THE VITAL GROUPS

MESSAGE NINE

CHRIST AS THE SON OF MAN CHERISHING US AND AS THE SON OF GOD NOURISHING US

OUTLINE

1. Illustration one:
   1. Christ as the Son of Man became the Lamb of God to take away our sin (John 1:29)—cherishing.
   2. Christ as the Son of God became the life-giving Spirit to give life to us and transform us (John 1:32-34, 42)—nourishing.
2. Illustration two:
   1. Christ as the Son of Man, in the form of the serpent, destroyed the old serpent, the source of sin, through His redeeming death (John 3:14; Heb. 2:14)—cherishing.
   2. Christ as the Son of God speaks the words of God and gives Himself as the Spirit to us not by measure that we may have the eternal life (John 3:34-36, 15-16)—nourishing.
3. Illustration three:
   1. Christ as the Son of Man (Jesus), going from Judea to Galilee, detoured into the city of Sychar, near Jacob's well, to purposely wait for the thirsty and water-seeking, immoral Samaritan woman (John 4:3-9)—cherishing.
   2. Christ as the Son of God, sent by God as a gift, gave her to drink the water of life which springs up into eternal life (John 4:10-14)—nourishing.
4. Illustration four:
   1. Christ as the Son of Man has been designated by God to judge all the people of the world, the living and the dead (John 5:27-29; Acts 17:31; 10:42; 2Tim. 4:1; Matt. 25:31). The judgment of Christ has been preached to the sinners as a cherishing to them that they might repent unto God and receive Christ as the Son of God to have His eternal life. The judgment in Revelation 14:6-7, as a part of the judgment of Christ, will be declared to all the people on the earth as the eternal gospel.
   2. Christ as the Son of God was given the authority by God to give the eternal life to His believers (John 5:19-26; 17:2-3)—nourishing.
5. Illustration five:
   1. Christ as the Son of Man would not condemn the sinful woman (John 8:11b)—cherishing.
   2. Christ as the Son of God (the "I Am") would free her from sin that she could sin no more (John 8:11b, 24, 36)—nourishing.
6. Illustration six:
   1. God sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins in His humanity (1 John 4:10)—cherishing.
   2. God sent His Son to us that we may have life and live through Him in His divinity (1 John 4:9)—nourishing.
      This is confirmed by John 3:16: God gave us His only begotten Son that we who believe into Him may not perish through His redemption in His humanity (cherishing) but may have eternal life in His divinity (nourishing).
7. The illustration of the entire New Testament:
   1. Christ as the Son of Man came to redeem us from sin (1 Tim. 1:15)—cherishing.
   2. Christ as the Son of God came to impart the divine life into us abundantly (John 10:10)—nourishing.
8. The illustration of Christ in eternity:
   1. As the Son of Man to be the ladder sustaining and maintaining the life union of all His believers with God (John 1:51)—cherishing.
   2. As the Son of God to be the life element of the New Jerusalem as the divine and human constitution of the consummated Triune God and His glorified elect (Rev. 21-22)—nourishing.