“IN,” AND THE NEW FORM OF WORSHIP
By: Frank Tunstall, D. Min.
In preparing His disciples for His departure, Jesus opened a whole new concept of the abiding presence of God that laid the foundation for the new form of worship in the New Covenant. The disciples already knew what it meant to have the Holy Spirit with them. They had seen the results in peoples’ lives time-and-time-again during Jesus’ ministry. Now the Lord adds the Holy Spirit “will be in you” (John 14:17). Amazingly, this little preposition becomes especially important as we seek to understand Jesus’ message; hence, this article italicizes the use of ín with italics and bold copy.
Many might think it silly to talk about an in paradigm. But in fact, Jesus was explaining His plan that night to phase out the Old Covenant and usher in the New Covenant with a new form of Christ-centered worship (John 4:21-24). Jesus’ prophetic objective was first to prepare His disciples for the big transition from His personal, physical presence to the eternal presence of the Holy Spirit indwelling believers. Second, the Lord would lay the foundation for the new Christ-centered form of worship that would become commonplace in the New Covenant (Ephesians 1:10; 4:15; 5:23; Colossians 1:18).
Dear reader, please consider in this context the seven in statements which follow in John 12:44 through John 14:19. A Godly marriage makes a good illustration for this teaching. A husband and wife come together and conceive a baby. The baby grows in the mother’s womb until the day arrives for her to birth their child. From that day for a lifetime, the child remains in the dad and the mom, and the dad and the mom are in the child. Parents and children are so in each other when grandchildren come along, the grandparents love their grandchildren as their own children. The death of a child, or of a parent, or both parents does not end the bond.
As this discussion proceeds, please note that in is set in bold type to make the point better.
- John 12:44-46 – “Then Jesus cried out, ‘When a man believes in Me, he does not believe in Me only but in the one who sent Me. When he looks at Me, he sees the one who sent Me. I have come into the world as a light so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.’”
Jesus and His Father are distinctive Persons and at the same time are in each other and are one in essence. To believe in Jesus is to believe in His Father; to see Jesus is to see His Father. The birth of identical triplets with each having almost the same essence (or DNA) adds clarity to the point.
- John 13:31-32 – “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will glorify the Son in Himself, and will glorify Him at once. Yes, Jesus gave the highest honor to His Father, even as the Father’s Son was glorified. The Son is in the heavenly Father, and the Heavenly Father is in the Son.
- John 14:10-11 – “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? It is the Father, living in me, who is doing His work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.”
In the shadow of the cross, Jesus’ disciples were struggling with the Lord’s teaching. He confronted them: “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? My Father who lives in me is doing His work. Believe me when I say I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”
- John 14:12-13 – “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.”
This new approach to worship shows we are in Jesus around the clock, and Jesus is in us 24/7. This understanding inspires great faith to walk daily in Jesus’ footsteps, and especially in regular worship of Jesus in all the ministries of the Lord’s church.
Vesting faith in Jesus name and asking in His name is the path to even greater miracles that will give glory to the Father through Jesus Christ, God’s Son.
- John 14:15-16 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
Here the Lord begins to introduce His disciples to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. If you, dear reader, have confessed Jesus as the Son of God with a repentant heart, then you are in Jesus, and Jesus is in you, and you are in the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is in you. You experience the Holy Spirit first in conviction for sin, then in the New Birth, next in sanctifying grace, followed by the baptism with the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:27). The Holy Spirit is more than a counselor for a person’s life. Jesus’ promise is that the presence of the Holy Spirit will be eternal, a “Counselor… forever” (John 14:16).
- John 14:19-20 – “Before long, the world will not see Me anymore, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live.”
Jesus was in transition, heading to His cross, then His resurrection, next His ascension, and finally to the celebration of Pentecost to launch this new Christ-centered way of worship.
The Lord began to wrap up His teaching on the new paradigm of in by teaching when His resurrection came the disciples would clearly realize Jesus, the great “I AM,” is in His Father, and His followers are in Jesus. Even in heaven after Jesus’ ascension the Lord Jesus has remained both in His Father and His followers, and we live in Him and in His Father.
