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In the foregoing messages we have considered the New Testament and God’s New Testament economy and also God in His person, nature, attributes, good pleasure, manifestation, and work. With this message we shall begin to cover Christ’s person, and in later messages we shall cover Christ’s attributes, virtues, and work. As we shall see, concerning Christ’s person there are a great many aspects.
We all need to have the vision that the God who is dispensing Himself into our being is Christ. All that God is, is in Christ. This means that we cannot separate what God is from what Christ is, for God is embodied in Christ. When we say that God is dispensing Himself into us, we need to realize that this dispensing God in His economy is Christ. Without being Christ, God could not dispense Himself into us. God is Christ for the purpose of His dispensing. For this reason, in the Bible we have God and also Christ.
Some Bible students have a superficial understanding of why we need Christ as well as God. Some may think that besides God we have Christ as our Savior and Redeemer. They may give the impression that God is not our Redeemer and Savior and that Christ is someone besides God who is our Savior and Redeemer. This understanding is not accurate. It is more accurate to say that without being Christ God could not be our Savior, and that without being Christ God could not be our Redeemer. In order to be our Savior and Redeemer, God must be Christ. This is why the New Testament reveals that both God and Christ are the Savior and the Redeemer. This does not mean that we have two Saviors or two Redeemers. On the contrary, we have one Savior and one Redeemer. The fact that we have one Savior and one Redeemer and that both God and Christ are the Savior and the Redeemer indicates that God and Christ are one. Apart from being Christ, our God could not redeem us. Apart from being Christ, He would not have a way to save fallen sinners.
In the same principle, in order to dispense Himself into our being, God must be Christ. If God were not Christ, He could not dispense Himself into us. Christ, therefore, is for God’s dispensing. This is a matter that has been neglected by many Christians.
In order for us to enjoy God’s dispensing, we need to consider all the aspects of who Christ is and what Christ is. No doubt, we all desire to enjoy the dispensing of God. If we would have this enjoyment, we need to see who and what Christ is in His person. In this message we shall begin to consider who Christ is in the Godhead.
Who is Christ in the Godhead, and what is He in the Godhead? First, in the Godhead our Christ is the complete God. For Christ to be the complete God means that He is the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Those who argue with this and say that Christ is only the Son are mistaken. On the one hand, the New Testament reveals that Christ is the Son; on the other hand, the New Testament reveals that Christ is God, even the complete God. We should not say that Christ is only partially God. On the contrary, He is the entire God, the whole God, the Triune God.
Regarding Christ being the complete God, John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In the beginning, that is, from eternity past, the Word was God. It is not, as supposed by some, that Christ was not God from eternity past and that at a certain time Christ became God. Christ’s deity is eternal and absolute. From eternity past to eternity future, He is God. This is the reason that in the Gospel of John there is no genealogy regarding Him as in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. In this Gospel Christ is “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life” (Heb. 7:3). We all need to be very clear that our Christ was God from the beginning, from eternity.
John 1:1 declares that the Word, Christ, is God. This God, whom the Word is, is not a partial God, not only God the Son, but the entire God — God the Son, God the Father, and God the Spirit. The New Testament does not say that the Word was God the Son. Rather, the New Testament says that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was the entire God. As the Word who is the complete God, Christ is the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
In Romans 9:5 Paul speaks of “Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever.” When Paul came to this point in his writing, he was so filled with the glorious person of Christ that he poured out what was in his heart and declared that Christ is over all, God blessed forever. We need to be deeply impressed with the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ is the very God who is over all and blessed forever. He is the infinite God. Concerning Him, Isaiah 9:6 says, “Unto us a child is born...his name shall be called...The mighty God.” We praise Christ for His deity, and we worship Him as God, the complete God, blessed forever.
Hebrews 1:8 also indicates that Christ is God: “But as to the Son, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.” Because Christ the Son is God Himself, He is addressed in this verse as the very God. Hebrews 1:8 clearly reveals that the Son is God Himself.
