Hebrews 2:11 says, “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 of Christ as the many sons of God. Both the Firstborn and the many sons are born of the same Father God in resurrection. Both the Firstborn and the many sons are the same in the divine life and nature. Hence, He is not ashamed to call them brothers.
The One who sanctifies us is not the only begotten Son of God but the firstborn Son of God. The firstborn Son can sanctify us because He, like us, has two natures. Our Sanctifier has the human nature as well as the divine nature. Because He and we are of the same two natures, He can sanctify us. Only when the firstborn Son was produced could the Sanctifier come into His office to do His sanctifying work. For this, He had to pass through the process of incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, glorification, and exaltation. After passing through this process, He became the firstborn Son of God to be our Sanctifier. Now He is qualified to be our Sanctifier, and we are qualified to be the sanctified ones.
Hebrews 2:11 says that the Sanctifier and the ones being sanctified are all “of one.” Literally, the Greek means “out of one.” This indicates that He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all out of one Father, for all have been born of the same Father in resurrection. Because He and we are born of the same Father, we are His brothers. We and He have come out of the same source, and we share with Him the same life and nature. In this life and nature we are now under His sanctifying work to transform us from being natural and to conform us to His image that we may be glorified with the glory of God.
Hebrews 2:11 also says that Christ, the firstborn Son, is not ashamed to call us brothers. Through His resurrection we received the Father’s life. Now because both the Firstborn and the many sons of God are of the same source and have the same life and nature, He is not ashamed to call us brothers.
Hebrews 2:12, a quotation from Psalm 22:22, says, “I will declare Your name to My brothers; in the midst of the church I will sing hymns of praise unto You.” This indicates that the firstborn Son of God declared the Father’s name to His brothers, considering them the church and singing hymns of praise unto the Father in their midst. The firstborn Son declared the Father’s name to His brothers after He resurrected from the dead and met with the Father’s sons (John 20:17, 19-23).
Because the Father is the source of life and nature, to declare the name of the Father is to show the many brothers the source of life and nature. Although the Jewish people in ancient times knew God as the Creator, they did not know Him as the Father who begets. Before Christ’s resurrection, not even His disciples knew the Father’s life and begetting ability. Therefore, on the day of resurrection the Lord Jesus came to them to declare the Father that they might know the Father as the source of life. This declaration was not simply a matter of mentioning the Father’s name. Rather, it was an impartation of all that the Father is-His life, nature, and being-into the disciples. Now to us, Christ’s brothers, God is no longer merely the creating God; He is also the begetting Father. He has begotten us, imparting His life, nature, and being into us. This is what it means for the firstborn Son of God to declare the Father’s name to His brothers.
Hebrews 2:12 also indicates that the firstborn Son of God regards His brothers as the church. In this verse we see three crucial elements: the brothers, the church, and what the Lord is doing today in the church. This verse is a great revelation of what the church is and of what the Lord is doing in the church.
According to Hebrews 2:12, the church is a corporate composition of the brothers of the firstborn Son of God. We have emphasized the fact that the firstborn Son has humanity as well as divinity and that His many brothers have divinity as well as humanity. The fact that the church is a composition of the brothers of the firstborn Son of God indicates that the church is both human and divine. This means that the church has two natures-the human nature and the divine nature. The church also has two lives-the human life and the divine life. These lives are not only combined but also mingled. Therefore, the church is an organism with two natures and two lives combined and mingled. The church is altogether of life, the divine life and the uplifted, resurrected human life. This is the church as a living composition of all the brothers of the firstborn Son of God.
Hebrews 2:12 also reveals what the resurrected Christ is doing in the church today: He is singing hymns of praise unto the Father in the midst of the church. Throughout the centuries the firstborn Son has been singing hymns of praise unto the Father in the church. He does this in all His brothers. Because He is in us, He sings praises unto the Father in our singing. When we sing, He sings because He is within our singing. When we sing hymns to the Father from our spirit, Christ sings with us in spirit.
The church is one corporate Body with the firstborn Son of God. In the meetings of the church the firstborn Son, who dwells in His many brothers who compose the church, sings praise to the Father from within them. The more we sing praise to the Father, the more the Lord sings in our singing. He has made the Father known to us as the source of life. Now in the church meetings He is waiting for the opportunity to cooperate with us in singing hymns of praise to the Father. The best way for us to give Him this cooperation is to exercise our spirit and sing praise to the Father. The more we sing, the more we shall enjoy His singing. The more we praise the Father in the church meetings, the more He will praise the Father in our praising, and the more we shall enjoy Him and gain Him.
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