Scripture Reading: John 1:14; 14:1-6, 20, 23; 15:4
Ⅰ
The Gospel of John reveals how in Christ and through Christ God comes into man and brings man into Himself—1:14; 14:6, 20:
A
Christ's coming through incarnation was to bring God into man—1:14.
B
Christ's going through death and resurrection was to bring man into God—14:2-3, 6, 20.
Ⅱ
In John 14:1-6 we see Jesus going through death and Christ coming in resurrection to bring us, the believers, into the Father:
A
The Lord Jesus was going not to a place but to a living person, the Father Himself—vv. 12, 28.
B
The Lord was going to the Father, and His intention was to bring His disciples into the divine person of the Father—vv. 5-6, 12, 20:
１
The Lord came from the Father by incarnation to bring God into man, and He went to the Father in order to bring man into God—1:14; 14:20.
２
The way of His going was by death and resurrection, and the purpose of His going was to bring man into the Father—v. 6.
C
The words I go in verse 2 mean that the Lord was going through death and resurrection to bring man into God for the building up of God's dwelling place; this is the building of the church mentioned in Matthew 16:18.
Ⅲ
"My Father's house" in John 14:2 is the Body of Christ, the church as the house of God:
A
In 2:16 My Father's house refers to the dwelling place of God on earth, the temple; the temple is a type, or figure, of the body of Jesus, which in resurrection has been enlarged to be the Body of Christ—vv. 19-22.
B
My Father's house in 14:2 refers not to heaven but to God's dwelling place on earth—the Body of Christ, the church.
C
In the Epistles the revelation that the Body of Christ is the church and that the church is the house of God is fully developed—1 Tim. 3:15-16; 1 Pet. 2:5; Eph. 2:21-22.
D
The Father's house in the Gospel of John and in the whole New Testa-ment is the Body of Christ, which is the church as the dwelling place of God on earth—Eph. 1:22-23; 2:21-22; 1 Tim. 3:15-16.
Ⅳ
"In My Father's house are many abodes"—John 14:2:
A
The many abodes are the many members of the Body of Christ, which is God's temple—Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 3:16-17.
B
All the believers in Christ are the abodes in God's building, the Father's house; this building is the Body of Christ, and all the abodes are mem-bers of the Body of Christ—Eph. 1:22-23; 2:21-22; 5:30; 1 Cor. 12:27.
Ⅴ
I go to prepare a place for you means that the Lord would prepare a place, accomplish redemption, open up the way, and make a stand-ing for us to enter into God—John 14:2-3, 6:
A
By death and resurrection the Lord Jesus paved the way and prepared a place so that we might be brought into God—v. 20.
B
By His death and resurrection He prepared a standing for us in God; in this way He prepared a place for us in God—vv. 2-3, 6.
C
The standing in God, being enlarged, becomes the standing in the Body of Christ—Rom. 12:4-5; Eph. 5:30; 1 Cor. 12:27.
D
As believers in Christ, we all have a place in God and a place in the Body, and now we should live in the place prepared for us through the death and resurrection of Christ—John 14:2-3, 20; 1 Cor. 12:27.
Ⅵ
"Abide in Me and I in you"—John 15:4:
A
The result of Christ's coming and going is the mutual dwelling of God and man:
１
By His coming in incarnation, Christ brought God into man, and by His going through death and resurrection, He brought man into God— 1:14; 14:20.
２
Now God and man, man and God, become a mutual abode; we abide in God, and God abides in us.
B
In Christ and through Christ, God is in man; God becomes our abode, and we become God's abode mutually.
Ⅶ
"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him"—v. 23:
A
Here we see that a mutual abode is built up by the Father and the Son's visitation to those who love Him:
１
The Father and the Son visit us to do a building work in us.
２
Eventually, we and He, He and we, become a mutual abode—15:4.
B
The Triune God's making His abode with the believers is for the build-ing of His habitation—Eph. 2:21-22:
１
The building of God's habitation today is altogether dependent upon this experience described in John 14:23.
２
It is in this way that the Lord does the building work of God among us—Matt. 16:18.