Ⅰ
"From this man's seed, God, according to promise, brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus...And we announce to you the gospel of the promise made to the fathers" (Acts 13:23, 32):
Ａ
The seed of David mentioned in 2 Samuel 7:12 is actually Christ as God's firstborn Son (v. 14; Heb. 1:5-6), who has both divinity and humanity and is typified by Solomon.
Ｂ
The word concerning "your seed" in 2 Samuel 7:12 and "My son" in verse 14 implies that the seed of David would become the Son of God; that is, a human seed would become a divine Son:
１
This corresponds with Paul's word in Romans 1:3-4 concerning Christ as the seed of David being designated the Son of God in His humanity in resurrection.
２
These verses clearly reveal that a seed of man, that is, a son of man, can become the Son of God:
ａ
God Himself, the divine One, became a human seed, the seed of a man, David.
ｂ
This seed was Jesus, the God-man, who was the Son of God by virtue of His divinity alone (Luke 1:35).
ｃ
Through His resurrection He as the human seed became the Son of God in His humanity as well.
Ⅱ
"God has fully fulfilled this promise to us their children in raising up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son; this day have I begotten You' " (Acts 13:33):
Ａ
In verses 32 and 33 we see that Christ as the Firstborn of God was promised to the fathers, and God fulfilled this promise by raising up Jesus.
Ｂ
Resurrection was a birth to the man Jesus:
１
He was begotten by God in His resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God among many brothers (Rom. 8:29).
２
He was the only begotten Son from eternity (John 1:18; 3:16).
３
After His incarnation, through resurrection He was begotten by God in His humanity to be God's firstborn Son (Heb. 1:6).
Ｃ
Paul was able to see the Lord's resurrection in Psalm 2:7: "You are My Son; / Today I have begotten You":
１
Paul applied the word today to the day of the Lord's resurrection.
２
This means that Christ's resurrection was His birth as the firstborn Son of God.
３
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).
Morning Nourishment
Heb. 1:5-6 For to which of the angels has He ever said, "You are My Son; this day have I begotten You"? And again, "I will be a Father to Him, and He will be a Son to Me"? And when He brings again the Firstborn into the inhabited earth, He says, "And let all the angels of God worship Him."The Lord Jesus had two births. First, He was born of Mary to be the Son of Man. Then thirty-three and a half years later He was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. Through resurrection He had a second birth, for as a man He was born in His resurrection to be the Son of God. Therefore, in His first birth He 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. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2994)
Today's Reading
In His second birth the Lord Jesus was born to be the firstborn Son of God. According to the New Testament, He is the Son of God in two aspects. First, He was God's only begotten Son; second, He is now God's firstborn Son. The words only begotten indicate that God has only one Son. John 1:18 and 3:16 speak of the only begotten Son of God. Eternally speaking, Christ is the only begotten Son of God. This is His eternal status. But through resurrection He, as a man, was born to be the firstborn Son of God. The word firstborn indicates that God now has many sons (Heb. 2:10). Romans 8:29 and Hebrews 1:6 both speak of Christ as the Firstborn. We who believe in Christ are the many sons of God and the many brothers of the Lord, the many brothers of the firstborn Son of God (Rom. 8:29). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2994)Of course, Christ's incarnation was also a birth, but that birth made Him the Son of Man. Christ did not become the Son of God through incarnation. In eternity past, before His incarnation and before His resurrection, Christ was already the Son of God. The Bible reveals that Christ, the Son of God, is eternal. God is triune—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—and all three are eternal. God the Father is eternal (Isa. 9:6), God the Son is eternal (Heb. 7:3), and God the Spirit is eternal (9:14).
To be eternal means to have no beginning and no ending. Students of the Bible sometimes use a circle to signify eternity. A circle has no beginning and no ending, and it is difficult to tell whether one point on a circle comes before or after another point. In the same way the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all eternal, having no beginning or ending. Hebrews 7:3 tells us that the Son of God is eternal, having neither beginning of days nor end of life. The revelation in the Bible is not that the Father existed before the Son, that the Son came into being after the Father, or that the Spirit came after the Son. Rather, the Bible says that all three are eternal.
The Son of God is eternal, yet this eternal Son of God was born as the Son of Man about two thousand years ago. In His incarnation He was born of Mary, and by that birth He became the Son of Man. Therefore, His incarnation was His first birth. But the Bible also tells us that Christ had a second birth. In His first birth Christ was born as the Son of Man, and in His second birth He was born as the firstborn Son of God. On the one hand, John 3:16 says, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." This verse indicates that Christ was God's only Son. On the other hand, Romans 8:29 says, "That He might be the Firstborn among many brothers." Have you ever considered that Christ is the Son of God in two ways? In the first way He was God's only begotten Son, and in the second way He is the firstborn Son among many sons. Romans 8:29 says that the believers are to be conformed not to the image of the only begotten Son but to the image of God's firstborn Son. (CWWL, 1980, vol. 2, "The Secret of Experiencing Christ," pp. 470-471)
Further Reading: Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 27