Bride of Christ


II. THE BIRTH OF THE BODY

Col 1:18; Rev 1:5; Acts 13:30-33; I Cor 15:44-50; Lev 15; John 13:8-10; Acts 22:16; I Cor 6:11; Eph 5:26; Heb 10:22; Titus 3:5; Mt 5:9,44-45; 12:46-50; Lk 6:35; Rom 8:29 (23-30); 9:4,8,25-36; II Cor 6:17-18; Heb 12:23; Rev 21:7; Eph 2:10-15; II Cor 5:16-17; Rom 6:4 (2-13); 7:4-6; Col 2:9--3:11; Eph 4:22-24.
      "And He is the Head of the body, the church: Who is the beginning, the FIRSTBORN from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence,"Col 1:18. Christ is the Firstborn out from among the dead. He was the first to raise in a divine body. This means that RESURRECTION IS A BIRTH, especially when that resurrection is into a glorified body, which is a spirit body, which is also a divine body.
      "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness, and the FIRST BEGOTTEN of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood," Rev 1:5. Christ is again the Firstborn out from among the dead. This is a second witness that RESURRECTION IS A BIRTH, especially when that resurrection is into a glorified body, which is a spirit body, which is also a divine body.

But God RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD:

      "And He was seen many days of them which came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made to the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that He hath RAISED UP Jesus again; as it is also written in the second Psalm, THOU ART MY SON, THIS DAY HAVE I BEGOTTEN THEE," Acts 13:30-33.

YOU ARE MY SON, THIS DAY I HAVE GIVEN BIRTH TO YOU.

      The body Christ received from Mary was a human body. It was NOT divine. A divine body could not be made sin, as the body Mary gave Jesus was made sin and thereby became our old sinful man in order to destroy the old sinful nature from the body, II Cor 5:21; I Pet 2:22-24; Eph 2:15. A divine body is not mortal, it could not be mortally pierced with whip, thorns, nails, or spear, and could not bleed and die, as the body Mary gave Jesus died and lay dead in the grave three days and nights, Mt 12:40; I Cor 15:4. A divine body could not be tempted, because God cannot be tempted nor does He tempt anyone, Ja 1:13. A divine body could not become hungry and thirsty, as the human body of Jesus did, Mt 4:2. A divine body could not become tired and sleepy, as the human body of Jesus did, Jn 4:2; Lk 8:23-24. The Son of God dwelt in that body, but the body itself was entirely a human body. The body Mary gave to Jesus became a divine body when it was raised out of the grave. Jesus' body was born of God when it was raised back to life out of the grave. How can we possibly question this as a fact? Review and restudy these passages thoroughly. The body of Jesus was born of God when it was raised from the dead. That's what these passages explicitly state. This is a third witness that RESURRECTION IS A BIRTH, especially when that resurrection is into a glorified body, which is a spirit body, which is a heavenly body, which is also divine body.

THERE IS AN EARTHY NATURAL BODY, AND THERE IS A GLORIFIED, HEAVENLY, SPIRIT, DIVINE BODY.

      44 "It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." (This simply means there are two kinds of bodies: a natural, physical, earthy body and a glorified, heavenly, divine, spirit body).
      45 "And so it is written, 'The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving SPIRIT" (BODY. This is the resurrection chapter of the Bible. Here God is speaking of the resurrected spirit, heavenly, divine BODY of Christ).
      46 "However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual." (As a human, Christ was the second Adam. As a son of the first Adam, Christ had a human, earthy body; in His resurrection, He created a glorified, heavenly, spirit, divine body, a new man, and became the second Adam, the Head of a new race of firstborn sons of God).
      47 "The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven." (The first Adam and his descendants had an earthy body, but the second Adam created {was born into} a glorified, heavenly, spirit, divine body).
      48 "As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly." (Those joined only to the first Adam have earthy bodies as he had. Those joined to the second Adam will have glorified, heavenly, spirit, divine bodies as He has).
      49 "And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man." (Being joined to the first Adam we bore the earthy, physical image he bore. Those who are joined to the second Adam will bear His heavenly, divine image to the degree of our being transformed into that image, providing we continue doing so by grace through faith otherwise we will be cut off from Christ and lose everything promised, II Cor 3:18; Rom 12:1-2; Jn 15:1-6; Gal 5:1-4; Rom 11:11-22).
      50 "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption," I Cor 15:44-50. (The broad meaning of the kingdom of God includes all creation, while the narrow meaning includes only the firstborn sons of God who bear God's image. This is the beginning of this study).