UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN, UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN 
                                  BY J W LUMAN 
 
 
We are dealing with This Man, This New Creation, This Mankind, who is the 
very focus of God's attention. Oh, that we would all come to see this 
kind of Man. The world will never see This Man until you and I do. Until 
we come face-to-face with Him the world will never see Him because there 
will be no manifestation of Him. All the world will see is the outward 
form they see now. Most believers are not much better off than the world, 
they see the same outward form. But that our hearts would come to be set 
upon This Man, to give full attention to This Man. And I find it 
difficult to believe that anyone who is under the influence of the Spirit 
of God will not finally come to give attention to This Man. Why? Because 
the Spirit is interested in nothing else. So, we've got to be at cross 
purposes with the Spirit if we are not coming to know This Man.  
 
We are going to bring This Man into a clearer focus in the person of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. In order to bring This Man, for whom God has so much 
in mind into real vision, we will go to Hebrews 2 verse 5. " For unto the 
angels hath he not put into subjection the world to come whereof we 
speak." Now, this term 'world to come whereof we speak' is a little 
misleading in the King James translation. The world to come that is 
spoken of here in verse 5 speaks of another world or a new creation, not 
another planet. The word 'to come' in the Greek is not suggesting 
something will take place in the future or that will be in the future. 
The word 'to come' means that which is certain. There is a world that is 
not certain, that has no foundations. And there is that world that is 
certain, that does have foundations. One belongs to the flesh and the 
other belongs to the Spirit. And it is that which this verse is speaking 
of. In saying 'the world whereof we speak' ought to tell us something. 
 
That is what has been spoken about in Chapter 1. We speak about another 
world, a new creation in Christ Jesus. We speak of a creation that the 
eye cannot see and the ear cannot hear but the Spirit of God reveals that 
unto us. It's important we understand what that verse says because it is 
a creation, a world, a realm that He has promised not to angels. What He 
has created in Christ Jesus is not for angels, but for THE MAN to whom He 
doth look! It's for A Man, not angels. "For unto the angels hath he not 
put in subjection that New Creation in Christ Jesus." That's what the 
verse really means; that new creation, that new building, that new 
temple. " But one in a certain place hath testified, What is man that 
thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him? You 
made him a little lower than angels, crowned him with glory and honor and 
set him over the work of your hands. Thou hast put all things in 
subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under 
him, he left nothing that is not put under him. Now we see not yet all 
things put under him ..." 
 
Well, we haven't yet seen That Man, The Man of whom God peaks. UNTO THIS 
MAN. One looks at mankind and says, 'I don't understand what you see in 
this.' Then in the very next verse the writer brings it all into focus in 
a person. "BUT WE SEE JESUS ... We see Jesus made a little lower for the 
suffering of death that he might bring many sons unto glory." He goes on 
to say, "... he is not ashamed then to call them brethren because he that 
sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one." One what? One 
Father, one creation, one birth - they are all of one - ONE NEW MAN! That 
Man can only truly be seen in the Lord Jesus Christ! You and I can only 
truly find ourselves in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can only truly find our 
life in the Lord Jesus Christ.  You'll only truly find That Man that God 
hath determined in the Lord Jesus Christ. BUT WE SEE JESUS. 
 
I'm reminded of the time in the New Testament that a group of Greeks came 
to see the Lord and they asked the disciples, " Sir, we would see Jesus." 
And the Lord's answer to that was, " Except a corn of wheat fall into the 
ground and die it abideth alone. But if it dies it bringeth forth much 
fruit." What He was actually saying was - you don't want to see Me in the 
flesh, that's not what your heart is longing to see. Your heart is 
longing to see Me in the Spirit. Your heart is longing to see that which 
I am come to do, that work that I am come to finish. In that same 
scripture He says, " The hour is now come that the Son of Man should be 
glorified." I think it's interesting there that the statement was to " we 
would see Jesus." Here in Hebrews the writer picks it up and says, " But 
we see Jesus." How do you really see Jesus? You see Him in connection 
with The Man, with the New Creation that He brings forth through His 
death, His burial and His Resurrection. Until you see Him in that way, 
you have not really seen Jesus. 
 