Speaking of Christ, Colossians 2:9 says, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Can you explain the difference between fullness and riches? According to biblical usage, the significance of the word “fullness” surpasses that of the word “riches.” First we have the riches and then the fullness. We may say, therefore, that fullness surpasses riches. The fullness in Colossians 2:9 refers not to the riches of God but to the expression of the riches of God. What dwells in Christ is not only the riches of the Godhead but the expression of the riches of what God is.
What does “the fullness of the Godhead” refer to? Does it not refer to the entire Godhead, to the complete God? Yes, the fullness of the Godhead is the entire Godhead, including the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Since the Godhead comprises the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, how could we say that the fullness of the Godhead includes only God the Son and not God the Father and God the Spirit? This would not be logical. Because the Godhead comprises the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the fullness of the Godhead must be the fullness of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. As the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead, Christ is not only the Son of God but also the entire God.
We would emphasize the fact that the fullness of the complete Godhead dwells in Christ bodily. The Godhead includes the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and the fullness of the Godhead is the fullness of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The fact that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily means that the Triune God is fully embodied in Him. Apart from Christ as the embodiment of God, we cannot find God, because God is altogether embodied in Christ.
Hebrews 1:3 says that Christ is the effulgence of God’s glory and the express image of God’s substance. The effulgence of God’s glory is like the shining, or the brightness, of the light of the sun. Christ is the shining, the brightness, of the Father’s glory. The effulgence cannot be separated from the glory just as the shining of the sun cannot be separated from the rays of the sun, since the shining and the rays are one.
We may use an electric light as an illustration of the relationship between the effulgence and the glory. Light is the expression of electricity. Although electricity is a mystery, it is a reality. We can tell that electricity is in a certain room by the shining of the electric lights in that room. Light is the effulgence of the “glory” of electricity. In like manner, Christ is the effulgence of God’s glory.
Hebrews 1:3 says not only that Christ is the effulgence of God’s glory but also that He is the express image of God’s substance. The glory is the outward expression, and the substance is the inward essence. God has His essence as well as His appearance; He has His substance as well as His glory. We do not have adequate words to explain these matters. We can say only that our God is glorious and substantial. As far as His glory is concerned, Christ is the effulgence of this glory, and as far as God’s substance is concerned, Christ is the express image of this substance.
The express image of God’s substance is like the impress of a seal. Christ is the expression of what God the Father is. A seal has an image. When the seal is pressed upon paper, the paper bears the same express image as the seal bears. Suppose a seal has certain letters. When this seal is pressed on a piece of paper, the paper will bear the same image with the same letters as the seal. Christ is not only the effulgence of God’s glory; He is also the impress of God’s substance. Here we have the substance within and the expression without. The substance within is the source of the express image, and the expression without is the effulgence of God’s glory.
For Christ to be the effulgence of God’s glory and the express image of His substance means that He is God coming to us. When I put a seal on a piece of paper, the seal comes to the paper. Likewise, Christ as the impress, the express image, of God’s substance is God coming to us. Therefore, Christ is God reaching us, God coming to be one with us. The shining of the sun’s rays is the sun reaching us. If we remain in the sunshine for a period of time, some element of the sun will be transfused into us. This is an experience of the sun reaching us. Likewise, Christ, the Son of God, is God Himself reaching us and coming to us. We have a God who reaches us, a God who comes to us to save us and to dispense Himself into us.
Colossians 1:15 and 2 Corinthians 4:4 say that Christ is the “image of God.” God is invisible, but Christ is His image, expressing what He is. The image in Colossians 1:15 does not mean a physical form, but an expression of God’s being in all His attributes. This interpretation is confirmed by Colossians 3:10 and 2 Corinthians 3:18. As the image of God, Christ is the expression of God. If a person had no physical form or image, he could not be expressed. A person is expressed through his physical image. Although God is invisible, He is expressed through His image, which is His Son.
To say that Christ is the image of God implies that He is the very God, the Creator. When we see Christ, we see the expression of the invisible God, for He Himself is God. Therefore, Christ, the image of the invisible God, is actually God Himself expressed.
