Christ was begotten with His humanity in resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God with many brothers. Is not the Lord Jesus the only begotten Son of God? Why then is He also the firstborn Son of God? How can this be? If you ask Christian teachers, you can hardly find one who is able to answer these questions. Most likely they will tell you not to be too particular about this matter and that nevertheless He is the Son of God. I asked my pastor about this when I was young. He said, “Don’t ask anymore; your head is too big. Anyway, it is too hard to explain what is meant by the firstborn Son of God and the only begotten Son of God.”
Actually, the light in the Scriptures concerning this matter is very clear. Quoting from Psalm 2, Acts 13:33 says, “You are My Son; this day have I begotten You.” Begotten here does not refer to the birth of the Lord Jesus in the manger; rather, it refers to His birth when He came out of the tomb, the birth of the man Jesus when He was raised up by God. By death and resurrection, the humanity which the man Jesus had put on was uplifted into divinity. When His humanity entered divinity, He became the Son of God also in His humanity. This is to be “sonized.” Before His resurrection Christ was the Son of God only in His divinity; in His humanity He was not yet the Son of God but was the Son of Man. However, through His resurrection His humanity was brought into divinity; thus, He was begotten to be the Son of God in His humanity. Therefore, after His resurrection His being the Son of God was a different situation. In His divinity He was the only begotten Son of God from eternity past (John 1:18; 3:16), but in His humanity He became the firstborn Son of God through resurrection (Rom. 8:29; Heb. 1:6).
As the Son of God in His divinity, He is uniquely one; but after He was begotten as the Son of God in resurrection with His humanity, He is not uniquely one. In His resurrection He regenerated all His believers (1 Pet. 1:3) as His many brothers and as the many sons of God. Therefore, Romans 8:29 says that the Lord Jesus is the Firstborn among many brothers. John 20:17 tells us that in the morning of His resurrection the Lord said to Mary, “Go to My brothers and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.” Prior to that morning, He did not have brothers, but now His brothers were born with Him at the same time. Then, Hebrews 2:11-12 tells us that after His resurrection the Lord came into the midst of the disciples and declared the Father’s name to His brothers. At this time His brothers had become the church, in the midst of which He came to praise the Father’s name.
In His humanity Christ was made both Lord and Christ in ascension. Acts 2:36 says that after His resurrection and ascension Christ was made both Lord and Christ. As God, the Lord was the Lord all the time (Luke 1:43; John 11:21; 20:28). But as man, He was made the Lord in His ascension after He brought His humanity into divinity in His resurrection. As God’s sent and anointed One, He was Christ from the time that He was born (Matt. 1:16; Luke 2:11; Matt. 16:16). But as such a One, He was also officially made the very Christ of God in His ascension.
As God, Christ was the Lord from eternity. Then by incarnation He became Jesus, a Nazarene. This man was neither the Lord nor the Son of God in His humanity. But when He entered into resurrection, this man became the Son of God, and in His ascension this man was made the Lord. Before His resurrection, in His divinity He was the Lord from eternity. But after His ascension, He was made the Lord in His humanity. Thus, He is the Lord both in His divinity and in His humanity. Therefore, today there is a Man in heaven who is the Lord of all. In the same principle, He was also made Christ. He was made Lord, the Lord of all (Acts 10:36), to possess all; He was also made Christ, God’s Anointed (Heb. 1:9), to carry out God’s commission.
Hebrews 1:2 says that God has appointed the Son to be the Heir of all things. We know that, at the beginning of Hebrews 1, verses 2 and 3 unfold to us both the person and work of the Son. In His person He is the effulgence of God’s glory and the impress of God’s substance. In His work He created the universe and upholds and bears all things; He also made purification of our sins and accomplished redemption. Now He is sitting down on the right hand of God until His enemies become a footstool for His feet.
In the past He was the Creator of all things (Heb. 1:2, 10; John 1:3; Col. 1:16; 1 Cor. 8:6); in the present He is the Upholder of all things and the One who bears all things (Heb. 1:3); in the future He will be the Heir who inherits all things. All things belong to Him, are for Him, and will be inherited by Him. Therefore, Romans 11:36 says, “Out from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.”
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