Since I came to the United States in 1962, I have put out many messages teaching one thing. We have gone higher and higher to reach the peak of the divine revelation, to see that the ultimate goal of God’s economy is that He became a man that many of His chosen people might become God in the divine life and the divine nature, but not in the Godhead. Only God, no one else, is the unique object of our worship. We are His many sons. If the Father is God, how can you say that the many sons are not God? The New Jerusalem is a flock of God-men. God is a man. If you say that God has never been a man and is still not a man, you do not know the Bible. God has been God from eternity to eternity, without beginning or ending, but God as a man is only about two thousand years old. Jesus Christ, who was God becoming a man, was born about two thousand years ago.
God put on humanity in His incarnation. Some think that after He resurrected and ascended, He put off humanity. They think that Jesus is no longer a man. This is wrong. The Lord Jesus is still a man. He did not put off His humanity when He resurrected and ascended. In Matthew 26 the Lord Jesus was judged by the high priest who said to Him, "I charge You to swear by the living God to tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God" (v. 63). The Lord Jesus answered by saying, "You have said rightly. Nevertheless I say to you, From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven" (v. 64). The high priest asked the Lord if He was the Son of God, but He answered with "the Son of Man." The Lord has been the Son of Man in the heavens at the right hand of God since His resurrection and will be the Son of Man even at His coming back on the clouds. When Stephen was being martyred, he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56). Stephen said this after the Lord had ascended to the heavens.
Hymns, #132, concerning the Lord’s exaltation in His ascension, shows us this intrinsic revelation:
Lo! in heaven Jesus sitting,
Christ the Lord is there enthroned;
As the man by God exalted,
With God’s glory He is crowned.
He hath put on human nature,
Died according to God’s plan,
Resurrected with a body,
And ascended as a man.
God in Him on earth was humbled,
God with man was domiciled;
Man in Him in heav’n exalted,
Man with God is reconciled.
He as God with man is mingled,
God in man is testified;
He as man with God is blended,
Man in God is glorified.
From the Glorified in heaven
The inclusive Spirit came;
All of Jesus’ work and Person
Doth this Spirit here proclaim.
With the Glorified in heaven
Is the Church identified;
By the Spirit of this Jesus
Are His members edified.
Lo! a man is now in heaven
As the Lord of all enthroned;
This is Jesus Christ our Savior,
With God’s glory ever crowned!
After I came to the United States in 1962, I realized that we needed a hymnal. We selected about eight hundred hymns from other hymnals, and then we added over two hundred hymns of our own. One of these new hymns which we added is Hymns, #132.
Our God was merely God up to two thousand years ago. Then He became a man. Of course, He did not drop His divinity. He was still God. Thus, the man Jesus was a God-man. He went through human living, death, and resurrection and entered into ascension. After His ascension He is still the God-man, and through His death and resurrection, many God-men were reproduced.
The New Jerusalem is the aggregate, the totality, of many God-men. Among these many God-men, the sons of God, is the Father. Christ is the firstborn Son and we are His many "twins." The New Jerusalem is God the Father with many "God the sons." At certain times of the year, families have a reunion. Such a reunion makes the fathers of these families very happy. I believe that in the New Jerusalem, God the Father will look at "God the sons," and He will be very happy. We will be there as the many God-men. In the New Jerusalem, the Father will be the unique One, and all the others will be the sons.
I have tried my best in this message to help us understand and interpret God’s holy Word in an intrinsic way so that we can see the intrinsic significances of this holy Book.
(The Practical Way to Live a Life According to the High Peak of the Divine Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)