In Christ’s incarnation He was begotten to be the Son of Man, the unique God-man possessing both divinity and humanity, and in His resurrection He was begotten by God to be the firstborn Son of God in His humanity, the firstborn among many brothers.
The One whom we are propagating is not the only begotten Son of God, which is the second in the Godhead and cannot be approached for He dwells in unapproachable light, but Jesus Christ as the Firstborn Son of God. Hallelujah!
God promised David that He will bring forth a seed, and that human seed will be called the Son of God, and He will build God a house (see 2 Sam. 7:12). Somehow the human seed of David became the Son of God, and this One builds God’s house.
The word concerning, “your seed” in 2 Sam. 7:12 and “My son” in v. 14 implies that the seed of David would become the Son of God, that is, a human seed would become a divine Son.
This can also be related to the Lord’s asking the Jewish religionists a question concerning Himself as the Christ, How does David call Christ, Lord, if He is the son of David? This is truly a mystery, and we thank the Lord for the ministry of our brother Paul together with the ministry of the age to properly interpret and apply this portion of the word.
When we speak of propagating Christ, the resurrected, ascended, and all-inclusive One, we speak of propagating Christ as the Firstborn Son of God, and this requires that we first know Him, experience Him, and enjoy Him as such a One.
In Rom. 1:3-4 Paul also spoke concerning this, saying that Christ was designated to be the Son of God out of the resurrection from the dead.
Christ was the Son of God from eternity to eternity – He was, is, and always will be the only begotten Son of God, part of the Godhead.
Why does Paul then say that Christ became the Son of God? It is amazing to realize that God Himself, the divine One, became a human seed the seed of a man, David. This seed was Jesus, the God-man, who was the Son of God by virtue of His divinity alone (see Luke 1:35).
Then through death and resurrection Christ as the human seed became the Son of God in His humanity as well, thus being begotten by God to be the firstborn Son of God, with the many believers in Christ as His many brothers. Wow, Hallelujah!
Because Christ went through this process and became the firstborn Son of God, now we, the sinners who by God’s mercy receive the gospel and believe into the Lord, we can become sons of God, the many brothers of Christ, having the same divine life as Him, and we can announce Christ, who is both our Elder Brother and our life, our person, and our everything, as the gospel, for Him to be propagated on earth as the development of the kingdom of God.
The Only Begotten Son of God became the Firstborn Son of God in His Resurrection
In Acts 13:33 we are told that God has fully fulfilled His promise to David in raising up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, You are My Son; this day have I begotten You.
We need to see the connection between the promise God made David in 2 Samuel 7, the resurrection of Jesus, and the fulfillment of that promise. When God resurrected Jesus, He fulfilled the promise made to David that his seed would be the Son of God. Wow!
Christ as the Firstborn son of God was promised to the fathers (to David) and God fulfilled this promise by raising up Jesus.
The Lord Jesus had two births: first, He was born of Mary, a virgin, to be the Son of Man. Then, after thirty-three and a half years, He was crucified, buried, and then raised from the dead, and in His resurrection He had a second birth: He was born in His resurrection to be the Son of God.
In His first birth Christ was born of Mary to be the Son of Man, and in His second birth He was born in resurrection to be the Son of God. In His first birth Christ brought God into man to become the first God-man, a man that has two natures, the divine nature and the human nature.
In His second birth Christ brought man into God, bringing His humanity into divinity, and He was begotten by God to be the Firstborn Son of God in His resurrection.
On one hand Christ is the only begotten Son of God; eternally speaking, Christ is the only begotten Son of God (see John 1:18; 3:16). However, in His economy He went through a process to become the firstborn Son of God.
Through resurrection Christ as a man was born to be the firstborn Son of God, and we as the many believers in Christ are the many sons of God (Heb. 2:10).
Hallelujah, Christ is the Firstborn Son of God (Rom. 8:20; Heb. 1:6), and we who believe into Christ are the many sons of God and the many brothers of the Lord, the many brothers of the firstborn Son of God!
He as the only begotten Son of God became a man through incarnation and was born to be the Son of Man, and through resurrection He was begotten as a man to be the firstborn Son of God!
This is mysterious yet so wonderful! Christ didn’t become the Son of God through incarnation; He was already the Son of God before His incarnation, but through incarnation He became the Son of Man.
Then in His resurrection He was begotten by God in His humanity to be God’s firstborn Son (Heb. 1:6).
