As the many sons of God, we are the many brothers of Christ who is the Firstborn Son of God. He was born to be the Firstborn Son of God through His resurrection (Acts 13:33), and we have been produced to be His many brothers in His resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3). It was after His resurrection that He called His disciples His brothers (John 20:17). Our new birth was not a physical birth but a birth in resurrection.
We, the many sons of God, have the Firstborn Son as our elder Brother (Heb. 2:11; Rom. 8:29). As our elder Brother, He is our model and our example. Because He is our elder Brother, He takes the lead in everything, and we have to follow in His footsteps.
As the many sons of God, we have the same life and nature as the Firstborn Son of God (2:11). Since we share the same life and nature as He, we are His many brothers. Because we have the life and nature of God, we are God’s many sons. Because we share the same life and nature as the Firstborn does, we are His brothers. To God, we are His many sons; to the Firstborn Son of God, we are His many brothers.
As we have seen, the church is composed of the many brothers of the Firstborn Son of God in resurrection (2:12). Because of this, the church is a corporate partnership with Christ. When we come to 3:14, we shall have much to say about this partnership. For the present, it is sufficient that we keep in mind that the church is a corporate partnership.
In the church, the Firstborn Son of God declares the Father’s name to His brothers. 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, they did not know the Father. They knew God as the Creator but not as the Father who begets. They knew God’s creating power, but they did not know the Father’s begetting ability. They knew God’s power, but they did not realize the Father’s life. Before the resurrection, not even the disciples of Jesus knew the Father’s life and begetting ability. Before the day of resurrection, they only knew as much as the Jewish people did. However, on the day of resurrection the Lord came to them to declare the Father to make them know the Father as the source of life.
The Bible only mentions this very briefly, but this brief mention is like a little show window through which we can see a great deal. According to John 20, Jesus visited His disciples in the evening on the day of His resurrection. But John does not say that He declared the Father to the disciples. This is mentioned prophetically in Psalm 22:22. According to that prophecy, after His resurrection Christ came mainly to His disciples to make the Father known to them. The Father’s life and nature have become theirs. The Father’s being has been transferred into their being. This is what it means to declare the Father’s name to the disciples. If we had been there when the Lord did this, we would have realized that that declaration was not just a matter of mentioning the name. No, it was an impartation of all that the Father is—the Father’s life, nature, and being—into the disciples. It was from this that Peter came to realize that he was a partaker of the divine nature. He mentions this in his second Epistle (1:4). We, the sons of God, have all become partakers of the divine nature. To us, God is no longer merely the creating God but also the begetting Father. He has begotten us. He has imparted His life, His nature, and even His being into our being. This is what it means to declare the Father’s name.
After declaring the Father’s name, the Son sings hymns of praise to Him in the midst of the church. I do not believe that this prophecy means that the Firstborn Son of God sang hymns of praise to the Father in the church only once. Rather, I believe that it means throughout all the centuries the Firstborn Son has been continually singing hymns of praise unto the Father in the church. How does He do this? He does it in all of His brothers. I have the full assurance that right now He is inside of us. Since He is in us, He sings praises unto the Father in our singing. His singing is in our singing. When we sing, He sings because He is within our singing. When we sing hymns to the Father from our spirit, He sings with us in our spirit. This is wonderful. The church on earth today is one corporate Body with the Firstborn Son of God. In the meetings of the church, the Firstborn Son of God sings praise to the Father. Whenever we come to the meetings, we must open our mouths to praise the Father. If we do this immediately, we cooperate with the indwelling Firstborn Son of God. Do you want to gain more of the Firstborn Son? If you do, you need to praise the Father. The more we praise the Father, the more we gain the Firstborn Son. The more we sing, the more He sings in our singing. The best way to have Christ work together with us is by singing praises to the Father. According to our experiences, many of us can testify that this is so. In some of the church meetings we did much singing to the Father. That was the time when we enjoyed Christ so much. We even had the sensation that He was singing in our singing.
Christ has made the Father known to us as the source of life. Now in all the church meetings He is waiting for the opportunity to cooperate with us in singing praises to the Father. The best way for us to give Him this cooperation is to open our spirit and sing praise to the Father. The more we sing, the more we shall enjoy His singing. When we praise the Father, we enjoy Christ. We are one with Christ in praising the Father in the church meetings. The more we praise the Father in the church meetings, the more He praises the Father in our praising, and the more we enjoy Him and gain Him.
The church is composed of the many sons of God who are the many brothers of Christ in resurrection. It is a corporate partnership with Christ, the Firstborn Son of God, to participate in the Father’s life, nature, and being. In the church, the Father is praised by His Firstborn Son within His many sons. This is the church. Now we have seen something regarding the many sons, the many brothers, and the church.