Ⅲ
The seed of David becoming the Son of God speaks of the process of Christ’s being designated the firstborn Son of God by resurrection—Rom. 1:3-4:
A
Paul said that he was separated unto the gospel of God concerning God’s Son, which indicates that the gospel of God is a gospel of sonship for the reality of the Body of Christ—vv. 1, 3-4; 8:28-30; 12:5.
B
Romans 1:3-4 is the fulfillment of the prophecy in typology in 2 Samuel 7:12-14a, unveiling the mystery of God becoming man to make man God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead.
C
By incarnation Christ, the only begotten Son of God in His divinity (John 1:18), put on the flesh, the human nature, which had nothing to do with divinity; in His humanity He was not the Son of God.
D
In resurrection His humanity was deified, sonized, meaning that He was designated the Son of God in His humanity, becoming the firstborn Son of God and possessing both divinity and humanity—Rom. 8:29.
E
Thus, in Christ God was constituted into man, man was constituted into God, and God and man were mingled together to be one entity, the God-man.
F
God’s gospel and His intention in His economy are to build God into man and man into God; this building is God becoming a man (the seed of David) that man might become God (the designated Son of God)—John 14:23; 15:4-5; Rom. 1:3-4.
G
This gospel was spoken by the Lord Jesus when He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit”—John 12:24:
１
If a seed dies by being buried in the soil, it will eventually sprout, grow, and blossom in resurrection, because the operation of the seed’s life is activated simultaneously with its death—1 Cor. 15:36; 1 Pet. 3:18.
２
The divinity, the Spirit of holiness, in Christ became operative in His death, and in resurrection He “blossomed” to be the firstborn Son of God and the life-dispensing Spirit, imparting His divine life into us to make us His many brothers—Rom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 15:45b.
３
The prototype is the firstborn Son of God, and the reproduction is the many sons of God, the members of the prototype to be His Body, which consummates in the New Jerusalem—Col. 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:3.
Morning Nourishment
2 Sam. 7:12-14 When your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, which will come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. It is he who will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he will be My son…God told David that He would build One to be David’s seed and that this seed would be called God’s Son. This seed would be both divine and human….Romans 1:3-4…tells us that in resurrection the seed of David was designated the Son of God. In their intrinsic significance, 2 Samuel 7:12-14a and Romans 1:3-4 reveal to us a human and divine person.
God in Christ became a man and went through some processes that this man could be designated something divine. In resurrection He was designated the firstborn Son of God. In and through resurrection Christ, the firstborn Son of God, became the life-giving Spirit, who now enters into us to impart, to dispense, Himself as life into our being to be our inner constitution, to make us a God-man just like Him. He was God becoming man, and we are man becoming God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 167-168)
Today’s Reading
Jesus in His humanity, in that part, was not the Son of God. He was of the old creation, the old man, having the flesh, which is involved with Satan, sin, and the world. So this part had to be made divine, to be sonized, designated, that it might become a part of the Son of God.It is very hard to say what the word designated means in Romans 1:4….Christ is a wonderful person. He has two parts: the man-part, the part of man, and the God-part, the part of God. The part of man is human. The part of God is divine…. His resurrection uplifted the humanity of Jesus into the level of divinity. Here is the essence of the person of Christ. This is very, very deep. Jesus’ divinity is the Spirit of holiness, having the divine power and the divine element to transform Jesus’ humanity, making it divine. This is what it means to designate, and this is to sonize. This is the fulfillment of the prophecy in typology in 2 Samuel 7:12-14. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” pp. 216-217)
Those responsible for the crucifixion of Christ did not realize that crucifixion was the best way for Him to be designated, to be glorified….If [a carnation] seed is put to an end by being buried in the soil, it will eventually sprout, grow, and blossom. In the same principle, through death and resurrection Christ “blossomed” as the Son of God. Satan expected the crucifixion of Christ to mark His termination, but the Lord Jesus knew that this was actually the beginning, that it would lead to His designation according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection from the dead….Hallelujah, in resurrection Christ was designated the Son of God in power! (Life-study of Romans, p. 551)
In His resurrection, all His believers were born, regenerated, with Him as His millions of “twins” to make all these twins the same as He is (1 Pet. 1:3)….The prototype is the firstborn Son of God, and the reproduction is the many sons of God. The Firstborn indicates that more sons are coming.
He is such a prototype to produce millions of God-men. These millions of God-men are the mass reproduction who are exactly the same as the wonderful person Jesus Christ. This mass reproduction of the prototype becomes the members of the prototype to be His Body, the Body of Christ, and this Body of Christ consummates in the New Jerusalem, which is the corporate expression of the Triune God, processed and consummated in Christ and becoming the life-giving Spirit. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” pp. 236-237)
Further Reading: Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msgs. 24-25, 27-31; Life-study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, msgs. 2, 4, 7