Talking about the Gospel of John (2)

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Talking about the Gospel of John (2)

“In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1)

The Word, Ho Logos, contains all the meanings of God’s will, intention,  power, speech, authority, influence, and dominion.

And since Ho Logos is toward God (pros, Greek), it is always in a relationship with God and has a relationship with all things because he creates and preserves all things.

The beginning (Arche, Greek) is not only the concept of time, but also the source of all things, the womb of all things.

It is the same as the nucleus, which is the first cause in physics.

Science is trying its best to reveal the existence of the Word, but it is all but impossible.

God is entity, and the Word created all things while being with (toward) God in the middle .(Hebrews 11:3)

God holds all things through the Word.

In philosophy, people are confused about this one word, Logos.

Philosophy can never speak about the being of God.

Because God is absolute, there is no need to show us a resume.

We must keep in mind that He always says, "I am who I am." (Exodus 3:14)

Finding out how all things are governed means revealing who is the subject of all things.

The question is whether the subject is a human being or Ho Logos (the Word).

In the end, philosophy says that the subject is human, and evangelical Christianity says that although humans do the work, Christ, Ho Logos, is the subject of all things.

If we make a mistake, we can mistakenly say that Christianity believes that humans act as subjects and move all things according to God's will.

They think that God is the chairman and they are the boss.

Now, some church movements influenced by pragmatist philosophy even speak of active human activity as being used by God.

They even speak of the world as if they were all delegated, but the Bible still declares that God directly governs all things through Ho Logos.

Perhaps these people think that God is too old and weak to carry out his duties, so they want to divide the work among themselves?

It's not like that.

God is still the being, and the glory of the being, Ho Logos, Christ, sits on the throne and directly rules over all creation, including humans.

However, we are only used as his instruments and vessels.

Philosophy is nothing more than deceiving people by persuading their ears (Colossians 2:8).

However, humans  lend only their bodies to Christ, Ho Logos. In fact, he is God's special and plenipotentiary ambassador between God and all things, ruling over all things and taking the lead in giving eternal life to those he loves.

Ho Logos is Jesus Christ who came in the flesh and has now come into us through the Holy Spirit, the Comforter (Immanuel Matthew 1:23).

Ho Logos is life itself connected to God, the source of life, and appears as light to people (John 1:4).

So life is light and light is life.

Ho Logos came to this earth in the flesh, and the event of coming into our flesh is said to be the coming of God (incarnation).

That is why it is called Emmanuel or Parousia.

He is with us and comes in us, so that we are in him and he is in us.

However, it says, "The light parousia in the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not" (John 1:5).

John the Baptist testified to this light.

But people still did not understand and did not receive him (John 1:8,11).

“Ho logos” the true light (John 1:9), he is Jesus Christ.

There is life within him, and the life appears to people as light, and the light is the light of revelation that appears to each person.

The light is not a flashing light that can be seen with the eyes, but shines (illuminates) the Word so that we can know Jesus Christ and gain life and have it more abundantly.

And we come to know God through Jesus Christ.

It is the light of revelation that allows us to do this.

If you receive him, you become the sons of God.

This "power to become the sons" is not just authority but all the qualifications given in the process of becoming a child of God (John 1:12).

In other words, it means that those who receive him have been given all the qualifications necessary to become complete sons of God.

This means that if you receive the true light, Christ, as Lord, you will be given the qualifications to become  perfect sons of God.

We have acquired the qualifications to make Christ, the totality of God's grace, a real grace to us.

This is what is expressed by the word reception.

Then why do we need revelation and witnesses?

Jesus said, “If you receive whomsoever I send, you receive me” (John 13:20).

These words mean to receive the one whom Jesus sent, and that he sent that person by giving him something.

This means that he was sent with revelation.

God sent Peter to Cornelius, a Gentile.

Cornelius invited Peter and received him, and Peter testified the gospel that Jesus was both Lord and Christ.

At that time, a revelation appeared to Cornelius.

So people come to know Jesus Christ and salvation comes to their homes.

The work of life took place.

It is repentance unto life (Acts 11:18).

Therefore, sending the man of God and giving the light of revelation at the same time is so that we can receive Christ, the true light, as our Lord.