When He asked Peter, " Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? Thou 
art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." He says, well, flesh and 
blood did not reveal that to you. He means seeing Me standing here before 
you in this body of flesh and blood did not reveal that. You have seen a 
greater than I appear to be. You have seen a greater than this body could 
declare Me to be. Only My Father could reveal That Son of Man to you. WE 
WOULD SEE JESUS! Well, I'm telling you, if you would see Jesus, don't 
look to the pages of history to do it! Only the Spirit of God can reveal 
Jesus as He truly is! BUT WE SEE JESUS. How do we see Him? 
 
Let's turn to Isaiah 9. We first see Him as a Child born, but then the 
greater view - we see Him as a Son given. As a Child born - as a Son 
given. Verse 6, " For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." 
Now with regard to the Son there are some other things said, but I want 
us just now to contemplate the Child. We understand from the scripture 
that this is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ - the Child born and the 
Son given. They are both answering to the Son of Man - one in death, the 
other in life. You'll notice in Hebrews, " But we see Jesus..." How? 
first, "... made a little lower..." Then, in glory, "... bringing many 
sons unto glory." But it's Jesus who answers to This Man to whom God 
looks, to whom God has given everything of a new creation, of a new 
world, put all things under Him. But we do not yet see. No - BUT WE SEE 
JESUS! It's only in Him that we'll come to see That Man, and only in Him 
will all things finally come to be under the feet of That Man. Then we 
shall see That Man, the creation created for Him - that God will have in 
fulness, in complete manifestation both His Man and the creation intended 
for Him.  
 
None of that is speaking of anything natural. Real - yes, but not 
natural. That which is natural is not all that real. We see This Man 
first in Jesus - as a Child born. AS A CHILD HE IS BORN TO DIE. Turn to 
Luke 2. We sing a song, "Jesus was born to die..." Then we must know Him 
as Christ, the anointed of God, the Resurrection, then we must come to 
know Him in the fulness of His throne and He is Lord. What does it means 
to " know the Lord "? It means to bear that name in your heart, to bear 
what that name signifies. " A child is born and thou shalt call His name 
Jesus" answering to death. As we bear the name of Jesus we will bear it 
in His death, in His dying. Christ answers to the Resurrection. As we 
bear that name, then we identify with the Resurrection. You see in doing 
that, you identify to this reality - NOT I, BUT CHRIST liveth in me, not 
with me, just He living in me!  
 
Christ is not such an easy name to bear after all. I didn't say 
take the name, I said bear the name, as a wife bears the name of her 
husband. It is a trendy thing today for the woman to carry both her 
names. You see, we want to have our name and the name of our husband too 
- we want to have it both ways. We want it to be me and Jesus. We do it 
in the flesh, but I'm convinced everything in the flesh is a reflection 
of the perverse condition of the Church. My problem is with the Church - 
not with the world. All through history the world is only a reflection of 
the spiritual condition of the Church. That's why when the Church is not 
a reflection but an appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, the world will be 
absolutely and tremendously affected. Me and Jesus - No, it's just Jesus. 
If you bear that name you bear what that name implies, you bear the 
nature. In the Bible, name and nature are synonymous. You bear His name, 
you bear His nature. It doesn't mean you start walking around calling 
yourself Jesus - you bear the nature of the One born to die, the nature 
of the One risen by the Glory of God, the nature of the One who sits upon 
the throne. But what real nature is that? It is the LAMB AS THOUGH HE 
WERE CRUCIFIED! The One who sits upon the throne is subject to the throne 
- you bear the nature of the Lord. The cost of bearing His name is the 
loss of your own! 
 
Now Luke 2. We have here the story of Simeon. Simeon represented 
everything spiritual in Israel. Simeon is the priest in the temple and 
there's much wrapped up there. Not only was Simeon there, it was Simeon 
and Anna. Verse 25, " Behold there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was 
Simeon. The same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of 
Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him. It was revealed unto him by the 
Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's 
Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents 
brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, 
then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God and said, Lord, now 
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; For mine 
eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of 
all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people 
Israel." Verse 34, " And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his 
mother, Behold this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in 
Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against..." Verse 39, " And 
when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they 
returned unto Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew, 
and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was 
upon him." 
 
