In this message we come to the matter that we have been predestinated unto sonship. Ephesians 1:5 says, “Having predestinated us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” In the grammatical construction of verses 4 and 5, the subject and the main predicate are not in verse 5, but in verse 4. Verse 4 says, “According as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blemish before Him, in love.” The subject is “He,” and the main predicate is “chose.” These verses can be written like this: “According as He, having predestinated us, chose us.” God’s choosing cannot be separated from His predestinating. They are two aspects of one thing. God’s choosing goes with His predestinating, and His predestinating is one with His choosing. It is very difficult to say which comes first.
Being predestinated unto sonship is the second item of God’s blessing. As we pointed out in the previous message, the first item of God’s blessing is being chosen to be holy.
In eternity past, God predestinated us unto sonship, marking out a destiny for His chosen ones before the foundation of the world. The goal of God’s predestination is sonship. We were predestinated to be sons of God even before we were created. Hence, as God’s creatures, we need to be regenerated by Him so that we may participate in His life to be His sons. Sonship implies not only the life, but also the position of the son. God’s marked-out ones have the life to be His sons and the position to inherit Him.
The Greek word translated “predestinated” can also be rendered “marked out beforehand.” Marking out beforehand is the process, whereas predestination is the purpose to determine a destiny beforehand. God firstly selected us and then marked us out beforehand, that is, before the foundation of the world, unto a certain destiny.
God chose and predestinated us according to His foresight (1 Pet. 1:2). This indicates that our relationship with God was initiated by God according to His foreknowledge.
God has predestinated us unto sonship through Jesus Christ. “Through Jesus Christ” means through the Redeemer who is the Son of God. Through Him we were redeemed to be the sons of God with the life and position of God’s sons.
God predestinated us unto sonship according to the good pleasure of His will, which is His purpose. This reveals that God has a will in which is His good pleasure. God predestinated us to be His sons according to this pleasure, according to the desire of His heart. The book of Ephesians speaks not from the standpoint of man’s sinful condition, as does the book of Romans, but from the standpoint of the good pleasure of God’s heart. Hence, it is deeper and higher.
In verse 4 we see that God has chosen us to be holy. However, to be holy is the procedure, not the goal. The goal is sonship. We have been predestinated unto sonship. In other words, God has chosen us to be holy so that we might be His sons. Thus, to be holy is the process, the procedure, whereas to be sons of God is the goal. God does not merely want a group of holy people; He desires many sons. It may seem to us that it is adequate for God to choose us to be holy. We may be fully satisfied with this. Nevertheless, God has chosen us to be holy for a purpose, and this purpose is that we might be the sons of God.
Let us take baking a cake as an example. When a sister bakes a cake, she firstly prepares the dough by mixing various ingredients together with flour. As the ingredients are mixed in with the dough, we may say that the dough is a picture of sanctification. First the dough is separated; then it is sanctified through having various ingredients added to it. After the sister mixes the dough, she shapes it into a certain form. Likewise, God first separates us, and then puts Himself, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, into us. Then follows the process of mixing. To say that God mixes us means that He disturbs us. We may like to have a tranquil church life, but often God intervenes to turn things upside down. Nevertheless, this is the normal Christian church life.
To be holy is to be mingled with God. God sanctifies us by putting Himself into us and then mingling us with His nature. This is a matter of nature, of having our nature transformed with His. We were born human, natural, but God wants us to be divine. The only way this can take place is through having the divine nature put into our being and mingled with it. In this way, God makes us holy. Thus, sanctification is a procedure to transform our nature. This, however, is not the goal. The goal is related to being formed or shaped. This is the reason that along with God’s choosing us to be holy, there is the need of His predestinating us to be sons. To be holy is a matter of nature, but to be sons is a matter of being formed. God’s sons are people conformed to a particular form or shape.
The golden lampstand in Revelation 1 illustrates this. In nature, the lampstand is golden, but in form it is a lampstand. In order for a golden lampstand to be produced, the material must first be pure gold. This refers to the procedure. But the goal of this procedure is the producing of the lampstand with a definite form. In like manner, to be made holy is the procedure for us to become sons of God.