But darkness cannot sense the light.

Don't think anything special of the darkness.

If a person is extremely human, it can be seen as darkness.

Although they lead a normal human life, that means they belong to darkness.

It is not darkness just because a person's face is pitch black, and it is not darkness just because they are always irritated. If a person lives in an extremely humane way, there is no mistake in saying that he or she belongs to darkness.

Anyone who does not know the things of heaven and only knows the things of the earth under the sun is in darkness.

Because the Bible states that this world is in darkness.

So, even if one believe on only Jesus and say, "Amen Jesus, come", but  if one do not understand Christ, who is the true light, even if you explain it to one, you can just think that this person is in the world and darkness.

What is important here is that we must clearly understand that although various types of knowledge enlighten people, if they do not lead to life, then that knowledge is not revelation and is just knowledge.

However, in John 1:14, “The glory of the only begotten Son, full of grace and truth.” The glory of Christ, the only begotten Son, dwells within us and becomes ours.

This is because Christ, the Word, is tenting within us (dwelling among us).

And he said that he is full of grace and truth. Grace and truth are the awareness and feelings of our spirit.

Therefore, God's grace comes as a feeling of the spirit.

When you hear it with your ears, classify it with your thoughts, and digest it with your mind, it becomes enlightenment through the feeling of your spirit.

Grace is given from God, and truth is the principle by which that grace becomes reality.

In other words, this is the formula that applies.

So the truth of the Gospel of John becomes true in the Epistle of John.

This means that if the Gospel of John is fulfilled, we will live like this.

If it is not fulfilled in the Gospel of John, you will be found as one who will be destroyed in the Book of Revelation.

Both are words written by John, but you must have the eye to see the symmetry that the Gospel of John says that this will happen through the Spirit of truth, and the Book of Revelation says that if it does not happen that way in us, we will be destroyed.

In the parable of the two sons in Luke 15, the eldest son only has the concept of being a son, but the returning prodigal son has the feeling that his qualifications as a son are being realized.

When God says to Isaiah, “You are mine” (Isaiah 43:1), you do not have to confirm‎ it every time, but when God speaks, the listener believes it because it becomes a reality through spiritual feeling.

It is done through a mysterious mechanism.

In this way, when the word of God is heard through the Holy Spirit, symptoms of self-awareness inevitably appear.

So, when Jesus tells Zacchaeus, “Salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:9), great confidence and emotion come with it.

This is the power of the living Logos, the word of Christ.

When the father said to his returning son, “This second son is my son, whom I lost and found, who died and came back to life” (Luke 15:32), the son’s heart must have been filled with the overwhelming joy and emotion of a son.

So there is no need to ask any questions because everything can be known by feeling.

This is why Job, Jonah, the returning prodigal son, and Zacchaeus keep their mouths shut.

However, the eldest son in the family does not feel that what is his father's is his.

He is filled with the thought that what is his father's is still his, what is mine is mine, and that his ugly brother's share is not in this house.

So he has a lot of questions.

A person who talks a lot and asks a lot of questions means that grace has not yet become grace.

Clearly, a son is a son, but if he does not yet share what the father has, he does not know the truth.

This is because he could not understand the truth when he was separated from God.

To put it simply, he did not receive the illumination and teachings of the Spirit of truth.

Many Christians say, “Our Father is rich. Even though we say, “What are you worried about, since everything that is His is mine,” we still think that what is God’s is God’s and only what is mine is mine.

The proof is that we are so anxious about money.

Therefore, saved Christians must earnestly desire to experience the blessings of the truth, where the grace of God rushes into our hearts with pride and the glory of Christ gently spreads within our bodies.

Although we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord, we still have many of the attributes of a natural person (a sinner) belonging to Adam who tries to be independent and separate from God at every moment, and it is considered the same will be true for you as well.

However, we must receive the love of truth in Christ, the Logos who mediates and reconciles between God and all things, and constantly long for things above, not things on earth, so that God's righteousness, glory, and love may become ours.

The Spirit of truth spoken of in the Gospel of John is the only routine to receive the blessing of salvation.

Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.

Translated by  Nancy Chung

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