Everything in this reading is in relation to THIS CHILD and what This 
Child stands for. And the thing that is very striking is that it is the 
first spiritual service of This Child to perform by subjection, by 
fulfillment, the order of the law. ALL SPIRITUAL LAW IS FULFILLED IN THIS 
CHILD, even from the time of His birth. Consequently, This Child is the 
end of the law. He does not break the law, He fulfills the law. This 
Child is the end of the law. This Child is set for the fall and rising 
again. This Child - you see, HE WILL DIE AS A CHILD, HE WILL COME 
FORTH AS A SON! As long as He is a Child, He is subject to the law in 
all things. And the end of that law is death. He signified this. So 
everything before the cross related to the Child born. That's another 
thing about This Child - This Child was born - born under the law, born 
of a woman, made a little lower.  
 
Everyone around Christmas time gets sentimental about the manger. HE WAS 
BORN TO DIE, friends! Born under the law, subject to the law, so long as 
He lives He is subject to the law. There were times in the ministry of 
the Lord Jesus when He seems to cross that transition and He speaks of 
another realization. I think that it's always in Him from the baptism in 
Jordan, where He actually there symbolically fulfilled The Child. He went 
down into the Jordan in baptism and came up, heaven opened and He was 
declared to be A SON. The Son that He was declared to be was a corporate 
Son - The Son coming up out of Jordan, This Son. That was all symbolic. 
You see, until He actually went to the cross, He restrained Himself as 
One under the law because under the law He was. Even though from time to 
time He would speak beyond all of that, yet He would always restrain 
Himself and bring himself back, set His face as a flint towards the cross 
and know - I MUST DIE! So there's a lot to be said about The Child. The 
Child is ONE BORN. And in relation to that, it takes us to Galatians. 
 
Galatians 4:1. Now here we see a Child and a Son. " Now I say, that the 
heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though 
he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors (and that's the law 
- the law is called a schoolmaster) until the time appointed of the 
father. Even so, when we were children, were in bondage under the 
elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God 
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them 
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." We 
see the transition here from Child to Son. And we must see that this 
transition was first established and had to be established first in the 
Son Himself - in Christ Himself, the Son God sent, but who was born as a 
Child. And as long as He was a Child ... you see because a Child really 
has nothing to do in spiritual terms with how old you are, but on which 
side of the cross you are on. As long as you are under the law, you are a 
Child; under the Spirit of the law of LIFE, then you are a Son! And 
that's the only difference. It doesn't make any difference how many years 
are involved in that - it's on which side of the cross are you. 
 
As long as we are a Child, we differ nothing from a servant. A Child is 
one appointed unto death, but has not yet actually experienced it. This 
has to do with you and I not really experiencing death, so he differs 
nothing from a servant. A servant of what? A servant of elements, he's 
under bondage to elements. Elements relate to the world that is seen, not 
that which is unseen, to come, to be established. Until you and I fulfill 
childhood - childhood is fulfilled in spiritual terms in death! To me 
childhood had always ended with the adoption, and in a first look at this 
fourth chapter it seems to do so. But I began to see as I contemplated 
Isaiah 9 and Luke and now in Galatians 4 that childhood does not end with 
the adoption. Childhood ends with death. Childhood ends with the cross, 
because there can be no adoption until there is a Son to be adopted! The 
word "adoption" simply means the 'placement or the recognition of a Son'. 
Well, as long as you've got a Child, you can call him a Son all you want, 
but he's still a Child. What really makes the difference? THE DIFFERENCE 
IS THE CROSS! 
 
