“Hallelujah, we are happy Christians because in the Lord’s recovery we are being brought again and again to Christ!” (brother Dick Taylor).
This week we come to Hosea 11:1 and 4 – two verses for a whole week, speaking of, Three Implications concerning Christ. The first implication is in verse 1, When Israel was a child, I loved him, / And out of Egypt I called My son. Here we see that Christ made Himself one with the people of Israel to be the Son of God (see Matt. 2:13-15).
But there’s more: this Christ as the centrality and universality in God’s economy is not just the One Unique Only Begotten Son of God (from eternity to eternity, in His divinity), but He has become the Firstborn Son of God in His resurrection, regenerating us as His many brothers, the many sons of God!
Wow, what a rich implication in such a small verse!
We need to see God’s economy in the Bible
It is so good to be under the ministry of the age, which is the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, the “betrothing ministry” (see 2 Cor. 11:2). This ministry opens up the Bible and it focuses on the greater truths, especially on God’s economy.
Paul told Timothy to charge certain ones not to teach different things than God’s economy, which is in faith (1 Tim. 1:3-4). When we continue in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, we have God’s blessing and we increase in life and numbers (see Acts 2:42).
God’s economy is His plan to fill us with Christ and make His Christ our everything. His way in His economy is to become a man and be processed and consummated to become the life-giving Spirit to come into us and be our life and life supply.
The goal of God’s economy is to make us Christ’s enlargement, His Body, to consummate and bring in the New Jerusalem.
God’s economy focuses on Christ!
The center, the reality, the circumference, and everything in God’s economy is Christ! God’s economy is focused on Christ, and the teaching of the apostles betroths us to Christ. If you are right now under a teaching that doesn’t help you appreciate, enjoy, experience, and even become Christ more, then you have to go before the Lord and pray desperately about it.
May the Lord open our mind to understand and see that everything in the Bible, including the law, the prophets, the psalms, the gospels, the acts of the apostles, the epistles, and the book of revelation – speaks about Christ!
When He opens our mind to understand, when He opens the Scriptures to us, our heart will be burning in us and we will have an upgraded joy to see such a Christ (Luke 24:32)! Hallelujah, what a Christ!
Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God
Hosea 11:1 is quoted and fulfilled in Matt. 2:14-15, where we see the Lord Jesus as the Son of God fleeing into Egypt with His parents, to escape the wrath of Herod the governor.
Even though Israel became exceedingly evil, Christ still became organically one with Israel through His incarnation to be a real Israelite. God didn’t give up His people, and the fallen condition of Israel didn’t hinder His economy from being fulfilled.
God became a man, and Christ brought God into man by joining Himself to Israel in the matter of being a son of God! From eternity to eternity, Christ was, is, and will be the Only Begotten Son of God in His divinity, being the One in the bosom of the Father, possessing the Godhead and being the second of the Divine Trinity.
Yet this One became a man, choosing to be one with man, and to bring God into man! Hallelujah for God’s incarnation!
Christ was begotten to be the Firstborn Son of God
Hosea 11:1 also implies that by virtue of being organically united with Christ, all God’s chosen people become sons of God! How can this be?
If you study the whole Bible with the view of God’s economy you will see verses and portions here and there unveiling a marvellous truth: Christ is both the only begotten Son of God and the firstborn Son of God!
One day Christ was incarnated to be a man, entering into humanity and taking on human nature as part of His being (see John 1:14). In His resurrection, Christ was designated as the Firstborn Son of God – He was “born again” in His resurrection as the Son of God in His humanity, bringing in many brothers with Him in this mass birth delivery (see Rom. 1:3-4; Acts 13:33; Psalm 2:7).
After the Lord Jesus died a vicarious and all-inclusive death on the cross, He entered into resurrection and was begotten of God in His humanity as the firstborn Son of God possessing both divinity and humanity (Rom. 1:3-4).
We are the many sons of God
Now Christ is the Firstborn Son of God and we are the many brothers of Christ (Rom. 8:29) and the many sons of God. By believing into Christ, we are organically joined through faith to this wonderful One and become sons of God and brothers of Christ.
By believing into Christ we become the real Israel, the real people of God, by virtue of being organically joined to Christ by faith! Hallelujah for Christ’s two births! He was first the Only Begotten Son of God who then became the Firstborn Son of God in His resurrection!
In this wonderful resurrection of Christ all His believers were regenerated, begotten of God (1 Pet. 1:3) to be the many sons of God (Heb. 2:10), the many brothers of Christ (Rom. 8:29) to be the members of the Body of Christ as His enlargement and expression on the earth.
This is God’s economy and His way to accomplish His economy, and it is all implied in Hosea 11:1! Oh, to see Christ in this, and to be impressed with this wonderful all-inclusive One that we may enjoy Him, experience Him, appreciate Him, and become Him!
This seeing of such a Christ will make you a Happy Christian!
Lord, open our eyes to see You and appreciate You. Lord, open our mind to understand and see that the Scriptures speak of You. Thank You for being the only begotten Son of God becoming a man! Lord, praise You for entering into resurrection to become the Firstborn Son of God! We are now the many sons of God, the many brothers of Christ, by believing into You to be organically joined with You!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from brother Dick’s sharing in this message, and portions from, Life-study of Hosea (msg. 9), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of the Minor Prophets, week 3 (entitled, Three Implications concerning Christ).
- Hymns on this topic:
# In the bosom of the Father, / Ere the ages had begun, / Thou wast in the Father’s glory, / God’s unique begotten Son.
# Turn my view to see You, / How I need to see Jesus!
# In resurrection, Christ was born to be / God’s firstborn Son with humanity. - Picture source: Romans 8:29.
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hallelujah, praise the Lord!