Within the church God is producing a stronger part, the man-child, who will carry out His judgment on the enemy and will end the age to bring in the age of the kingdom; we want to be part of the man-child by being the overcomers the Lord needs today.
In Genesis 3:15, after man fell, God pronounced the judgment on the enemy, the serpent, saying that the seed of the woman will bruise his head, while the serpent will bruise his heel.
What is this seed of the woman? When Adam and Eve had their first son, she said, I have obtained a seed! But then she realized that Cain is not the seed.
The seed of the woman is first Christ, the first God-man; He was begotten of Mary by the mingling of the divine seed with the human element.
He lived and worked in such a way that He cast out and destroyed the works of the devil, and through His death on the cross He destroyed the devil himself.
Praise the Lord, Christ is the first Overcomer, the Leading Overcomer, the Head of the seed of the woman!
In His resurrection, Christ as the seed of the woman was transfigured to become a life-giving Spirit to come into many human beings to regenerate them and make them His Body, the Body of the overcoming Head.
Every single person who believes into the Lord and receives His divine life is begotten of God, and the overcoming seed of the woman comes into him; now in Him and because of Him we overcome the world, and in this seed that is in us the world cannot defeat us!
He who is begotten of God overcomes the world. Hallelujah!
The transfigured descendant of the woman – Christ Himself as the seed of the woman – is dispensed into us to bruise in us the serpent’s head, and to make us the corporate seed of the woman.
God wants not only the individual Christ as the Overcomer, but He desires a man-child, the stronger part of the church (the universal bright woman in Rev. 12); when this man-child is produced, there is war in heaven, Satan is cast down, and the age is turned.
So God is now in the process of producing the man-child; He is calling His overcomers, and we in the church life want to be part of the man-child, for we want to answer His call and be His overcoming ones in this age.
Christ Himself is the Head of the man-child, and He is also the center, life, reality, and nature of the man-child; the man-child as the Lord’s overcomers follow Him to be His Body, the Body of the overcoming Christ.
The church as a whole became degraded and is in decline, but the Lord comes in to call His overcomers again and again, for it is the overcomers who will fulfill His purpose to express Him and represent Him, and it is they who execute God’s judgment on the enemy and end this age to bring in the age of the kingdom!
Amen, we want to be part of the man-child and, if the Lord delays His coming and we’re still alive when He returns, we want to live in the principle of the man-child today until He returns!
The Man-child Composed of the Overcoming Saints is being Brought Forth out of the Totality of God’s People
Throughout the ages God’s people have gone on, have multiplied, have spread, and the kingdom of God has been spread all throughout the earth.
As we live toward the consummation of the age, we realize that the totality of God’s people is like the bright woman in Rev. 12, but within this woman, there is a stronger part, the man-child, who is about to be brought forth.
There is a great realm of Christianity on earth today, and within this realm, there is a stronger part being produced to be brought forth.
The woman signifies the weaker part, but the man-child signifies the stronger part.
Throughout the generations there have been some stronger ones among God’s people; these are considered in the Bible as a collective unit, those fighting the battle for God and bringing God’s kingdom down to earth.
In books such as Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah, for example, we see that these dear ones have overcome in their age, standing for God, praying the kingdom of God down to earth, and dealing with God’s enemy, being faithful to speak for God and live the life that God wanted His people to live on earth.
All these are part of the man-child, the corporate body of overcomers which the Lord is producing to deal with His enemy and bring His kingdom to the earth.
We are now at the consummation of the ages, and this man-child is about to be brought forth.
There are the birth pangs, the travails; the whole universe is in birth pangs, and the church itself is ready to deliver the man-child.
In Rev. 12:5 the man-child is brought forth; to be brought forth here signifies resurrection, as in Acts 13:33-34.
The man-child is composed of the overcoming saints who have died and who have been resurrected (this is proved by the words “unto death” in Rev. 12:11).