" Unto us a child is born... That child is set for the fall and rising 
again. That child is set. A sword shall pierce your soul and he is set 
for a sign that shall be spoken against." As long as He was on that side 
of the cross, He never broke the law; He fulfilled it, He kept it. But He 
did not kick the traces of it. No, He was obedient unto death, even the 
death of the cross, and that ended the childhood, and that ended that 
which was born of woman. That ends that which is born under the law. THE 
CROSS ENDS CHILDHOOD. Now, you see, The Son is not born - THE SON IS 
GIVEN! The word "given" relates to the Son. The term "Son" has to do with 
relation - that which carries family name. Isn't that something? Let's go 
back to the Child. How humiliating for the Son of God to go through all 
of this! But He did it with a joy set before Him. He did it with an 
understanding set before Him. How humiliating for Him to be born a Child. 
Born who as One, in that state of things, had to grow in wisdom and 
knowledge. Here is the wisdom of God Himself! How humiliating! It gives 
you a different view of the manger.  
 
What did He do? He carried the name of another family! He was called 
Jesus of Nazareth, and He was completely. But you'll notice when He asked 
His disciples, He didn't say, 'Who do you say that Jesus of Nazareth is?' 
No - He spoke beyond that. "Who do you say that I, the Son of Man, am? 
Only My Father can reveal this." As a Child. How long are you a Child? As 
long as you carry the name of another family - Smith, Jones, O'Hara, 
Luman - well, you're a Child, just a Child, under the law of that name, 
under the law of that family - just a Child. And I want to tell you 
something. God doesn't like disobedience on either side of the cross. If 
you're a Child then you're going to act like a Child or you're going to 
deal with God. There's nothing worse than a Child trying to be a Grown-
up, unless it's a Grown-up trying to be a Child. Now, you don't change 
identity by breaking out of it or by deciding on your own or by 
disobedience. If you're a Child, you're a Child and God has tutors and 
governors to keep you under the law and He'll deal with you in that way.  
 
See I say that, because I know a lot of Christians who have obviously 
gotten tired of being children, so they have decided to throw away the 
law. They think that if they just throw away the law then they are no 
longer children. No - you've got that backwards. The law remains and you 
die. You don't graduate school by killing the school teacher. 'Well I 
want out of school. I believe I'll just burn the building down.' That's 
the wrong way to go about it. That may release you from school all right, 
but you're still a Child. Now you are just wayward, delinquent. I know a 
lot of Christians who don't want to come to the cross, they just want to 
get rid of the law. They want to find their "liberty" in the flesh, not 
in Christ. THERE'S NO LIBERTY FOR THE FLESH IN CHRIST. " Stand fast in 
the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free." But there is no liberty 
for the flesh in Christ. Our liberation from the flesh is the death of 
it! So to those who would find liberty and are tired of being dealt with 
like a Child, I say, HASTEN TO THE CROSS, HASTEN THERE! How can I 
hasten there? Because the Lord has already gone before you, we're 2,000 
years behind - Hasten there! I think that's why in the book of the 
Revelation Jesus Christ uses the term so much, " these things which 
certainly must come to pass". That means with great speed, with great 
haste. Why? Because these things are done already in Christ Jesus! 
Established. So, there's a great urgency for you and I to go to the cross 
because God is after a Son. Even the Lord set His face like a flint, 
refused to be distracted. 
 
THE CHILD IS BORN. THE SON IS GIVEN. The term "given" means to grant, 
to consecrate, to commit, to entrust, to set, to appoint, to designate. 
These are only a few of the many definitions of "given". But this is 
enough to see that to give a thing, to consecrate a thing, to commit, to 
put, to set, to appoint, to designate - all imply PURPOSE. Something that 
is given is given with purpose. I'm not implying that there is no purpose 
in the birth of the Lord Jesus, but the greater purpose of God is seen 
not in the Child, but in the Son. The word "given" implies an act of 
intention, an act of knowledge. Even in the natural, you wouldn't 
ordinarily give something to someone ignorantly or without a cause, or 
without a purpose or a reason. The term "given" implies a purpose behind 
the action. Consequently, GOD'S PURPOSE IS FULFILLED AND BROUGHT TO 
FULNESS IN THE SON, not really in the Child. Because the end of God's 
purpose is not death, THE END OF GOD'S PURPOSE IS LIFE! 
 
