Commentary on the Gospel of John - Attributes of Christ (2)
Chapter 5 of John says that Christ is the Word (John 1:1), and because he, who is the Word, spoke, it became so.
A 38-year-old patient is demonstrating this fact by getting up, picking up his bed, and walking as the Lord said.
It is said that when he heard the word and believed it, he received life and came to life.
That is the word of John 5, and when those who have been made alive by Christ, the life-giving Spirit and the life-giving Word, enter John 6, the attributes of Jesus Christ are revealed: He becomes the living bread that came down from heaven (John 6:51)
Many people say I have Jesus Christ or I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but again, God is not just the “who” but also the “what.”
When you think of Him as a who, even if you worship him, praise him and bless His name, in reality it is of no benefit to you.
When I call on the name of the Lord, there is grace and various emotions, but there is nothing that comes into me and works.
In John 6:35, “I am the bread of life,” it means what, not who.
'He is Jesus Christ, or he is the Son of God' is "who".
However, as in the hymn ‘Who is Jesus? The comfort of those who cry’, when the Lord becomes comfort like this, Jesus Christ becomes what.
Many people think of and serve God only as a who.
Therefore, he has no real benefit to himself and there is no change.
The Lord is the living bread that came down from heaven and is a gift from God. If He comes into us, He will become living water that will never hunger or thirst.
The living bread and living water that will never hunger or thirst are what, not who.
This what is the attribute of Jesus Christ.
That is why Jesus says, “You will eat me and live, just as I live because of the Father” (John 6:57).
In other words, in John 5, we come alive by the word.
The hour is coming when one will hear the voice of the Son, and those who hear will live (John 5:25), which means that the voice is an attribute here.
Christ comes to us as the voice of life, and when we hear the voice, we come to life.
In John 6, Christ is said to be the bread of life to those who have been come to life by the voice (John 6:35).
So we eat of him and live. He says, “The words I speak to you are spirit and life. It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is of no use” (John 6:63).
As it says in 1 Corinthians 15:45, the first man, Adam, was a living soul, and breathing through his nostrils was his life.
Breathing through the nose and everything that sustains life is life.
The first man, Adam, was a living soul, but the last Adam came as a life-giving spirit, which is also an attribute of Christ.
And in John 7, it asks when that will happen.
The Lord is glorified and the Holy Spirit came within us, and when we believe all the words about Jesus Christ, rivers of living water will flow in our hearts. (John 7:38)
Here, the attributes of Christ are changed into something, a river of living water.
This is the river of living water that was in the Garden of Eden, the river of living water that appeared on the threshold of the temple that Ezekiel saw, and the river of living water that flows in the hearts of those who believe in Jesus Christ as their savior.
It is a river of living water that flows through a new heaven and a new earth of Revelation chapter 22.
This means that the river of living water is an attribute of Jesus Christ.
And in chapter 8 of John, he says what he is is light.
He becomes a light to us as we listen to the words of Christ.
The light becomes knowing for us.
Knowing the Word and knowing God is because the light, which is an attribute of Christ, has come to us.
It’s not something we know because we're smart.
Only Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit know God, but humans cannot know God.
That is why He says that no one knows the Father except the Son of Man.
Because we have the Spirit of Son in us, we can receive his attributes and call God Abba, Father (Romans 8:15).
And if you continue in my words, you will learn me and become my disciples.
Here, what Jesus Christ changes into, he becomes the truth.
“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
Here again, Jesus Christ tells us that he is the truth that gives us freedom.
Just as there is physiology in the human body, loyalty in human relationships, physics in matter, and principles in the universe, there is truth between God and us.
The truth is Christ, and the one who teaches the truth (true) is the Spirit of truth.
Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.
Translated by Nancy Chung
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