These words convey to us some of those wonderful comparisons and measures of divine things which God has given us in the Scriptures. Let us look at a few of the places where they occur. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so much the Son of man be lifted up." John 3:1414And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: (John 3:14).
Once sin came in, nothing short of the lifting up of the Son of man -the cross—could meet and satisfy God's holy and just requirements with respect to it. The brazen serpent was the divinely appointed remedy for that day; so the Son of man lifted up is the alone source of eternal life to all who believe. Nothing short of this work could meet at the same time God's holiness and our need. But it is also the righteous outlet for God's love—not now to one nation, but world-wide in its aspect. Here we have the measure of our distance as sinners—what we were as seen in the light of God's holiness. Nothing less than the lifting up of the Son of man could meet the case and lay the groundwork, according to God, for the gift of eternal life.
"As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me." Chap. 6:57.
The Lord Jesus was indeed the Sent One, the dependent Man on earth who ever walked in perfect communion with, and dependence on, His Father. His words, His works, were those which the Father had given Him to speak, and to do. Now He is not only the giver of life, but food to sustain the life He gives. So our life is to be regulated on these principles—communion, obedience, and dependence on Him, drawing the resources to sustain the divine life, and carry us on from day to day, from Him.
"I am the good shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine. As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father." Chap. 10:14,15. The sheep had heard His voice; He had called them by name; but what a measure of the intimacy of knowledge between Him and them, flowing from the divine life and nature possessed, is expressed in the words, "As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father." "As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you: continue ye in My love." Chap. 15:9. Can we take in fully the extent of the Father's love to the Son? Such is the measure of the Son's love to His people; we cannot grasp its extent, its breadth, its fullness, its abiding and unchangeable character. Love that would serve, cost what it might—love that led Him to give Himself up to death and the enduring of God's wrath against sin—love that rose superior to all that could try and test, and prove it to the last extremity—it is divine love, absolute perfection.
Thou "hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me" (chap. 17:23). Here is the Father's love to them whom He had given to the Son, seen in all its fullness when they shall be manifested before the universe in the same glory with Christ as truly one. Loved as His own Son. Is it not true now to faith?
"As He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:1717Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. (1 John 4:17)). As the accomplisher of redemption, the risen and glorified Man, the Son has taken His place on the Father's throne, waiting the day when He shall sit on His own throne. We are before God our Father, now in this world, in all the unclouded favor and acceptance in which Christ is.
"As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you." "As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world." (Chap. 20:21; 17:18.)
The gospel of John speaks of the Son as the Sent One of the Father. He is thus mentioned more than forty times. We are not of the world, as He was not, but sent into it as not belonging to it, just as the Father had sent Him. His path as the Man on earth—the Servant (He was God too, as we know)—was one of absolute, undeviating obedience, terminating only in death itself. The servants of God and saints of past ages, had trodden the path of faith some little way; but here was One who never swerved from the path of submission to His Father's will for a single moment. Passing through a world where every element was opposed, where everything bore the marks of sin and ruin, where the manifestation of perfect goodness drew out perfect hatred, He could draw His resources as the dependent One, the perfect Servant, from His Father. How truly He has marked out the path and principles of true service! And surely how great the distance at which we follow His steps.
Let us then sum up a little of what is expressed in these two words, "as" and "so." We find in chapter 3:14 the measure of God's requirements with regard to sin—what His holiness demands—the lifting up of the Son of man. In chapter 6:57, the measure of dependence in the one who, through receiving Him, has got this new life and nature. In chapter 10: 14,15, the measure in which Christ knows His sheep, and they know Him. In chapter 15:9, the measure of Christ's love to His people. In chapter 17:23, the measure of the Father's love to them to be displayed in glory. In 1 John 4:1717Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. (1 John 4:17), the measure of our present acceptance. In chapter 20:21, the measure and principle of true service.