In the previous two messages we saw the first four items of God’s organic salvation: regeneration, renewing, sanctification, and transformation. In this message, the third message on God’s organic salvation, we would go on to see the matters of conformation and glorification.
God’s regenerating us is the base of His organic salvation, His renewing us is the building up of His organic salvation, His sanctifying us is the establishing of His organic salvation, His transforming us is the shaping of His organic salvation, and His conforming us that we may have His divine element is the solidifying of His organic salvation (Rom. 8:29; 1 John 3:2).
In the past when we spoke about conformation, our stress was on the image. This time the Lord has shown us that God’s conforming us is that we may have His divine element. Conformation is related not only to the divine image but also to the divine element. It is not enough merely to have an outward image. What God wants is for us to have His image outwardly and His element inwardly. A person’s picture bears only the image of the person without his element. As those who have been regenerated by God with the divine life, we are not just photographs of God; rather, we are His reproduction. As such, we not only have His image outwardly, but we also have His life and nature with His divine element inwardly. Merely having the image without the element is vain. We must see that with the matter of conformation, the emphasis is not only on the divine image but also on the divine element.
At our regeneration, God’s divine life entered into us with His divine element. That was the beginning, but with only a small amount of the divine element; that is, we were short of being solidified in the possession of God’s divine element. Following our regeneration, we have to go on further for the divine element to increase continually that we may be renewed, sanctified, and transformed so that the divine element may reach the extent of being solidified. This is conformation.
God’s intention is for us to have His divine element in His divine life, nature, and image as His expression, but not in His Godhead. God’s intention is for us not only to have His life and partake of His nature and image but also to have His divine element by having His life, nature, and image. When the first man, Adam, was created, he had the divine image (Gen. 1:26-27) but did not yet have the divine element. Therefore, God immediately brought this man who had the divine image to the tree of life (2:9). Man could receive God as his element by taking in God Himself, signified by the tree of life. Hence, we see that it is not enough merely to have the divine image outwardly. We still need to have God’s divine element inwardly.
God regenerates us with His divine life that we may begin to participate in His divinity to have His divine element. God regenerates us that we may have His divine life; this is the base of God’s organic salvation. This is a beginning in which we begin to participate in God’s divinity. After our regeneration, we still need to grow. Therefore, we need God’s renewing, sanctification, and transformation until we mature in the divine life. Hence, the stage of conformation is necessary in God’s organic salvation. Not only do we have regeneration, renewing, sanctification, and transformation, but we also have conformation. Without conformation, the divine life may have entered into us, but it has not reached the extent of being solidified and matured. Therefore, after regeneration, we must pursue the growth in life. Renewing, sanctification, and transformation are our growth in life.