When I saw that holiness was for sonship, I said to myself, “How could you ever have been satisfied with holiness as an end in itself? You can only be satisfied with being a son of God.” Thus, we are not only holy, but also the sons of God. We have not only God’s holy nature, but also the Person of His Son. Therefore, we are not merely holy lumps, but also sons of God.
All Christians know that the genuine believers in Christ are the church. But the church is not merely a group of saved ones. The church is a collective people who have been made holy in nature to be the sons of God. This collective people must be sanctified, saturated, and mingled with God’s nature. Then they will be the sons of God. Such a people is the church.
The situation of today’s Christianity is far removed from this. In Christianity we see groups of people who are saved, but who are still common and worldly, not having any holiness whatever. Furthermore, they do not live like sons of God. Rather, many of them live like sons of sinners. Although so many believe in the Lord Jesus, have been washed in the blood, and have been regenerated by the Spirit, they are still worldly and common, with no mark of holiness in their living. They are absolutely the same as their neighbors, friends, and relatives. Nevertheless, they talk about being the church. What a shame to God, and what a shame to the church! The church is constituted as a collective people who have been separated unto God and who are saturated with the nature of God and fully sanctified to live like sons of God. The church certainly should not be a group of worldly Christians living like the sons of sinners. It is a shame to say that such a group is the church.
If we claim to be the church, we must ask whether we are a separated and sanctified people. Are we separated unto God and saturated with God? Are we sanctified both positionally and dispositionally with God’s nature to live like the sons of God? Oh, may our eyes be opened to see what the church is! The church is not a group of Christians who are zealous, yet who are common and worldly without any separation or saturation. The church is constituted with those who have been sanctified by God to live like sons of God.
Remember, the book of Ephesians is concerned with the church. In the opening word of this book, we are told that the church is a people under God’s well-speaking (1:3). The first item of God’s well-speaking is that we have been chosen to be holy. This is God’s blessing, His well-speaking, concerning us. However, many Christians reject this blessing. God says that He has chosen us to be holy, but they say that they do not want to be different from others. Some say, “We don’t want to be holy. We like to be common.” God says, “You have been chosen to be different.” But they say, “We don’t want to be different. We want to be the same as others.” This rejection of God’s well-speaking is rebellion. Oh, may the Lord have mercy on us! How we need His mercy because today’s situation is so pitiful! We need to see that we have been chosen to be holy so that we may live the life of the sons of God.
Now we need to consider three things concerning sonship, concerning being sons of God. The first is that God has predestinated us unto sonship by putting the Spirit of His Son into us. At the time we believed in the Lord Jesus and were regenerated, the Spirit of God came into us as the Spirit of the Son of God. This is the reason that after regeneration we can easily and sweetly call, “Abba, Father.” Before we were regenerated, we could say at most, “O, God, help me.” But after we were saved, we spontaneously began to cry, with tender, intimate feeling, “O, Abba, Father.”
Both Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6 speak of this. Galatians 4:6 says that the Spirit of the Son cries, “Abba, Father,” but Romans 8:15 says that it is we who cry out in this way. This indicates that our cry is His cry and that His cry is ours. Together, we and He cry, “Abba, Father.” Without the Spirit, we cannot cry, “Abba, Father,” so sweetly and intimately. But what a pleasant, sweet, and comfortable feeling we have when we say this! This is a strong proof that the Spirit of God is within us. We have the Spirit of sonship.
A number of times young people have come to me with questions about sports. Some have tried to argue that there is nothing wrong with sports. I replied, “I don’t say that there is anything wrong with sports. I would simply like to ask whether or not you can call, ‘Abba, Father,’ as you are about to take part in a certain sport.” They answered, “Brother Lee, you are too clever. You know that if we call, ‘Abba, Father,’ we will not be able to take part in sports because we know that our Father doesn’t approve of them.” I am not against sports; I am against the Devil. There is no need to ask me about sports. Instead, simply call, “Abba, Father.” If you do this, He may tell you to pray or to read the Bible instead of taking part in sports. I can testify that I have been dealt with by the Father in this way. This is the life of the sons of God. Do you live the life of the sons of God or the life of the sons of sinners, of the sons of disobedience?