The man-child is primarily composed of the ones who have died before the Lord returns and who are resurrected at His return.
The resurrection of all the dead overcoming saints will be the delivery of the man-child.
We do not know if the Lord returns in our lifetime; according to the outward signs, the Lord is on the brink of His return, so we want to live in the principle of the man-child.
The firstfruits mentioned in Rev. 14 are the living overcomers at the time of His return, and the man-child in Rev. 12 is composed of all the dead overcoming saints throughout the ages, who will be resurrected at the Lord’s coming.
So if we die before the Lord comes back, and we live an overcoming life while on earth, we will be resurrected to be part of the man-child; however, if we live an overcoming life and the Lord comes during our lifetime, we will be part of the firstfruits.
Whether part of the firstfruits or part of the man-child, we want to be the Lord’s overcomers today.
So we pray and learn to cooperate with the Lord today, in this age, so that we may be produced as the stronger part of the woman, the man-child who will trigger the defeat of the enemy and the bringing in of the kingdom to the earth.
When the Lord died on the cross, He cast out Satan, the old serpent; He judged him and cast him out (John 12:31; 16:11).
However, that judgment and sentence will be ultimately carried out and executed by the overcomers as the man-child, the corporate seed of the woman.
The war raged by the overcoming believers against Satan is actually the executing of the Lord’s judgment upon him for Satan to be eventually cast out of heaven (Rev. 12:7-9).
When the man-child is raptured to heaven, there’s war in heaven, and Michael and the angels go to war against the great dragon and his armies; the dragon and his armies will not prevail, and they cannot stay in heaven anymore – they are cast down to the earth.
Amen, we want to be part of the man-child who is raptured to heaven to war against the enemy and cast him down, and bring in the kingdom age!
Lord Jesus, we pray for the bringing forth of the man-child, the group of overcoming believers from among the totality of the people of God! Amen, Lord, make us part of the man-child, those who overcome the enemy today and stand on Your side on earth. We choose to be an overcomer. We want to live in the light of Your return, loving You, spending time with You, being infused with You, and being absolutely for You and Your purpose on earth. Amen, Lord, may Your kingdom come and Your will be done. Save us from living an aimless life as Christians; make us those who overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony, and by not loving our soul-life even unto death!
Becoming Part of the Man-child by being Serious with the Lord, Eating Him, Loving Him, and Being wholly for Him and His Economy
Who will be part of the man-child? Are you going to be part of the man-child? Is every believer going to be part of the man-child?
What about us, the saints in the church life in the Lord’s recovery: are we going to be part of the man-child?
We need to realize that the Lord’s recovery is here to produce the overcomers, the overcoming bride of Christ to bring Him back; however, merely being in the realm of the church life in the Lord’s recovery does not guarantee that we are overcomers.
We may be in the church life and be indifferent, not having an appetite for the word of God or for the ministry, not enjoying the Lord, and not contacting Him daily.
In the church life we have a greater possibility of being overcomers; however, whether or not we are an overcomer depends upon us – it depends upon how much we share of God’s grace.
We must look to the Lord that we may be enriched and strengthened to become part of the man-child, the stronger part of the woman; we must grow in life and become stronger in the Lord.
And as we grow and become stronger, we shouldn’t separate ourselves from the church – rather, we should stay in the church with the saints until the time of the delivery of the man-child has come.
How can we be the man-child? How can we be part of the body of overcoming ones?
We need to pray more, spend more time with the Lord, eat more of the Word of God, experience the Lord more, grow in life and have more dealings with the negative things the Lord exposes in us.
We shouldn’t look at others and not grow or not love the Lord, for there’s a general trend of decline in the church today.
We shouldn’t be too general with the Lord or be satisfied only with attending the meetings of the church and reading a little of the Bible every day.
We need to be more specific, more particular with the Lord; we cannot be indifferent.
We need to pray that the Lord would give us more appetite for His word and we should just pray His word, spend time with the Lord, and be sober and serious with the Lord.