Speaking of Christ, Philippians 2:6 says, “Who subsisting in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.” The Greek word translated “subsisting” denotes existing from the beginning; it implies Christ’s eternal preexistence. The word “form” refers to the expression, not the fashion, of God’s being. It is identified with the essence and nature of God’s person and thus expresses His essence and nature. This refers to Christ’s deity. According to this verse, Christ is equal with God.
In Colossians 2:2 Paul speaks of “the mystery of God, Christ.” Here we see that Christ is the mystery of God. Embodied in Christ is all that God is and has. As the mystery of God, Christ is the embodiment, definition, and explanation of God. All that God intends to do is related to Christ.
The word “mystery” in Colossians 2:2 may be interpreted as meaning story. As the mystery of God Christ is the story of God. As the embodiment of God, the effulgence of God’s glory, and the express image of God’s substance, Christ, the mystery of God, His story, defines, explains, and expresses God.
God is a mystery. Furthermore, God has a history, a story. Although God is eternal, He also has a history. Of course, to say that God has a history is to speak in human terms for our understanding. What is the history of God, the story of God? God is infinite and eternal, without beginning or ending. In the beginning, in eternity past, God had a good pleasure, the desire of His heart. Based on this good pleasure, which is the desire of His heart, God made a plan. The biblical term for this plan is purpose. God is purposeful; He has an eternal purpose based on His good pleasure. This purpose is to have a group of living beings to be His corporate expression. According to His good pleasure, God created the heavens and the earth and all the billions of items in the universe. Therefore, God accomplished the work of creation. Christ is the story, the history, of God. This means that Christ is not only God Himself — He is also God’s history. God’s history refers to the process through which He has passed so that He may dispense Himself into His chosen people.
The fact that Christ is the mystery of God indicates that He is not simple. On the contrary, He is immeasurable and mysterious. To be sure, God is not simple. He is unlimited, infinite, eternal. How, then, could Christ, the mystery of God, be simple? As the mystery of God, Christ is the immeasurable, infinite, and eternal God.
God Himself is a mystery, and Christ is the mystery of this mystery. Since Christ is the mystery of God, if we know Christ, we know God. But if we do not know Christ, we do not have the way to know God. We may say that Christ is the key that opens up the way into God. When we have Christ, God is open to us. Christ as the mystery of God is the explanation, interpretation, and definition of God. Through Him we know God and even are brought into God.
Christ is the Son of God. His being the Son of God implies the expression of God, the issue, or the coming out, of God. Concerning God’s existence, Christ is the complete God as God’s embodiment. This means that as far as existence is concerned, Christ is the very God. But concerning God’s issue, His coming out, Christ is the Son of God. There is an important difference between Christ as the embodiment of God and as the issue of God. Christ as the embodiment of God is related to His existence, whereas Christ as the Son of God is related to the coming out, the issue, the expression, of God.
John 20:31 says, “These have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” This verse indicates that the purpose of the Gospel of John is to testify that Jesus is the Christ (1:41; 4:25, 29; 7:41-42) and the Son of God (1:34, 49; 9:35; 10:36). Christ is the title of the Lord according to His office, His mission. The Son of God is His title according to His person. His person is a matter of God’s life, and His mission is a matter of God’s work. He is the Son of God to be the Christ of God.
In Matthew 16:16 Peter, receiving a revelation from the Father, declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” We have seen that the Christ, the anointed One of God, refers to the Lord’s commission, whereas the Son of the living God, as the second of the Triune God, refers to His person. His commission is to accomplish God’s eternal purpose through His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and second advent, whereas His person embodies the Father and issues in the Spirit for a full expression of the Triune God.
Regarding the Son of God there are two aspects: the aspect of the only begotten Son of God and the aspect of the firstborn Son of God. Before His resurrection Christ was the only begotten Son of God. 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.” This verse speaks of Christ as the only begotten Son of God. John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. From eternity until the time of His resurrection Christ was the only begotten Son of God. However, this does not mean that after His resurrection Christ is no longer the only begotten Son of God. In a sense, He still is the only begotten Son. Nevertheless, as we shall see, from the time of His resurrection He became the Son of God in another sense, in the sense of being the firstborn Son of God.
