THE FIRST PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE OLD TESTANENT
From David to the Captivity
Message Three—David (2)
Scripture Reading: 2 Sam. 7:11-14; Eph. 3:17; 4:12; Matt. 1:1; 16:18; John 6:51; Rom. 1:3
I. “When your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, which will come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom”—2 Sam. 7:12:
A. Your seed here refers, literally, to Solomon, David’s son, who built the temple as God’s dwelling place in the Old Testament; however, according to Heb. 1:5b, David’s seed is actually Christ as God’s firstborn Son, who has both divinity and humanity and is typified here by Solomon—1 Kings 5:5; Heb. 1:5.
B. God’s desire was to work Himself in Christ into David’s humanity to be his life, nature, and constitution; in this way Christ, the Son of God, would become everything to David, including his house (dwelling place) and his seed—2 Sam. 7:12; Eph. 3:17.
C. Christ is the son of David to fulfill God’s covenant with David introduced in this chapter, that God’s elect may be brought into the kingdom of the heavens and participate in the divine authority—2 Sam. 7:12; Matt. 1:1.
II. The intrinsic significance of 2 Samuel 7 is that the Triune God is working Himself in His processed and consummated Trinity into His chosen people to make us His home—2 Sam. 7:11-14; Matt. 15:4; Eph. 3:17:
A. In His response to David’s desire to build Him a house, God in a sense came in to stop David by indicating that before David could do something for God, he needed God to do something for him—2 Sam. 7:5-11:
1. Although David had the opportunity, saw the need, and had the ability to build the temple of God, he stopped when God’s word came to him—2 Sam. 7:18, 25, 27; Luke 1:38.
2. The David’s stopping established a twofold testimony in the universe: first, all the work in this universe should come from God, not from man; second, all that matters is what God does for man, not what man does for God—Rom. 11:36; Num. 18:1.
B. The church as the house of God, the mutual abode of God and His redeemed, is built with Christ as the unique element—Gen. 2:22; John 14:2-3, 20, 23; 15:4:
1. Second Samuel 7 is the unveiling of a prophecy through typology showing us that there is no need for us to build something for God; we cannot build God’s house, the church, by using ourselves or anything of ourselves as the material—1 Tim. 3:15; John 14:2-3.
2. The building of the church is by Christ’s making His home in our hearts, i.e., by His building Himself into us, making our heart, our intrinsic constitution, His home—Eph. 3:17:
a. God in Christ is within us to build Himself into our being and to build us into His being—2 Sam. 7:12-14a; Matt. 16:18.
b. Christ builds the church by coming into our spirit and spreading Himself into our mind, emotion, and will—Eph. 2:21-22; 3:16-17a.
c. God in Christ is within us to build Himself into our being and to build us into His being; this is the way Christ builds the temple of God—Matt. 16:18; John 2:19-21; Eph. 2:21-22; 3:16-17a.
III. Romans 1:3-4 is the fulfillment of 2 Samuel 7:12-14a, revealing that the gospel of God is God building Himself into man in incarnation and building man into God in resurrection so that human seeds can become designated sons of God for the building of the church as the house of God and as the kingdom of God—Matt. 1:16-19; Rom. 8:2, 4, 6, 9-11, 28-29:
A. The seed of David becoming the Son of God is the building of God into man and the building of man into God for the building of God’s house, the mutual abode of God and man; this is the fulfillment of the greatest prophecy in the Bible—2 Sam. 7:12, 14a; Rom. 1:3-4; Matt. 16:18.
