4. I Possess Life

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John places two ‘miracles’ in-between Jesus’ discussion of the fields white with harvest and the continuing issue over what God does and what Jesus and we do. The first is the healing of the royal official’s son from a distance. This takes place in Galilee. Then, a few months later, Jesus is back in Jerusalem where He heals a crippled man on the Sabbath. It seems that Jesus went out of His way to heal on the Sabbath, even to provoke the Pharisees.

Yet this was for great purpose, because the issue of the Sabbath is “work” and this issue of work is critical.

The Sabbath. Jesus had said to His disciples, “My food is to do the desire of the One who sent Me, and to complete His work.” This same Jesus lives inside of us and is our life. He extends Himself to us to fulfill this same purpose as us.

The true meaning of the Sabbath, that is, God’s intended meaning, is central to our consideration of Jesus’ words in the remainder of Chapter 5. Then we see that Jesus repeats this statement twice. “Of Myself, I can do nothing.” This is not a statement of works, but of fact. Jesus did not “try” to do nothing of Himself. Rather, He could not.

Sabbath Rest. Jesus later applies this same FACT to us, in John 15. – “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” This is the Sabbath rest. The one who “tries really hard” to do nothing apart from Jesus, always “seeking God’s will and not my own,” is refusing to believe Jesus’ words and is continually violating the true Sabbath rest. Jesus is the Sabbath, and the only way anyone can enter into that rest is to believe INTO Him, and never to believe otherwise.

But the answer to this issue of work, of completing the Father’s work, is the topic of Ch. 6.

A False “Work.” Completing the Father’s work is our purpose, it’s what we do; it’s the design of our humanity. The Father cannot complete His work inside of creation apart from us, for He purposed from the beginning to perform His mighty work through humans.

There are two kinds of work, that is, two definitions of work. One kind of work is trying to do the will of God in order to be right with God. This “work” is always a scam, performed solely to be superior in one’s own eyes before others. This “work” is a refusal of God and hostile towards completing the Father’s true work.

Regular Work. Anytime Paul said that we are not “saved by works,” he was speaking of this kind of so-called “work.”

The other kind of work is just plain work. I go out daily to work in my garden. I plant, I weed, I water, I harvest. I do this work for one reason only, because it needs to be done. More than that, I do this work entirely together with my Father, who shares with me everything we do together. I acknowledge God enjoying the work with me and I include His blessing of goodness into my garden. The Father and I work together, a simple statement of fact.

Topics Woven Together. Next, we see that Jesus inserts the larger issue of LIFE, where it is found and how we obtain it, into the contention with the Pharisees over work. Then, Jesus also weaves in the question of witness, of evidence, of proof, concerning the Word God speaks.

Now, in Chapter 4, it was very easy to see three distinct topics, one after the other, that flowed together as the patterns of God. In the discussion of Chapter 5, however, the topics Jesus presents are all woven together, back and forth. In the “classroom,” we take these topics apart to know each, but for LIFE, we must then weave them back together.

Three Topics. What I mean to say is that as I enflow the statements of faith in the top of the page, I must separate the strands out and weave each separate strand as one per paragraph. Then, in the boxes, I hope to weave them back together, or at least point towards weaving them back together. Of truth, this is how understanding comes, otherwise Jesus’ words are just a bunch of disconnected ideas to our minds.

There are three primary topics, then, throughout these statements of faith for Chapter 5. The first is works, the works of the Father, the second is life, and the third is judgment. Woven through these, then, is witness or proof.

Life. The central issue, again, is life. What is life? That’s easy. Life is knowing the Father. What is knowing the Father? That’s easy. Knowing the Father is life. The question, then, is not what, but how. How do we know the Father?

The first part of ‘how’ comes in Chapter 6, to believe into Jesus. But the final completion of the how we know well, and that is to AC-knowledge the Father as sharing our life with us and we sharing His life with Him. And thus Jesus begins by setting forth Himself as our example, that is, by acknowledging “Father with Me.”

My Father AND I. Here are Jesus’ words. –  “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” His later explanation of what this means is clearly “Father and I are working together.”

Jesus declared with bold public speaking that the Father shared all things with Him. Jesus was acknowledging God. This statement got the Pharisees really bent out of shape. To fully grasp Jesus’ meaning, we must position these guys, for this is the setting of the revelation of Father with us. Anger came from Jesus’ first words, but His last words to them in this setting undoubtedly produced deep bitterness.

Dishonesty. Let me paraphrase what Jesus said to them. “Moses is the one who is prosecuting you before God because you don’t believe a word he wrote.”

The leaven of the Pharisees is dishonesty. All humans have been dishonest, but religious dishonesty is the worst. Paul boasted that, when he was a Pharisee, he kept the law better than any other human kept the law. We must understand what that really means. Paul’s “road to Damascus” experience was the first moment of honesty in his life. Yes, he “kept the law,” yet his “obedience” had resulted only in putting Christ to death.

