The second crucial point in Paul’s completing ministry is the all-inclusive Christ. We shall cover this from Paul’s two books, Romans and 1 Corinthians. To go through a book and see all the varied aspects of Christ presented in it will deeply impress you with His Person.
In Romans 1 Christ is first presented as the Son of God: “His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, Who came out of the seed of David according to the flesh, and was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection of the dead” (vv. 3-4).
We know that Christ is the Son of God, the Second of the Trinity. What is mentioned in these verses, however, includes His human nature as well. Because He became the descendant of David, He is no longer only divine. As the Son of God, He is God; as the Son of David, He is a man. Why did He need to be designated the Son of God? It was because He was also the Son of Man. How could a son of man be the Son of God? He had to be designated.
By what was Christ designated? His divine nature designated His human nature. Formerly, Christ was only divine. In the Second of the Trinity there was no humanity. Now, however, in Christ as the designated Son of God there is a human nature. This human nature has been designated with the divine nature.
Consider your own case. You are a son of man and also a son of God. How could you, a son of man, be a son of God? It came about by your receiving the divine nature. Now you have two natures, the human and the divine. You are one person with two natures. You are divinely human and humanly divine!
Before incarnation Christ was only divine. When He became a man, however, He took on human nature. In His divinity He was the Son of God. In His humanity, He was the Son of Man. As the Son of Man He had to be designated the Son of God, and He was so designated through resurrection. Romans 1 presents this Christ to us as the Son of God, not only divine but also human.
In Romans 8:29 the Son is called “the Firstborn among many brothers.” We are all familiar with John 3:16, where Christ is referred to as God’s “only begotten Son.” What is the distinction between the Only Begotten and the Firstborn? When we believed in the Lord Jesus, we believed in Him as the only begotten Son. By believing, we became sons of God. Now that we are such, are we sons according to the Only Begotten or according to the Firstborn?
As the Only Begotten, the Son of God is unique. There could not be anyone else in His category. The Only Begotten has only the divine nature. Not until He took on human nature and was resurrected with the human nature did He become the firstborn Son. As a man in the flesh, He was begotten in resurrection to be the Son of God (Acts 13:33). When we received Him, we became sons of God according to the firstborn Son. Thus He is called the Firstborn among many brothers. We as human beings did not possess the divine nature until we received Him. Now that He has entered into us, we have received His nature in addition to the human nature we were born with.
Many of you will remember, from reading the Life-study Messages on Romans, that the goal laid out for us in the book of Romans is the producing of sons of God. Many Christians believe that the message of Romans is justification by faith. Actually, justification is simply part of the procedure by which the goal is reached. God is making sinners into His sons: this is the underlying thought in Romans.
In both the Gospel of John and the book of Romans Christ is presented to us as the Son of God. John, however, describes Him especially in His divinity, as the only begotten One, whereas Paul says in Romans that Christ is “of the seed of David according to the flesh, and was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness.” He is speaking of Christ in the human nature being designated. In saying that Christ was of the seed of David according to the flesh, Paul is calling attention to His human nature. Then in 8:29, where Christ is called the Firstborn of many brothers, Paul is implying that it is according to Christ being the firstborn Son of God with the human nature that we are His brothers and the sons of God.
Do you believe that you also have been designated a son of God according to the Spirit of holiness? You have been! If you have faith, you will agree! Consider your family life. If you are married and have children, many times things have not gone smoothly. Your wife and your children have made things quite hard for you. Yet, just when it seemed that your wife and her little helpers would finish you off, there was a kind of designation. The power of the Spirit of holiness was with you. You did not die! You were not wiped out by your family. Instead, you were in the heavens! Possibly your in-laws were there watching what went on. They were thinking, “How could he put up with all this? Is he an angel? How could he stand so much and still be so heavenly?”
Is not such an experience a designation? If you dare not say you have been designated, you are short of faith! The divine nature is within you. You have not only a human nature. You are also a son of God, not like the Only Begotten, but like the Firstborn. You were a sinner, but Christ made you a son of God with both human and divine natures. You are one of the many sons, and He is the Firstborn. Do you enjoy Him in this way?