Col 1:18 And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things; Acts 13:30 But God raised Him from the dead. 33 That God has fully fulfilled this promise to us their children in raising up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ``You are My Son; today I have begotten You.'
As the Son of God, Christ has passed through two births. The first birth took place at His incarnation [through the virgin Mary] , and the second, in His resurrection. All Christians realize that Christ was born through incarnation, but not many regard His resurrection also as a birth. Acts 13:33 indicates that Christ was begotten, or born, in resurrection. Through resurrection He was begotten as the Son of God. Before His incarnation, Christ was not a man. He was simply the infinite, eternal God. But in the fullness of time, Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, and nine months later He was born in a manger in Bethlehem. According to John 1:14, the Word who is Christ became flesh. This means that He took the step of becoming a man. How marvelous that through incarnation the infinite, eternal God became a man! However, in becoming man, He did not cease to be God. After living on earth for thirty-three and a half years, Christ was crucified. Then in resurrection He took a second step to be born the second time and become the firstborn Son of God. Before His resurrection, Christ was the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16). But through resurrection the only begotten Son became the firstborn among many brothers (Rom. 8:29) [His believers] . According to Hebrews 2:10, God is leading many sons into glory. These many sons are the many brothers of Christ as the firstborn Son. By the incarnation of Christ God was brought into man. Prior to Christ's incarnation, God was outside of man. However, through Christ's incarnation God was brought into humanity. Therefore, by Christ's first birth in incarnation God was brought into man and became one with man. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, God was living in a man, for God was in Him. Then through Christ's resurrection man was brought into God. Hallelujah, as a man Christ is in the heavens! God has been brought into man, and man has been brought into God. What marvelous two-way traffic! In this two-way traffic God came into man through incarnation, and man was brought into God through resurrection. (c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Colossians, pp. 71-73. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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