In 5:19 John goes on to say, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the evil one.” Literally, the Greek word for “of” here means out of, out from. Since we have been begotten of God, we are out of Him, out from Him, possessing His life and partaking of His nature. By this we are separated unto God from the satanic world which lies in the evil one.
In 5:19 John says that the whole world lies in the evil one. The whole world comprises the satanic world system (2:15) and the people of the world, the fallen human race (4:1). For the whole world to lie in the evil one means that it remains passively in the sphere of the evil one’s influence, under his usurpation and manipulation. While the believers are living and moving actively by the life of God, the whole world is lying passively under the usurping and manipulating hand of Satan, the evil one. This is especially true of the people of the world. Whereas we are out of God, belong to God, and are one with God, the world lies in the evil one and belongs to the Devil. The people in the world do not have their own freedom. Rather, they are under the Devil’s control and manipulation.
We may use surgery as an illustration of how the whole world is lying in the evil one. During surgery a patient lies passively on the operating table, and the surgeon performs the operation. The patient is fully under the surgeon’s control. The whole world today is like this in relation to Satan. Satan is an evil “surgeon,” and the people of the world are the “patients” lying on his “operating table.” Praise the Lord that we are of God and have a relationship in life with Him!
In verse 20 John continues, “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding that we might know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” The word “come” here indicates that the Son of God has come through incarnation to bring God to us as grace and reality (John 1:14) that we may have the divine life, as revealed in John’s Gospel, to partake of God as love and light, as unveiled in this Epistle.
In 5:20 John says that the Son of God has given us an understanding so that we may know Him who is true, or know the true One. This understanding is the faculty of our mind enlightened and empowered by the Spirit of reality (John 16:12-15) to apprehend the divine reality in our regenerated spirit. In this verse to “know” is the ability of the divine life to know the true God (John 17:3) in our regenerated spirit (Eph. 1:17) through our renewed mind, enlightened by the Spirit of reality.
The understanding spoken of in verse 20 involves our mind, our spirit, and the Spirit of reality. According to our natural being, our spirit is deadened, and our mind is darkened. Hence, in our natural being we do not have the ability to know God. How can someone with a deadened spirit and a darkened mind know the invisible God? This is impossible.
The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, has come and has given us an understanding that we might know the genuine and real God. He has come to us by the steps of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. He accomplished redemption for us, and when we repented and believed in Him, we received Him. Now that we have believed in Him and received Him, our sins have been forgiven, our darkened mind has been enlightened, and our deadened spirit has been enlivened. Furthermore, the Spirit of reality, who is the Spirit of revelation, has come into our being. This means that the Spirit of reality has been added to our quickened spirit and has shined into our mind to enlighten it. Now we have an enlightened mind and a quickened spirit with the Spirit of reality, who reveals spiritual reality to us. As a result, surely we have an understanding and are able to know the true One. Before we were saved, we did not have this understanding. But the Son of God has come to us and has given us this understanding so that we may know God.
In John 17:2 and 3 we see that eternal life has the ability to know God: “Even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that He may give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Him whom You have sent, Jesus Christ.” Eternal life is divine life with a special function—to know God. In order to know God, the divine Person, we need the divine life.
Because as believers we have been born of the divine life, we are able to know God. In order to know a certain living thing, you need to have the life of that thing. For example, a dog cannot know human beings, because a dog does not have a human life. It takes human life to know human beings. The principle is the same with knowing God. The Lord has given us eternal life, the divine life, the life of God. The life of God certainly is able to know God. Therefore, the life of God, which has been given to us, has the ability to know God and the things of God.
In 5:20 John speaks of knowing the true One. Here the word “know” actually means experience, enjoy, and possess. Therefore, to know the true One is to experience, enjoy, and possess the true One. In this universe only God Himself is the true One. We need God’s life in order to experience, enjoy, and possess Him.
This Epistle reveals clearly that we have received the divine life, for we have been born of Him. Just as a child can know his father because he has the father’s life, so we can know God because we have God’s life. Having the divine life, we have the ability to know God. Because we have the life of God, we are able to experience God, enjoy God, and possess God.
The Son of God has come through incarnation and through death and resurrection and has given us an understanding, the ability to know the true God. This understanding includes our enlightened mind, our quickened spirit, and the revealing Holy Spirit. Because our mind has been enlightened, our spirit has been enlivened, and the Spirit of reality dwells in us, we have the ability to know God, the ability to experience, enjoy, and possess the true One.
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