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The Revealed Mystery of the Ages: The Life of the Son of God in His Saints 1
An Amazing Truth
An amazing truth contained in the Scriptures is that in this dispensation of grace God is regenerating sons of men into sons of God. The birth of Jesus Christ signaled the beginning of the period in the history of God’s dealing with mankind generally known as the dispensation of the grace of God. The incarnation of Jesus Christ introduced this period which marked an end to God’s relationship with His people, particularly the Jews, under the Covenant based on the Law of Moses and the beginning of a new covenant relationship between God and His people, described in the Bible as the New Covenant based on the grace of God (John 1:17; Romans 11:6; Hebrew 8:1-14; Galatians 3:23-29).
According to the Bible, a general feature of God’s people under the dispensation of the Law was their characteristic spiritual immaturity. We notice the Old Testament relate innumerable instances of the people of God turning away from God as a habitual form a behaviour. The condition of spiritual immaturity persisted among God’s people until Christ and the introduction of the dispensation of grace. Certainly, it does not mean that no one could enter into spiritual maturity and walk in God’s righteousness during the Old Testament era. For a fact, many did, like the Bible records in Hebrews 11. But all who entered in and walked in God’s righteousness in spiritual maturity during the Old Testament era did so by the transcending the prevailing religious culture of the Law with its self-righteousness and self-dependence, and reaching out to God by faith to draw from God’s grace and live by the power of the Spirit of God. In so doing they lived according to the new covenant principle of grace and dependence on the working of God in them during the Old Testament era.
It was with the introduction by of the dispensation of grace, at the fullness of time, the possibility for growth into spiritual maturity as sons of God was made fully available. Paul described this historical progress in God’s relationship with mankind in this way: “Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:4-7).
Jesus Christ, in whom God dwelt in the form of a man upon the earth, was the forerunner or firstborn of this company of sons whom God has been bringing forth in Christ to continue the work which Jesus Christ began to do while on earth. This important truth helps us to realize that the work of God being accomplished in this world since the time of Christ on earth, from generation to generation, is not being accomplished by mere men mustering the feeble resources of humanity, but by sons of God endued with the supernatural resources of Christ. This truth also unveils to us the profound dimensions of divine spirituality and power which God imparts into us in Christ through salvation.
In fact, being sons of God in this world is an integral experience of this great salvation in Christ (Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:5-6). But many Christians do not give adequate consideration to this truth . And this lack of consideration to this truth may be a main reason why many do not see the experience of being sons of God as a present experience which God wants believers in Christ to have during their pilgrim journey in this world.
Many do not doubt that they are saved by grace now, but fail to see the experience of being sons of God is included in this great salvation by grace. The Bible is plain and straightforward about the truth of entering into sonship being a now experience and not one to be postponed for an indefinite future in one’s Christian walk. “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:6-7).
This study, entitled The Revealed Mystery of the Ages: the Life of the Son of God in His Saints, explores this amazing truth as documented in the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments. It shows as glorious as being sons of God may be it is not an elusive ideal confined to a utopian goal for mortal man to achieve, but a necessary reality given by the grace of God in this time if the believer in Christ is to be empowered to live a fruitful Christian life and fulfill the purpose of God in this present world.
Predicted by Prophets in the Old Testament
God prophesied through His prophets in the Old Testament His intention to bring forth sons of God in this present world from among sons of men. God declared that He would bring forth “sons of the living God” from all nations, even the nations who were not His people.
Isaiah 43:6-7: “I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth; everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”
Hosea 1:10: “And it shall come to pass In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,’ there it shall be said to them, ‘You are sons of the living God.’”
Romans 9:25-26: “As He also says in Hosea, ‘I will call those not My people, My people; and those not beloved, Beloved.’ And it shall be, in the place where it was said to them. ‘You are not My people’; there they shall be called sons of the living God.”
Jesus Christ, the Firstborn Son of God
Jesus Christ became the first representation of a son of God in human form. The Bible refers to Jesus Christ as “the first born among many brothers” (Romans 8:28). Subsequently, God has been reproducing the life of His Son in the sons of men to bring forth sons of God in every generation to accomplish the work that Jesus began to do while on earth. The glorious truth is that the sons of God share the very life and Spirit of Jesus Christ, the first born Son of God, so that they are referred to in the Bible as brothers of Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:28: “For whom He fore knew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Hebrews 2:9-12: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He by the grace of God should taste death for all. For it became Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons into glory, to perfect the Captain of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of One, for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, ‘I will declare Your name to My brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.’”
It is really an amazing truth that we through the grace of God are made brothers of Jesus Christ and sons of God. It is beyond human comprehension and was kept a mystery to God’s people for ages until Christ came to redeem us and lift us up into His life and righteousness.
