Search
In this chapter we will cover the matter of sonship for the Body. Ephesians 1:5 says that God predestinated “us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” God predestinated us for sonship; His predestination results in sonship. Therefore, sonship is according to God’s predestination. Before the foundation of the world God marked us out for sonship. We were not saved by accident but according to God’s predestination.
Ephesians 1 does not end with sonship, for the last verse of this chapter (v. 23) speaks of the Body. The Body is the result of the sonship. God predestinated us for sonship so that the Body may come into existence. If you read Ephesians 1 carefully and thoroughly, you will see that the Body is constituted of the sons of God. The Body is not composed of Americans, Chinese, and various other nationalities. All these nationalities are the sons of men, and sons of men cannot compose the Body of Christ.
Many Christians think that the Body is simply the coming together of groups of believers. Such a gathering may be an organization or a society, but it is not the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is not composed of sons of man, for they are not qualified to be the Body of Christ. Only the sons of God are qualified to be constituted into the living organism known as the Body of Christ. From now on we should no longer consider the Body as simply a group of Christians. We need to ask whether these Christians are meeting as sons of God or merely as sons of man. We all have a dual status. On the one hand, we are still sons of man; on the other hand, we are sons of God. If I were in the status of a son of man, I would not be able to speak for the Lord. When I speak for Him, I speak as a son of God.
After we become sons of God, we need to live like sons of God. How about your living? Do you live like a son of God? When you deal with your wife or husband, are you a son of man or a son of God? If we still live like sons of man, we are not the Body of Christ in reality. Apparently, we are the Body of Christ; actually, all the demons know that we are not the Body of Christ but simply a gathering of sons of man. Moreover, the angels will say that because we still live like sons of man, they do not recognize us as sons of God. In order to claim the standing of the Body of Christ, we must live like the sons of God. Then we have the ground to declare to all the universe, “We are the sons of God. Angels, don’t you see that we are living here as the sons of God? Demons, none of us are living like the sons of man. Hallelujah, we have been chosen and predestinated to be sons of God in order to be constituted into the Body of Christ!”
In the Bible a son has two crucial significances. First, a son denotes life. First John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has the life.” Thus, if you do not have the Son, you do not have life. A son of man denotes the human life, and the Son of God denotes the divine life. Although we were born with the human life, through regeneration we have received the divine life. By this divine life with the divine nature, we are no longer merely sons of man but also sons of God. Fifty years ago I thought that to have life through having the Son meant only that we were saved. Yes, when we have eternal life by having the Son, we are saved. Life, however, is not mainly for salvation; it is for our living. The divine life we have through receiving the Son of God is for our living. Are you living like a divine person? Even the teenagers among us need to realize that because they have the Son of God, the divine life is in them. This divine life is for living, and they need to live like divine persons. We need to say, “O Lord Jesus, have mercy on me. Although I have the divine life, I am not living like a divine person.” It is abnormal to have the divine life and not to live like a divine person.
The second significance of a son in the Bible is that a son expresses the father. Thus, the Son of God is the expression of the Father. John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” In John 14:9 the Lord Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” The Son does the Father’s will (6:38) and speaks the Father’s word (12:49-50). Thus, the Son’s word is the expression of the Father. When the Son speaks, the Father does His work (14:10). The Son’s life is for the expression of the Father.
A basic concept in the Bible is that the invisible God desires a visible expression. This was the reason that God created man in His own image. We are the visible expression of God. Compare the sons of man sitting in a theater with the sons of God sitting in a church meeting, and see what a difference there is in the expression on their faces. We are here not to express Americans or Chinese but God the Father. Notice that we do not express God the Creator, but we express God the Father. Ephesians 1:3 and 4 indicate that God the Father, not God the Creator, has chosen us. We need to do the will of our heavenly Father. To do His will is to express Him. When we do the will of our earthly father, what we do is an expression of his desire. Likewise, when we do the will of the heavenly Father, we express His desire. Thus, as sons of God, we have the divine life for the purpose of expressing the heavenly Father.
What a shame it is to express our nationality, culture, or anything that is not our Father! Since we are sons of the Father, others should be able to see the Father expressed in us. The reason we love each other is that we are brothers born of the same Father. I see the Father in you, and you see the Father in me. Our Father is the source not only of our life but also of our love. It is this kind of life and expression that constitutes us into that organism known as the Body of Christ.
This brings us to the significance of the Body. According to the New Testament, the Body is for function. If you read Ephesians 4, Romans 12, and 1 Corinthians 12, you will see that in these chapters the Body is for function. In order to function, however, we must have life. If there is no life in our body, the body cannot function. The body functions with life. The life by which the Body functions is the life of the sons of God, the divine life for the divine expression.
