The fact that Christ as the seed of David became the Son of God speaks of the process of our being designated the sons of God by resurrection; as we contact God in spirit and live in spirit, we are being sonized, designated the sons of God by the process of resurrection. Hallelujah!
The Lord Jesus was the Pioneer, the Forerunner, the One who took the lead to go through the process of death and resurrection to be designated the firstborn Son of God in His humanity; now we are being conformed to His image to be the many sons of God.
This is seen in the nature with the grain of wheat; if the grain of wheat is put in the ground and dies, the life within this grain is being released to germinate, sprout, grow, develop, and bear fruit.
As soon as death operates in the grain of wheat, life also operates to cause some germination, sprouting, growth, development and bearing fruit.
It was the same with Christ; He came to sow Himself as the unique grain and die, and as soon as death operated in Him, resurrection also operated to impart life and reproduce this divine life.
Therefore, in His death, the human shell of Christ was broken, and the divine life within Him was released; in His resurrection, the released divine life of Christ was imparted into all His believers to regenerate them and make them the many sons of God (1 Pet. 1:3).
We all were regenerated at the same time, in the resurrection of Christ; Christ as the Firstborn Son of God and we as the many sons of God were regenerated at the same time.
When Christ was dying on the cross, the divinity, the Spirit of holiness, in Him became operative, and in His resurrection, He blossomed to be the firstborn Son of God and the life-giving Spirit. Hallelujah!
The Lord spoke of this in John 12:24 where He said that the grain of wheat has to die in order to bear much fruit; He had to die in order to bear much fruit, and we as the many believers in Christ are His fruit, His duplication and continuation.
This is quite amazing. Christ as the Seed of David became the Son of God through the process of death and resurrection, and we as the many believers in Christ become sons of God by being designated by resurrection.
Just as Christ was designated by resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God, so we are designated by resurrection to be the many sons of God, the many brothers of Christ, who are conformed to the image of Christ for the corporate expression of God. Hallelujah!
We Believers in Christ are in the Process of being Designated the Sons of God by Resurrection
Heb. 2:10-11 speaks of Christ leading many sons into glory; He as the Seed of David became the Son of God in resurrection, and we as the many believers in Christ are in the process of being designated the sons of God by resurrection.
The seed of David becoming the Son of God speaks of the process of our being designated the many sons of God by resurrection.
How can this happen in our situation – how can we, sinners and men in the flesh, become sons of God who express God in His life and nature?
It is by His organic salvation which includes regeneration, sanctification, renewing, transformation, conformation and glorification; by these steps, Christ is leading us into glory to make us part of the full expression of the Triune God.
Christ has already been designated the Son of God in His humanity, but we are still in the process of designation; we are still in the process of being sonized, deified (Rom. 8:28-29).
Those whom God foreknew, these He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His son, so that Christ might be the Firstborn among many brothers.
We are designated the sons of God by a change in life through the process of resurrection.
At the present moment, we are still here on earth, men in the flesh with the divine life concealed within them, growing in life and being matured unto glory.
One day, however, we shall reach the stage of “full blossom”; at that time our body will be redeemed, glorified, and transfigured, so that we may enter full sonship (Rom. 8:23).
Through regeneration, the life of the Son of God has been implanted into our spirit (Rom. 8:10); when the Spirit of life came into us, our spirit became life.
When we called on the name of the Lord to receive Him, He came into our spirit and made our spirit life, the divine life.
Hallelujah, at least a third part of our being – our human spirit – is life, full of the divine life!
Now we, like the seed that is sown into the earth, must pass through the process of death and resurrection; Christ passed through this process first, and now we also pass through it (John 12:24-26).
This causes our outer man to be consumed, but it enables the inner life in our spirit to grow, to spread into our soul, to develop, and ultimately to blossom from within us; this is resurrection (1 Cor. 15:31, 36; 2 Cor. 4:10-12, 16-18).
On one hand, we experience the putting to death of Jesus, the killing of Jesus; on the other hand, the life-giving Spirit imparts life to our entire being to fill us with the divine life.
The killing element in the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit operates to remove and kill anything in us that is natural and has nothing to do with Christ or God.
At the same time, as the outer man is decaying, our inner man is being renewed day by day. Praise the Lord, as our outer man is consumed, the inner life grows, develops, and eventually, blossoms to bring us all the way to glory by resurrection!
Through this process, we are designated the sons of God by resurrection.
Even as Christ passed through death and resurrection, so we daily need to deny the self, lose our soul-life, take up our own cross, and follow Him.
As we do this through the exercise of our spirit, we advance in the process of being designated the sons of God by resurrection.
The more we grow in life and are transformed in our soul, the more we are designated the sons of God.
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for coming into us to regenerate us and bring us in the process of being designated the sons of God by resurrection. We open to You today: grow in us, transform us, conform us to Your image, and fill us with Your life. Amen, Lord, keep us in the process of being designated the many sons of God by resurrection. Praise the Lord, our spirit is life, our soul is being saturated with the divine life, and this life will also swallow up our mortal body so that we may be transfigured into the image of Christ, the firstborn Son of God! Amen, Lord, we want to follow You through death and resurrection by exercising our spirit so that we may be designated the sons of God by resurrection!
