LIFE IN CHRIST ONLY

LIFE IN CHRIST ONLY
WHEN we turn in the New Testament to the Gospel according to John, we discover that John
makes an altogether different approach to the atoning work of Christ from that of the other Gospel writers.
He begins at the beginning, and shows us clearly why it is that He who “was God” needed to become man
in order to deliver man from the power of death. It is impossible to read thoughtfully the first chapter of
John’s Gospel without concluding that there was but One in all the universe of God who could be the
Savior of man. Indeed, it is not necessary to read beyond the first five verses of that wonderful chapter to
comprehend why that is so.
The startling revelation that it brings to us is not that the Son of God left His glory, and became
man, and dwelt among us as a bond servant; but, rather, that sin, which made the sacrifice of Christ
necessary, has not changed God’s purpose toward man.
There is no formal introduction to this Gospel. Its first fact is its important fact: “In the beginning
was the Word.” Were this not true, all that the Gospel relates would be valueless. To give power and
effectiveness to all that is proposed in the gospel through Christ, this fact must stand. To believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, we must know not merely that He is, but also that He was, and that He was “in the
beginning!’ His being in the beginning is our assurance of His being now and to all eternity.
The second fact is of equal importance: “And the Word was with God!’ It is not enough that we
know that Christ was in the beginning; we must also know that then He was with God that they were
together in the beginning of the creative purpose. There is a very important reason for our being assured
upon this point. He through whom the creative purpose once wrought is now entrusted with the
responsibility of bringing about a new creation. And inasmuch as we are vitally concerned with that new
creation, it is assuring for us to know that the work is in the hands of One who was with God in the very
beginning, and that through Him the whole work of creation was executed.
The third fact is likewise of great importance: “And the Word was God.” The whole purpose of
the gospel is to take from man that which separates him from God, and to bring to him that which is of God
and will make him one with God. ‘That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that
they also may be one in US,” is the expression of a constant purpose of Christ for His people. Pleading with
His Father for those whom the Father had given Him, He said, “They are Your. And all Mine are Your, and
Your are Mine; and I am glorified in them. Holy Father, keep through Your own name those whom Thou
has given Me, that they may be one, as we are.”
This work of bringing us back to God and of making us one with God is vested in Him who in the
beginning “was,” who was there “with God,” and who “was God.” By these facts our hearts are well
assured of the truth, the completeness, and the perfection of the work undertaken for our redemption by
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Him.
Observe the emphasis that John gives to all three of these facts in the second verse: “The same was
in the beginning with God!’ A wonderful foundation of gospel truth is thus laid for our study. This one who
as the Word was with God and was God in the beginning is the one by whom “all things were made!” He
was the agent of power in active operation in the whole work of creation. Observe again the emphasis here:
“And without Him was not anything made that was made!” There can be no doubt at all as to when this
beginning was, for clearly it is before all creation. There, He who is now our Savior became our Creator,
and the Creator of all other things that were made. That He should be the One by whom the new creation is
wrought is, therefore, in complete accord with the purpose that wrought by Him “in the beginning.”
But still weightier testimony is supplied by John in setting before, us the ground of fact on which
Christ has undertaken wit h authority the work of our redemption. In the beginning when He was with God,
and was God, and all things were made by Him, “in Him was life; and the life was the light of men!”
Well indeed had it been for us had we always remembered this great truth. But this is the vital fact
that the serpent, in beguiling Eve, caused her to forget. The one thing that God had required of man was
obedience. The one thing that could separate man from God, and bring death, was disobedience. The
command of God concerning the forbidden tree was definite: “You shall not eat of it, neither shall you
touch it, lest you die.” But at the suggestion of the evil one that she would not die, that disobedience would
not bring death, that she had life in herself and therefore was independent of the Source of life, she partook
of the fruit, and in doing so separated herself from Him in whom from the very beginning “was life.” In
reaching out to find life that was independent of Him, she found death; and Adam, joining Eve in her
disobedience, brought death “upon all men.”
