As believers in Christ, our relationship with the Lord is wholly a matter of life. Beginning with 5:10, Paul has much to say about life. In this verse he says that “we shall be saved in His life,” and in 5:17, that we “shall reign in life.” In 6:4 he says, “Even so we also should walk in newness of life.” In 8:2 Paul speaks of the Spirit of life, and in 8:10 he says that our “spirit is life because of righteousness.” Furthermore, the mind set on the spirit is life (8:6), and the divine life is imparted into our mortal bodies through the Spirit of Him who raised Christ Jesus from among the dead (8:11).
Through the growth and function of the divine life within us, God will reach His goal to produce many sons to form the Body to express Christ. Today Christ, the Son of God, is no longer simply the only begotten Son, but also the firstborn among many brothers (8:29). As the firstborn Son, He is the prototype and pattern of sonship for all who believe in Him. Eventually, all the sons of God will form a living organism, the Body, to express Christ.
Through the expression of Christ in the Body, the Father is glorified. This is related to righteousness and sanctification. Righteousness is the beginning, the foundation, sanctification is the process, and glory is the consummation. The process by which we are brought fully into glory is altogether a matter of transformation in life.
The life by which we are transformed is a grafted life, the mingling of the human life with the divine life. According to God’s sovereignty in creation, the human life is similar to the divine life, just as a glove is similar to a hand. Unless there is a hand, the glove has no purpose and is useless. In the same principle, unless it contains God, the human life is purposeless and useless. The human life was created in the image of the divine life and according to the likeness of the divine life for the purpose of containing the divine life. If it does not contain the divine life, the human life is like an empty glove that has no purpose. The meaning of human life is to contain the divine life.
The human life is complicated. Not only was it created by God, but it has become fallen, corrupted, and mixed with devilish, satanic things. Nevertheless, the good element created by God remains. For this reason, God loves the complicated human life.
In order to be received by the human life, the divine life had to pass through a process involving incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Through incarnation Christ put on a physical body so that He could shed His blood for our sins on the cross. On the cross, He not only accomplished redemption, but also terminated all the negative things in the universe. After crucifixion and burial, He entered into resurrection with His divine elements and was then able to germinate, generate, and transform us. Furthermore, in His ascension Christ has been exalted, glorified, and enthroned and has been given the headship, the lordship, and the kingship. Now the divine life is fully qualified and prepared to be received by the human life.
On the day we received the divine life into us, a wonderful marriage took place in our being. This was the marriage of the human life and the divine life. By means of this marriage we have become very special people. This is the reason that in 1 Corinthians 3 Paul tells us that all things are ours. The heavens are for the earth, and the earth is for man. We who have a life that is married to the divine life are the center, the focal point, of the universe. Within our being we have experienced the grafting of the human life to the divine life. The mingling of these two lives will produce proper sons for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Through this mingled and grafted life we shall be fully transformed and conformed to the image of God’s firstborn Son.
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