E
We need to connect Romans 1:3-4 and 8:29:
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Through His incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, Christ, the Son of God, became the firstborn Son, and the many sons, who are the brothers of Christ, are being conformed to His image—Heb. 2:10-11; Rom. 8:29.
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In Romans 1:3-4 Christ, the Son of God, is the prototype, whereas in 8:29 the many brothers are those who have been "mass-produced" from the prototype and, by being saved in life, will be conformed to the image of the firstborn Son.
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This brings us to the matter of deification and implies that God's intention in His economy is to make Himself man so that, in Christ, we, the believers in Christ and children of God, may become God in life, in nature, and in constitution (but not in the Godhead); such an implication is exceedingly great, and eventually, the Bible consummates with this matter—v. 29; 1:3-4; John 1:1-13; 1 John 3:1; Rev. 21:2, 10-11.
Morning Nourishment
Rom. 8:29 …He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers.Heb. 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in leading many sons into glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
To be saved from our self-likeness, from the expression of the self, we need conformation for glorification. To see this matter clearly we need to join Romans 1:4 with 8:29…. In 1:4 we have the formation of the prototype, but in 8:29, the work of “mass production.” In 1:4 we have the designation of the Son of God individually, whereas in 8:29 we have the saturation, sanctification, designation, and conformation of the many sons collectively. The principle in each case is the same.
Concerning the Lord Jesus, the Spirit of holiness was within Him before His death and resurrection. This Spirit of holiness is the divine essence of holiness. Through the process of death and resurrection, this holy essence saturated and permeated the Lord’s humanity, including His flesh. As believers in the Lord Jesus, we also have the divine essence of holiness, which is the Spirit of holiness, the very Christ, in our spirit. Because this holy essence is still concealed within our humanity, we need to pass through a process under God’s sovereign arrangement that will enable this essence to saturate our entire being. For the completion of this process, we need many things to work together for our good. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 501-502)
Today’s Reading
What is revealed in 2 Samuel 7 is expounded by Paul in Romans 1:3-4, where he tells us that Christ, a descendant of David, has been designated the Son of God…. This is the mystery of God becoming man to make man God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. The two, God and man, are thus built together, constituted into each other. In Christ God has been constituted into man, man has been constituted into God, and God and man have been mingled together to be one entity, which is called the God-man.In 2 Samuel 7:12 God spoke of David’s seed, and in verse 14a He said, “I will be his Father, and he will be My son.” Here we have something of very great significance—the seed of David becoming the Son of God. These verses clearly unveil that a seed of man, that is, a son of a man, can become the Son of God. This implies that God’s intention is to make Himself man in order to make man God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. Such an implication is exceedingly great. Eventually, the whole Bible consummates with this matter. The New Jerusalem, the ultimate consummation of the Bible, involves God becoming man and man becoming God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead, and God and man being mingled together to be one entity.
If we read the Bible without paying attention to this crucial point, then, in a very real sense, the Bible is to us an empty book…. Today, many Christians care for the Bible as the “box,” but they have not seen and do not appreciate the “diamond,” which is the content of this box…. The “diamond” in the “box” of the Bible is the revelation that in Christ God has become man in order that man might become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead.
The vast majority of today’s Christians neglect the crucial point in the Bible that in Christ God has become man in order to make man God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead and that God desires to mingle Himself with man to be one entity…. Today many believe one aspect of this crucial point—that God became a man named Jesus—but they do not believe the other aspect—that man is becoming God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 205, 203-204)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” msgs. 1, 18