We need to have personal contact with the Lord, direct contact with Him, and a moment-by-moment dealing with Him.
Whether we are produced to be part of the man-child is up to us; it depends on how we react to God’s desire, His move, and His eternal economy.
If we see His move and His economy, if we realize that He is about to return, yet we remain indifferent and not cooperate with Him, we will remain a general, common, believer, but we will not be an overcomer.
May the Lord save us from being indifferent toward the Lord and His purpose, and may we realize we can’t go on until we have given ourselves wholly and thoroughly to God’s economy!
We may see other believers enjoy the things of the world and live a common Christian life, but we cannot be like them; we care for God’s desire, we are one with God in His move, and we are here for the carrying out of God’s economy.
And this is not of ourselves: we have received the Lord’s mercy and grace, and by His mercy, we have an appetite for His Word, we seek after Him, and we are serious with Him.
We do take care of daily affairs, but we are not entangled by them.
We do take care of our responsibilities, but we are not weighed down by them.
We care for our family, our job, and the human things that we need, but these are not our focus; we are inwardly in a moment-by-moment contact with the Lord, dealing with Him, and praying for God’s economy to be carried out.
And we remain in the Lord’s word, we eat Him by praying over His speaking, and we love to read the ministry of the age which brings us into a love-relationship with the Lord.
May the Lord grant us the mercy of being such ones – not for our sake, but for His sake.
We want to be part of the man-child not for us to be separated from others who are not as absolute for the Lord as we are; we want to be the overcomers in the church, for the church, and on behalf of the church.
So we do not prematurely detach ourselves from the woman, the totality of the Lord’s believers; we want to overcome in this age, and we pray for the bringing forth of the man-child in the Lord’s time and in His way, for His economy to be carried out, His enemy to be defeated, and His kingdom to come in.
Lord Jesus, we want to be part of the man-child who will be raptured to defeat the enemy and end this age to bring in the age of the kingdom. Amen, Lord, make us hungry and thirsty for You. We look to You to be enriched, strengthened, and become more solid so that we may grow and become the stronger part of God’s people. We want to eat more of You, drink more of You, and grow more in life to become stronger in the Lord. We come to You, Lord, to spend time with You, eat You in the word, experience You more, and grow in life. We want to deal with anything negative that You expose in us. Save us from being indifferent or content with where we are; grant us to have a good appetite for Your word and have a personal, direct, and moment-by-moment dealing with You. Dear Lord Jesus, we love You, we love Your heart’s desire, we are one with You in Your move, and we are for the carrying out of Your economy. We realize that we can’t go on until we have given ourselves wholly and thoroughly to Your economy. Amen, Lord, make us part of the man-child – make us Your overcomers in this age!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Revelation, msgs. 36, 39, 45 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Christian Life, the Church Life, the Consummation of the Age, and the Coming of the Lord (2020 fall ITERO), week 8, Having Dispensational Value to God in the Last Days to Turn the Age.
- Further reading: recommending the article, The Principle of the Man-child, via Affirmation and Critique.
- Hymns on this topic:
– We love Thy coming, Lord! / We know not when ’twill be, / But turn from all distracting things / Thine own dear face to see. / We serve the living God / And wait His Son to see; / For this we need faith, love, and hope, / Increasing constantly. (Hymns #1306)
– Will you be an overcomer? / Never lukewarm be, / Ne’er content with what you’ve gotten, / More you need to see. / Will you be an overcomer? / Christ is calling still! / Will you now be loyal to Him, / His demand fulfill. (Hymns #894)
– Would you choose to be a living overcomer, / Be a person not ashamed to be a Jesus lover, / One who eats the tree of life, / And drinks the living water? / Would you choose to be a living overcomer, / To leave the world and consecrate / To be today’s age-turner? / I give myself to You for Your return. (Song on, Choose to Be an Overcomer)
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