Gluten Free & God Seeking: Life Study of John

Showing posts with label Life Study of John. Show all posts

Monday, June 11, 2012

The Watermelon Gospel - What the Gospel of John Shows Us

Some biblical truths are hard to understand. God knew this, and a lot of the Old Testament contains accounts that depict deeper, spiritual realities. Even things in nature can explain truths that are difficult to grasp. You can check out some of them in the blog I wrote a few weeks ago after visiting the California Redwoods.

Last week I read Chapter 30 in the Life Study of John that covered Chapter 14 which has been one of those chapters that have often left me going huh? Especially verse 3 which says And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming [the tense here means that His going was His coming, that He was coming by going (Life Study of John, page 364)] again and will receive you to Myself, so that where I am you also may be. I like the clarity with which Witness Lee presents the truth in this chapter by using a story on page 364 about his children eating watermelon:

Let me use as an illustration a story of something that happened in Taiwan many years ago. One day I bought a huge watermelon. When I brought it home and put it on the dining table, all my children were excited.

Then we took this watermelon into the kitchen. One of the children cried out, "Don't take the watermelon away!" I told them to be quiet, for the taking away of the watermelon was that they might eat it, that the big melon might get into them. The melon had to be processed, to be cut and slashed.

After a few minutes the big melon came back to the children in slices. Every child was happy. In less than an hour the entire watermelon was gone.

Where did it go? It went into the children. Eventually, all the children became watermelon children. The taking away of the watermelon was not its going away. Its taking away was a further coming of the watermelon into the children. Jesus was like that watermelon. How could the disciples swallow Him? It was impossible. He had to be processed, to be cut in pieces. He went to the cross and there He was cut and processed, not only into slices but into watermelon juice good for drinking. Now Jesus is no longer the watermelon but also the juice. Whoever drinks Jesus gets Jesus into him. Jesus went through death that He might come back as Christ in His resurrection" (Lee, Witness. Life Study of John. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1975. Print).

This story of watermelon presents the gospel in such a clear and simple way. Don't you think the Old Testament proved that man in his own self couldn't keep God's law? God knew that the only way fallen man could ever fulfill His purpose was for His divine life to get INSIDE of man.

The Lord's incarnation was the first step of this process--the entire Godhead (John 1:1, 14) became a man (the watermelon). Then the Lord lived a human life by and with the divine life for 33 1/2 years.
In John 1:29 we see that the Lord is actually the Lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world and accomplish redemption for all men. Then in John 14 the Lord unveils that He needed to go to the cross so He could come into them (the cutting of the watermelon).
Through death and resurrection Christ became a life giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45b) so that He could breathe His divine life into them John 20:22 (the watermelon slices so easy to eat).

Isn't it remarkable that eating watermelon portrays the gospel so simply?

Other blogs on the Life Studies of John:

What is the Focus of the Gospel of John?
What are the Feast of Passover & the Feast of Tabernacles Really About in John 6 & 7?
The Watermelon Gospel - What the Gospel of John Shows Us

If you click on theSeeking God & Life Study tab at the top of the blog window, you will find a list of other Life Study posts that I have done so far!

Monday, May 21, 2012

What are the Feast of Passover & the Feast of Tabernacle Really About in John 6 & 7?

There is no other book like the Bible! It's the only book that I've ever read that never gets boring when you reread it. I enjoy it when I see new things or get a different perspective on a passage. Last week I read the John Life Studies on John 6 and 7 which are on the Lord revealing that He's food for the hungry and water for the thirsty.

Did you ever wonder about the two different feasts mentioned in these two chapters and their connection to the words the Lord's spoke? I know I didn't get it, but this time when I read these messages, I saw it more clearly.

In John 7 the people are celebrating the Passover Feast, and in John 7 they are celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. Here's the excerpt from the Life Study on page 208 that helped me get the connection:

"The feast of the Passover occurred early in the year, when the people were working and laboring hard. The case of the feeding of the 5,000 finds the people working to fill their hunger, but failing to be satisfied. They labored, they worked, they sought something to satisfy, but they failed. The Feast of the Tabernacles, on the contrary, occurred at a time when the harvest was over. The people had reaped the corn and wine (Deut. 16:13-14). Everything of the harvest had been reaped, and the people were to come together at the Feast of Tabernacles and enjoy everything with their families and even with their servants. ... That was the time to rejoice in their enjoyment--but they were still thirsty" (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of John. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1975, Print).

What spoke to me from this message was that these two feasts are saying the same thing from two different ends of human life. It's like the Lord is telling us in John 6 and 7 it doesn't matter on what end of your life you're at--at the sunrise or at the sunset, you're either hungry or thirsty. In the beginning of your life you think education and a career will satisfy you, then as you get older you think family and material possessions will satisfy you, but actually you weren't made for them to satisfy you.

As I was reading these messages, I was thinking about a video clip produced by Bibles for America that I saw last week called the God-Shaped Vacuum. We showed this to some college students at our Bible study because some of the students there weren't saved yet. It's great because it shows that even Solomon who had more wealth than any man on earth realized it was vanity. Only Christ satisfies the hungry and thirsty heart.

Blog Update 10-4-13: If you go on to Living Stream Ministry's radio website, you will find Programs 21-24 cover these chapters. I've really enjoyed tuning in to these broadcasts. You will get to hear live experts of Witness Lee's speaking plus some great commentary.

Other posts on the Life Studies of John:

You can listen to the message excerpts from the Life-Study of John put out by Living Stream Ministry on the radio program called Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee,

What is the Focus of the Gospel of John?
What are the Feast of Passover & the Feast of Tabernacles Really About in John 6 & 7?
The Watermelon Gospel - What the Gospel of John Shows Us

Other related posts from other Life Studies:

From the Life-Study of Luke:
A Great Gospel Illustration - How is Man Like a Glove?

From the Life-Study of Romans:
What Was Man Created For in Romans 9:21?

From Bible Studies with College Students:
Reading the Mystery of Human Life with College Students

If you click on the God Seeking & Life Study tab at the top of the blog window, you will find a list of other Life Study posts that I have done so far!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

What's the Focus of the Gospel of John?

Have you ever heard that the Bible is a book on life and building? Last week I started reading the Life-Study of John, and in the opening messages Witness Lee shares that the Gospel of John illustrates how life and building are the central focus of this gospel.

In the opening chapters he first shows how the Bible begins and ends with life and building. Then he pointed out that in between Genesis and Revelation is a record of building. Have you ever thought about that?

In the Old Testament this building revolved around the building of the tabernacle and then the temple. But the New Testament reveals that God is building a spiritual house with all of His regenerated people.

These verses in Ephesians 2:20-22 show this: Being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone. In whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit. I never would have seen this so clearly without this Life-Study!!

In the first chapter of John you can see both life and building. In John 1:4 you can see the Lord’s life: In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And building is implied in verse 51 when the Lord told Nathaniel that he would see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.

This Life-Study said that the Jews of that time knew that the Lord was referring to Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28. While Jacob was sleeping, he had a dream of a ladder and angels going up and down on it. What’s unusual is that when Jacob woke up, he said in verse 17, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God,…” Here's Witness Lee's commentary on that section in Chapter 4 of the Life-Study of John on page 49:

The Lord's word to Nathaniel was the fulfillment of Jacob's dream. Christ, as the Son of man with His humanity, is the ladder which is set up on earth and leads to heaven, keeping heaven open to earth and joining earth to heaven for the house of God, (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of John. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1975, Print).

In these opening messages, he shares that these verses in Chapter 1 of the Gospel of John reveal that the life of God is for the building of God. What an outstanding connection our brother made here!

Pages