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In this message we shall cover some deep and profound matters concerning Christ’s person in reproduction and resurrection.
Christ has a reproduction, and in His reproduction He is a grain of wheat. John 12:24 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Here the Lord Jesus indicates that He, as a grain of wheat, will fall into the ground and die in order to produce many grains as His reproduction. In Christ’s resurrection we are His reproduction. Concerning this, Peter says, “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead” (1 Pet. 1:3). When Christ was resurrected, we, His believers, were all included in Him. We were resurrected with Him (Eph. 2:6). In His resurrection Christ imparted the divine life into us and made us the same as He is in life and nature to be His reproduction. He was a grain of wheat falling into the ground to die. When He grew up in resurrection He produced many grains. The many grains are His reproduction, His multiplication, and this reproduction is His propagation. Through His death and resurrection He has been multiplied and propagated. This propagation is for the producing of the church. Through His death and resurrection He has produced the church as His reproduction.
In resurrection Christ is the Firstfruit of resurrection. First Corinthians 15:20 says, “Christ has been raised from among the dead, the firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep.” In verse 23 of the same chapter Paul goes on to say, “Each one in his own order: the firstfruit, Christ; after that those who are Christ’s at His coming.” In these verses Christ is set forth as the Firstfruit of resurrection. Christ was the first one raised from among the dead as the firstfruit of resurrection. This was typified by the firstfruits in Leviticus 23:10 and 11, offered to God on the day after the Sabbath, the day of resurrection (Matt. 28:1).
As the Firstfruit of resurrection, Christ is the Firstborn from among the dead: “He is the Head of the Body, the church; who is the beginning, Firstborn from among the dead” (Col. 1:18). Christ being “the Firstborn from among the dead” is for the new creation in resurrection, which is the church, the Body of Christ. As the first in resurrection Christ is the Head of the Body. He is the One who has the first place, the preeminence, in the church.
In resurrection Christ is the Son of God designated in power. In Romans 1:4 Paul says that Christ “was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection of the dead.” Before His incarnation and resurrection, Christ already was the Son of God. After He became incarnate, however, His divine nature was concealed by the flesh. But when He entered into resurrection, He was designated in power as being the Son of God. Therefore, resurrection was Christ’s designation as the Son of God.
Christ first passed through the process of incarnation to become flesh. Then He passed through the process of death and resurrection. By means of the second step of this process He was designated the Son of God out of resurrection. Although Christ already was the Son of God before the incarnation, He still needed to be designated the Son of God out of resurrection because by incarnation He had put on an element, the human nature, that had nothing to do with divinity. Christ was already the Son of God in His divinity, but that part of Him which was Jesus with the human nature born of Mary, was not the Son of God. By His resurrection Christ sanctified and uplifted His human nature, His humanity, and He was designated out of resurrection as the Son of God with this human nature. In this sense He was begotten the Son of God in His resurrection (Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5).
Although Christ was the Son of God, this could not be recognized easily. By being “sown” into death and growing up in resurrection, He “blossomed.” By this process He was designated the Son of God, and by this process He uplifted the human nature. Christ did not put off His human nature when He entered into resurrection. Instead of putting off humanity, He sanctified it, uplifted it, and transformed it, and He had Himself designated with this transformed humanity the Son of God with the divine power. When He was the Son of God before His incarnation, He did not have human nature. Now in resurrection He is the Son of God with humanity uplifted, sanctified, and transformed.
Those responsible for the death of Christ did not realize that crucifixion was a step on the way for Him to be designated the Son of God in resurrection. Satan expected that the crucifixion would 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.
As the designated Son of God, Christ still has two natures, divinity and humanity. However, the humanity He now has is not a natural humanity but a humanity uplifted in resurrection. Even His human nature has been designated the Son of God. He has been designated the Son of God with both divinity and humanity.
Through designation in resurrection the Christ who was already the Son of God before His incarnation became the Son of God in a new way. Before His incarnation He was the Son of God only with divinity. But now, through His resurrection, He has been designated the Son of God both with divinity and humanity. If Christ had not put on human nature, there would have been no need for Him to be designated the Son of God, for in His divinity He was already the Son of God, even from eternity. But having put on humanity through incarnation, He was designated the Son of God with humanity in resurrection.
