God does not intend that we lose our humanity. On the contrary, we shall bear our humanity for eternity. But our humanity in eternity will not be natural; it will be resurrected, glorified, and uplifted. This is proved by the contrast between the natural body and the spiritual body, the resurrection body, in 1 Corinthians 15. Today our physical body is like a seed. But one day this “seed” will be resurrected and glorified.
How can we have divinity? We have it by being regenerated in our spirit by the Spirit of Christ. Through incarnation Christ put humanity upon Himself and thereafter had two natures, the divine nature and the human nature. Through His resurrection and through coming into us as the Spirit, Christ has brought divinity into us. Therefore, we also have two natures, the human nature and the divine nature. By being born of the Spirit we have become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). We can say, “Lord, just as You have two natures, so we have two natures also. You are divine and human, and we are human and divine. Hallelujah, we are the same as You! Lord, You have our nature, and we have Yours. You are both divine and human, and we are both human and divine. You are the Head of the Body, and we are the members of the Body. Lord, You are the Son of God, and we are sons of God also.” The Lord appreciates it when we speak to Him in this way. He enjoys it when we declare the fact that God no longer has just one Son, the only begotten Son, but many sons, Christ as the Firstborn and us as the many sons of God. Christ has already been designated the Son of God, but we are still in the process of designation. One day this process will be completed, and for eternity we shall be the same as Christ, God’s firstborn Son. Romans 1:3 and 4 contain many key words. Verse 3 has the phrase “according to the flesh,” and verse 4, the phrase “according to the Spirit.” In 8:4 Paul speaks about walking “according to spirit” and not “according to flesh.” This is one example of how the key words in 1:3 and 4 are used again by Paul later in this book.
An especially marvelous word in 1:4 is “resurrection.” Christ was designated the Son of God “out of the resurrection of the dead.” In 6:5 Paul says that “we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.” Christ was designated by resurrection, and we shall be in the likeness of this resurrection. As we share Christ’s resurrection, we undergo the process of being designated the sons of God. We are designated, in fact, by resurrection.
To designate something is to mark it out, not merely to label it. As sons of God, we are designated by resurrection, that is, by a change in life. Let us use a carnation seed as an illustration once again. Most people cannot tell the difference between a carnation seed and other kinds of seeds. Some may think that the way to tell which among many seeds is a carnation seed is to label the carnation seed. This, however, is not the way of life. According to the way of life, the carnation seed is designated by being put into the earth so that it can grow into a blossoming carnation plant. When a carnation plant is still a tiny sprout, it is very difficult to recognize that it is a carnation, for it looks the same as other kinds of sprouts. But the more the carnation plant grows, the more it is designated. Eventually, by its blossom, we all can recognize that it is a carnation. By blossoming it is fully designated a carnation.
In the same principle, we are designated the sons of God by a change in life through the process of resurrection. The day is coming when we shall reach the stage of “full blossom.” That will be the time of the redemption, the glorification, of our body, which is the full sonship (8:23). The life of the Son of God has been implanted into our spirit. Now we, like the carnation seed that is sown into the earth, must pass through the process of death and resurrection. This causes the outward man to be consumed, but it enables the inner life to grow, to develop, and, ultimately, to blossom. This is resurrection. Praise the Lord that we are daily being put to death so that we may share Christ’s resurrection in a practical way. Hallelujah, we shall be designated sons of God by resurrection!
Most of us today may not have the confidence to say that we are the sons of God. We do not yet have the appearance, the expression, of God’s sons. We are like the carnation plant that has not yet produced flowers. Nevertheless, we are under the process of designation by resurrection, and, eventually, after we have been fully processed, all will know that we are sons of God. The entire creation is waiting and groaning for this. We also groan because we do not yet have the appearance we should have. We know that we are still short in so many respects and wrong in many things, and we still have failures. But under the Lord’s sovereignty, even our failures are used as part of the process. The Lord allows us to fail time after time so that we may be processed. By our failures, our ugly self is torn down, and the Lord has a greater opportunity to work within us.
Praise the Lord for the divine process! We are on the way of resurrection. Not only have we been grafted into Christ that we may have a vital union with Him in His death, but we also enjoy His resurrection. We all are presently in the process of being designated sons of God by means of resurrection.