When Christ came for the first time, He came as the Only Begotten Son of God to be born as a God-man; He came alone, uniquely as the Son of God. But when He returns again – and we long for this! – He will not come alone; He will come as the Firstborn Son of God with His overcomers as His many sons!
He is leading us as His many brothers – the many sons of God – into glory, and we hope and expect that we would return with Him when He comes back!
Lord Jesus, grant us to see a clear vision of the only begotten Son of God becoming man to bring God into man, and then this man being begotten of God in resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God! Wow, Lord, what a miracle – what a mystery, that God and man should be mingled and blended together! God became man to make man God – what an untraceable economy! Thank You Lord for becoming a man to be begotten by God in resurrection as the firstborn Son of God! Hallelujah, we are the many sons of God, the many brothers of Christ, who are being led into glory!
The Man Jesus was Begotten by God in Resurrection to be the Firstborn Son of God
The apostle Paul was able to see the Lord’s resurrection in Psa. 2:7, “You are My Son; / Today I have begotten You”.
Paul received direct revelation from God concerning this, and he testified to us of the things he has seen from the Lord. He applied the word “today” to the day of the Lord’s resurrection; this means that Christ’s resurrection was His birth as the firstborn Son of God.
On the one hand God is eternal, having no end and no beginning; God the Father is eternal (Isa. 9:6), God the Son is eternal (Heb. 7:3), and God the Spirit is eternal (9:14).
They have no beginning of days and no end of life; there’s no time in which only the Father existed, and then the Son came, etc – rather, all Three of the Godhead existed together from eternity and will exist together unto eternity!
However, something marvelous happened: even though the Son of God is eternal, this eternal Son of God was born as the Son of Man about 2000 years ago; in His incarnation Christ was born of Mary, a human being, and by means of this birth He became the Son of Man. His incarnation was His birth as the Son of Man.
Later we see that in His resurrection He had a second birth, for in resurrection God begot Christ as the Son of God in His humanity to be the firstborn Son of God.
On one hand we clearly know that God loved the world so much that He sent His only begotten Son to come and die for us (John 3:16). On the other hand, Christ is the firstborn among many brothers, leading them into glory and then returning with them to the earth to bring in the kingdom of God (Rom. 8:29).
Christ is both the only begotten Son of God and the firstborn Son of God, for in His resurrection He was begotten by God to be the firstborn Son of God in His humanity.
And we are the many sons of God who are being daily conformed to His image; He’s the prototype, the model, the pattern, and we are being conformed to His image to be the many sons of God for God’s corporate expression in humanity.
Hallelujah, Jesus, the Son of Man, was born to be the Son of God through being raised up from the dead; therefore, God’s raising up Jesus from the dead was His begetting of Him to be His firstborn Son (Acts 13:33)!
We may have different dispositions when we come to the Bible – some of us may like to dwell in God’s word and deeply study it, others may want to get some practical points to apply, while still others are eager to take action according to God’s word.
But what we need to do is exercise our mingled spirit to rise above the inclinations of our disposition and have an earnest desire to be saturated with this truth concerning the firstborn Son of God, for it is this One that we are propagating for His increase and enlargement on earth today!
Lord Jesus, we exercise our spirit to rise above any preference, opinions, and inclinations in our disposition, so that we may enjoy You and know You as the firstborn Son of God. Lord, saturate us with the truth concerning the only begotten Son of God becoming the firstborn Son of God, and make us clear concerning who You are. We want to know You, enjoy You, and experience You as the One living inside of us to make us true and genuine sons of God, the continuation and reproduction of the firstborn Son of God. Amen, Lord, may we propagate You as the firstborn Son of God for Your increase and enlargement on earth!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1980, vol. 2, “The Secret of Experiencing Christ,” pp. 470-471, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Propagating the Resurrected, Ascended, and All-inclusive Christ as the Development of the Kingdom of God (2018 fall ITERO), week 1, Propagating the Resurrected Christ as the Firstborn Son according to the Promise Made to the Fathers.
Hymns on this topic:
# But in th’ economy of God / There is not one, but many sons. / One is the firstborn Son of God / With many other living ones. (Hymns #1322)
# By Thy death and resurrection, / Thou wast made God’s firstborn Son; / By Thy life to us imparting, / Was Thy duplication done. / We, in Thee regenerated, / Many sons to God became; / Truly as Thy many brethren, / We are as Thyself the same. (Hymns #203)
# That His only dear Begotten / Might become the firstborn One, / And by Him with many brethren / His expression full be won. (Hymns #741)
