power of death; when He died on the cross, the old creation, the old man, the flesh, Satan, sin, sins, and the world were crucified on the cross; thus, in the eyes of God, after Christ’s crucifixion, the entire universe has been cleared up—Heb. 2:14; Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20; 5:24; John 1:29; 3:14; 6:70-71; 12:31; Matt. 16:23; 1 Cor. 15:3.
D
The destruction of the Lord’s physical body and His being raised up in three days were also His dying as a grain of wheat and resurrecting to release and dispense the divine life of God as the divine fire of God into His many believers to make His many believers the reproduction of God—John 12:24; Luke 12:49-51.
E
Through Christ’s death and resurrection, His physical body has been increased to be His corporate and mystical Body, which is the universal temple of God, the church as the house of the living God—1 Cor. 3:16-17; 1 Tim. 3:15; 1 Pet. 2:5; Eph. 2:21-22.
F
The many abodes are the many members of the Body of Christ, which is God’s temple—John 14:2, 23; Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 3:16-17.
G
As the many grains produced by Christ’s life-releasing death and the many abodes of Christ’s mystical Body produced by Christ’s life-dispensing resurrection, we must be those who love Him to the uttermost in our living a crucified life for the manifestation of the resurrection life by the power of the treasure in our earthen vessels—John 14:21, 23; Rom. 8:28-29; 2 Cor. 4:7-18; 12:7-9.
Morning Nourishment
John 2:19 Jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.21 But He spoke of the temple of His body.
2 Cor. 6:16 ...For we are the temple of the living God...
In John 2 we first have the case of changing water into wine (2:1-11) and then, following that, the case of dealing with the temple (2:12-22)... Why does the dealing with the temple follow the changing of death into life? It shows that life is for God’s temple... Life is for God’s building... In the case of the dealing with the temple, we see the goal, the purpose of life, that is, to build the house of God. (Life-study of John, p. 79)
Today’s Reading
The Lord Jesus told His opponents that if they destroyed this temple He would raise it again in three days (2:19)... The Lord was saying, “You may put Me to death and you may kill My body on the cross, but I will raise it up again in three days.” The physical body of Jesus was destroyed on the cross by the Jews. When Christ became flesh, He took on a physical body. In John 1:14 we are told clearly that His physical body was a tabernacle. According to John 2, His physical body was also the temple... Since Satan realized that the physical body of Jesus was God’s dwelling place on earth, he did his best to destroy that body. And he did destroy it on the cross through the Jews.After Satan destroyed the Lord’s physical body on the cross, His body was put into a tomb and rested there... When Jesus arose, He Himself raised up His dead and buried body. The body of Jesus that was destroyed on the cross was small and weak; the Body of Christ in resurrection is vast and powerful... After the Lord’s resurrection, His Body, that is, the temple, was reared up on a much larger scale. The body the enemy destroyed by crucifixion was merely the body of Jesus; what was raised by the Lord in resurrection was not only His own body, but everyone who is joined to Him by faith (1 Pet. 1:3; Eph. 2:6).
Once a local church has been damaged and destroyed, you can be assured that, in resurrection, it will become even larger than it was originally. The Lord Jesus is always more prevailing than the enemy. Do not be frightened by Satan’s work. Many times there is no need for us to pray so desperately... Be at peace. Do not be terrified by Satan’s activity. When the Lord Jesus knew that the Jews were attempting to destroy Him, He did not pray, “O Father, kill all these Jews. Father, save Me and protect Me.” Instead of praying that way, the Lord seemed to tell them, “Do your best to kill Me. Be assured that after you put Me to death I will have the opportunity to increase.” No one can frustrate the purpose of the Lord. The more the enemy tries to do, the more he affords the opportunity for the Lord to do something more. Whatever the Lord does is always in resurrection. The Lord builds the temple “in three days,” signifying that He builds it in resurrection.
Oftentimes people, like the Jews, will challenge us to see what miracles we can do. We should not be tempted to try to perform miracles. We have to follow the Lord Jesus and let ourselves be put to death. Then Christ will be manifested in resurrection. This is the miracle, the sign, that is needed in the building up of the church. The unique sign for the building up of the church is life in resurrection.
Today, we are still within “the three days,” because the Lord is still working for the building of His Body under the process of resurrection. A great part of the Lord’s Body has already been raised, but there are still some members of His Body who are not yet raised. Therefore, the Lord’s Body is still in the process of resurrection. Even with yourself, only a part has been transformed, which means that only a part has been resurrected. The Lord continues to work on you through the process of transformation. You are still in the process of resurrection. The church today is still in the three days’ process of resurrection. (Life-study of John, pp. 84-87)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” ch. 2