The universe is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God (8:19). This manifestation will not come as an accident, but it will come as the consummation of the process of designation, just as a carnation flower blossoms as the consummation of a long process of growth and change. The more we grow, the more we are designated by resurrection. One day, at the time of our glorification, we shall fully blossom and manifestly be the sons of God.
Many Christians devote their attention to objective teachings regarding the so-called dispensations in the Scriptures. According to the Bible, however, the word dispensation does not denote an age, but it denotes an act of dispensing. The New Testament revelation needs to become very subjective to us. I do not believe that a person who lives outside the presence of the Lord will suddenly be raptured into His presence. Being brought into the Lord’s presence involves a process of sanctification, transformation, conformation, and glorification.
No believer in Christ is ever sanctified accidentally. I realize that, in a sense, we were all sanctified when we were saved. But we still need to pass through the process of sanctification in order to be sanctified dispositionally. In the Bible the words sanctification, holy, and holiness refer to separation. Hence, to be sanctified is to be separated, to be made different from that which is common.
When a carnation plant is a tender sprout, it may not appear to be very different from other kinds of sprouts. But the more the carnation plant grows, the more it becomes separated, different, from other plants. When it blossoms, it is wholly separated, absolutely different, from all other flowers. This is an illustration of subjective sanctification, of dispositional sanctification.
Sanctification in Romans refers not merely to a change of position, but to a change of disposition. It involves a change in shape that is the result of an inward change in life. This indicates that conformation, the change in shape, is related to growth and transformation. A carnation plant illustrates this also. As a carnation grows and is transformed, it is shaped into a particular form. By growth, it is changed from one form into another. This change continues until the plant blossoms. The blossoming is the consummation of transformation.
To be transformed is to be shaped into the life-form by the life-power with the life-essence. Suppose in your garden two kinds of plants are growing, a carnation and a lily. As these flowers grow, the carnation will take on one form, and the lily will take on another form. Each is shaped by the life-power with the life-essence within it.
Every life has its own form. For example, a dog has one form and a chicken has another. The growth of a certain life brings in the full form of that life. Today we are sons of God, but we do not yet have the full form, the complete shape, of sons of God. Therefore, by growth and transformation we need to be conformed to the image of Christ. Eventually, we shall be completely conformed to His image. Then we shall possess the full life-shape which comes from the life-power with the life-essence. A carnation, a chicken, and a dog all have a different life-form according to their life-essence. A carnation has the form of a carnation because it has the life-essence of a carnation. The carnation essence develops into the carnation form by means of the life-power within the carnation. Praise the Lord that we have the life-essence and the life-power within us! This life-power is shaping us into the image of the Son of God. Through this shaping function of the life-power, we shall be fully conformed to the image of Christ.
Praise the Lord that instead of mere objective teachings, we have the designating Spirit within us! We have the designating Christ as resurrection within. Do not try to improve yourself or to make yourself sinlessly perfect. Rather, enjoy and experience the designating Spirit. If by the Spirit we put to death the practices of the body, we shall live (8:13). We need to walk according to the Spirit, set our mind upon the Spirit, and by the Spirit put to death the practices of the body. If we walk daily according to the Spirit, we shall be fully in the process of designation by resurrection. By the power of resurrection, we shall be transformed, conformed, and, eventually, glorified.
The more we contact the Lord by calling upon His name, the more we sense His presence and the more we are conscious of His anointing within. By calling on the name of the Lord, we are watered, we are refreshed, we are sanctified, we are satisfied, and we are strengthened. In this way we are brought into His presence and we are made ready for His coming. The kind of teachings we need today are not the objective teachings about prophecy or about the dispensations, but those regarding how we are designated by enjoying and experiencing Christ as the life-power. If we have this kind of teaching, we shall realize that in ourselves we are hopeless and helpless, and we shall no longer try to improve ourselves. Rather, we shall exercise our spirit to contact the Lord so that we may enjoy His anointing and participate in the process of designation by resurrection.