Read and Pray: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on My own, but the Father, who remains in Me, does His works.” (Jn 14:10)
THE HOUSE OF GOD IS GOD HIMSELF
Protestantism adopted the Catholic notion and always speaks of going to heaven. In reality, we are in heaven; we have been seated with Christ in the heavenly places since the day we were saved, because the day we believed in Him, we entered into God. There is no Scriptural basis for Catholic and Protestant teachings regarding going to heaven. Even Paul is not in heaven—he is in Paradise.
We need to understand that this is about persons: God and man. It is not a matter of place: heaven. The act of God entering man is His coming to earth; the act of man entering God is his going to heaven. For this reason, the Lord said, “And where I go, you know the way” (Jn 14:4). He was actually saying, “Now I am going to the Father. Just as I entered man through incarnation, I am going to the Father to enter Him through death and resurrection.”
The disciples understood that the Lord was referring to a place and said, “We do not know where You are going; how can we know the way?” (v. 5). Then the Lord told them, “I am the way [...] no one comes to the Father except through Me” (v. 6).
The way is the Lord Himself, and the destination is the Father. Therefore, it is not a matter of place but of being brought into the Lord by believing, of being brought into God by believing. Through death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus brought man to God so that man could enter into union with God.
When man enters into God, he enters the realm of heaven, that is, the realm where God is. From this perspective, it is a place. The beginning of chapter fourteen speaks of God and the house of God. He cannot be separated from His house. One must enter into God to be in the house of God. Whoever enters into Him enters into His house. Therefore, no one can enter the house of God without being in Him. One must be in Him to enter His house.
In His incarnation, the Lord Jesus came from the Father and entered into man. However, to return to the Father, He had to pass through death and resurrection. Through death and resurrection, the Lord returned to the Father from man. In this way, the Lord would be in the Father. That was where He was going.
The Lord’s coming was a matter of entering into man, not of coming to earth. His going was a matter of going to the Father, not of going to heaven (v. 28). The Lord entered into man through incarnation, and He entered into the Father through death and resurrection. The Gospel of John does state that the Lord Jesus ascended to heaven. It says, “No one has ascended to heaven except He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man, who is in heaven” (3:13).
However, we should not say that the Lord’s going to the Father refers to His going to heaven. He did not return to heaven. At that time, He was with the disciples and continues to dwell in us. Since He desires to dwell with us, how could He leave us? Therefore, His going in chapter fourteen does not refer to going to heaven but to going to the Father from man. “Believe into God, believe also into Me” is the theme of this chapter.
The Lord Himself is the way to believe and enter into God. The Lord entered into the Father through death and resurrection, and we enter into the Father through the Lord. “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him” (v. 7).
The Lord wanted the disciples to know that it was not about a position or a place but about a person, that is, the Father. Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us” (v. 8). Jesus replied, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (v. 9). These words are very significant.
These verses do not speak of a place; they speak of a person. They speak of God, not of the heavens. It is a matter of entering into God, not of going to heaven. This chapter is not about rapture or ascension; it is about the Lord Jesus bringing man into God through His death and resurrection. “Believe into God, believe also into Me” is the subject of this chapter. This matter is entirely about a person.
In verse 10, the Lord says, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on My own, but the Father, who remains in Me, does His works.” While verse 2 says, “In My Father’s house,” verse 10 states, “The Father, who remains in Me.” Where does the Father dwell? Where is His house? Logically, we live in our home. Our home is where we dwell. Many Christians think that the Father’s house is heaven; however, verse 10 declares, “The Father, who remains in Me.” This shows that when the Lord Jesus was on earth, He was the Father’s house. We cannot say that a person lives in Taipei while his home is in Taichung. A person lives in his home.
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