Mystery of the Ages
Paul identified the truth of the life of the Son of God in the saints as the mystery which had been hidden from past ages and generations, but is now manifested in the saints. This division of time between the period when the mystery was hidden and the period when it is being manifested is the period before Christ and the period after Christ. Paul, writing in the period after Christ, considered it his God-ordained mission to proclaim the wonderful revelation of this mystery in order to declare to all believers in Christ that they now have the life of Christ within and can have the assurance of sharing in the glory of Christ.
Though the mystery was hidden from past generations, it became manifested in the saints at the fullness of time and a fundamental message of the Gospel. Sons of men, who hear the Gospel and believe, may now be sons of God by sharing in the life of Christ who indwells them! Two translations of Colossians 1:25-29 make this truth plain to us.
[New American Standard Bible (NASB)]: “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”
[New Living Translation (NLT)]: “God has given me the responsibility of serving His church by proclaiming His entire message to you. This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God's people. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing His glory. So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. That's why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ's mighty power that works within me.”
According to Paul, the teaching of this truth would enable believers to realize their completeness or maturity in Christ. Thus the revelation of the mystery of Christ in us is the revelation of the truth that we may now live by the perfect integrity of the life of the Christ, the Son of God, in us. Paul admitted that this was a real experience to him as he laboured in his ministry by the power of Christ working mightily within him.
Being sons of God, Christ living in us, should not be put off as a utopia which Christians must aspire to attain in the distant future. Utopias are usually unachievable dreams and fantasies. On the contrary, being sons of God in this world can be a reality made possible and practicable for mortal man in this great salvation plan by the grace of God and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the firstborn Son of God.
Treasure in Earthen Vessels
Paul describes this experience as having treasure in earthen vessels. The concept of a treasure in earthen vessel highlights the contrast between the glory of the life of Christ and our feeble humanity which contains it. We read in 2 Corinthians 4:6-7: “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”
It pleases God at this time to conceal the glory of the life of His Son in the frailty and infirmities of humanity. Jesus Christ Himself exemplified this concept. Though He was God from the beginning, when He came to earth He embodied His Deity in the frail form of humanity.
The truth is the glory of the Sonship of Jesus Christ, the Firstborn Son, in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily, was not recognized by the world when He was on earth. Isaiah long before the birth of Christ predicted it and John, who was one of the disciples of Jesus Christ, testified to it.
Isaiah 53:1-3: “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
John 1:10-11: “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.”
Therefore, it is obvious that if God has reproduced the life of His firstborn Son in us, in earthen vessels of frail humanity, the world will not recognize us as sons of God. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called sons of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him” (1 John 3:1).
Therefore, all who would follow in the footsteps of the firstborn Son of God and live in this world as sons of God should not expect the life of sonship to be all that attractive and of much esteem to the world. The Bible exhorts: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-8). Therefore, the mindset of those who live the life of the Son of God in this present world is one of humility and servanthood, despite the fact that living the life of the Son of God is undoubtedly a supernatural experience.
Today, when sons of God are seen, what meets the eye of man is easily the common humanity that veils the glory of the Christ in them in this present world. However, the truth is that veiled or concealed in the frail, earthy vessel of humanity is the glory of the life of the Son of God imparted by God to everyone who believes and trustingly receives the Spirit of the Son of God. This is the mystery of sonship and the hope of glory for the saints – veiled sons of God waiting to be manifested.
The manifestation of the sons of God is yet to come and will surely come in great glory. But now it has pleased God to keep this glorious treasure veiled and concealed in the earthen vessels of our frail humanity. All who will be sons of God now must be willing to suffer with Christ now in their bodies of humiliation in order that they may be glorified with Him at the manifestation of the sons of God.
Now is the time of the humiliation of the sons of God with Christ but soon will be the glory of the manifestations of the sons of God with Christ. If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him. But the point is we should not consider suffering with Him, the Son of God, any less a sharing in His Sonship than reigning with Him. This is the path God has chosen for Him and for us; let us submit to it with joy. In suffering and in reigning, it is wonderful enough we are in Him and He is in us sharing in His life of Sonship.
1 John 3:2: “Beloved, now we are sons of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
Romans 8:17-19: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.”
Hope of Glory
Therefore, the revelation of the mystery of the life of the Son of God in human bodies of humiliation and low-estate is to all who can grasp it by the Spirit an enriching truth, which the Bible calls “the hope of glory.” As Jesus Christ the firstborn Son of God was eventually glorified after His humble sojourn in human form on earth, so too every son of God eagerly yearns in this body of humiliation or low estate confidently waiting in hope to share in the glory of Christ and be manifested as a son of God.
The Bible makes a clear distinction between veiled sons of God in human bodies of humiliation and manifested sons of God reigning in glory. Some miss this important distinction and sees sonship only in its manifested glory.
Philippians 3:20-21: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”
Romans 8:16-23: “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.”
Go to part two
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