Walking according to the Spirit to Enjoy and Experience the Designating Spirit
What is the key to our being designated the many sons of God by resurrection? How can we cooperate with the process of being designated the sons of God today?
The key to the process of designation is resurrection; resurrection is not a thing but a person – resurrection is the indwelling Christ as the Spirit who designates us to be the sons of God.
In resurrection Christ in His humanity was designated the Son of God, and by means of such a resurrection, we also are in this process of being designated sons of God (Rom. 8:11).
We have the indwelling Christ as resurrection in our spirit; this Christ is the rising-up Spirit, the designating Spirit, the power of life in our spirit (John 11:25; Rom. 8:10-11; Acts 2:24; 1 Cor. 15:26; 5:4).
The process of our being designated, sonized, deified, is the process of resurrection with four main aspects: sanctification, transformation, conformation, and glorification (Rom. 6:22; 12:2; 8:29-30).
Praise the Lord for Christ as the designating Spirit in our spirit! We can experience and enjoy this One by turning to our spirit, exercising our spirit, and walking according to the spirit.
When we’re in the flesh, we are troublesome both to the church and to those with whom we live.
We are a trouble to our wife or husband, and we are a trouble to the saints in the church.
But praise the Lord, we can exercise our spirit and live according to the Spirit, not according to the flesh; when we live in spirit, we become a blessing to the saints and to those with whom we live.
If we walk according to the flesh, the church life will be quite unpleasant; if we walk according to the Spirit, the church life is in the heavens.
May we realize that we have the designating Spirit in our spirit and that we are in the process of being designated the sons of God by resurrection.
May we realize our urgent need of learning how to walk according to the spirit, to enjoy and experience the designating Spirit (Rom. 8:4, 14; Matt. 14:22-23; Mark 1:35-38; Psa. 62:8; Psa. 102 – the title).
The Lord Jesus was a pattern in spending time with the Father; after He would make a miracle or feed many people, He would not remain in the glory of that miracle but rather, He would send the crowds away and go away to spend time with the Father.
At one time the whole village was gathered at the door where He was staying, but instead of remaining there for a long time, he went to spend time with the Father secretly and then went to other places to preach the gospel.
May we be men of prayer, those who constantly turn to the Lord, exercise our spirit, and live according to the spirit so that we may be in the process of being designated the sons of God by resurrection.
May we learn to pour out our heart before the Lord, telling Him what weighs us down, and honestly tell Him all our complaints and problems.
May we not look at what we see outwardly to be our condition – may we turn to the Lord and enjoy the divine life, live by the divine life, and allow the divine life to be expressed through us.
We may not have the confidence to say that we are the sons of God, for we may not yet have the appearance, the expression of God’s sons; however, we are under the process of designation by resurrection, and one day all will know that we are sons of God.
The whole creation is yearning and groaning for this, that the sons of God would be revealed, manifested, and glorified, for the whole creation is in slavery to vanity and eagerly awaiting the revelation of the sons of God to be released!
The more we touch the Spirit, the more we are sanctified, transformed, conformed, and glorified to become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead for the building up of the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem (1 Cor. 12:3; Rom. 10:12-13; 8:15-16; Gal. 4:6).
The more we call on the Lord Jesus, pray over His Word, and walk according to the Spirit, the more we are being designated the sons of God by resurrection!
Praise the Lord for the divine process of being designated the sons of God by resurrection! Hallelujah, we can be in this process by contacting the Lord through the exercise of our spirit! Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit today to contact the Spirit by calling on the name of the Lord. Keep us learning how to walk according to the spirit to enjoy and experience the designating Spirit. Hallelujah, the rising-up and designating Spirit is with our spirit, and we can experience such a Spirit today! Amen, Lord, we want to spend time with You again and again, allowing You to work Yourself into us and to saturate us with Your life. We want to pour out our heart before You and allow You to infuse us with Yourself.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Romans, msgs. 52-53 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing the Truth, being Absolute for the Truth, and Proclaiming the Truth in this Present Evil Age (2021 Memorial Day Weekend Conference), week 6, Knowing and Spreading the Up-to-date Truth of the Highest Gospel of God’s Eternal Economy according to the Ministry of the Age.
- Hymns on this topic:
– God ordained us unto sonship, / Ere creation’s work was done, / To conform us by His Spirit / To the image of His Son; / That His only dear Begotten / Might become the firstborn One, / And by Him with many brethren / His expression full be won. (Hymns #741)
– God hath us regenerated / In our spirit with His life; / But He must transform us further- / In our soul by His own life. / Spreading outward from our spirit / Doth the Lord transform our soul, / By the inward parts renewing, / Till within His full control. (Hymns #750)
– This Spirit shall transform our natural life, / Save us from self, build us in one new man, / Till we’re conformed to be like Jesus Christ, / Thus finishing our God’s eternal plan. / Life is our God and life is Christ our Lord. / Life is the Spirit. Life’s the only way— / Till we’re transfigured and redeemed to God. / We’re waiting, looking forward to that day! (Hymns 1195)
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