This is actually our gospel, as Paul said in Rom. 1:1-4,
1. Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
2. Which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,
3. Concerning His Son, who came out of the seed of David according to the flesh,
4. Who was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord;
It is very impressive here to see that,
- In Christ, God became a man – He came of the seed of David (v. 3) – God became a man, in incarnation, He put on humanity – according to the flesh. In His incarnation, Christ brought God into man, and He united and mingled the Triune God with the tripartite man. Now there was such an entity on earth – both God and man, both man and God. In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9).
Note: By God becoming a man does not mean that He was sinful like us, but that He put on the human nature, which is involved with sin and Satan. Yet in Him there was no sin, because the divine life in Him was fully expressed in His human life! It sounds almost impossible to understand – like M. Luther said ‘if you understand God…. you must be God!’ - In His resurrection, Christ brought His humanity into divinity – He was designated the Son of God in power (v. 4). In His human livingon earth Christ was both God and man, yet He longed that His human part would be “baptized” / filled / brought into divinity (Luke 12:50). This was possible only through death and resurrection – just like the seed of a flower is “designated” into that flower by being put into the ground and sprouting/blossoming! Christ’s resurrection was His “blossoming” – He uplifted His humanity into His divinity, He brought man into God! Now there is a Man in God – a Man in the Glory!
This is the highest revelation of the gospel – that Christ brought God into man through His incarnation, and He brought man into God through His resurrection!
In the beginning He was just God; now, through His incarnation He came into man, then passed through human living, death, and resurrection – God was “processed” and consummated! In His resurrection He brought His humanity into His divinity – He was consummated as the Spirit! WOW!
And this One is in us! He is taking us through the same process! He came into us as the God-man, and we become not just men – but God-men! Now He is us is taking us with Him through a process of death and resurrection, germinating us, growing in us, transforming us, until eventually we will “blossom” – have our humanity brought into divinity in full – this is our glorification!
This is what He wants – many sons that are just like His Firstborn Son, fully deified God-men who express Him to the entire universe!
This is the fulfillment of His promise to David in 2 Sam. 7 “your son will build Me a house…. and I will be a Father to him, and he will be My Son” – God wants that men (human beings, sinners, even enemies of God) would become His Sons (divine and human, transformed, conformed to the image of His Once-Only-Begotten Son of God and now Firstborn Son of God)!