Before His incarnation Christ was the only begotten Son of God, but through resurrection He was born to be the firstborn Son of God. As the only begotten Son of God Christ did not have humanity; He only had divinity. Therefore, before His resurrection He was the Son of God in His divinity. That was unique. But by His incarnation He entered into humanity and took on human nature as part of His being. However, His humanity was not “sonized,” that is, designated the Son of God (Rom. 1:4), until His resurrection. This is the reason Paul says in Acts 13:33, “God has fully fulfilled this promise to us their children in raising up Jesus, as it is also written in the second psalm, You are My Son; today I have begotten You.” This verse indicates that resurrection was a birth to the man Jesus. He was begotten by God in His resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God among many brothers (Rom. 8:29). He was the only begotten Son of God from eternity. After incarnation through resurrection He was begotten by God in His humanity to be God’s firstborn Son. Through resurrection His humanity was sonized to make Him the Firstborn among many sons.
If it were not for Paul, I do not think that we would be able to see that Psalm 2 speaks of the resurrection of Christ. Paul saw the Lord’s resurrection in the word “You are My Son; today I have begotten You.” Paul applied the word “today” to the day of the Lord’s resurrection. This means that Christ’s resurrection was His birth as the firstborn Son of God. Jesus, the Son of Man, was born to be the Son of God through being raised up from the dead. Therefore, God’s raising up of Jesus from the dead was His begetting of Him to be the firstborn Son. It is crucial for us to realize that the Lord’s resurrection was His birth.
The Lord Jesus had two births. First, He was born of Mary to be the Son of Man. Then thirty-three and a half years later He was crucified, buried, and raised from among the dead. Through resurrection He had a second birth, for as a man He was born in His resurrection to be the Son of God. Therefore, in His first birth He was born of Mary to be the Son of Man, and in His second birth He was born of God in resurrection to be the Son of God.
Romans 8:29 and Hebrews 1:6 both speak of Christ as the Firstborn. First, He was God’s only begotten Son; second, He is now God’s firstborn Son. The words “only begotten” indicate that God has only one Son. John 1:18 and 3:16 speak of the only begotten Son of God. Eternally speaking, Christ was the only begotten Son of God. This was His eternal status. But through resurrection He, as a man, was born to be the firstborn Son of God. The word “firstborn” indicates that God now has many sons (Heb. 2:10). We who believe in Christ are the many sons of God and the many brothers of the Lord, the many brothers of the firstborn Son of God.
Before His incarnation, Christ as a divine person already was the Son of God. Romans 8:3 says that God sent His Son. By incarnation Christ put on an element, the flesh, the human nature, that had nothing to do with divinity. That part of Him which was Jesus with the flesh, the human nature, born of Mary, was not the Son of God. That part of Him was human. By His resurrection Christ sanctified and uplifted that part of His human nature, His humanity, and He was designated out of this resurrection as the Son of God with this human nature (Rom. 1:4). In this sense, the Bible says that He was begotten the Son of God in His resurrection (Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5).
As the only begotten Son of God, the Lord is the embodiment of the divine life. The Gospel of John emphasizes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and as the Son of God He is the very embodiment of the divine life (John 1:4). Through resurrection Christ became the firstborn Son of God as the life-dispenser for the propagation of life. 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 very life that is embodied in Him.
Not only was Christ born in resurrection, but all His believers were born with Him at that time. Hence, that birth in resurrection was a corporate birth. We were regenerated in Christ’s resurrection, when His humanity was born of God. This birth in resurrection included us. We all were born with Christ in His resurrection to be the many sons of God and His many brothers.
In this message we have seen that in the Godhead Christ is the complete God and also the Son of God. Christ’s being the complete God and the Son of God, the only begotten Son and the firstborn Son, are for the dispensing of God into His chosen people so that they may be His corporate expression.