The False Motive. The one who says, “I will stop doing what I want to do and I will try very hard to do what God wants me to do,” is a practical atheist, for “God” to them is far, far away. But Paul understood their motive because he had been better at such dishonesty than any of them.

Let me put that motive into my own words. “Let me pretend to everyone that I am ‘doing God’s will’ (even though I am not and never have), that way I can see myself as superior, that is, almost ‘like God,’ and way above these other contemptible people. That way I get to treat them with disrespect and call it ‘service to God.’”

Two Stupid Things. All human perversity consists of the same two stupid things, arrogance and contempt. All arrogance of self is a lust for the outward perfection of the devil, and all contempt for others is a contempt for God. Paul had been using “obedience to God” to drive God out of his world, and he was better at it than anyone else.

Humans are utterly dishonest. – Because, here’s the thing. You want to be the one who is “RIGHT.” Except no one cares. NO ONE appreciates your rightness or your superiority, EVERYONE holds you in complete contempt. It’s all mental fakery for one purpose – to escape the acknowledgement of God.

The Setting. Jesus began the discussion by acknowledging “Father with Me,” and He ended it by clarifying religious dishonesty. This is the setting into which Jesus then speaks all these wondrous things. God’s purpose for this setting is something that I did not understand, something that really bothered me, as it has you. Six thousand years of folly? As I live now in acknowledging Father with me, the reasons for this setting are at least visible to me in their outline. But we will hold that topic for later in John’s gospel.

Let’s paraphrase Jesus’ twice-repeated phrase, “Of Myself, I am incapable of doing God’s will, or anything else.”

Contending with Dishonesty. Let’s extend that paraphrase a bit further. “I cannot ever be of Myself. I am and can only be Father with Me.” Yet inside His contention with dishonesty, Jesus’ words meant something slightly different. “Hey, I didn’t do anything, why are you blaming Me? If God wanted to heal this guy, then you’re problem is with God, not Me.”

Here’s the thing, the more I know my Father and the more I acknowledge that He shares all things with me, the more I see the evil and uselessness of dishonesty, how it is killing, even my readers, that is, preventing them from knowing God. And I am compelled to strike against dishonesty, for there is no other way for the DEAD to hear LIFE.

Placing the Issue. The issue is death versus life. The issue is refusing “Father with me” versus acknowledging “Father with me.” That is the issue, but the smokescreen blown up to hide the real issue is always dishonesty. “I’m doing just fine.”

Now I am ready, I think, to weave the statements of faith into a flow of meaning for the Jesus Secret page and I will switch over to sharing what is on that page. Placing the issue, however, enables me to hear the understanding the Spirit gives concerning these precious words of Jesus, words that now apply to us.

I possess life. – I acknowledge Father always with me.

Application and Analysis. Let me use an example to show what we must do to arrive at an understanding of Jesus’ words in Chapter 5. Give a young man a complete working car engine and the manual. Have him take it all apart, every piece carefully, using the manual, and have him study each piece as he sees it, to know what role it plays. This is analysis. Then, have him put it back together again, still following the manual and considering the function and place of that one piece with the whole. This is application. Then, with the engine running, have him consider what each part is doing. This process brings a deeper level of understanding, one that remains. This is what we do with Chapter 5.

A Profound Purpose. As we perform this process with Chapter 5, we discover a powerful and profound description of the purpose of God. Indeed, this whole discussion of Jesus becomes for us an expansion of Romans 8:28, synergeoing with God making all things good.

After weaving together the statements of faith, I am compelled to place what is normally at the top of the page, the enflowing of Christ as me, at the bottom, for these paragraphs are large and powerful. Two boxes will come first, then, leading us into the enflow of word. Those are “The Meaning of Life,” and the definitions of “To Have.”– I Possess Life.

The Meaning of Life. Life for me means knowing the Father through knowing Jesus Sent into me. It means knowing the Lord Jesus as every Word God speaks written all through my human heart.

The life God possesses inside of Himself, however, is beyond human conception. Nonetheless, God gave to Jesus to possess this same life inside Himself and then, because I possess the Son inside myself, I also possess that same life.

I live as I know, in intimate closeness and in bold confidence, something beyond knowing, the Person of my Father through a Jesus who is human like me, and I like Him.

My Daily Life. I am always coming out from and being sustained by this LIFE that the Father possesses through a Jesus who knows how to connect Father with me.

I am animated every moment by the life the Father possesses. The unfolding of my daily life is the next part of God showing His life through me as I am.

Every word and moment of the story of my life is Christ Jesus revealing the Father as He wishes inside of me.

I live inside of God; God lives inside of me. Father and I share life together.

To Have (from Webster’s 1926). To hold LIFE in possession of my control; to hold as property; to own, with authority and privilege. To possess LIFE as connected to me. To possess a knowledge of God; to know Him; to understand Him.

To hold, keep, retain, and cherish LIFE in regard, affection, and remembrance. To give expression to, to exercise LIFE. To perform, to experience, to engage in LIFE. To get possession of, to obtain LIFE.