Living like a son of God, however, is not a matter of outward regulations. It is altogether a matter of the Spirit of the Son of God within us. If you call, “Abba, Father,” you will know what to do. A number of times my children have come to me and said, “Daddy, can we go to a certain place?” I answered, “You don’t need to ask me. As long as you call me daddy, you know what I will say.” Likewise, when we go to our Father and call, “Abba, Father,” we shall know what kind of life we should live, because we have the Spirit of the Son of God within us.
We have been predestinated unto sonship, not only by the Spirit of the Son of God, but also in the life of the Son of God. This is very subjective. We actually have the life of the Son of God. As 1 John 5:12 says, “He that hath the Son hath life.” Therefore, we are not God’s sons-in-law; we are God’s sons in life. At times, we may be able to reject the Spirit of the Son of God, but we cannot reject the life of the Son of God because it has become our very being. We have two beings: the first is the natural being that was born of our parents, and the second is the spiritual being that is born of God. In this second being we have the life of the Son of God. According to our second being, we have not only the Spirit moving and working within us, but also the life that has become our self, not the natural self, but the spiritual self. Sometimes we not only rebel against the Spirit, but also against ourselves, against our being.
I do not agree that there should be any regulations in the churches. Nevertheless, I know that in every son of God there is both the Spirit of the Son of God and the life of the Son of God. Because of this, there is no need for regulations. For example, there is no need to post a regulation in your home saying that your children should not eat anything bitter, but eat only things that are sweet. If a child takes something bitter into his mouth, he will spontaneously spit it out, even if he does not know the meaning of the word bitter. Because the life within every child rejects bitter things, there is no need to have regulations about bitterness. In addition to having the Spirit of the Son of God, we have the life of the Son of God. If we taste something that is bitter to the Son’s life, we cannot pretend to be happy with it. Although we may pretend to be happy, we are not happy in the depths of our being, for we know that we are acting against the life of the Son of God. If we call, “Abba, Father,” and live according to the life of the Son of God, we shall have joy in the depths of our being. In fact, our whole being will be filled with joy.
Not only do we have the Spirit of the Son of God and the life of the Son of God, but we are also in the position of the Son of God (John 20:17). Actually, sonship is more specifically related to position than it is to life. You may be a son born of your father, but for certain legal reasons, you may not have the position of a son. If you do not have the position of a son, you do not have the sonship. Thus, sonship is a legal matter. For example, a certain person may not actually have been born the son of a rich man. But if, legally speaking, he has the position of being that man’s son, he will be entitled to his inheritance. The inheritance belongs to him, not according to life, but according to position. Some genuine sons, however, may have the life of the father, but have lost the position of sonship. This illustrates the fact that the life of the son of God is related only to life but that the position of the son of God is a matter of legality. Hallelujah, we have the Spirit of the Son of God, the life of the Son of God, and also the position of the Son of God.
All this is for our inheritance. Because we are God’s sons with the sonship, we shall inherit all that God is and all that He has. We have the legal position to inherit all the riches of the Father. In the church life we enjoy the Father day by day. Today this may simply be a matter of life, but in the future it will also be a matter of position. Revelation 21:7 says, “He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be God to him, and he shall be a son to Me.” In this verse being a son and inheriting all these things is not merely a matter of life, but also a matter of position. Although we are sons of God in life today, the universe cannot yet see that we are sons of God in position. But when the New Jerusalem comes, the universe will know that we are the sons of God in position as well as in life. If I walk into a restaurant and proclaim to the people sitting there that I am a son of God, they will think that I have a mental problem. But when the New Jerusalem comes, there will be no need for us to say anything. Everyone will be able to see that we are the sons of God in position. All the angels will say, “Look at those people — they are the sons of God. They are enjoying God and inheriting all that God is in the New Jerusalem.”