In the beginning God had purposed that all life should, emanate from His Son. The one way to
retain connection with that life was obedience to the Father’s will. Any separation of His creatures from
that source of life brought death. Now death having passed upon all men through sin, the one way for the
redemption of man from death is to take away his disobedience, and to restore his connection with the
source of life.
It was of this that the Savior spoke in His last discourse to His disciples before His betrayal.
Declaring Himself to be the true vine, His Father the husbandman, and His followers the branches,
He made it clear that, once the uncleanness of disobedience is taken away, it is necessary for His people to
abide in Him as the branch abides in the vine. “He that abides in Me, and I in Him, the same brings forth
much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is
withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” John 15:5, 6. The secret
of this abiding experience is obedience. “If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love; even
as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.” Verse 10.
John tells us that “the life” which was in Christ in the beginning, “was the light of men.” When sin
came, the light was obscured to men by the darkness of their disobedience. But the life from which the light
emanated was unaffected by the change that had come to man. “The light” continued to shine,
notwithstanding the darkness, but “the darkness comprehended it not.” Even then the situation of man was
not regarded by God as utterly hopeless. Man was without means of recovering himself from death. But in
due time “there was a man sent from God, whose name was John.” He came to bear witness to the fact that
the light was still shining; that the darkness had not extinguished it; that there is light for every man that
comes into the world. But this light is the light of the life of the Son of God.
When man was wholly without strength, and could not so much as comprehend the light of the life
of God’s Son, He who was in the beginning with God and was God, He by whom all things were made and
in whom was life, came into this world. “The world was made by Him,” but notwithstanding that, the world
knew Him not. “He came unto His own,” to those whom He had made and to whom He had given life, “and
His own received Him not.” “But,” wonderful, amazing condescension and love! “As many as received
Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.”
That this means that He gave them life is indicated by the next verse, where John continues,
“Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Born of
God! There is the whole secret of life for sinful, ruined humanity. New life through the new birth. New life
with new parentage. New life with new power. New life with a new standing before God. New life with
new relationships. New life with a new outlook on the world and sin and death, upon time and eternity. In
short, a new creation.
This new creation is the achievement of Christ. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature
[“there is a new creation.” A. R. V., margin].” 2 Corinthians 5:17. The old creation had fallen in Adam. It
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was ruined by his disobedience. The new creation has in it the power and light of the life-of the Son of
God, and is established in the obedience of Him who, though God, became man, and lived without sin.
It was with this purpose to re-create man and to give him life, that Christ came to earth. “I am
come,” He declared, “that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10.
He had full right to do this, for the purpose of God from everlasting was that the whole creation should find
life in Him only. He came to earth and took our flesh, but His perfect obedience in the flesh to the will of
His Father has determined that that purpose shall continue in Him. Consequently when about to give His
life for our redemption He was able to say, “I am the way the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the
Father, but by Me.” John 14:6.
In the old creation Adam was given dominion. As head of that creation, Adam failed, and passed
in his failure under the dominion of death. With him the creation of which he was head also failed, and with
him it passed under the ruler ship of death. “Wherefore; as by one man sin entered into the world, and death
by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” “Death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression.” Romans 5:12, 14.
In the new creation another Adam has been given ruler ship. In Him dominion is again restored to
us. Where, because of disobedience, death reigned in the old creation, now, because of the gift of
righteousness, “they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by
one, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even
so by the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” Romans 5:17,18.
“The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” for the express purpose of bringing this about. It
was this that God had covenanted with Abraham to accomplish. It was this that He purposed in His gift of
Christ to the world. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16.
Thank God that all this is an expression of the same purpose that is revealed to us in the beginning.
Sin has wrought no change in God’s purpose for His creatures. The sins of His people have not changed
God. The change that was brought about by sin was in us, and in that over which we had been given
dominion. It is to the unchangeableness of God that we owe the fact that we even now are not destroyed
because of sin. “I am the Lord, I change not; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Even from the
days of your fathers you are gone away from Mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto Me,
and I will return unto you, said the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 3:6, 7.
When we departed from God through sin, He did not pursue us with a changed purpose, but,
having “chosen us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love,” and “having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. In whom we
have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
Ephesians 1:4-7.