Throughout the years we have spoken a great deal about function, but we have not pointed out that our function must be by the life of the sons of God. It is possible to function in the church life by the life of the sons of man. Many times we have functioned by the wrong life, not by the life of the sons of God but by the life of the sons of man. This may be true, for example, in the arranging of chairs. As we arrange chairs, we may function by the life of a son of man or by the life of a son of God. The content of the life of the son of man is self. It is I, me, my, and myself. If we function by this life, we may say, “Every Sunday morning I arrange the chairs myself. Lord, no one else helps me. I use my time and energy to do this alone. But look at the good job I have done! Every chair is exactly in place. Whenever I do something, I do it thoroughly.” This is the life of the son of man, a son of Adam. However, it is also possible to arrange chairs by the life of a son of God. In such a case, it is not I but Christ who arranges the chairs. In all that we do, we need to live by the life of the sons of God. If not, we cannot be the Body of Christ, because the Body functions by the life of the sons of God.
In this life of the sons of God, there is no self. In this life Christ is everything. The first life, the life of the sons of man, does not produce the Body of Christ. Instead, it produces only the self. It is the second life, the life of the sons of God, that constitutes the Body of Christ, because Christ is the content of this life. In fact, this life is nothing but Christ Himself. Therefore, for the proper Body life, we need the proper sonship. We need to be sons of God.
At this point, we need to consider Romans 8. Many Christian teachers have spoken a great deal about Romans 8, often pointing out that it is a chapter on the Spirit. However, few Christians realize that the goal of Romans 8 is not the Spirit but the sonship. In this chapter the Spirit is related to sonship. Thus, the Spirit in Romans 8 is for sonship. For example, Romans 8:14 says, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God,” and verse 15 says, “You have not received a spirit of slavery bringing you into fear again, but you have received a spirit of sonship in which we cry, Abba, Father!” Because we have a spirit of sonship, we spontaneously call, “Abba, Father.” What a sweet feeling we have whenever we cry out this way! How comforting to cry, “Abba, Father!” This sweetness comes from the Spirit that is for sonship. From now on, we need to devote more attention to the matter of sonship in Romans 8 than to the matter of the Spirit.
Today we are in the process of the completion of the sonship. Although we have the sonship, it has not been fully wrought into our being. For example, Philippians 3 says that our body is a body of humiliation (v. 21). Do you regard your body as beautiful? Many times as I have looked at myself in the mirror, I have hated my body because it is so vile. The sonship has not yet been wrought into our body. But it has been wrought into our spirit and even into our attitude, giving us an attitude that expresses the Father. This indicates that the sonship has not only been wrought into our spirit but also, at least in part, into our psychological being. However, it has not yet been wrought into our physical being.
A number of times doctors have said in a mocking way, “Mr. Lee, since you are so religious, why do you still have stomach trouble? Why don’t you go to your God instead of coming to me?” Sometimes when doctors have spoken to me in this way, I have said nothing. At other times I have said, “Yes, today my body is the same as yours, and it requires a physical examination and medical care. But I have something in my spirit that you don’t have.” There is at least one part of our being, our physical body, into which the sonship has not yet been wrought. As to our psychological being, the sonship has been wrought into us in varying degrees. However, it is difficult to believe that anyone among us has had the sonship wrought into his soul to the full extent.
Because the sonship has not yet been wrought into our physical being, Romans 8:19 says that the creation “eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God.” This revelation is the redemption of our body, the completion of our sonship. At that time, the sonship will be wrought into our physical being. When the Lord Jesus comes back, our body will be transfigured into a glorious body in the twinkling of an eye. Our body will become glorious in the divine sonship. Then, as far as we are concerned, doctors will become jobless. Never again will we need to consult a physician.
I am waiting for this completion of the sonship. As an elderly person, I easily get tired. There are times when my physical body simply does not want to carry out my wishes. When I want to work until late at night, it wants to lie down. But we expect that one day our body will be transfigured into the complete sonship. Then the Body of Christ will fully express Christ.
For the completion of sonship, we need not only the Spirit but also the “all things” spoken of in Romans 8:28. This verse says, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Although we have the sonship in our spirit, we do not yet have very much sonship in our soul, that is, in our mind, emotion, and will. For the sonship to be wrought into our soul, we need “all things.”
Philippians 2:12 tells us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. This refers not to eternal salvation but to a specific salvation that needs to be worked out by us. Verse 14 says to do all things without murmurings and reasonings. Murmurings represent the emotions, and reasonings represent the mind. In the church the sisters are accustomed to murmuring and the brothers to reasoning. As long as we still have murmurings and reasonings, we are still in the soul. Thus, we need a salvation to save us, to rescue us, from the soul, particularly from murmurings and reasonings. Our murmurings and reasonings are not easily overcome. Not even the Holy Spirit of God can overcome us without the help of “all things.” However, do not be disappointed at this word.
Recently, three young brothers told me that because they are in Christ, they are sinless. They said that because they are dead with Him, they could no longer sin. After listening to them, I told them that they were still young and did not have very much experience. I also told them about a group of Christians who said that because they had been baptized in the Holy Spirit, they were holy and could no longer sin. The men and the women began to live together, and the result was fornication. This illustrates the fact that the flesh and sin were still with them. The brothers were shocked. Then I told them that if they were unhappy with the way I was speaking to them, that was an indication that they still have the sinful temper. Nevertheless, I did not want to discourage them. So I told them to go ahead to experience Christ.
