2026/11/02

272. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: The Power to Become Children of God

The "power to become children of God" (Jn 1:12) is a power which we can exercise by calling God "Heavenly Father." For us believers, calling God "Heavenly Father" holds immeasurable potential. In this lies the power to overcome the errors and sins that arise from disobeying God's commands. There we see a person who moves forward, casting aside despair, who brings about change even at the cost of losing something, and who seeks to create a new time in collaboration with the Holy Spirit. Why does this happen? This is because Jesus fulfilled God's entire plan, exercising the authority the Heavenly Father bestowed upon him. The "new covenant in my blood" by Jesus served as the fundamental premise for this. We are called Christians because of this covenant—the covenant which Jesus spoke at the institution of the Eucharist: "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Mat 26:28).

The New Covenant is very simple. Yet the whole divine plan rests on it. Although we have discussed this topic many times, grasping this overall picture is essential for us as Christians to know ourselves and determine how we should live; therefore, I would like to reaffirm it here once more. In Genesis, God, who said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen 1:26), established the day described as "And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation" (2:2–3) to be celebrated together with humankind and for humankind to worship God. This is consistent with what Jesus said: "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth" (Jn 4:23), and "for such the Father seeks to worship him" (ibid.).

Jesus went on to say, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth" (Jn 4:24). In these words, can we as Christians recall the experience of the man described in Genesis, where God created in the man the spiritual realm from the dust of the earth, where the "breath of life" that God breathed into the man was connected to human knowledge through the "tree of life," and where the man worked in harmony with the Holy Spirit? In that passage of Genesis, it is written: "So out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them" (Gen 2:19). God was observing whether man would cooperate with the Holy Spirit. At that time, God took His way of being of "the Lord God," who is one in the form of "Father and the Son" and the "Holy Spirit"—changing from that of "God," the Creator existing as the Trinity of "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" (cf. 1:1–2:3)—so that the "Holy Spirit," proceeding from the Father and the Son, could cooperate with the man (cf. 2:4–25).

If understanding Genesis in this way, we will find that humankind will be configured according to the pattern of "the breath of life" + "the tree of life" + "human knowledge" + "a physical body created in 'our image,'" thereby fulfilling God's words at the beginning of human creation: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen 1:26). Subsequently, when the Holy Spirit works in cooperation with this person, God's subsequent words—"let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth" (ibid.)—are fulfilled. Jesus' parents, having received the "Tree of Life" by welcoming Him, could work in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, with the aforementioned pattern being realised within them. However, they remained unaware that Jesus had assumed the way of being of "the Lord God" while they were collaborating with the Holy Spirit. Consequently, when they found the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple in Jerusalem, they failed to understand His words: "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" (Lk 2:49).

When Jesus began His public ministry and was baptised with water, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and He publicly revealed the way of being of "God"—the Creator in whom "the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" form the Trinity. He thus began to prepare to give birth to the Church. At the same time, He testified that the Holy Spirit would descend upon people. It is clear that when Jesus later said, "I and the Father are one" (Jn 10:30), He had assumed the way of being of "the Lord God," and the disciples worked in collaboration with the Holy Spirit, having the "Tree of Life" with them. Jesus—who possesses the way of being of "God" and "the Lord God," a nature human senses can hardly grasp—gave Peter, James and John the opportunity to behold His true being. The three perceived the two figures who appeared there as Moses and Elijah; in reality, however, they had beheld in Jesus the form of "the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" (cf. Mat 17:1–8). Later, Jesus taught them that Elijah had already come and that he was John the Baptist (cf. 17:10–13).

Through his existence as both Divine and human, Jesus sought to make his disciples comprehend the nature of the "Son of God." When a person's pattern—comprising "the breath of life" + "the tree of life" + "human knowledge" + "a physical body created in 'our image'"—is established, and through collaboration with the Holy Spirit they come to embody the formation, "the Holy Spirit and a human being," they are, though it may seem like a faint reflection in a mirror, indeed beholding the "Lord God" face to face. They are drawn into the Triune God, the source of faith, hope and love. Whilst living in this world, where we are already stretched to the limit by embodying the form of "Holy Spirit and human being," we may know only a part of Him; yet when we participate in the Mass in heaven, we shall know God clearly, just as God knows us clearly.

The Apostle Paul wrote about these things in his letters, revealing the nature of those who were granted the "power to become children of God." Paul wrote to his disciples, "But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way" (1 Cor 12:31), and shared his experience of "love" (cf. 13:1–12). He recognised his own state of embodying the form of "the Holy Spirit and human being" in this world. Finally, he concluded by writing, "So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (13:13), and went on to encourage his readers, "Make love your aim" (14:1). The "love" that Paul spoke of so emphatically is the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from faith and hope—that is, from the Father and the Son.

Maria K. M.