As in the beginning when Jesus was with God and was God, we were chosen, according to the
purpose of God, to be holy and blameless before Him in love. So now, in the same purpose, we are
accepted in Christ through the redemption of His blood, our sins being forgiven according to the richness of
His grace.
It was in Christ that we had life before sin came. It is in Christ that we now have life through the
forgiveness of our sins. So it is written: “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God
hath not life.” 1 John 5:12. This, says John, is the record that God has given us of His Son; that life for us is
in His Son, and we have that life by having the Son.
We should understand, then, that it was the Author of life that was made flesh and dwelt among
us, it was the Author of life that was taken by wicked hands and slain on the cross of Calvary, it was the
Author of life that was raised again from the dead, and it is the Author of life through whom we now have
redemption, even the forgiveness of sins. “The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our
fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus; whom you delivered up, and denied Him in the presence of Pilate,
when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the just, and desired a murderer
to be granted unto you; and killed the Author [margin] of life, whom God bath raised from the dead;
whereof we are witnesses.” Acts 3:13-15.
Oh, what an arraignment of guilt in those few words! The Holy One and the just denied. A
murderer desired. The Author of life killed. How terrible, indeed, is sin, and how great the mercy and
forbearance of God! He who had come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly, was none
other than the Author of life. No other ever has been vested with such equality with the Father, or given
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such inherent power and authority. He alone possessed the right to give life. He alone could destroy death.
In the beginning He exercised this power, this right, this authority, by giving life to those whom He had
created. Now in this world that sin has ruined He has exercised it by abolishing death, and by bringing life
and immortality to light through the gospel.
This is in definite continuance of the purpose of God grace that “was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began,” and which has been “made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ”
at His first advent. 2 Timothy 1:9,10. From everlasting He is “the life.” To everlasting He is the
resurrection and the life. Death surely is a remorseless enemy, but, thank God, death is now a defeated foe.
Its power is broken. Its bands have been burst. Over its empty triumph still is sounding the voice of Him
who has gotten us the victory, saying, “He that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”
In His statement to the disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father
but by Me,” Jesus intended that they should understand Him to be not only the way, but the only way; not
only the truth, but the only saying truth; not only the life, but the only source from which life can be
received. If man, who is “dead in trespasses and sins,” is to receive life, then He must of necessity receive it
in Christ, for He is the life-the only life. He that has Christ has life. There is no other in the eternal purpose
of God in whom life inheres. Therefore there was no one else through whom man could be rescued from
death and brought to life. He by whom man was created, and in whom man, in the beginning, had life, is
the only one by whom fallen man could be redeemed.
It was not possible for an angel thus to succor helpless humanity. The angels are “ministering
spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” But life did not inhere in angels, and
therefore no angel could be the savior of lost man. Angels, with all other created beings, are dependent for
life on Him who is the life. “All created beings live by the will and power of God. From the highest seraph
to the humblest animate being, all are replenished from the Source of life.” “In our Savior that life that was
lost through sin is restored; for He has life in Himself to quicken whom He will. He is invested with the
right to give immortality.” “For as the Father bath life in Himself; so bath He given to the Son to have life
in Himself.” John 5:26.
Faith in the Son of God assures us of life. “He that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall
he live.” John 11.25. “He that hears My word, and believes on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and
shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The
hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall
live.” “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice,
and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil,
unto the resurrection of damnation.” “For as the Father raises up the dead, and quickens them; even so the
Son quickens whom He will.” John 5:24, 25, 28,29,21.
Speaking of His own people, Jesus said, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and
no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.” John 10:28, 29.
With such wonderful assurance the word of God encourages us to believe in the Lord Jesus, and to
accept life in Him. Yielded to Him, we are wholly secure in possession of that eternal life which He gives
us. No man, no power outside of ourselves, can take that life from us, for the only thing that can separate us
from that life is sin in our hearts. Therefore let us renounce sin, and choose life, that “when Christ, who is
our life, shall appear, then shall” we “also appear with Him in glory.” Colossians 3:4.