The Lord’s infancy shows two things: His lying in a manger (Luke 2:7-16) and His fleeing from His opposers.
A baby in a manger, signifying smallness in lowliness, was a sign of the Man-Savior’s life (Luke 2:12).
He fled from the land of Israel to Egypt (Matt. 2:1-15), and from Egypt back to the land of Israel (vv. 16-21). Then He fled from Bethlehem to Galilee and settled in Nazareth (vv. 22-23). Galilee was a despised province. He became known as the Nazarene. The nickname Nazarene came from His fleeing to the insignificant village of Nazareth. I want to help our young people under our training see the pattern of the first God-man’s living. We are not training you to be princes to go to big cities. We are training you to flee. My coming to the United States was my fleeing. In the United States I have the freedom of speech to minister all the Lord has shown me for the spreading of the Lord’s recovery.
In His youth the Lord Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day to put off His flesh and sanctified unto the Lord (Luke 2:21-24; Col. 2:11). Circumcision is a sign that we should not live by our flesh. On the negative side, the Lord was circumcised. On the positive side, He was consecrated to the Lord for His sanctification.
Also, Simeon, a man who was waiting for Christ as the consolation of Israel, prophesied to Mary His mother, “Behold, this One is appointed [by God] for the falling and rising up of many in Israel and for a sign spoken against—and a sword will pierce through your own soul also—so that the reasonings of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:25, 34-35). From His youth the Lord became a sign spoken against, a kind of center of people’s criticizing. If we mean business to consider ourselves God-men, we will be the center of people’s talk. What they speak about us will reveal the reasonings in their hearts.
The first God-man grew to be strong; He was filled with wisdom (referring to His deity), and the grace of God (referring to God’s grace in His humanity) was upon Him (Luke 2:40). We should expect that our children would grow in this way.
At the age of twelve He said to His parents, “I must be in the things of My Father,” or, “I must be in My Father’s house” (Luke 2:49). Early, at the age of twelve, the first God-man was in the things of His Father, that is, in the things concerning His Father’s house, which is the church issuing in the Body of Christ, which will consummate the New Jerusalem for the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy. In God’s eternal economy, the center is His house. This house is today’s church, this church issues in the Body of Christ, and the Body of Christ consummates the New Jerusalem. When the Lord was only twelve, He had the concern for God’s economy. The New Jerusalem is the total end of the entire sixty-six books of the Bible. This holy city is the very organism of the Triune God, constituted with the Triune God and with His redeemed.
God is very thoughtful and purposeful. He has a heart’s desire as His good pleasure, so He made an economy. In 1 Timothy 1:3-4 Paul told Timothy to charge certain ones not to teach different things other than the economy of God. In Ephesians 3 we can see what the economy of God is. The economy of God is His plan to distribute the unsearchable riches of Christ to people that the church may be produced (vv. 8-11). This church issues in the Body of Christ, and this Body of Christ is consummated in the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is the consummated Body of Christ and the totality of God’s economy. We are here living for this. We have the concern for the Father’s house which the Lord Jesus had when He was twelve.
The Lord Jesus advanced in wisdom (referring to His deity) and stature (referring to His humanity in stature and age) and in grace manifested in Him before God and men (Luke 2:52). He was growing in this way when He was in His childhood. But today as God-men we all should grow in this way.