Romans 1:4 says that this designation was according to the Spirit of holiness. There is a distinction between the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of holiness. Holiness refers to the divine essence, the substance of God’s being. The Spirit of holiness is the Spirit of the divine essence, whereas the Holy Spirit is the Person of the Spirit. As the Son of God, Christ is constituted of the Spirit of holiness; the Spirit of holiness is His very element. It was according to the Spirit of holiness that Christ was designated the Son of God in resurrection.
The Spirit of holiness is the life-essence within the Lord Jesus. When He lived on earth in the flesh, He had this divine life-essence within Him. As a flower is designated according to the life-essence within it, so Christ was designated by resurrection according to the divine life-essence in Him. When He resurrected from among the dead, He was designated in power by resurrection according to the Spirit of holiness that was in Him. Now He is the Son of God in a way that is more wonderful than before, for now He has both the divine nature and the resurrected, transformed, uplifted, glorified, and designated human nature.
Christ’s resurrection was His birth as God’s firstborn Son. Acts 13:33 reveals that to the man Jesus resurrection was a birth. 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 (John 1:18; 3:16). After incarnation and through resurrection He was begotten by God in His humanity to be God’s firstborn Son. This was prophesied in Psalm 2:7: “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” Acts 13:33, which quotes from Psalm 2:7, indicates that Christ was begotten as the Son of God on the day of His resurrection. He needed to be begotten by resurrection because He had put on humanity. As to His divinity there was no need for Him to be begotten as the Son of God. But as to His humanity there was the need for this. On the day of Christ’s resurrection His human nature was uplifted and transfigured into a glorious substance. This was the begetting in power by resurrection. This begetting was also His designation. In this way Jesus was begotten to be the firstborn Son of God and designated the Son of God.
The word “Firstborn” in Romans 8:29 indicates that in addition to the firstborn Son of God there will be other sons. Hebrews 2:10 speaks of many sons, and Romans 8:29, of many brothers. In resurrection Christ came to His brothers, who compose His church, and declared the Father’s name to them (Heb. 2:12).
Through incarnation God’s only begotten Son put on humanity and became the God-man. Then in resurrection this God-man was born of God to be His Firstborn. Before incarnation God’s only begotten Son did not have human nature, only the divine nature. However, in resurrection God’s firstborn Son has a human nature as well as the divine nature.
As believers in Christ, we all are sons of God and brothers of the firstborn Son. Through regeneration we have the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). Although we are human beings, we now have the divine nature. Although the Lord Jesus is divine, He also has the human nature. Both the Lord Jesus and we are the same in that both He and we have the human nature and the divine nature. In His resurrection the Lord was born of God to be His firstborn Son. His resurrection was the release of the divine life and nature, and through this release He was begotten as the firstborn Son of God.
As the Son of God, Christ has passed through two births. The first birth took place at His incarnation, and the second, in His resurrection. In the first birth He was born as a son of man. After living on earth for thirty-three and a half years, Christ was crucified. Then in the second birth in resurrection He was born as the firstborn Son of God.
Through the two births of Christ divinity has been brought into humanity, and humanity has been brought into divinity. By the incarnation of Christ God was brought into man. Prior to Christ’s incarnation, God was outside of man. However, through Christ’s incarnation God was brought into humanity. With the birth of Christ God was born into man. Therefore, by Christ’s first birth in incarnation God was brought into man and became one with man. Then through Christ’s second birth in resurrection man was brought into God and became one with God.
On the day of His resurrection Christ came back to the disciples with a resurrected body, coming into the room where the disciples were with the doors shut (John 20:19). Since the doors were shut, how could He enter the room with a body of flesh and bones? Our limited mentality cannot comprehend this, but it is a fact, and we must receive it according to the divine revelation.
Christ in resurrection is a resurrected man with a spiritual body of flesh and bones. We cannot understand how a body of flesh and bones can be spiritual, but with the resurrected Christ flesh and bones have become spiritual. This means that He has a spiritual body, yet the body is physical.
Luke 24:36 and 37 say, “As they were speaking these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, Peace to you! But they were startled and became frightened and thought they beheld a spirit.” The disciples were troubled by the Lord’s appearing. They could not understand how He could suddenly appear in the room. The door was closed, and no one opened it. Nevertheless, the Lord appeared with a physical body.
