When the shell of the Lord’s humanity was broken on the cross, the divine life within Him was released in resurrection. The release of the divine life and nature from within the Lord as a grain of wheat was His glorification. He prayed for this glorification in John 17:1: “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You.”
When the Lord Jesus was incarnated, He put on humanity. This means that no longer was He merely God, for through incarnation He had become the God-man, having both divinity and humanity. Furthermore, it was necessary for His humanity to be brought into divinity. The bringing of the Lord’s humanity into divinity was His glorification. According to the New Testament revelation, when the Lord Jesus rose up from the dead, He rose up with both His divinity and His humanity. This means He rose up as the God-man. This rising of the Lord’s humanity was His glorification.
The man Jesus was glorified through His resurrection. Not only was the Son of God glorified by being released from within the shell of the Lord’s humanity, but the man Jesus was also glorified. He was glorified when His humanity was brought into divinity. Hallelujah, now there is a man in the glory!
When some hear that the man Jesus is now in glory, they may understand this to mean that He is in the heavens. However, Luke 24:26 indicates that He entered into glory even before His ascension. While on the way to Emmaus, He said to the disciples, “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” This refers to His resurrection, which brought Him into glory (1 Cor. 15:43; Acts 3:13a, 15a). The Man-Savior’s resurrection was His entering into glory. Therefore, glorification means not only that the Son of God was released from His human shell, but also that the Lord’s humanity has been brought into divinity. Have you ever heard a message telling you that your Savior was glorified when His humanity was brought into divinity? Often Christians are told that Christ has glory mainly because He is great. However, the Bible reveals that the Lord became a man of low estate. In His resurrection His lowly humanity was brought into divinity, and this was His glorification. He not only has honor, dignity, and glory; His resurrection was His glorification.
The Man-Savior’s glorification was also His birth as God’s firstborn Son. Acts 13:33 reveals that to the man Jesus resurrection was a birth. He was begotten by God in His resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God among many brothers (Rom. 8:29). He was the only begotten Son of God from eternity (John 1:18; 3:16). After incarnation and through resurrection, He was begotten by God in His humanity to be God’s firstborn Son.
From eternity Christ was God’s only begotten Son. Nevertheless, in the New Testament we are told that on the day of His resurrection He was begotten by God. This was even prophesied in Psalm 2:7. In resurrection God begot Jesus to be His firstborn Son.
The word “firstborn” indicates that there will be other sons. Hebrews 2:10 speaks of many sons, and Romans 8:29, of many brothers. In resurrection the Lord came to His brothers, who composed His church, and declared the Father’s name to them (Heb. 2:12).
Through incarnation God’s only begotten Son put on humanity and became the God-man. Then in resurrection this God-man was born of God to be His Firstborn.
It is important for us to realize that, before incarnation, God’s only begotten Son did not have human nature, only the divine nature. However, in resurrection, God’s firstborn Son has a human nature as well as the divine nature. As believers in Christ, we all are sons of God and brothers of the firstborn Son. Through regeneration we have the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). Although we are human beings, we now have the divine nature. Although the Lord Jesus is divine, He also has the human nature. Therefore, both the Lord Jesus and we are the same in that both He and we have the human nature and the divine nature. We praise the Lord that in His resurrection He was born of God to be His firstborn Son. His resurrection was the release of the divine life and nature, and through this release He was begotten as the firstborn Son of God.
We thank the Lord for showing us all the points related to the objective aspect of the Man-Savior’s resurrection. The Lord’s resurrection was God’s vindication and approval, it was the evidence of the Man-Savior’s success, it was His victory over death, Satan, Hades, and the grave, and it was His glorification. Through His resurrection death was nullified, Satan was defeated, and humanity was brought into divinity. Praise the Lord for His resurrection! May the Lord give us new hymns and songs written according to the light He has given us from the Word so that we may praise Him in a richer, higher, and fuller way.