- The Classic Illustration of the in Paradigm.
The parable of the vine and the branches unveils the message best. “I am the true vine” is the seventh of the seven “I AM” statements made by Jesus Christ (John 15:1 ff). They are all worthy of study: John 15:1. 6:35, 8:12, 10:9, 11:25-26 and 14:6. These seven bold statements identify Jesus directly as the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the God who “said to Moses, ‘I AM THAT I AM’” (Exodus 3:14).
The word picture, “I AM the true vine” is immensely powerful as an illustration because it describes with excellence what Jesus is to His Father and to the Holy Spirit in the Godhead, and to His followers in the church. Many illustrations make a good point, some make an excellent point, and a few make an almost perfect point.
No illustration, however, perfectly describes the Trinity, but here Jesus used the word picture of a grapevine. “I am the true vine” is as faultless as can be found. With this declaration, Jesus announced He is the spiritual lifeblood of every believer in the church He heads. In making this statement, Jesus recognized there are many other vines, or man-made self-righteous systems of thought. But only Jesus is “the true vine.”
The illustration of the vine and the branches brings to full bloom the lesson of in from Jesus’ teaching. This is incredibly important for understanding the interrelationships of the Trinity, and how believers come into a worshipping relationship with God as a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
In the Tri-Unity of the God who is one, Jesus is 100% in the Father and Jesus is 100% in the Holy Spirit. The Father is 100% in Jesus, and the Father is 100% in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is 100% in the Father and the Holy Spirit is 100% in Jesus.
When this understanding of the vine and the branches is applied to believers as the worship of the New Covenant, the kingdom of God in you comes into focus:
Jesus is in every born-again child of God, and every born-again child of God is in Jesus. The Holy Spirit is in every born-again child of God, and every born-again child of God is in the Holy Spirit.
The Heavenly Father is in every born-again child of God, and every born-again child of God is in the Heavenly Father.
Each of these affirmations is truthful. The Heavenly Father is the husbandman, Jesus is the Vine, and believers are the branches. Fruit bearing is the direct result of abiding in Jesus, who is the Vine. If the branch is not in the vine, no amount of a husbandman’s efforts can make it produce grapes. Instead, the husbandman will cut those dead branches away and burn them. In fact, a branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine to produce even one grape. If a person (the branches) connects with the vine (Jesus), and the vine connects to the Husbandman (the Heavenly Father) that grapevine will bear much fruit.
It is a masterful word picture.
This explanation of Jesus in the Father and the Father in Jesus, and Jesus in us and us in Jesus, illustrated by the vine and the branches, leads directly to our understanding of the Holy Spirit indwelling believers. The Spirit lives in us and we dwell in the Holy Spirit. But for what purpose? We are to accept the guidance of the Holy Spirit and understand we are responsible to carry out the Lord’s vision as His hands and His voice in the earth.
The new form of worship that emerged in the Lord’s church out of this teaching is simple and universal. Anywhere in the world, when only two or three gather in Jesus’ name,” the Lord said, “there am I in the midst of them.” Worship in the church focuses on Jesus Christ who lives in the hearts of His people. This abiding presence of Jesus is made possible in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The era of sacrificing sheep and lambs to atone for sin in an ornate temple was over. The new plan of worship in the gospel era focuses like a laser on Jesus and Him alone (Matthew 18:20; see also John 4:21-24). Jesus is the one and only Lord we are to worship.
The Ethic of the Newly Revealed “in” Paradigm.
Jesus wanted His disciples to understand the ethic [or new way of thinking and living]. This new relationship is one in which God dwells in His followers, and no longer in a temple made with hands.
The core of this ethic is expressed in the concept of agape love. This is the way to this day the Heavenly Father loves His Son, and the Son loves His Father. It is also how Jesus has loved His followers through the centuries. And the essence of the agape love of God toward people is the Father’s willingness to do what is best for believers, as only God knows what is best.
I am the vine, and ye are the branches;
Bear precious fruit for Jesus today.
The branch that in me no fruit ever beareth,
Jesus hath said, “He taketh away.”By: Knowles Shaw (1834 – 1878)
