Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from among the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from among the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” “Him” in the phrase “the Spirit of Him” refers to the Triune God Who raised up Jesus. This resurrection is ours through the Spirit of the One who raised up Jesus. In the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit, there is the element of resurrection. Through this all-inclusive Spirit the resurrection of Christ, which is an accomplished fact, is applied to us subjectively and becomes our experience.
From the conception of Jesus through His resurrection the Triune God was fully involved. Essentially, God was involved in the conception of Jesus; essentially, God was involved in Jesus’ living on this earth; essentially, God was involved in Jesus’ death on the cross; and essentially, God was involved in His resurrection. His conception, His living, His death, and His resurrection were all by, with, and of the Triune God. His conception, His living, His death, and His resurrection were not merely of a man, but of God also. The Triune God was there in His conception, His living, His death, and His resurrection, and these elements have all been compounded into the life-giving Spirit for us to experience.
Now we want to see the wonderful result of the resurrection of the Son of God. Through His resurrection Jesus was born as the Firstborn of God (Acts 13:33; Rom. 8:29), through His resurrection He brought forth many brothers (John 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:3; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:11-12), through His resurrection a new child was born (John 16:20-22), and through His resurrection He became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). These were four new items in the history of the entire universe as the issue of the Son’s resurrection.
God’s only begotten Son is eternal (Heb. 1:8, 10-12; 7:3). From eternity He was the only begotten Son of God (John 1:18; 3:16). God never had more than one son. His only begotten Son was unique. In resurrection, however, the only begotten Son of God became the Firstborn. Romans 8:29 tells us that He was the Firstborn among many brothers. We as the many sons of God are the Firstborn’s brothers. How wonderful it is that the Son of God has many brothers. Today He is not merely the only begotten Son of God, but He is also the Firstborn of God, and we are His many brothers.
From eternity Christ was the only begotten Son of God. In incarnation He was born of a human virgin to be the Son of Man (Gal. 4:4). Then in His resurrection, as the Son of Man, He was born of God, that is, divinely sonized to be the firstborn Son of God among many brothers. Christ was born twice. The first time He was born to be the Son of Man as the Firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:15). The second time He was born to be the Son of God as the Firstborn from among the dead (Col. 1:18).
Since Jesus was already the Son of God, why did He need to be born as the Son of God? To answer this question we must first see the verse which tells us that Jesus Christ was born to be the Son of God. Acts 13:33 says, “That God has fully fulfilled this promise to us their children in raising up Jesus, as it is also written in the second psalm, You are My Son; today I have begotten You.” “Today” refers to the day of resurrection. On the day of resurrection God said to Him, “You are My Son; today I have begotten You.” On the day of resurrection God had begotten Jesus to be His Son. Before this day, Jesus was the Son of God already. However, He still needed to be born in resurrection to be the Son of God.
Jesus was the Son of God in His spirit. According to His divinity He was the Son of God, but according to His humanity He was the Son of Man. A part of Jesus Christ, His flesh, was altogether human. It was not divine, not the Son of God. To make Him the firstborn Son, Jesus’ humanity had to be divinely sonized by God. His humanity was not a part of the Son of God but a part of the Son of Man. This part had to be made divine, to be made the Son of God, by God bringing this part into death and resurrecting it. By such a process, He was divinely sonized by God in His humanity. His human part was divinely sonized by God in His resurrection.
In Acts 13:33 we saw that on the day of resurrection God said that He had begotten Jesus as His Son. To beget means to impart life. To say I have begotten you means that I have imparted my life into you. In the human part of Jesus there was no divine life. However, through His death and resurrection the Triune God imparted His divine life into the human part of Jesus. While the resurrection was taking place, the Triune God was making Jesus alive in His spirit (1 Pet. 3:18). The Triune God was energizing Him from within to stir up His life to invade the humanity of Jesus. To invade the humanity of Jesus with life means to impart the divine life into His human part. This was to sonize the humanity of Jesus, and this sonizing was the begetting. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus, in His human part, was sonized to be the Son of God. Through such a process He became the firstborn Son of God. As the only begotten Son of God He merely had the divine element, but now as the firstborn Son of God He has both the divine and the human elements.
This One who has both the divine and human elements as the firstborn Son of God brought forth many brothers. Today we are the sons of God who also have both the human and the divine elements. We are human beings, yet we are divine sons of God. This is wonderful! Human beings can be divine sons and as the sons of God we possess the divine element and the human element. Jesus Christ is the firstborn Son of God possessing the divine and human elements, and His human element has been divinely sonized. He is not merely the only begotten Son of God, but also the firstborn Son of God. According to His deity, He is still the only begotten Son of God. Deity refers to His Godhead, but divinity refers to His divine Being. We can participate in His divinity, but we can never participate in His deity. If we say that we partake of His deity, this is heresy. But the Bible tells us that we are partakers of His divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). To partake of His divine nature means to partake of His divinity. As the sons of God we can say that we are both human and divine. Praise the Lord! Today He is the firstborn Son of God, and we are the many sons of God. We are His many brothers produced through His resurrection.