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Scripture Reading: Luke 2:7-16, 21-25, 34-35, 40, 49, 52; 3:23; Matt. 2:1-23; Col. 2:11; Isa. 53:2-3; 52:14; Heb. 4:15b; 2:18; Num. 4:3
I. In His infancy:
А. Lying in a manger — Luke 2:7-16.
B. Fleeing from His opposers:
1. From the land of Israel to Egypt — Matt. 2:1-15.
2. From Egypt back to the land of Israel — vv. 16-21.
3. From Bethlehem to Galilee and settled in Nazareth — vv. 22-23.
II. In His youth:
А. Circumcised on the eighth day to put off His flesh and sanctified unto the Lord — Luke 2:21-24; Col. 2:11.
B. Simeon, a man who was waiting for the consolation of Israel, prophesied to Mary His mother, “Behold, this One is appointed for the falling and rising up of many in Israel and for a sign spoken against — and a sword will pierce through your own soul also — so that the reasonings of many hearts may be revealed” — Luke 2:25, 34-35.
C. Growing to be strong, filled with wisdom (referring to His deity), and the grace of God (referring to God’s grace in His humanity) being upon Him — v. 40.
D. At the age of twelve He said to His parents, “I must be in the things of My Father,” or, “I must be in My Father’s house” (v. 49). Early, at the age of twelve, the first God-man was in the things of His Father, that is, in the things concerning His Father’s house, which is the church issuing in the Body of Christ, which will consummate the New Jerusalem for the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy.
E. Advancing in wisdom (referring to His deity) and stature (referring to His humanity in stature and age) and in the grace manifested in Him before God and men — v. 52.
III. In His silence between the age of twelve and the age of thirty (3:23):
А. Growing up like a tender plant before Jehovah and like a root out of dry ground (Isa. 53:2a), indicating that He was of a poor family.
B. Having no attracting form nor majesty that we should look upon Him, nor beautiful appearance that we should desire Him (v. 2b), signifying that in both His status and stature He had no dignity of attraction nor desirable appearance.
C. Being despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, respected by no man — v. 3.
D. His appearance being marred more than that of any man, and His form more than that of the sons of men — 52:14.
E. Tempted in all respects like us, yet without sin — Heb. 4:15b; 2:18.
F. All the states and conditions mentioned above make people silent and inactive in social appearance.
G. Although the Lord had a concern for God’s house when He was at the age of twelve, God did not yet commission Him to carry out the ministry for the purpose of accomplishing His eternal economy to take care of God’s house issuing in the Body of Christ, consummating the New Jerusalem.
H. Many servants of God could not tolerate such a time of silence; rather, they failed such a test by God. The real ministry to take care of the house of God issuing in the Body of Christ needs the maturity of age (Num. 4:3).
In this chapter we want to see the first God-man’s living. Many of us know the term God-man, but we need to be able to give a clear portion in the New Testament where this God-man is mentioned. We may want to use John 1:14 and Matthew 1:23, but these are not the best verses. John 1:14 says that the Word became flesh. This verse implies the God-man because the Word refers to God Himself who became a man in the flesh. Matthew 1:23 says that the Lord’s name would be called Emmanuel, which means God with us. He is God and He is also God incarnated to dwell among us.
The best verses that reveal the God-man are Romans 1:3 and 4. These verses say that our Lord Jesus Christ was out of the seed of David according to the flesh and was designated the Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection of the dead. The Son of God is God Himself. Our Christ has two sources and two elements. One is the flesh. The other is the Spirit of holiness. The flesh refers to His humanity. The Spirit of holiness refers to His divinity. This is one person with two natures — human and divine.
Without Romans 1:3-4, which was spoken by Paul, we would not have a clear view concerning Christ being the first God-man with two natures and two sources. This God-man is the prototype for mass reproduction. He is the first God-man, and we are the many God-men. Second Peter 1:4 says that we are partakers of the divine nature. John 1 tells us that in the Word, which is God, is life, and this life is the light of men shining in the darkness. Whoever would receive this shining receives the life in the Word, and authority is given to him to be a child of God.
