John 16:28 – I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
This passage again gives us a glimpse into the unique nature of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. His connection with the Father in heaven was not diminished by His humanity. He had taken on a physical body on earth but His very nature still proceeded from the Father in heaven even during His existence as a man on earth. So in this passage, you can see the fact that He was returning to heaven as a man, but that also does not alter His relationship with the Father or diminish His activity in our lives on the earth. He has always been in the Father and the Father in Him even as He walked among us as a man. Here is how John of Damascus describes this verse:
“Some of the things said, concerning Christ, make known the fact of his origin from the Father as cause. . . . For from him he derives both his being and all that he has. His being was by generative and not by creative means, as, “I came forth, and I have come,” and “I live because of the Father” [Jn 6:57]. But all that he has is not by free gift or by teaching, but in a causal sense, as “the Son is not able to do anything of himself, unless he sees the Father doing anything” [Jn 5:19]. For if the Father does not exist, neither does the Son. For the Son is of the Father and in the Father and with the Father, and not after the Father. In a similar way also what he does is of him and with him. For there is one and the same—not similar but the same—will and energy and power in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
The beautiful thing about this mystery is what this whole teaching on the Holy Spirit had been about all along. Just as Jesus has been in the Father and the Father in Him, we are also brought into this fellowship. Christ is in us and we are in Him. This is the whole point of the cross and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We are brought into this fellowship which Jesus called oneness. We are seated together with Him in heavenly places and He is walking in us in everything we do. This is what we have now received in the outpouring of His Spirit.