And furthermore, the purpose in having a Son goes beyond just not having 
a Child anymore. Why did you want a Son? Well, because I'm tires of a 
Child. Well, there's more expectation for a Son than to just not be a 
Child. You see that the greatest expectation you can have for a Child is 
that he become a Son. Now we're speaking spiritually so there is no 
offense to male and female. Your purpose for a Child is that the Child 
become a Son. When you look at the Son, you bring in all the purpose of 
the family. And actually the purpose of birth is taken right up into that 
too. So, you and I are never really going to understand the purpose of 
death until we understand the reality and revealing of His life. Then 
we'll understand why death, why the Child must die. Because in the Son 
the purpose of birth is taken up as well. And you can really then look at 
the Son and say, 'For this purpose was he born.' It's all gathered right 
up. 
 
But that only happens when you come to the realization of the Son. That 
brings me to this - a Child is born, but a Son comes only by adoption. 
Romans 8. When we get into This Son, so much is written. Oh my, upon His 
shoulders is the government, not upon the shoulders of the Child. No, 
upon the shoulders of the Child is the burden of death. My God, what a 
burden. But upon the Son is the burden of government. That word 
"shoulder" has to do with burden bearing. So, He comes by adoption. 
Romans 8:15, " For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the 
sons of God." And then it defines what 'Spirit leading' is. What is it to 
be led by the Spirit? I'd like to take just a moment to tell you the 
difference between being 'led by the Spirit' and 'directed by the 
Spirit'. For someone to lead you, they have to go before you. For someone 
to direct you, they must be somewhere of the vicinity behind you. Lead 
implies to go before. Now what many of us call leading of the Spirit is 
certainly a work of the Spirit, but it is the Spirit giving direction. 
"Do this, don't do this. Go here. Go there." That's like you would speak 
to a Child. But the Spirit leads you only one place. The Spirit searcheth 
the deep things, yea, the deep things of God and He leads you there, He 
has to go before you, and you have to follow. And only a Son will follow. 
If it's not a Son, you look around and they're gone. There is a 
difference, because Sons are led. And here's where He leads you. 
 
" For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye 
have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." The 
Spirit whereby God is acknowledged to be our Father. By who? By us! Not 
in name, but in reality of experience! Something has to take place; it's 
a work of the Spirit of God in adoption. Adoption means 'recognition of a 
son'. Some would say 'Son-placement', the Son having his right place. It 
is the recognition of the Son. We have received the Spirit who gives 
recognition to The Son. That's the spirit of adoption. He never gets His 
Sons mixed up. Not like Abraham, He knows the Son to whom He is to give 
recognition. Not like Samuel who would have poured the oil on anyone who 
would have come in first. He knows. And we have received the Spirit who 
gives recognition to the Son. My Lord, if you are truly led of the 
Spirit, you will come to view This Man, but most you see are not, and 
they are at cross purposes with the Spirit. If we finally submit to be 
led and just finally say, 'All right, you go before and I'm right behind, 
I will follow you. Lead me where you will.' He'll take you right into the 
face of the Son! Because this Spirit of Adoption is the Spirit of Truth! 
 
We have received the Spirit who gives placement to the Son. We have 
received the Spirit who reveals the Son. The word 'adoption' and the 
revealing of the Son are the absolute same thing. " The Spirit itself 
bearing witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; and if 
children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if so be 
that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I 
reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be 
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." And what is the 
end of that? Verse 29 - that glory, what is the end of that? " For whom 
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of 
HIS SON, that he might be firstborn among many brethren. More over, whom 
he did predestinate..." Those that He purposed. Where are you purposed? 
You are purposed in The Son! When you see the term 'purpose' it has to do 
with This Son - not with this Child - This Son. So it has nothing to do 
with being purposed to be saved. The purpose has to do with being like 
the Son! You can't say He purposed some to be saved and some not to be 
saved. No, but you can say that He purposed all the saved to be The Son. 
That's what this is saying.  
 
