THE CHRISTIAN’S THREEFOLD RELATIONSHIP.
John 15.
This chapter will always be a fathomless deep of spiritual instruction, because the twenty "I’s" that are in it are each a tree of life as big as God, laden with the fruits of grace. All the words of Jesus Christ are everlastingly fresh and seasonable. The breath of eternal life has been breathed into them, so they are destined to live on for ever. The whole chapter might be divided into three parts, each showing a distinct relationship of the believer.
I. Our Relationship to Christ (Luk_24:1-11). Here we are taught that it is one of-
1. Life. "I am the Vine, ye are the branches" (Luk_24:5). The connection is a vital one. Each branch is made a partaker of the life that is in the vine. So, by His grace we are made "partakers of the divine nature," planted into Him, who is the life of men and the fullness of the Godhead bodily (1Jn_5:11).
2. Entire Dependence. "The branch cannot bear fruit of itself; no more can ye" (Luk_24:4). The chief purpose of the branch is not merely to draw as much life from the vine as maintain its own existence, but to bring forth fruit. For this, unbroken fellowship with the vine is absolutely necessary. To be fruitful unto God (the Husbandman) we must moment by moment abide in Christ, so that His Spirit and Word may continually abide in us.
3. Co-operation. "Without Me ye can do nothing" (Luk_24:5). The vine and the branches labour together in fruit-bearing. Jesus, as the true Vine, desires that the Father should be glorified in the fruitfulness of those who, as branches, are united to Him by a loving faith, and being made the recipients of His grace and Spirit. If the "good pleasure" of God is to be wrought out in our lives, it will be because of His working in us both to will and to do (Php_2:13). A barren branch is a dishonour to the vine; the fruitful bring glory to its name.
4. Great Possibilities. "If ye abide in Me,… ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (Luk_24:7). Who has ever yet proved all the spiritual potentialities that lie hidden in these few simple words, "I in you" (Luk_24:4). Our union with Christ brings the things which are impossible with men within easy reach. Paul knew the power of it when he said, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Have faith in God.
II. Our Relationship to One Another (Luk_24:12-17). "That they all may be one" was the prayer of our Lord for His followers (Joh_17:21). As believers, we are closely related to one another. There is a-
1. Oneness of Life. Each branch is possessed by the same sap (Spirit), and dependent on the same source. One spiritual life, governed by the one Head, animates the whole body of Christ. "Christ our life." All are born of the same Spirit, and members of the same family.
2. Oneness of Love. "Love one another, as I have loved you" (Luk_24:12). To love one another as Christ loved us is to love with the love of God shed abroad in our hearts His love was unmerited, unselfish, and abiding. We love Him because He first loved us, so if His love is in us we will not wait till we are loved before we love others. We will go on loving first, because it is Christ’s love in us. He who loveth God will love his brother also (1Jn_4:21). Love one to another is the universal mark of discipleship (Joh_13:35).
3. Oneness of Friendship. "I have called you friends, for all things I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you" (Luk_24:15). The doing of His will constitutes this holy friendship (Luk_24:14). "Whosoever shall do the will of My Father, the same is my brother" (Mat_12:50). In our obedience to the will of God we are brought together into this divine brotherhood, where the "secret of the Lord" becomes common property (Psa_25:14). Was it not because of Abraham’s faithfulness to the will of God that He said, "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" (Gen_18:17).
4. Oneness of Work. "I have chosen you and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit" (Luk_24:16). Our unity of life and privilege leads to unity of service. We have been unitedly chosen and ordained to go and bring forth the fruits of Christ’s character in our lives for the glory of the Father, not for the glory as the individual branch. Where this truth is known experimentally there is no room for jealousy or envy. If one branch is more successful than another there will be mutual joy that the heart of the husbandman has been made glad. The source of all fruitfulness is not in the branch, but in the vine. "From Me is thy fruit found" (Hos_14:8).
III. Our Relationship to the World (Luk_24:18-27).
This may be stated under the following three words-
1. Separation. "Ye are not of the world" (Luk_24:19). The whole world lieth in the wicked one, but ye have been chosen out of the world. Chosen to be a special people unto Himself, not because ye were better or mightier than others, but because the Lord loved you (Deu_7:6-8). Called by His grace, cleansed by His Blood, and made meet for His fellowship by the indwelling of His Spirit.
2. Opposition. "Because ye are not of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (Luk_24:19). As soon as we became sons of God the world "knew us not and despised us as strangers and foreigners" (1Jn_3:1). The true disciple cannot expect to fare better than his Master (Mat_10:22). The "contradiction of sinners" must be expected by all who would follow in Christ’s steps (Heb_12:2-4). "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, … for great is your reward in Heaven" (Mat_5:11).
3. Witnessing. "Ye shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me." (Luk_24:27). We have been separated by Him, to be witnesses for Him, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. In any ordinary court the witnesses are separate persons; they are there not to see and be seen, but to give their evidence. Our business in the great open court of this world, where Christ is still being judged and condemned, is as witnesses for Him. The more intimately we know Him-His Word, His work, and His will-the more powerful and convincing will our evidence be (Luk_24:28). We are His witnesses of these things. What things? We are witnesses to His death, because we have been crucified with Him; to His resurrection, because we have been raised from the dead; to His ascension, because we are seated together with Him in the heavenlies. "Let your light so shine" (Mat_5:16).
Autor: James Smith