LIFE-STUDY OF JOHN

MESSAGE THIRTY-SEVEN

THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT
UNTO THE MINGLING
OF DIVINITY WITH HUMANITY

(2)

B. To Glorify the Son by Revealing Him
with the Fullness of the Father

The first category of the Spirit’s work is to convict the world in the preaching of the gospel and to translate people out of Adam into Christ. To convict people is the work of the Spirit in winning, quickening, and regenerating sinners. But the work of the Spirit involves much more than this. The second category of the Spirit’s work is to glorify the Son by revealing Him with the fullness of the Father to the believers (16:12-15). We may say that the first category of the Spirit’s work is to bring people in, and that the second category is to edify the believers and build them up by revealing the Son with the fullness of the Father to them. This is the building work of the Holy Spirit. The first category of the Spirit’s work is to convince sinners to repent, believe, and be regenerated. The second category is the Holy Spirit’s dwelling in the regenerated believers to reveal Christ, to glorify Christ, and to make Christ real in the believers.

1. The Spirit of Reality
Being the Full Realization of the Son

The Spirit of reality is the full realization of the Son. After the Spirit has brought us to salvation, He will become in us the very reality of the Son Himself. Whatever the Son is, has, and has accomplished, obtained, and attained will all be fully wrought into us through the Spirit. The Spirit eventually becomes the realization of the Son. He is the reality of all that the Son is and has.

2. Guiding the Believers
into All the Reality of the Son

Verse 13 says, “But when He, the Spirit of reality, comes, He will guide you into all the reality.” The Spirit of reality does not guide the believers into the doctrine concerning Christ but into all the reality of Christ. This reality is nothing less than Christ Himself. Thus, the Spirit of reality will bring us into all the reality of Christ.

a. All That the Father Is and Has
Being the Son’s

In verse 15 the Lord said, “All that the Father has is Mine.” All that the Father is and has is the Son’s. The Son is the embodiment of the Father. All that the Father is and has is embodied in Him (Col. 2:9). All that the Father is, all the fullness of the Godhead, dwells in Christ. Therefore, the Father’s fullness is the Son’s fullness, and the Father’s life and nature are also the Son’s life and nature.

b. All That the Son Is and Has
Being Received by the Spirit

In verse 14, speaking of the Spirit of reality, the Lord said, “He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine and shall disclose it to you.” All that the Father is and has is the Son’s and all that the Son is and has obtained has been received by the Spirit. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ, and the Spirit receives this from Christ.