«　WEEK 8　DAY 4　»

　　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.

　　As the designated Son of God, Christ still has two natures, both that of divinity and that of humanity. However, the humanity He has now is not the natural humanity, but the humanity uplifted in resurrection. Even His flesh has been designated the Son of God. Hence, He has been designated the Son of God with both divinity and humanity. As such a marvelous Person, He has become the model, the pattern, of all those who are being designated sons of God. A son of God must have both the divine nature and the resurrected, glorified, uplifted human nature. (Life-study of Romans, p. 551)

　　The Jews recognized the Lord’s status as the seed of David according to the flesh. Many of them admitted that Jesus was a royal descendant of David (Matt. 1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 21:9, 15). However, regarding the Lord’s status as the Son of God, there was a great controversy among the Jews when He was on the earth (Mark 2:5-7; John 6:41-42). One day the Lord Jesus asked His disciples a question, “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?” (Matt. 16:13). They said, “Some, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (v. 14). This indicates that the Jews debated among themselves concerning His person. Without heavenly revelation they could realize, at most, only that He was the greatest among the prophets; none of them could know that He is the Son of the living God (v. 16).

　　Christ was already the Son of God [John 1:18; Rom. 8:3]. After He became incarnate, however, His divine nature was concealed by the flesh. However, according to Romans 1:4, when He entered into resurrection, He was designated in power as the Son of God in His humanity….Christ’s resurrection is different [from the resurrection of Lazarus and others] because His resurrection was His designation as the Son of God. There was no need for Christ to be designated as the Son of Man, because when people saw Him, they immediately recognized that He was a man. However, there was a need for Him to be designated the Son of God because… His divinity was concealed in His humanity…. When He was resurrected, He was designated, or manifested, the Son of God with His humanity.

　　By incarnation He put on an element, the human flesh, which had nothing to do with divinity; that part of Him needed to be sanctified and uplifted by passing through death and resurrection. By resurrection His human nature was sanctified, uplifted, and transformed…. His resurrection was His designation…. By resurrection He brought man into God, that is, He brought His humanity into the divine sonship.

　　In His resurrection Christ in His humanity was designated the Son of God, not in mere word but in power according to the Spirit of holiness. No doubt the divine power was very much exercised in His resurrection, yet we need to see that the divine power in which Christ’s humanity was designated the Son of God is the power of life. The phrase in power in Romans 1:4 corresponds with 1 Peter 3:18, which says that Christ’s flesh was put to death, but His Spirit was made alive. Here, to be made alive means to be empowered. In Christ’s death His humanity, His flesh, was crucified. Then in His resurrection God the Spirit as Christ’s divinity was enlivened with the new power of life to put divinity into the humanity of Christ to make it divine. In other words, before Christ’s resurrection, Christ’s humanity was merely human, but in Christ’s resurrection, the Spirit was made strong to impart divinity into His humanity to make it divine. Thus, in His resurrection Christ’s humanity was designated the Son of God in the divine power, and the reality of the power of Christ’s resurrection is the Spirit. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3017-3020)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msgs. 25, 27, 31