John
Below is a brief summary of what I found in John concerning each of my four questions. The full evidence and commentary are available in the John Study Bible linked above.
Summary: Insights from John
1. Who is God?
God is the Father—the invisible Spirit whom Jesus calls “the only true God” and, even after his resurrection, “my God.” God is the ultimate source of Jesus’ life, authority, words, works, mission, and glory. Jesus is sent by God, receives from God, obeys God, prays to God, and reveals God to the world. Thus, throughout John, the Father is God, while Jesus is God’s uniquely exalted Son and Messiah through whom God makes Himself known.
Specifically, who is the Holy Spirit?
John presents the Holy Spirit as a personal, life-giving divine person who gives spiritual birth, dwells in believers, teaches them, reminds them of Jesus’ words, testifies, guides, and speaks. John 3 especially portrays the Spirit as the One from whom God’s children are spiritually born, which provides significant maternal imagery. John later calls Her the Counselor (in other translations, “Helper” or “Teacher”) and the Spirit of truth, who lives in believers and teaches them all things.
John does not explicitly say, “The Holy Spirit is God the Mother.” However, in my interpretation of John 1, the Word who was “with God” and “was God” is the Holy Spirit; if that interpretation is correct, John directly identifies the Spirit as God. John’s spiritual-birth imagery also contributes significantly to my understanding of the Spirit as Mother, although that conclusion depends on the wider biblical evidence rather than John alone.
2. What is God's plan for the world?
John contains remarkably universal language about God’s saving purpose. God sent His Son so that “the world should be saved through him” (John 3:17); Jesus is called “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42); and Jesus says that through his death he will “draw all people” to himself (John 12:32). I think this last verse points to universal salvation, and I believe when Jesus says he will draw “all” people to himself, he literally means “all”. At the same time, John clearly teaches judgment, wrath, and a “resurrection of judgment.” However, these concepts must be understood within a framework of what the entire Bible says about universal salvation. So, I think John 12:32 is indicative of universal salvation, provided other passages regarding God’s judgment and wrath can be adequately explained. That is beyond the scope of just studying John.
3. Who is Jesus?
Jesus is God’s uniquely exalted human Messiah, Son, Lord, King, Savior, prophet, judge, and giver of resurrection life—not God Himself. John also presents Jesus as genuinely preexistent. Yet Jesus repeatedly receives his authority, life, words, works, and glory from God, and John ultimately states his purpose as leading readers to believe that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31). Jesus is extraordinarily exalted, but the Father remains the source of what Jesus has and does.
4. Who are Christians?
In John, Christians are portrayed as sharing Christ’s life, mission, works, divine indwelling, unity with God, and even his God-given glory in extraordinary ways. Jesus says believers will do his works and even “greater works” (John 14:12), prays that they will be one as he and the Father are one, and gives them the glory the Father gave him (John 17:21–23). Christians do not become God, but John portrays the goal as profound conformity to Christ and participation in his relationship with God.
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