If those who are born of God as God’s children are not gods, what are they? Are not the children and the Father of the same species? John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” Both you and your parents are of the same species, the species of flesh. Verse 6 also says, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The two spirits are of the same species and also of the same source. We are born of God to be the many God-men, the children of God. Also, our Lord, in whom we believe and whom we worship and follow, is the first God-man.
Genesis 1 speaks of Adam as the first man, and Romans 1 speaks of Christ as the first God-man. Adam’s origin was God. The genealogy in Luke 3 says that Adam was the son of God (v. 38). Adam was the son of God because he bore the image of God and God was his origin. In Genesis 1 all things were created according to their kind, their species. But man was created according to God’s kind because he was created in God’s image and according to God’s likeness (v. 26). In this sense Adam was the son of God in image and likeness, but he had only the image of God without the life and nature of God. We are different. We are not only created by God but also born of God, so God is our real, genuine, Father, and we are His real, genuine, children. We have the authority to say that we are children of God. We have God’s image and His life and nature. Romans 8:16 says that the Spirit and our spirit witness together that we are children of God. This is a great thing. The children of God are the God-men. When we received the Lord Jesus and He came into our spirit, right away an authority was given to us. That authority was the divine life, and with this life is the divine nature. We have the life and nature of God because we were born of God to be His children. We are God-men.
We should not forget our status as God-men. This will affect the way that we live. Our admission that we are God-men is not that thorough. If we realize that we are God-men and we mean it, right away we uplift our status. Can a God-man fight with a salesgirl in a department store? In 1968 I was naturalized to be an American citizen, and I began to travel with an American passport. Then I had to behave myself as an American. I had to honor my status. It is the same with our status as God-men. We have sold our status as God-men too cheaply. We need to be brought to a higher level, the level of living the life of a God-man. Most Christians have sold their status as Christians because they live as worldly people. We should be another class of Christians. We are today’s God-men because we have been born of God. He is our divine Father, and we are His divine sons. With this realization we could not behave so lightly or speak that freely. Dear saints, whatever our profession is, whether we are teachers or doctors, we should not forget that our status is that of a God-man. A God-man needs to have a God-man living.
The God-man living has a prototype, which should be our example. The first God-man’s living was from the manger to the cross. At the beginning and end of His life, there are these two signs. When I was young, I would hesitate to say whether I liked the manger and the cross. But today I feel glorious to say that I am living a life that has the manger at the beginning and the cross at the end. This is the God-man’s living. The Lord took the way of humbling Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, the death of the cross (Phil. 2:8). He chose this kind of life, starting with a manger and ending with a cross.
Peter says that since Christ has suffered in His flesh, we also should arm ourselves with the same mind (1 Pet. 4:1). We need to have a strong mind to suffer. Right after I was saved, I prayed, “God, from today I want You. I don’t want anything else. My whole life will be spent preaching Your gospel. I will bear the Bible and be satisfied with drinking the water from the hills and eating the roots of the trees.” That was the start of my Christian life. I was ready to suffer for the Lord’s interests, so until today, after about seventy years, nothing of poverty or suffering has ever stumbled me. We must arm ourselves with such a mind, but this should not be out of our natural boldness. This is a following of the Lord Jesus Christ who took this narrow way of a manger and a cross.
The Lord’s infancy shows two things: His lying in a manger (Luke 2:7-16) and His fleeing from His opposers.
A baby in a manger, signifying smallness in lowliness, was a sign of the Man-Savior’s life (v. 12).
He fled from the land of Israel to Egypt (Matt. 2:1-15), and from Egypt back to the land of Israel (vv. 16-21). Then He fled from Bethlehem to Galilee and settled in Nazareth (vv. 22-23). Galilee was a despised province. He became known as the Nazarene. The nickname Nazarene came from His fleeing to the insignificant village of Nazareth. I want to help our young people under our training see the pattern of the first God-man’s living. We are not training you to be princes to go to big cities. We are training you to flee. My coming to the United States was my fleeing. In the United States I have the freedom of speech to minister all that the Lord has shown me for the spreading of His recovery.