The church today is a miniature of the New Jerusalem. Here in the church we are sons of God both in life and in position. There is no need for us to tell one another that we are sons of God, for we all recognize one another as God’s sons. Because we have the Spirit, the life, and the position, we understand one another and recognize one another. We confess that we all are sons of God. Although we have the Spirit, the life, and the position to be the sons of God, we are not yet holy as far as our disposition is concerned. Hence, in the church life God is constantly mixing us so that we might be sanctified by being mingled with His nature.
Many Christian teachers have pointed out that the book of Ephesians covers the subject of the church, but they themselves are not in the practical church life. We are not content with mere talk about the church; we want to have the church life in a practical way. The practical church life is in God’s choosing us to be holy and in God’s predestinating us to sonship with the Spirit, the life, and the position. Because we have these three things, the Father often puts us into the “blender” so that we may be dispositionally sanctified. Sometimes the Father seems to say, “My child, you have the Spirit, the life, and the position, but you still need to be blended. You need to be mingled with My holy nature. I have chosen you to be holy. Now I shall work on you to make you My holy son.” This is the church life.
We all expect the church life to be calm, tranquil, and peaceful. But no kitchen can be like this when a cook is preparing a meal. Rather, everything is in a mess. If the kitchen were not in such a state during the preparation of the meal, it would not be possible to have a feast. The church life today is like a kitchen with things scattered all over. On the one hand, the church life is wonderful and glorious; on the other hand, it is truly messed up so that we might be mingled with God and made holy. The more mixing we undergo, the more holy we shall become. When the New Jerusalem comes, it will be a holy, corporate sonship with the Spirit, the life, and the position. At that time, the mixing will be over, for we all shall have been saturated, sanctified, and transformed. That will be the full sonship.
Sonship brings us to God, that is, into God Himself that we may be one with Him in life and in nature.
As the Father brings us to full sonship, we are being conformed to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). This means that God intends to “sonize” our whole being. This “sonizing” process is going on today in the church life. Perhaps you have been offended by someone in the church, or perhaps you have offended others. Both being offended and being a cause of offense can help the process of “sonizing.” I do not encourage you to be offended by others or to offend others. But the truth is that offenses cannot be avoided. Either you will offend someone, or someone will offend you. But we are all being “sonized” by these offenses. The more we are offended, the more “sonized” we become. If you have never been offended in the church life, you probably have not been “sonized” very much. Blessed are you if you have been offended by the brothers, the sisters, and the elders, for you have been “sonized” a great deal. Certain ones, however, cannot bear the offenses. As soon as they are offended, they want to leave the church life. Instead of leaving the church life at such a time, we should cherish it all the more and even kiss the offense because it “sonizes” us. Whenever you want to run away from the church life, the life of the Son of God within you will say, “Don’t run away. Stay and bear the offense and even embrace it.” Whenever you embrace an offense, it becomes a joy. This is the “sonizing” in the church life.
We all are in the process of being “sonized.” We have the Spirit of the Son of God, the life of the Son of God, and the position of the Son of God, but we still need to be conformed to the image of the Son of God. Hence, we need more “sonizing.” The Lord intends to conform us to His image, to the very image of the Son of God. The only place this can happen is in the church life. Outside the church, we cannot be conformed to the image of the Son of God. Thus, I encourage you to be happy in the messed-up church life. Do not kick against the pricks, but gladly accept the “sonizing” process.
Eventually, we shall be completed in sonship. The completion of sonship, the full sonship, is the redemption of our body (Rom. 8:23). This means that our body will be transfigured, that is, it will also be “sonized.” Our spirit has been “sonized,” our soul is in the process of being “sonized,” and when the Lord comes, our body also will be “sonized.” That will be the completion of sonship.
Consummately, the meaning of sonship is that we shall inherit all that God is for eternity (Rev. 21:7).
