Section 13

with the unbelief of Thomas but also to train the disciples to believe without seeing. The Lord was training them to practice His invisible presence. Because the Lord's presence in resurrection today is not a visible presence but rather an invisible presence, we must believe without seeing. If we expect to see before we believe, we are wrong. We must practice believing without seeing because the Lord's presence now is not like it was when He was in the flesh. That was His visible presence. Now that His presence is invisible, we must exer cise our faith to realize it. Although we cannot see Him, we have the assurance that He is with us. According to Acts 1:3-4, the Lord stayed with the disciples for forty days to train them to real ize and to practice His invisible presence.

THE PURPOSE OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

Verses 30 and 31 of John chapter twenty say, "Many other signs therefore Jesus did before His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name." These verses indicate that the purpose of John's Gospel is to testify that Jesus is the Christ (1:41; 4:25, 29; 7:41-42; Matt. 16:16; Luke 2:11) and the Son of

God (John 1:34, 49; 9:35; 10:36; Matt. 16:16; Luke 1:35). Together with John 21:25, these verses affirm that this Gospel is the record of a selec tion of things that serve the purpose of testify ing to the matter of life and building.

The Christ is the title of the Lord according to His office, His mission. The Son of God is His title according to His Person. His Person is a matter of God's life, and His mission is a matter of God's work. He is the Son of God to be the Christ of God. He works for God by the life of God that men also, by believing in Him, may have God's life to be come God's many sons and to work by God's life to build the corporate Christ (1 Cor. 12:12), thus fulfilling God's purpose of His eternal building.

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