I have, hold, own, and possess LIFE. To have is general; LIFE is mine. To hold is stronger; I grip LIFE and never let it go. To own is LIFE as my property. To possess means full title over LIFE. I have the Son; I possess LIFE.

Life Expressed. God is my Father. My Father is working until now and I am working. My Father and I always work together. I can do nothing out from myself, rather, I do only what I perceive the Father doing. Everything that I do comes out from the Father’s doing.

The Father loves me and shows me all that He does. What I see is the Father showing me. The Father shows me greater things to do and I marvel. None of these things are out from myself, but all are the Father doing with me.

Jesus gives witness concerning me and concerning His life inside of me. My witness is true because the works my Father sent me to complete, these works I do, and they bear witness of me that Jesus is my life.

The Meaning of Works. Works are the expression of life; they are the actions of daily living coming out from, first the generation of life, and second the interweaving of life inside our self-story. Works are what the spiritual/physical body does. As such, our works, coming out from knowing the Father inside of Love, are simply an expression of ourselves and Father sharing life together.

Our works are the proof of Christ; our actions of love are the completion of Jesus. But most and best of all, we get to do, every moment, together with our Father. This is just the best way to live.

The Desire of Jesus. With great desire, the Son wants me with Him and has given me the same life that the Father gave to Him, the same intimate closeness with the Father. I hear the voice of the Son of God - I hear the word Jesus speaks. I believe the One who sent Him into me - I hear and I live. I possess age-unfolding life.

I do not know death; I am found only inside of life. I possess life, the same life the Father gives to Jesus, the same intimate knowing of the Father. I possess life.

I search the Scriptures, not to find life upon the page, but that I might know Jesus. I hear His voice; I see His form. His word remains inside of me. I come to Jesus; He gives me the knowledge of Father with me. I possess life.

The Place of Life. The place of life is the desire of Jesus. God’s Pro-Determination is beyond human comprehension, but we can know Jesus, and we can at least put into words the immensity of His DESIRE for us to be with Him, to share His life with Him.

Why do we claim Jesus’ life as our own (besides our tendency to believe that God is telling us the truth)? It’s because we know the beyond-knowing intensity of Jesus' desire to share Himself with us and we with Him, a desire that comes out from Gethsemane.

We LIVE inside that DESIRE.

My Judgment Is Just. All judgment is given to me because I value and honor the Son just as I value and honor the Father. I never come into judgment myself, for Jesus changed my place out from death and into life. Rather, God gives me authority to execute judgment as a human made in His image.

Yet because I am not able to do anything of myself, I judge only as I hear the Father speaking. I do not seek my own desire; I seek always the desire of the One who sent me. My desire is not mine, but His.

I seek the glory of God. For this reason, my judgment is just. I possess life, and my judgment is just.

A Time to Worship. “Judgment” is the next chapter to write in Symmorphy VI: Mankind. Here, all we want to do is to place our forehead upon the ground and to worship our Father. Yet He always lifts us up and sits us inside His throne and says to us, “Look and see all things. Let’s turn everything into goodness, you and Me.”

This is the time of worship; this is the place of judgment, seeing all things good, calling all things into goodness. True worship, to kiss the Father, is to acknowledge that He shares LIFE with us every moment, and that every step we take together, regardless of appearance, is GLORY.

Reading for Next Time. The next lesson is “I Believe into Jesus.” This is the response to the question, “What is the work of God?” In order to get the continuity regarding “God work,” read Chapters 5 & 6 in the JSV.

“This is the work of God, that you should believe into Him whom He sent.”

I did not realize before, but this is a “turn around” verse. Inside of and out from Jesus, all that we do is of God just as all Jesus did was of God. Doing things to “get into” Jesus, however, is unbelief, that is, hostility against God. Jesus meant, “Be the same as I described Myself in Ch. 5.”

Let’s Pray Together. Let’s pray the entire prayer this time to place ourselves into all that Jesus spoke in Chapter 5 and to cause the word that He is to be the only thing we know and do. This is a word that, when grounded in us, becomes much fruit outwardly.

“Father, I know You. I know You, Father, because You have sent Jesus Christ into me, both as Himself, to be my life, and as every word You speak written all through my heart.

“Because I know You through Jesus, Father, I know that I possess LIFE, the same LIFE You possess inside Yourself. This LIFE that You are, Oh my Father, is always bubbling up inside of me as springs of living water. I drink always of You, Father, of Your knowing inside of me.

“Lord Jesus, You belong to me, for You are my LIFE. I seize hold of You with all determination, and I will never let You go. I possess all right and privilege that belongs to You.

“I have You, Jesus; I possess LIFE.”

“Father, I know that You love me, and that You share with me all that You are and all that You do. Father, I love You in return, out from Your own love, and I know that You share with me all that I am and all that I do.

“Lord Jesus, I am overwhelmed by the intensity of Your Desire to have me utterly together with You in all things. Lord Jesus, I hear Your Words spoken inside of me and I LIVE! I search the Scriptures, for the words written there are You. I come to You, Lord Jesus, and I LIVE! I possess LIFE.”