In the Gospel of John the Lord Jesus performs a number of miracles. The apostle John calls these miracles "signs," inviting us to consider the spiritual significance behind each one. In this booklet compiled from the Life-study of John, Witness Lee explains that the principle of all these signs is found in the first sign, the turning of water into wine. The turning of water into wine signifies the turning of death into life. The human life with its natural enjoyment runs out and fails in death, but the Lord changes death into life by regenerating the believers with the eternal, divine life of God Himself and ushering them into the full enjoyment of this life in this age and in the ages to come. This principle of life, to turn death into life, is the key to unlocking the spiritual significance of the remaining signs in the Gospel of John. All the miracles in this Gospel unveil Christ as the embodiment of the divine life coming to meet the need of every human being by overcoming death in all its manifestations and turning death into divine life.
Although the language of the Gospel of John is simple, this book is deep and profound. In this life-study, Witness Lee shows that the Bible is a book of life and building and that the Gospel of John also is focused on life and building. The Gospel of John reveals that in Christ, the Word of God, is life; that He came that man may have life; and that He Himself is life. Furthermore, this Gospel shows that Christ is the bread of life; that He has the water of life; that He gives life to man; and that He even lives in man as life. The Gospel of John also unfolds the divine building. In 1:14, we see that Christ in the flesh was the tabernacle for God’s habitation among men on earth. In 2:19-21, Christ’s human body was also the temple of God on earth. Through His death, His body in the flesh was destroyed, and in His resurrection, He raised up His mystical body, the church, to be the enlarged temple of God. This is God’s building in the universe. Furthermore, this Gospel reveals that the believers are to be built up to be the Father’s house, the dwelling place of the Triune God. This is adequately and fully disclosed in John 14. According to that chapter, all the believers will be built together as God’s eternal habitation with many abodes. Thus, as the Lord’s last prayer in John 17 indicates, all His believers must be built up into one. The first section of the Gospel of John, composed of the first 13 chapters, is on the coming of the Lord Jesus to bring God into man and to declare God to man. The second section, composed of the last eight chapters, is on the Lord’s going in death and coming back in resurrection to bring man into God and to abide in and with man for God’s building.
In Christianity today, most prayers and ceremonies are validated and punctuated by such phrases as, 'In Jesus' Name!' 'In the name of Jesus!' and 'In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost (or Holy Spirit)!' However, this book unveils the Name of Jesus Christ (Hashem Yeshua HaMoshiach), according to the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation as: the intrinsic essence of His Being; the Person of the Lord Himself; the sphere of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, ascended Jesus as the glorified God-man; the aggregate of all His accomplishments, attainments and obtainments and much, much more ...
Throughout the centuries, translations of the Bible have steadily improved. In general, each new translation inherits from previous ones and opens the way for later ones. While a new translation derives help from its predecessors, it should go further. The Recovery Version of the New Testament, following the precedent set by the major authoritative English versions and taking these versions as reference, not only incorporates lessons learned from an examination of others’ practices but also attempts to avoid biases and inaccurate judgments. This version, frequently guided by other versions, attempts to provide the best utterance for the revelation in the divine Word, that it may be expressed in the English language with the greatest accuracy. Translating the Bible depends not only on an adequate comprehension of the original language but also on a proper understanding of the divine revelation in the holy Word. Throughout the centuries the understanding of the divine revelation possessed by the saints has always been based upon the light they received, and this understanding has progressed steadily. The consummation of this understanding forms the basis of this translation and its footnotes. Hence, this translation and the accompanying footnotes could be called the “crystallization” of the understanding of the divine revelation which the saints everywhere have attained to in the past two thousand years. It is our hope that the Recovery Version will carry on the heritage that it has received and will pave the way for future generations. As with any New Testament translation, the determination of the original Greek text, based upon the available manuscripts, forms the basis for the text of the Recovery Version of the New Testament. The Recovery Version follows, for the most part, the Nestle-Aland Greek text as found in Novum Testamentum Graece (26th edition). However, in determining the original form of any verse, the translators of the Recovery Version gave careful consideration to the larger context of chapter and book and to similar portions of the New Testament. The most recently discovered manuscripts or the manuscripts of oldest date are not necessarily the most accurate or reliable; hence, the determination of the text for this version was based largely upon the principle stated above. Departures from the Nestle-Aland text are sometimes indicated in the footnotes. Italicized words in the verses indicate supplied words, not found in the Greek text. Quotation marks are used to indicate close quotation from the Old Testament. The Recovery Version embodies extensive research into the meaning of the original text and attempts to express this meaning with English that is to the point, easy to understand, and readable. In those places where it is difficult to express the exact meaning of the original Greek, explanatory footnotes have been supplied. The subject provided at the beginning of each book and the outline of each book take the historical facts as their base and express the spiritual meaning in each book. The footnotes stress the revelation of the truth, the spiritual light, and the supply of life more than history, geography, and persons. The cross-references lead not only to other verses with the same expressions and facts but also to other matters related to the spiritual revelation in the divine Word.
Every human being has a need related to his or her condition. In his Gospel, John presents nine cases that represent the various conditions and needs of human beings in order to illustrate that Jesus Christ as life fully meets the need of man's every case. In this booklet taken from the Life-study of John, Witness Lee focuses on the first of these nine cases, which illustrates that even the moral have a need—life's regenerating.
When Nouwen was asked by a secular Jewish friend to explain his faith in simple language, he responded with "Life of the Beloved, " which shows that all people, believers and nonbelievers, are beloved by God unconditionally.
Every human being has a need related to his or her condition. In his Gospel, John uses nine cases to represent the various conditions and needs of human beings in order to illustrate that Jesus Christ as life fully meets the need of man's every case. In this booklet taken from Life-study of John, Witness Lee focuses on the third of these nine cases, that of the son of a royal official. The official’s son was dying, and through his situation, the Lord showed the third need of mankind—the need of life’s healing. The older we get, the more we are impressed with the shortness of life. Apparently we are living, but actually we all are in the process of dying. We are weak and fragile and in need of healing. But just as the official’s son received the healing in John 4, so also can we receive life’s healing today.