B. The seed of David becoming the Son of God speaks of the process of Christ’s being designated the firstborn Son of God by resurrection—2 Sam. 7:12-14a; Rom. 1:3-4; Matt. 22:45; Rev. 22:16:
1. The Lord of David became the son of David to accomplish God’s judicial redemption; the son of David (the seed of David), became the firstborn Son of God as the life-giving Spirit to carry out God’s organic salvation—Matt. 1:1; 1 Cor. 15:45b:
a. The Lord of David was incarnated to become the son of David to reconcile us to God through His death; the son of David was resurrected to become the firstborn Son of God as the life-giving Spirit to save us in His life—Rom. 5:10.
b. We are being saved in His life to be deified for the expression of God, and we are reigning in life by the abundance of grace in the church as the kingdom of God to be victorious for the dominion of God—vv. 10, 17; 14:17.
c. Such an organic salvation is in the Body for the building up of the Body in the local churches to consummate the New Jerusalem as the city of life and the ultimate consummation of God becoming man that man might become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead—Gen. 1:26; Rev. 21:2.
2. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured descendant of David, the seed of David, dispensed into us as God’s sure mercies, His eternal covenant, for our enjoyment—Isa. 55:1-3, 6-11; Acts 13:33-35.
3. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured descendant of David, the seed of David, dispensed into us for us to share His kingship in His resurrection in the eternal kingdom of God—2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4, 6.
C. The seed of David becoming the Son of God speaks of the process of our being designated the many sons of God by resurrection—Heb. 2:10-11:
1. Christ has already been designated the Son of God, but we, the human seeds, are still in the process of designation, the process of being sonized, deified—Rom. 8:28-29.
2. The life of the Son of God has been implanted into our spirit—v. 10.
3. In resurrection Christ in His humanity was designated the Son of God, and by means of such a resurrection we also are in the process of being designated sons of God—Rom. 8:11:
a. The key to the process of designation is resurrection, which is the indwelling Christ as the rising-up Spirit, the designating Spirit, the power of life in our spirit—John 11:25; Rom. 8:10-11; Acts 2:24; 1 Cor. 5:4; 15:26.
b. The more we touch the Spirit, the more we are sanctified, transformed, and glorified to become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead for the building up of the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem—1 Cor. 12:3; Rom. 8:15-16; 10:12; Gal. 4:6.
IV. God’s building Himself in Christ into our being through the metabolic process of transformation—John 14:2-3; 15:1, 5:
A. God’s economy is just to work Himself into us that we may experience such a metabolic process of spiritual digestion and assimilation that produces a gradual, intrinsic change in life—John 6:51; 2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Tim. 1:4.
B. He is building His church by supplying us with spiritual drink and by feeding us with spiritual food, which are uniquely Himself as the Spirit—Gen. 2:22; John 14:2-3, 20, 23; 15:4.
C. We endeavor to minister Christ into the saints as their spiritual food and drink; the more we receive Christ in this way, the more we will experience the inner, spiritual metabolism; this metabolism is transformation, and transformation is the building—2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 4:12.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE PROPHECY THAT GOD WOULD BUILD A HOUSE FOR THE MAN WHO WAS ACCORDING TO HIS HEART
In 2 Samuel 7:2 David, a man according to God’s heart, said, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within curtains.” This indicates that David felt that he should do something for God, that he should build a house for God. God reacted by saying to David through Nathan the prophet, “Will it be you who builds Me a house to dwell in?” (v. 5). God went on to reveal to David, through a prophecy in typology, that His intention was not that David would build a house for Him but that He would build Himself into David. First, God told David that He would make him a house (v. 11b). Then He said, “I will raise up your seed after you..and I will establish his kingdom. It is he who will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he will be My son” (vv. 12-14a). Here God revealed to David something concerning building, a matter that had not been revealed to either Job or Abraham. (Life-Study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 29)
The Seed of David Becoming the Son of God
In 2 Samuel 7:12-14a Jehovah said to David, “When your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, which will come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. It is he who will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he will be My son.” The word concerning “your seed” and “My son” indicates that the seed of David would become the Son of God, that the seed of a man would become God’s Son.
