In our prayerful consideration and study of the matter of Christ’s resurrection in the aspect of Christ as the seed of David becoming the Son of God by resurrection we need to ask ourselves one question: what does it mean that Christ is the seed of David?
Literally, Christ being the seed of David means that He is one of David’s descendants, being born of the house of David. But there’s much more related to Christ as the seed of David: this implies that God became a man, putting on the human nature which is involved with the old man, sin, the flesh, Satan, and the world.
By incarnation Christ – who is the only begotten Son of God in His divinity (John 1:18) – put on flesh, the human nature, something which had nothing to do with divinity. In His humanity as a man on earth, Jesus Christ was not the Son of God but was a human seed, the seed of David belonging to the old creation of God (see Col. 1:15b).
Many believers wholeheartedly agree and believe that Christ is the Son of God and He is of the new creation, but not many realize that Christ as a man in the flesh belongs to the old creation and He was of the old man. As a genuine man living on earth, the Lord Jesus had the human nature and He put on the flesh; He never sinned, but the flesh He put on (the likeness of the flesh of sin) was involved with and subject to Satan, sin, the world, and death.
The fact that the Word became flesh (John 1:14) means that Christ came in the likeness of the flesh of sin without the poison of sin; still, He was an “old man” in His flesh, since the flesh had been poisoned by Satan corrupted with sin (Satan’s nature), and usurped by the world (Satan’s system, his “cosmos”).
As such a One, before He could impart His divine life into millions of people to regenerate them and make them God’s sons, Christ had to die an all-inclusive death on the cross and terminate all the negative things.
Christ’s death on the cross was all-inclusive: through His death He destroyed Satan, sin, the world, the flesh, the old creation, and the old man. Through His death Christ cleared the entire universe of every negative things, laying the foundation for Him to dispense His pure, rich, divine, eternal life into man so that man may be joined to God and be one with God for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
Christ as the Seed of David Destroyed all the Negative Things through His Death
Since He was a man in the flesh and thus was involved with the flesh of sin, the old creation, the old man, sin, and Satan, through His death on the cross Christ destroyed all the negative things in the universe and cleared up the entire universe! The Bible is specific and detailed in what happened in Christ’s death, telling us how all the negative things were dealt with, terminated, and cleared out by Christ on the cross.
Through His death, Christ terminated the old creation and the old man. Christ died on the cross as a human seed belonging to the old creation; He was the firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:15) and He crucified the old man and the old creation, terminating them on the cross. Actually, we all who believe into the Lord have been crucified together with Him (Gal. 2:20) by virtue of being in Him when He died on the cross. Just as we all sinned by being in Adam when he sinned (Rom. 5:14), so in Christ we all died to our old man and the old creation has been dealt with; now no longer do we have to serve sin as slaves, since our old man has been crucified on the cross (Rom. 6:6).
Through His death on the cross, Christ as the seed of David crucified the flesh. Christ died on the cross as a man in the flesh; God hates the flesh, and Satan is embodied in the flesh – therefore, through His death on the cross Christ crucified the flesh! He came as the reality of the bronze serpent raised up by Moses in the wilderness: He was in the likeness of the flesh of sin yet without the poison of sin, and when He was crucified, He put the flesh to death. Hallelujah, the flesh has been terminated in Christ’s death on the cross!
When Christ died, Satan was destroyed. Christ partook of blood and flesh so that through His death on the cross He might destroy the devil, him who has the might of death (Heb. 2:14). Satan is the cause of all troubles, having the flesh as his embodiment, the sin as his nature, and the world as his system to retain and usurp man. Also, Satan is the old serpent, injecting his poison into man’s flesh; when the Lord was crucified, he destroyed Satan who is in man’s flesh, judging him as the ruler of this world and casting him out. Hallelujah, Satan has been judged by Christ as the seed of David’s death on the cross!
Through His death on the cross, Christ judged the world and condemned sin (John 12:31; Rom. 8:3). God sent His Son to condemn sin in the flesh, and through His death on the cross Christ judged the world (the satanic cosmos, his system to usurp all mankind) and cast his ruler out. Hallelujah, through His death on the cross Christ as the seed of David condemned sin in the flesh and judged the evil system of Satan which systematizes all the descendants of Adam. Now when we receive Christ, He releases us from the world and He removes sin!
It is a blessing that in His humanity Christ was not the Son of God so that in His death He would clear the entire universe from the heap of collapse. When He died in the likeness of the flesh of sin, the serpent was destroyed, the old man and the flesh were crucified, the world was judged, and the ruler of the world was cast out. Everything that was old and fallen was crucified and terminated!
You could say that it was even mandatory that Christ in His humanity would not be the Son of God so that He would clear up all the negative things in the universe through His all-inclusive death on the cross and to pave the way to get into us and make us His enlargement, the many sons of God!
The Lord purposely in His humanity was not the Son of God so that through His death He would deal with all the negative things and in His resurrection, He would uplift His humanity into His divinity and impart the divine life into us to make us the many sons of God, the enlargement of Christ!
Lord, thank You for coming as the seed of David to completely and utterly destroy and clear up all the negative things in the universe through Your death on the cross. Praise You for Your all-inclusive death on the cross which judged and terminated the old creation, the old man, the flesh, Satan, sin, and the world. Hallelujah, our old man has been crucified with Christ so that we may no longer serve sin as slaves! Praise the Lord, the world has been judged and Satan has been destroyed! Hallelujah for Christ’s all-inclusive death on the cross – He as the seed of David cleared up the universe from every negative thing!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Dick Taylor’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans, msgs. 1-3 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on The Vision and Experience of Christ in His Resurrection and Ascension, week 2 / msg 2, The Vision and Experience of Christ in His Resurrection (2) – The Seed of David Becoming the Son of God by Resurrection.
- All verses are taken from, Recovery Version Bible.
- Hymns to strengthen the burden in this article:
# What a victory! What a triumph! / God Himself became a man, / Clothed Himself in human nature / To fulfill His mighty plan. / He through death destroyed the devil; / Risen now, the Son of Man! (Hymns #1174)
# Lord, Thou art the “Seed of David,” / For the kingdom Thou wast raised; / For God’s glory and His building / On the throne Thou hast been placed. / Truly Thou art “David’s offspring,” / Yet “my Lord” he calleth Thee, / For Thou art his “root” and fountain, / ”Lord of all” eternally. (Hymns #191)
# Praise Him! praise Him! Christ is Victor! / He has won the victory! / Sin is judged, old Adam finished, / Full redemption now we see! / Vanquished all the evil powers / Thru the Cross triumphantly! (Hymns #124)
About aGodMan
Being a man, a real man, a genuine man, Jesus Christ does have humanity, and this humanity was the flesh. The Word became flesh (John 1:14), not in a positive sense, but indirectly in a negative sense. This flesh, however, was only in the likeness of the flesh of sin, without the poison of sin (Rom. 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21a; Heb. 4:15). Still, we must realize that Christ became flesh. In His flesh He was an “old man” (Rom. 6:6). Thus, He belonged to the old creation (Col. 1:15b). The flesh had been poisoned by Satan, corrupted with sin, Satan’s nature, and usurped by the world, Satan’s cosmos. As such an all-inclusive person, Christ died on the cross. When He died on the cross, all six items—the old creation, the old man, the flesh, Satan, sin, and the world—were crucified on the cross. Thus, in the eyes of God, after Christ’s crucifixion, the entire universe has been cleared up. (Witness Lee, Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans, pp. 27-28)