Excerpts from the CNT:

In John 8 Christ is presented as the light of the world, the I Am, and the freeing Son.

a. The Light of the World

In verse 12 the Lord Jesus says, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” The light of life (1:4) shines within us by the inner sense of life to deliver us from sin. When we received the Lord Jesus, He came into us as our life. This indwelling life now shines within us as light. This is the light of life. Spontaneously this shining of the indwelling light sets us free from sin. Then we do not walk in darkness but have the light of life.

b. The I Am

In chapter eight Christ is further unveiled as the I Am (vv. 24, 28, 58, 51-52).

(1) Jehovah, the Eternal and Everlasting One

As the I Am, Christ is Jehovah, the eternal and everlasting One, who was, is, and will be the Triune God (Exo. 3:14-15; [2883] Rev. 1:4). “I Am” is the meaning of the name Jehovah, and Jehovah is the name of God (Gen. 2:7), the One who is and who was and who is coming, the self-existing and ever-existing One. This name is used in speaking of God in His relationship with man. Hence, it indicates that the Lord Jesus is the ever-existing God who has a relationship with man.

The Lord Jesus as the great I Am is the everlasting One who exists from eternity to eternity. He is without beginning or end of time. As the I Am, He is the self-existing One who exists from eternity to eternity. He is not only Jesus, a man from Nazareth; He is the great I Am. For Him to be the I Am in our experience and enjoyment of Him today means that He is whatever we need. To have Him as the I Am is like having a blank check on which we may fill in the amount that we need. The Lord Jesus, the great I Am, is everything we need.

(a) Existing before Abraham

As the I Am, the Lord Jesus existed before Abraham. In John 8:58 He said, “Before Abraham came into being, I am.” The Lord Jesus as the great I Am is the eternal, ever-existing God. Hence, He was before Abraham and is greater than Abraham (v. 53).

(b) Having Died for Our Sins on the Cross

As the I Am, the Lord Jesus died for our sins on the cross (vv. 24, 28). In verse 28 He said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am.” The phrase lift up refers to the Lord’s being lifted up on the cross (cf. 3:14; 12:31-34) to die for our sins. In John 8:24 He said, “Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.” Any man who does not believe that the Lord Jesus is the very God, the I Am, will die in his sins.

(2) Everyone Who Believes in Him Not Seeing Death Forever

According to the word in verses 51 and 52, everyone who believes in Him as the I Am will not see (taste) death forever. Here we see that the Lord Jesus is able to save us from the [2884] result of sin, which is death. Once sin has been dealt with, spontaneously the result of sin will be removed.

c. The Freeing Son

In John 8 Christ is also unveiled as the freeing Son (vv. 34, 36).

(1) Everyone Who Commits Sin Being a Slave of Sin

In verse 34 the Lord Jesus said, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” A slave is always under a certain kind of bondage. Satan, the devil, has brought all humankind under the bondage of sin by injecting himself into man as the sinful nature that compels man to sin. It is impossible for anyone to free himself from such a slavery.

This slavery is not an outward matter; it is inward and is even in our nature. Satan’s subtlety was not only to cause us to do something wrong but to inject himself into us as the sinful nature. Sin, therefore, is not merely objective, not merely an outward wrongdoing. Sin is in the subjective nature of our being; it is in our nature and even has become our very self. As a result, anything that is outside of our nature cannot help us in dealing with the sin that is in our nature. For this, we need another life, a stronger, richer, higher life, to come into us and be our life to encounter the satanic nature within us and thereby to set us free from the slavery of sin. This life is actually Christ Himself as the great I Am. He is such a life because He is the divine life. The divine life is higher than the human life and also higher than the satanic life. When this divine life comes into us, it defeats the satanic life and nature.

(2) The Son Freeing Us from the Slavery of Sin That We May Enjoy His Freedom

The Son frees us from the slavery of sin that we may enjoy His freedom. In verse 36 the Lord Jesus declared, “If therefore the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed.” The Son sets us free by shining within us as the light of life (v. 12). The light of life is not an outward light but an inward light. The very life which is Christ Himself has been given to us, and [2885] this life shines and becomes light within us (1:4; 10:10). This light sets us free. For this reason we must have the instant and constant fellowship with Him, not only every minute but even every second. Every second we need to be one with Him, fellowshipping with Him. Then He works as life within us. When life works, it shines, and when it shines, it sets us free. The bondage of our sin is not a chain on our shoulders; it is something in our constitution, in our being, in our fallen nature. Nothing outward can set us free from such bondage except the inward life which is Christ Himself working and shining in us. Day by day we may experience and enjoy Christ as the indwelling life shining within us as the light of life that gradually and spontaneously frees us from the slavery of sin.

The Son frees us from sin not only by shining as the light of life but also by being the reality of what God is. “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (8:32). Truth here is not the so-called truth of doctrine but the reality of the divine things, which is Christ Himself. This verse says that the truth, the reality, will set us free, whereas verse 36 says that the Son sets us free. This proves that the Son, the Lord Himself, is the truth. Since the Lord is the embodiment of God (Col. 2:9), He is the reality of what God is. Hence, reality is the divine element, the very element of God, realized by us. When Christ as the great I Am comes into us as life, He shines within us as light, bringing the divine element as reality into us. This reality, which is the divine element imparted into us and realized by us, sets us free from the bondage of sin by the divine life as the light of man. In this way the Son frees us from the slavery of sin that we may enjoy His freedom.

If we would experience Christ as the freeing Son, we need to realize that today Christ is in us as the life-giving Spirit and that this Spirit is the universal reality. The life-giving Spirit is the reality of the all-inclusive Christ, the One who is the great I Am, the Son of God, and the Son of Man. This Spirit is the reality of the One who died on the cross, resurrected from the dead, and who is now in ascension. This One is in us as the life-giving Spirit. He is living, capable, and powerful, and He sets us free from sin.