«　WEEK 1　DAY 4　»

　　Acts 13:34 And as to His having raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to corruption, He spoke in this way, "I will give you the holy things of David, the faithful things."

　　Rom. 1:3-4 Concerning His Son, who came out of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.

　　At this point we need to ask ourselves what the difference is between the only begotten Son and the firstborn Son. Our first response may be to say that the only begotten Son had no brothers, but the firstborn Son has many brothers. (CWWL, 1980, vol. 2, "The Secret of Experiencing Christ," p. 471)

　　Through His becoming the firstborn Son of God in resurrection, the divine life has been dispensed into all of His believers to bring forth the propagation of the life which is embodied in Him.

　　In Acts 13 Paul was not preaching Christ as the only begotten Son of God, as the Gospel of John does. Rather, here Paul was preaching Christ as the firstborn Son of God for propagation. For this reason, he preached the resurrection of the Lord Jesus as His second birth. Through His second birth, His birth in resurrection, Christ became the firstborn Son of God for the propagation of the divine life. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2994-2995)

　　We all need to see that being born as the firstborn Son of God was a great work, which Christ accomplished through His resurrection. Although it is clearly taught in the Bible, many Christians have never seen this matter. (CWWL, 1980, vol. 2, "The Secret of Experiencing Christ," p. 472)

　　[Acts 13:33 and 34] are concerned with the resurrected Christ. Verse 33 indicates that Christ's resurrection was His second birth to bring Him forth as the firstborn Son of God.

　　The Greek word for the holy things...in verse 34 is in the plural. The same Greek word is used for Holy One in the next verse, but in the singular. However, it is not the regular word for holy; it is a Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word chesed, which is translated "mercies" in Isaiah 55:3, 2 Chronicles 6:42, and Psalm 89:1, both in the Septuagint and in the King James Version. In Psalm 89 the word mercies in plural in verse 1 (KJV) is the same word as for Holy One in singular in verse 19. This Holy One is Christ, the Son of David, in whom God's mercies are centered and conveyed. Hence, the holy things of David, the faithful things refers to the resurrected Christ. This is fully proved by the context, especially by Your Holy One in the next verse, and by the verse following Isaiah 55:3.

　　Paul's thought in Acts 13:33 and 34 is very deep. The resurrected Christ, who is God's firstborn Son brought forth through His second birth, His resurrection, is the holy and faithful things. In verse 34 the word faithful means "trustworthy." The resurrected Christ is the holy and faithful things God gives to us. Here Paul indicates that the resurrected Christ is not only our Savior bringing us God's salvation and that He is not only the firstborn Son of God. This resurrected One is also the holy and faithful things as a gift given to us by God.

　　It is easy for us to understand that Christ is our Savior. It is more difficult to understand that Christ is the firstborn Son of God. But it is very difficult to understand that the resurrected Christ is the holy and faithful things given to us by God. The holy and faithful things cover a wide span, a span much wider than that covered by the titles Savior and firstborn Son. The phrase the holy things...the faithful things is actually a divine title, a title of Christ. In these verses Christ is called the holy and faithful things. The Savior God raised up out of the seed of David has become the holy and faithful things. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2995-2996)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Acts, msg. 37