The Lord said to the disciples, “Why are you troubled, and why are reasonings arising in your heart? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you behold Me having” (vv. 38-39). Then He showed them His hands and feet (v. 40). Here we see Christ’s resurrected body, which is spiritual (1 Cor. 15:44).
The Lord’s appearing was very mysterious. He came into the room as the Spirit, yet with a physical, touchable body. The prints of the nails could still be seen. The place in His side that had been pierced with a spear could still be seen and touched. Not only was the Lord’s body visible and touchable, but He was able to eat food: “While they still did not believe for joy and were marveling, He said to them, Do you have anything to eat here? And they handed Him part of a broiled fish; and He took it and ate before them” (Luke 24:41-43). We do not understand how the Lord Jesus as One with a spiritual body was still able to eat material food.
In 1 Corinthians 15:44 Paul speaks concerning the resurrection body: “It is sown a soulish body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a soulish body, there is also a spiritual body.” A soulish body is a natural body animated by the soul, a body in which the soul predominates. A spiritual body is a resurrected body saturated by the spirit, a body in which the spirit predominates. After His resurrection Christ had such a spiritual body, yet it was a body with flesh and bones.
In Philippians 3:21 Paul speaks of Christ’s body of glory. Christ’s body of glory is His resurrected body, saturated with God’s glory (Luke 24:26) and transcendent over corruption and death (Rom. 6:9).
Christ’s resurrection was His transfiguration into the life-giving Spirit in order to enter into His believers (1 Cor. 15:45b). The last Adam, Christ, became the life-giving Spirit in resurrection. We know that it was in resurrection that the last Adam became the life-giving Spirit by the fact that the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 15 is on resurrection. The context of this chapter proves that it was in resurrection that Christ became the life-giving Spirit.
In John 14:16 and 17 the Lord Jesus speaks of another Comforter, even the Spirit of reality. The word “another” indicates that the Lord, the One speaking, is a Comforter. If He were not a Comforter, then He would not have said that He would ask the Father to send another Comforter. If we read John 14:16-20 carefully, we shall see that, eventually, the second Comforter is actually the first Comforter as the Spirit. In verse 17 the Lord says that the Spirit of reality will be in the disciples. Then in verse 18 He continues, “I will not leave you orphans; I am coming to you.” The “He” who is the Spirit of reality in verse 17 now becomes the “I,” the Lord Himself, in verse 18. This indicates that after His resurrection the Lord would become the Spirit of reality. Furthermore, the Lord speaks of another Comforter in verse 16 and then says in verse 20, “In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” Here the Lord again reveals that He Himself would be in the disciples as the Spirit, as the life-giving Spirit in resurrection.
Christ became the Spirit through death and resurrection. According to 1 Corinthians 15:45b, Christ, the last Adam, became the life-giving Spirit. On the day of His resurrection Christ breathed into His disciples and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). We may say that Christ already was the Spirit when He was in the flesh. The difference here is that His flesh was a covering comparable to a shell. Through death and resurrection the opaque shell of the flesh became transparent. Therefore, now we can see that the Lord is the Spirit. Through death and resurrection the last Adam in the opaque shell of the flesh became the life-giving Spirit. This is still the same Jesus, but now the shell is transparent. The One who was with the disciples is the same One who is now the life-giving Spirit.
Christ’s resurrection includes the fact that He, the last Adam, the One who is the Lamb of God, the Redeemer, has become the life-giving Spirit. Both the Redeemer and the life-giving Spirit are precious. For our enjoyment we need the Redeemer and the life-giving Spirit. We treasure both the Redeemer and the life-giving Spirit. In death the Lord Jesus was the Lamb, the Redeemer, and in resurrection He is the life-giving Spirit.
In resurrection Christ comes to us as the Spirit, as the pneumatic Christ (John 20:19-22). Not only has Christ become the life-giving Spirit, but when He comes to us, He comes as the Spirit. He comes as the pneumatic Christ.
The Lord Jesus came to His disciples as the pneumatic Christ on the day of His resurrection. In chapter twenty of the Gospel of John, the Lord came to His disciples, who were in a place where the doors were shut, as the pneuma. The Greek word pneuma means spirit; it also means breath or air. In John 1 Christ is the Lamb, but in John 20, after His death and in His resurrection, He is the pneumatic Christ. The first time He came, He came as the Lamb of God. The second time He came as the pneuma. According to John 20:22, “He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.” This indicates that the Lord came to the disciples as breath.
