Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (3)
Message Twelve
The True One
THE EXTRACT OF THE OUTLINES
Scripture Reading:
1 John 5:11-13 And this is the testimony, that God gave to us eternal life and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. I have written these things to you that you may know that you have eternal life, to you who believe into the name of the Son of God.
I. 1 John 5:20 is a crucial conclusion to the entire book of 1 John: This epistle reveals that we are truly one with the Triune God now, and He is real and actual to us—1:3, 3:24, 4:2. (Monday)
II. We come to know the Triune God through experiencing and enjoying Him—1:5, 2:27, 4:16, 5:11-12:
A What the Apostle John was concerned with in writing his three epistles was the experience and enjoyment of the Triune God—2 John 8.
B The Triune God is not merely the object of our faith; He dwells in us as our life and life supply for us to experience and enjoy—1 John 4:13-15.
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III. John’s epistles reveal the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—1 John 1:1-2, 2:23-24, 3:24, 4:2, 6, 13-14, 5:6, 11-12; 2 John 9: (Tuesday)
A To know the Father is to know Him as the source, the unique Originator, that is, the Planner, the Inaugurator, the Initiator; everything originates from Him, and everything comes from Him—1 John 1:2-3, 2:23-24, 4:2, 6, 13-14.
B In 1 John 1:1-2 “the word of life” and “life” both refer to the divine Person of the Son, Christ; He was with the Father in eternity and was manifested in time through incarnation—John 1:1, 14.
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IV.“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”—v. 20: (Wednesday)
A “We…know”: “We” refers first to the apostles in their teaching and fellowship, and then also to all genuine believers as members of the Body of Christ—1:3, 6-7.
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B “To know the true One,” or “to know the true One”: “true” (alethinos), in the original text, means “genuine, actual,” in contrast to the false and counterfeit—v. 20. (Thursday)
C We are in the true One, in His Son Jesus Christ—v. 20.
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D Now in our experience, this true One has become the true God, and Jesus Christ has become eternal life—2:25, 5:11, 13; John 3:15-16. (Friday)
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E The true God as eternal life has become our experience—v. 20; 1:2, 2:25, 5:11, 13; John 3:15-16, 36, 4:14, 5:24. (Saturday)
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
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—1 John 5:20.
In this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, that He has given to us of His Spirit. And we have beheld and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world.—1 John 4:13-14.
Word of Appetizer
What does the term “the True One” mean? In particular, what does the term “true” mean?
“True” in the original means genuine, real (an adjective cognate with “reality” in John 1:14; 14:6, 17), in contrast to what is false or counterfeit. In fact, the True One is the reality.
The Son of God has given us an understanding so that we may know—that is, experience, enjoy, and possess—this divine reality. Therefore, to know the True One means to know this reality by experiencing, enjoying, and possessing this reality.
1 John 5:20 indicates that God has become our reality in our experience.
The Son of God has come through incarnation, through death and resurrection, and has given us an understanding so that we may experience, enjoy, and possess this reality, which is God Himself.
Now God, who was once objective to us, has become our subjective reality.
Spiritual Burden
We need to know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding so that we may know the True One, and know that we are in the True One, that is, in His Son Jesus Christ; this is the true God and eternal life.
When John says that we are in the True One, he is stating a very crucial point: we not only know the True One, and not only experience, enjoy, and possess Him as the divine reality, but we are also in this reality; we are in the True One.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
1 John 5:20 is a crucial conclusion to the entire book of 1 John; this Epistle reveals that we are indeed one with The Triune God, and He has become real and substantial to us.
By experiencing and enjoying The Triune God, we come to know Him; we need to know The Triune God experientially by inwardly enjoying the subjective God.
John’s Epistles reveal The Triune God—the Father, the Son, and The Spirit.
And we…know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding so that we may 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 Experience of Life
The Triune God is not merely an object of our faith; He indwells us as our life and life supply for us to experience and enjoy.
Our Advocate with the Father is Jesus Christ the Righteous; the Lord Jesus, when we sin, based on the propitiation He has accomplished, intercedes and advocates for us, taking care of our case.
The Spirit given to us by God is bountiful and without measure; by this bountiful and unmeasured Spirit, we have full assurance that we are one with God and coinhere with one another; our God, who is the Father, has given us the All-Inclusive, life-giving Spirit; this Spirit is the bountiful supply of the Son Jesus Christ.
Practice and Application
We need to know The Triune God experientially by inwardly enjoying the subjective God; if we want to know The Triune God, we must be on the line of life and in the process of growing in life; the more we grow in life, the more we are concerned with the divine Trinity.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 If we want to understand The Triune God, we must be in the process of growth in life (1 John 2:27).
( Please illustrate that if we do not pursue growth in life along this line of life, we will not be able to understand anything concerning The Triune God.)
T2 The more we grow in life, the more concerned we are with The Triune God (1 John 2:27, 4:4).
( Please illustrate that give examples to show that the entire New Testament is structured by The Triune God.)
Day 2
T1 We can know that we abide in God (1 John 4:13).
( Please illustrate that what it means to abide in God.)
T2 God abides in us, and we abide in Him (1 John 4:13-14).
( Please illustrate that this is a matter of coinherence, blending, and organic union.)
Day 3
T1 The Son of God has given us an understanding so that we may know Him who is true (1 John 5:20).
( Please illustrate that understanding is related to our mind, our spirit, and the Spirit of reality.)
T2 Eternal life has the power to know God (1 John 5:20, John 16:13).
( Please illustrate that eternal life is the divine life, possessing a special function—to know God.)
Day 4
T1 The phrase “Him who is true” is subjective, indicating that God has become subjective to us (John 1:14, 1 John 4:15).
( Please illustrate that what the phrase “Him who is true” means.)
T2 We are in Him who is true (1 John 4:15).
( Please illustrate that we are also in Him who is true, that is, in His Son Jesus Christ.)
Day 5
T1 The true God and eternal life are one (1 John 5:20).
( Please illustrate that in our experience, being in Him who is true and in Jesus Christ are one.)
T2 In our experience, this true One becomes the true God, and Jesus Christ becomes eternal life (Col. 2:9, 1 John 3:24).
( Please illustrate that the “this” in 1 John 5:20 is God and Jesus Christ, in whom we are.)
Day 6
T1 Children, keep yourselves from idols (1 John 5:21).
( Please illustrate that what idols refer to.)
T2 True God, eternal life in our experience (1 John 5:11-12).
( Please illustrate that in our experience, Him who is true, His Son Jesus Christ, the true God, and eternal life—these four are one.)