Romans 8 mentions Christ and the Spirit; it also mentions “all things.” Along with Christ and the Spirit, we need “all things” to work together for us so that we may be “sonized.” We are not easily “sonized.” Being “sonized” is not the result of a mushrooming development. It is easy for our spirit to become a spirit of sonship. We do this by saying, “Lord Jesus, I repent. I am a sinner. Thank You, Lord, for dying on the cross for me. I take You as my Savior.” If you pray like this, the Spirit of sonship will come into you immediately. But it is a far more difficult matter to “sonize” our whole being.
In order to be “sonized,” we need “all things,” which include different kinds of brothers, both wild brothers and mild brothers. We need to listen to brothers who are eloquent and to brothers who speak in a staggering way. Those who speak haltingly, not eloquently, are the ones who expose us. Even in spiritual things we are still so much in ourselves, but those who speak in a staggering way expose where we are. Even such speakers are included in the all things mentioned in Romans 8:28. Without such halting speakers, how could we be “sonized”?
I have been in the process of being “sonized” for over fifty years, and I am still not completely “sonized.” The more we are “sonized,” the more sonship we have. My wife and so many brothers have helped to “sonize” me. Those who contact me daily have helped me the most in this matter. I am happy to be under the “sonizing” hands of so many people. Day after day I am under the “sonizing” hand of my wife and the brothers. No matter how kind they may be to me, they have unconsciously performed a “sonizing” work on me. I thank the Lord for all those who are helping to “sonize” me. I confess that I have needed everything and everyone for this process.
Having the Body life depends upon how much “sonizing” work we have passed through. If we have little sonship, we cannot have very much of the Body life, for the Body life comes out of the sonship. Romans 8 tells us that we are being conformed to the image of God’s Son. This conformity is not accomplished mainly by the Spirit but by the “all things.”
Romans 9, 10, and 11 are a parenthesis. This means that chapter 12 is the direct continuation of chapter 8. In Romans 12 we have the Body. After so much “sonizing,” we are qualified to discern what the will of God is. The will of God is to have the Body. Nothing is as precious to God as the Body of Christ. This is what is most on His heart. The Body of Christ is not only God’s will but also His good pleasure. God wants a Body through which His Son can express Himself. This is the desire of His heart. After experiencing the sonship in Romans 8, we can realize that the good pleasure of God’s eternal will is to have the Body life.
Sonship is for the Body. Without sonship there can be no Body. When we do not live in the divine life, the life of God, we are through with the church. We may come to the meetings, but we are through with the practical Body life. However, when we live by the life of the sons of God, we are daily practicing the Body life.
Today there is much talk about the Body life. When I came to this country in 1962, I was invited to visit a number of places. During my first five years in this country, I traveled through many states and met all kinds of Christians. In not even one place did I find the practical Body life. Instead, I found groups of people merely meeting together. The reason there was no Body life was that very few Christians lived by the life of the sons of God.
How I worship the Lord that by His mercy and through His grace many of us are living not by our natural life, the life of the sons of man, but by the divine life, the life of the sons of God! Although we are very complicated, the Father is arranging all things to work together for our good so that we may be thoroughly “sonized,” that the sonship allotted to us in eternity past may be wrought into our whole being. This sonship will be wrought not only into our spiritual being but also into our psychological being and consummately into our physical being.
Because the sonship is being wrought into our soul, the book of Philippians says that we can be one both in spirit and in soul. After we have been “sonized” through the working of all things, the murmurings and the reasonings will be gone. I can testify that even during the time we have been in Anaheim, the murmurings and reasonings have diminished. This is the Lord’s doing. As long as we are here in the Lord’s recovery and mean business with Him, He will mean business with us. Sometimes it seems that we let Him go. At those times He says, “You have let Me go, but I will never let you go.” We all have signed a contract with God. Because we have signed this contract, even though we let Him go, He will not let us go.
We are in the process of being “sonized” so that we may gradually partake of more of the sonship. As we partake of more of the sonship, the Body life grows among us day by day. I am very happy about the church here, for the practical Body life is much higher now than it was four years ago. Those who look upon the outward appearance may not believe this. But I look at the inward situation, and I do believe it. I have seen the growth, and I have noticed the diminishing of the murmurings and the reasonings. After a period of time, all the murmurings and reasonings will disappear. The day is coming when we will be tired of murmurings. Even if someone offered to pay us to murmur, we would have no interest in doing so. Eventually, we all will say, “I have no interest in murmurings or in reasonings. Christ is my life. I just like to praise the Lord and love Him.” In Philippians 1:21 Paul says that to live is Christ. I like these four words: to live is Christ. The day is coming when we all will be able to say this. The “sonizing” work is increasing, and we are receiving more of the sonship.