This thought is continued very strongly in the New Testament, particularly in Romans 1:3 and 4. Here Paul says, “Concerning His Son, who came out of the seed of David according to the flesh, 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.” Here we have the same thought as in 2 Samuel 7:12-14a—that the seed of David becomes the Son of God. These verses reveal, on the one hand, that Christ is the seed of David and, on the other hand, that He, the seed of David, has been designated the Son of God. When we compare these two portions of the Word, we see that both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament we have the matter of the seed of David becoming the Son of God. (Life-Study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 25)
GOD’S ECONOMY AND GOAL ACCORDING TO HIS HEART’S DESIRE BEING TO BUILD HIMSELF INTO MAN AND TO BUILD MAN INTO HIM
This view of God’s building in the Bible indicates that God’s economy and goal according to His heart’s desire are just to build Himself into man and to build man into Him. We have seen that Athanasius said, “He [Christ] was made man that we might be made God.” This means that as God’s children we are “baby gods,” having the life and nature of God but not the Godhead. However, not even this is God’s goal. God in Christ is within us to build Himself into our being and to build us into His being. He builds His divinity into our humanity and builds our humanity into His divinity in order to mingle and blend His divinity with our humanity into one entity. This is like the meal offering: fine flour mingled with oil for the satisfaction of both God and man. (Life-Study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 28)
OUR NEED FOR GOD TO BUILD UP CHRIST INTO OUR
INTRINSIC CONSTITUTION SO THAT WE MAY BE RECONSTITUTED
In 2 Samuel 7 David wanted to build God’s house, but in this chapter God wanted David to realize that he needed God to build Christ into him.
A Prophecy Concerning the Triune God
Working Himself into Us to Make Us His Home
Second Samuel 7 is a prophecy predicting that the church will be built up by God Himself among His people in the New Testament. Christ is the One who actually builds God’s house, God’s temple. Christ is also the element in which and with which the church as God’s house is built. In this chapter God seemed to be saying to David, “David, thus far you are still vacant and empty. Do not think that you should do something to build a house for Me. You need to realize that you need Me to build Myself into you as the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Then you will have a house, and that house will also be My house.”
The intrinsic significance of 2 Samuel 7 is that the Triune God is working Himself in His processed and consummated Trinity into His chosen people. Therefore, 2 Samuel 7 is a chapter on the Triune God working Himself into us to make us His home (Christ with the church) and to produce a seed (the all-inclusive Christ). Here we have a house and a seed. Christ is the house, and Christ is also the seed. Christ is the element, and Christ is also the issue. Christ is everything.
This Christ is both God’s house and our house. Hence, we and God have a mutual abode. Christ abides in us, and we abide in Him. He and we, we and He, are mingled together as one entity. The universe is waiting for this. Romans 8 tells us that the whole universe is eagerly awaiting the expression of the Triune God mingled with the tripartite man through His building, which is by Himself, with Himself, in Himself, and for Himself. This is what we all need, and this is what the universe needs.
Building the Church with Christ as the Unique Element
In 2 Samuel 7 David, like many of us, had the mistaken concept that God needed him to build something for Him. When some hear this they may wonder how this concept can be wrong since we today are endeavoring to build up the church. Is building the church not a matter of building something for God? To answer this question we need to realize that apparently we are the ones who are building the church, but actually God is the One who is building the church with Christ as the unique element. When we are about to do some building work by speaking for God, He may check with us, saying, “Do you intend to build My house? With what material will you build My house?” If we say that we are building up the church with Christ, God may ask us how much we have of Christ. This exposes our shortage of Christ. We need Christ not merely in name and in knowledge; we need the real Christ, Christ as the Spirit in resurrection. We all need more and more of Christ.