In His youth the Lord Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day to put off His flesh and was sanctified unto the Lord (Luke 2:21-24; Col. 2:11). Circumcision is a sign that we should not live by our flesh. On the negative side, the Lord was circumcised. On the positive side, He was consecrated to the Lord for His sanctification.
Also, Simeon, a man who was waiting for Christ as the consolation of Israel, prophesied to Mary His mother, “Behold, this One is appointed [by God] for the falling and rising up of many in Israel and for a sign spoken against — and a sword will pierce through your own soul also — so that the reasonings of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:25, 34-35). From His youth the Lord became a sign spoken against, a kind of center of people’s criticizing. If we mean business to consider ourselves God-men, we will be the center of people’s talk. What they speak about us will reveal the reasonings in their hearts.
The first God-man grew to be strong; He was filled with wisdom (referring to His deity), and the grace of God (referring to God’s grace in His humanity) was upon Him (v. 40). We should expect that our children would grow in this way.
At the age of twelve He said to His parents, “I must be in the things of My Father,” or, “I must be in My Father’s house” (v. 49). Early, at the age of twelve, the first God-man was in the things of His Father, that is, in the things concerning His Father’s house, which is the church issuing in the Body of Christ, which will consummate the New Jerusalem for the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy. In God’s eternal economy, the center is His house. This house is today’s church, this church issues in the Body of Christ, and the Body of Christ consummates the New Jerusalem. When the Lord was only twelve, He had the concern for God’s economy. The New Jerusalem is the end of the entire sixty-six books of the Bible. This holy city is the very organism of the Triune God, constituted with the Triune God and with His redeemed.
God is very thoughtful and purposeful. He has a heart’s desire as His good pleasure, so He made an economy. In 1 Timothy 1:3-4 Paul told Timothy to charge certain ones not to teach different things other than the economy of God. In Ephesians 3 we can see what the economy of God is. The economy of God is His plan to distribute the unsearchable riches of Christ to people so that the church may be produced (vv. 8-11). This church issues in the Body of Christ, and this Body of Christ is consummated in the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is the consummated Body of Christ and the totality of God’s economy. We are here living for this. We have the concern for the Father’s house that the Lord Jesus had when He was twelve.
The Lord Jesus advanced in wisdom (referring to His deity) and stature (referring to His humanity in stature and age) and in the grace manifested in Him before God and men (Luke 2:52). He was growing in this way when He was in His childhood. But today as God-men we all should grow in this way.
The Lord’s being a root out of dry ground (Isa. 53:2a) meant that He came from a poor family.
He had no attracting form nor majesty that we should look upon Him, nor beautiful appearance that we should desire Him (v. 2b), signifying that in both His status and stature He had no dignity of attraction nor desirable appearance.
He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, respected by no man (v. 3).
His appearance was marred more than that of any man, and His form more than that of the sons of men (52:14).
He was tempted in all respects like us, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15b; 2:18).
All the states and conditions mentioned above make people silent and inactive in social appearance. If you are in all these kinds of states and conditions, you have to be silent, because no one honors or appreciates you. To be a very active person in society, to be so social, is dangerous. When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He did not have this kind of danger. He was despised, undesirable in outward appearance, and not respected by any men.
Although the Lord had a concern for God’s house when He was at the age of twelve, God did not yet commission Him to carry out the ministry for the purpose of accomplishing His eternal economy to take care of God’s house issuing in the Body of Christ, consummating the New Jerusalem. Man moves too fast, but God is patient. He told Adam that He would come as the seed of woman to destroy Satan, but He did not come until four thousand years later. When the Lord Jesus was born, that was a fulfillment of God’s promise to Adam in Genesis 3:15.
Many servants of God could not tolerate such a time of silence; rather, they failed such a test by God. The real ministry to take care of the house of God issuing in the Body of Christ needs the maturity of life [age] (Num. 4:3). The more maturity you have, the wiser you will be. Elders should be brothers who have grown up to a certain degree in maturity. Then they are qualified to be elders. I hope that all the young people will be trained to go on to grow up according to the pattern of the first God-man, the prototype.
