Sons and Brothers

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The Lord Jesus Christ was the only Son of God. Now He is the First-born Son of God. Other sons have been born and are growing up. In order to maintain the Lord in the supremely elevated place to which He has been appointed by the Father, and yet point toward the genuineness of our inheritance as sons of God, we are making a distinction between the office of Christ, and the Substance and Nature of Christ.

(11/28/2004) First let us think about the office of Christ, and then we will discuss the Substance and Nature of Christ.

The following might be thought of the office of Christ, the ways in which Christ is different from us:

Christ was in the beginning with the Father.

Through Christ all things were created.

Christ made an atonement with His blood for the sins of the world.

We can worship Christ and pray to Christ as we do to God, and are baptized in water into His name.

Christ is the supreme Lord over all of God’s creation. We share this dominion with Christ, but, as Pharaoh said to Joseph, Christ will remain greater in the Throne of God than will be true of us.

Having maintained the Lord Jesus Christ in His supremely elevated place, the office given to Him by the Father, let us now emphasize the ways in which we are truly His brothers, His bride, His body.

Theologians have made it impossible for us to be genuine brothers of Christ. Theologians appear to envisage God as one Entity who has been sliced into three pieces. One piece is the Father. One piece is the Son. One piece is the Holy Spirit. This Entity in three coequal, coexistent, coeternal pieces is referred to as the Trinity. As I see it, the doctrine of the one God in three pieces is unscriptural.

How can we, in any meaningful sense, become the brother of a piece of God? The gap between us would be uncrossable, in my thinking.

What does the Bible say about Jesus Christ? The Bible says Christ is the Son of God. This is what I believe Jesus is—the Son of God.

Since God has no wife, it must be true that God is both male and female. When God created man in His image He created him male and female.

So God has a Son. His name is Jesus Christ. God has made Him Lord of all.

Now here is a mystery, although it is proclaimed clearly in the Scriptures. God is giving birth to more sons. It is as simple as this. God’s one Son has now become the Firstborn of many sons.

"But, we exclaim, that is all fine and dandy. But we never can be a brother of Jesus Christ in the full, literal sense of a brother. He is God and we are man."

Here we are mistaken. God has given birth to us just as He gave birth to Christ. We do not have the same office as Jesus Christ. God has made Jesus Christ King of all kings and Lord of all lords. This is not true of any of us.

But when we eat the flesh of Christ and drink His blood we are being made of the same Divine Substance as He. When we cooperate with the Holy Spirit as the spiritual evil and darkness is being driven from us, and the Substance of Christ is taking its place, are being made of the same Nature as He.

Born from the same Father. Filled with the same Substance. Changed into the same Nature. Genuine brothers. Genuine members of His bride. Genuine members of His body.

The Personality of Christ is perfect. Ours is not as yet, but if we will keep pressing forward we shall arrive some day at the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Some may protest that this cannot be. We can remove ourselves from the program if we so desire. But this is what God has stated, and I choose to believe the Scriptures.

How about you?