We may have much knowledge of the Bible and be able to teach the Bible to others, but this is not the way to build up the church. The church is not built with the knowledge of the Bible. The church is built with Christ as the unique element. Many times, after trying to build up the saints with Christ, I have had to ask myself, “How much of Christ have you really ministered to the saints? Did you minister only doctrine and the high truths concerning God’s economy, or did you minister the real Christ, the genuine Christ, the reality of Christ in resurrection as the Spirit? ” Then I had to confess my shortage of Christ and repent, saying, “Lord, forgive me. I am still short of You. I need You to be wrought into me. I need more of You to be constituted into my being.” (Life-Study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 24)
The Son of David Being Designated the Son of God
What is revealed in 2 Samuel 7 is expounded by Paul in Romans 1:3-4, where he tells us that Christ, a descendant of David, has been designated the Son of God. These verses say, “Concerning His Son, who came out of the seed of David according to the flesh, 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.” Christ is a descendant of David, yet He has been designated to be the Son of God. This is the mystery of God becoming man to make man God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. The two, God and man, are thus built together, constituted into each other. In Christ God has been constituted into man, man has been constituted into God, and God and man have been mingled together to be one entity, which is called the God-man. (Life-Study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 31)
We Being Designated to Be Sons of God Out of Resurrection
We were born the sons of man, but we have been reborn the sons of God. We are sons of God because the Spirit of the Son of God has come into us (Gal. 4:6). Just as the Son of God came into the flesh by incarnation, so now the Spirit of the Son of God has come into so many of us who are flesh. Therefore, in a sense, each one of us is the same as Jesus. Jesus was a man in the flesh with the Son of God in Him. We also are men of flesh with the Son of God in us. Are you not a man of flesh with the Son of God in you? Certainly you are. But we should not remain as we are, should we? We are waiting to be designated. Oh, this man of flesh is going to be designated by sanctification, transformation, and glorification. Hallelujah! This man of flesh with the Son of God in him is under the process of sanctification, transformation, and glorification. The time will come when we will all declare, “We are designated to be sons of God out of resurrection!” Today if we tell people that we are the sons of God, they will think we are mentally disturbed. Nevertheless, the day is coming—the book of Romans refers to this day as the revelation or the manifestation of the glory of the sons of God—in which we will be designated in glory as the sons of God. There will be no need for us to make a declaration. Spontaneously, we will be designated as sons of God.
Romans 1:3-4 give us Jesus as the prototype. In Romans 8:29-30 we have the many sons as the mass production. In this message we are considering the prototype. With the prototype there is the Spirit of holiness, the flesh, and the designation as the Son of God. Praise the Lord! We also have the Spirit of holiness within, the human flesh without, and we shall be designated in full as sons of God. (Life-Study of Romans, msg. 2)
THE CHURCH BUILT NOT BY OUTWARD ORGANIZATION
BUT THROUGH INWARD TRANSFORMATION
Concerning the building up of the church, we do not trust in outward organization; rather, we pay our full attention to the inward transformation, that is, to the inner constituting by the spiritual metabolism. In different kinds of meetings, we endeavor to minister Christ into the saints as their spiritual food and drink. The more we receive Christ in this way, the more we will experience the inner, spiritual metabolism. This metabolism is transformation, and transformation is the building.
Just as every member of our physical body is organic, so every member of the Body of Christ is organic. The church is a group of transformed people who have grown into one organism, the organic Body of Christ. The way to be built up as this organism is to grow, and the way to grow is to eat, drink, and breathe Christ. No matter what our race or nationality may be, we are all undergoing the same metabolic process that day by day produces transformation, which equals building. This is the spiritual growth and also the spiritual building.
Transformation Being a Metabolic Process
Transformation is a metabolic process that changes us by adding some new element into our being and discharging the old element. This is illustrated by one’s having a healthy complexion through the proper, daily eating, digesting, and assimilating of food. This healthy appearance is the result not of cosmetics but of nourishment. This nourishment causes a metabolic process in which a new element is brought in and the old element is discharged. In like manner, we need to receive spiritual nourishment day by day. This nourishment will supply a new element and then cause the old things to be carried away. Gradually, we will grow, change, and mature. This is transformation. God’s economy is just to work Himself into us that we may experience such a metabolic process of spiritual digestion and assimilation that produces a gradual, intrinsic change in life. (Life-Study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 26)