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Scripture Reading: Rom. 1:4; 8:28-29; Heb. 2:10-12
Romans 1:4 says that Jesus Christ “was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection of the dead.” Christ’s divinity and glory as the Son of God were concealed in His flesh. No one had vision that could penetrate through His flesh to see that He was the glorious Son of God. But after He had passed through the process of death and resurrection, He was designated the Son of God, that is, He was marked out and manifested to be the Son of God.
This designation was according to the Spirit of holiness. The Spirit of holiness here is in contrast to the flesh in verse 3, which speaks of Christ as the seed of David according to the flesh. As the flesh in verse 3 refers to the human essence of Christ, so the Spirit in this verse does not refer to the Person of the Holy Spirit of God, but to the divine essence of Christ, which is “the fulness of the Godhead” (Col. 2:9). This divine essence of Christ, being God the Spirit Himself (John 4:24), is of holiness, full of the nature and quality of being holy. Therefore, in the flesh Christ was designated or marked out through resurrection according to this holy and divine essence.
Through His resurrection, Christ became the firstborn Son of God, full of the essence of God’s holiness, not only in His spirit, but also in His body. Before His death and resurrection the holiness of God was in Christ’s spirit, but this holy essence had not been manifested in His flesh. In other words, it had not permeated His flesh. It was through death and resurrection that God’s holy essence saturated the physical body of the Lord Jesus.
Romans 8:29 says, “Because whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He should be the firstborn among many brothers.” The fact that verse 29 begins with the word “because” indicates that it is a continuation of verse 28, which says that God causes all things to work together for good. As we shall see, God causes all things to work together for our designation as sons of God.
We have seen that Christ was designated the Son of God according to the divine essence of holiness through the process of death and resurrection. As saved ones, we have the Son of God in our spirit. At the very moment we were saved, He was sown into us. Once again, the Son of God is concealed in humanity, this time in our human life, in our humanity, in our flesh. There is no doubt that the Son of God as the divine essence of holiness is within every believer. But this holy essence is concealed and confined within our natural man. For this reason, God causes all things to work together for good on our behalf. In this way we are processed, that we are transformed metabolically. Our wife or husband, our children, and our environment are all the best for this processing. The Lord Jesus was processed through death and resurrection, and now we are being processed through the working together of all things.
All things are working together to transform us metabolically. Christ as the organic seed, the organic essence, in our spirit must permeate and saturate our whole being. Eventually our humanity will be saturated with this divine essence. This saturation is sanctification and also a type of designation. An organic element is working within us to transform us by permeating and saturating us with the divine essence of holiness, which is actually the Son of God Himself.
This is not a mere outward change. The concept of outward change is ethical and religious. The divine concept is not to correct us outwardly; it is to transform us inwardly and organically with Christ Himself as the holy essence. This process of spiritual metabolism involves permeation and saturation. Whether we realize it or not, a metabolic process is taking place within our being. For example, after we eat a meal, our stomach begins to work on the food organically to digest it so that it can then be assimilated. This takes place whether we sense it or not and whether we agree with it or not. In the same principle, we are all undergoing the process of God’s sanctification, whether we are conscious of it or not. The longer we stay in the church life and the more we stand one with the church, the more we are sanctified. Eventually, through this sanctifying process, we shall all be in the New Jerusalem.
There is no need to pray desperately that the Lord will transform you. Such a desperate prayer may help your spiritual digestion, but it does not actually affect the process of saturation. Simply stay in the church life, and eventually you will be transformed into precious stone.
To be saved from our self-likeness, from the expression of the self, we need conformation for glorification. To see this matter clearly we need to join 1:4 with 8:29. As we pointed out in the foregoing message, in 1:4 we have the formation of the prototype, but in 8:29, the work of “mass production.” In 1:4 we have the designation of the Son of God individually, whereas in 8:29 we have the saturation, sanctification, designation, and conformation of the many sons collectively. The principle in each case is the same.
Concerning the Lord Jesus, the Spirit of holiness was within Him before His death and resurrection. This Spirit of holiness is the divine essence of holiness. Through the process of death and resurrection, this holy essence saturated and permeated the Lord’s humanity, including His flesh. As believers in the Lord Jesus, we also have the divine essence of holiness, which is the Spirit of holiness, the very Christ, in our spirit. Because this holy essence is still concealed within our humanity, we need to pass through a process under God’s sovereign arrangement that will enable this essence to saturate our entire being. For the completion of this process, we need many things to work together for our good. In the church life we are helping to process one another. You all are part of the process to me, and I am part of the process to you. In order to be processed, we need one another. Apart from the Lord’s mercy and grace, it would be difficult for us to bear one another. Praise the Lord that together we are processing one another in order to be designated sons of God!
When I met a certain brother many years ago, he was quite kind and loving in a natural way. Some years later, I noticed that a real change had taken place within him. Today, after many years of being processed, this brother is not only a kind man, but a permeated and saturated man. Such a change has taken place in this brother through his being processed in the church life.
None of us can stay in the church life and remain the same, for in the church we are undergoing the process of sanctification, transformation, and designation. We are being transformed and conformed to the image of the Son of God, not according to teachings, regulations, or forms, but according to the Spirit of holiness. This divine essence, which is the very Son of God Himself, is working within us organically to transform us by permeating and saturating our whole being.
Hebrews 2:10 says that God is bringing many sons into glory. This verse indicates that we are on our way to be glorified, for right now the Father is leading us into glory. Verse 11 shows the way the Father is bringing the many sons into glory: “For both He Who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brothers.” He who sanctifies is Christ as the firstborn Son of God, and those who are being sanctified are the believers in Christ as the many sons of God. To say that He and we are all of one refers to the Father as the source. Both the firstborn Son and the many sons of God are born of the same Father in resurrection (Acts 13:33; 1 Pet. 1:3). Therefore, the firstborn Son and the many sons have one source, one life, one nature, and one essence. Because both He, the firstborn Son, and we, the many sons, are the same in the divine life and nature, He is not ashamed to call us brothers. Thus, verse 12, speaking of Christ, says, “I will declare Your name to My brothers.”
The Sanctifier is the One who is bringing the many sons into glory. He is leading us into glory by sanctifying us. Christ does not sanctify us by adjusting us outwardly nor by making us conform to certain external regulations. On the contrary, He is sanctifying us by being the holy essence within us. Christ today is the Spirit of holiness, the very divine essence of holiness working organically within our being. He sanctifies us by saturating us with this holy essence. This involves a process of spiritual metabolism. Through sanctifying us in this way, He is bringing us, the many sons, into glory.
The Sanctifier Himself is the sanctifying element that is working within us. Although we may not be conscious of Christ’s working within us, He is nonetheless working to saturate our being with the sanctifying essence. Layer by layer and part by part, He is permeating us with Himself.
The longer we stay in the church life, the more permeation and saturation we receive. Once this holy essence has saturated you, it is impossible to eradicate it, for it has permeated your being organically and metabolically. Not even your backsliding can eradicate the holy essence that has permeated you; it is indelible. If you become a backslider after having been saturated with the essence of holiness in the church life, then you will be a backslider who has been somewhat saturated with the holy element of God. You simply cannot undo what God has done within you. By being in the church life for a period of time, you have been in a “clinic” where you have received an “injection.” After receiving the “injection,” you may regret that the element of holiness has been injected into you. But it is too late for regrets. No matter what you do, the element of God’s holy essence that has been injected into you will stay with you. No matter where you may go, this essence, this sanctifying element, will remain in you. Praise the Lord for working within us in such an organic way! Praise Him for the process of sanctification which conforms us for glorification!