When we receive Christ today, we receive the pneumatic Christ. This means that we receive not only the redeeming Christ but also the life-giving Christ. Day by day we are enjoying not only the redeeming Christ but also the life-giving Christ, the pneumatic Christ.
To say that Christ is the pneumatic Christ means that He is full of divine breath. Just as a car tire must be pneumatic, that is, full of air, so every Christian should be pneumatic, full of heavenly breath. In our daily life we should not be “flat,” short of divine breath.
Our spiritual breath is the life-giving Spirit. In resurrection Christ has come to us as this Spirit, the pneuma. The Lord became the pneumatic Christ through resurrection. Now in resurrection our Christ, the Redeemer, is the pneumatic Christ, the life-giving Spirit.
In resurrection Christ is the Lord Spirit: “We all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18). The Lord Spirit may be considered a compound title like the Father God and the Lord Christ. This expression strongly proves that the Lord Christ is the Spirit and that the Spirit is the Lord Christ. The previous verse says that the Lord is the Spirit, and this verse definitely speaks of Christ as the Lord Spirit.
It is in resurrection that Christ is the Lord Spirit. When He was in the flesh, He was not called the Spirit. But when He entered into resurrection, He became in resurrection the life-giving Spirit, and in resurrection He is called the Lord Spirit.
The image in 2 Corinthians 3:18 is the image of the resurrected and glorified Christ. The “same image” means we are being conformed to the resurrected and glorified Christ, being made the same as He is (Rom. 8:29).
Christ’s being the Lord Spirit is for our transformation. We are being transformed into Christ’s glorious image, and this transformation is a matter of dispensing.
Transformation is not merely an outward change. An outward change does not require the addition of the divine life element. But if we are to be transformed into the image of Christ, the divine life element must be added into us. The divine element is added into us by God’s dispensing. God is dispensing His element into us so that we may have transformation and not merely an outward change. Transformation is a metabolic change, and for this we need God’s dispensing. We must have the dispensing of the Triune God into us. Day by day we need to have contact with the Dispenser, the One who dispenses Himself directly into our being. When we have contact with Him and stay in the organic union with Him, we shall enjoy His dispensing of Himself into us. This is all by Christ as the Lord Spirit that we may be transformed into His image from glory to glory.
In resurrection Christ is in the believers. Three verses that say definitely that Christ is in us are Romans 8:10; Colossians 1:27; and 2 Corinthians 13:5. Romans 8:10 says, “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is life because of righteousness.” The preposition “in” here is most remarkable. Christ, the wonderful One, is actually in us. In order for Christ to be in us, He must be the Spirit. According to the context, Christ dwells in us as the Spirit.
Concerning Christ in resurrection being in the believers, Colossians 1:27 says, “To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” According to the book of Colossians, the Christ who is in us is the portion of the saints (1:12), the image of the invisible God (1:15), the Firstborn of all creation (1:15), the Firstborn from among the dead (1:18), the One in whom all God’s fullness dwells (2:9), the mystery of God’s economy (1:25-27), the mystery of God (2:2), the reality of all positive things (2:17), and the constituent of the new man (3:10-11). What a Christ we have within us! This indwelling Christ is the life-giving Spirit in resurrection. As the Spirit, Christ now is in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22) to be one spirit with us (1 Cor. 6:17). As the life-giving Spirit mingled with our spirit, He is our life and our person (Col. 3:4; Eph. 3:17).
In 2 Corinthians 13:5 Paul says, “Test yourselves whether you are in the faith; prove yourselves; or do you not recognize yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are disapproved?” To test is to determine our condition; to prove is to qualify our status. Paul tells the Corinthians to test themselves whether they are in the objective faith (Acts 6:7; 1 Tim. 1:19). If anyone is in the objective faith, he surely has the subjective faith and believes in Christ and the entire content of God’s New Testament economy. Paul specifically asked the Corinthians whether they recognized that Jesus Christ was in them. As long as a believer realizes that Jesus Christ is in him, he is qualified, approved, as a genuine member of Christ. Second Corinthians 13:5 is another verse revealing the fact that in resurrection Christ lives in the believers.