Those whom He purposed, He called. Our calling is in the SON! Those whom 
He called, He justified. Our justification is in the SON! And glorified 
- our glorification is in the SON! Wonderful things are IN THE SON! 
Death is in the Child! LIFE IS IN THE SON! We have received the Spirit 
who reveals the Son. The Spirit of Adoption. In Galatians 4:1-6 you'll 
read " Then because ye are sons..." How are you Sons? Having redeemed us 
from the curse, redeemed us from the law. How are you Sons? BECAUSE THE 
CHILD HAS COME TO DIE! The cross is right there whether it's visible to 
the naked eye or not. And then because ye are Sons, He brings us to see 
the Son. " ... God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your heart, crying 
Abba, Father." THE SON revealed by the Spirit. Adoption, yes, but the 
Son that is adopted, is always, if you stay with spiritual order, the 
firstborn. The only time that is not shown in the scripture is when it is 
showing the difference between the first man and the second man, as in 
Esau and Jacob. But then if you'll look at Jacob, Jacob had to become 
first born. Yes, his name was changed. He had to become firstborn.  
 
So the adoption is always of the firstborn. " ... that he might be 
firstborn among many ..." There is a phrase in Ephesians that says that 
we might receive the adoption of sons, but then it hastens to say 
"THROUGH JESUS CHRIST". How is it that the adoption becomes adoptions? 
Through This One Son! Joint-heirs with Him. Not joint-heirs with Him in 
that which is HIS. No, joint-heirs with Him in that which is HIM. OUR 
INHERITANCE IS IN THE FULNESS OF HIM! And His inheritance, which is His 
fulness is manifested in us! 
 
What am I saying? I'm telling you adoption applies to ONE SON - the 
firstborn Son. I'm telling you that the Spirit of God doesn't come to 
cause you and I to know that we are Sons. The Spirit of God comes to 
reveal HIM in me, HIM in you, and by HIM you know, His Spirit - that's 
the difference. The difference in the doctrine of 'Sonship' and the 
Revelation of Jesus Christ is that the doctrine of 'Sonship' puts us in 
the center. God revealed that I'm a Son. And the reality of it is God 
reveals HIS SON. You say is there a difference? There's all the 
difference in the world. One is me, and the other is Him! One leaves me 
thinking I'm Him. The other reveals Him in me, causing me to understand 
it's Not I, but Him! There's all the difference in the world.  
 
So adoption is not revealing Sons, but the revealing of THE SON, the 
acknowledgement of The Son, the firstborn, causing us to comprehend that 
then we are joint-heirs. We are speaking here of This Son being revealed, 
This Son being adopted. Where does that take us to in the gospel? It 
takes us to Jordan. And then it takes us to the Mount of Transfiguration. 
God recognizes His Son, God giving recognition to His Son. There is 
nothing like it. If you think getting rid of sin is great, and great it 
is, I tell you there's nothing like God giving recognition to His Son! A 
CHILD IS BORN. A SON IS ADOPTED! 
 
Let's look again to Isaiah 9:6, " For unto us a child is born, unto us a 
son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name 
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting 
Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace 
there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to 
order it, and to establish it with judgment, and with justice from 
henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform 
this." A great deal is spoken concerning This Son. We looked at the 
Child, but now our emphasis changes from that which is born, that which 
is birthed to that which is given. Do you understand that as a Child of 
God you were birthed, you were born? "You must be born again." And that 
every Son starts out as a Child. It is so with the Son of God. He started 
out as a Child. He ends up as a Son. It's just that the Son He ends up as 
is the Son of Man in glory - The Son of Man greatly increased. " Except a 
corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. If it dies 
it bringeth forth much fruit." That is an increase of Himself. You see 
the Eternal Son of God is the Eternal Son with or without you and I. He 
didn't have to come and die to be the Eternal Son. He had to come, fall 
into the ground as it were and die, in order to bring forth a corporate 
expression, a largeness of Himself! And That Son, that He certainly is, 
is where you and I are involved with Him. Because That Son is called the 
Son of Man, That Son is a corporate Son, the Son of Man in glory, the Son 
of Man raised up. That Son of Man is Christ in union with His Body! 
 
You are birthed as a Child, whether in the natural or the spiritual. A 
Son is not born, a Son is given. He is decreed, declared to be, presented 
as we have seen. So when is it that you and I who are birthed in Christ 
as a Child, born anew, that we individually and corporately take our 
place - a place of comprehension and acknowledgement, understanding as a 
SON? We looked at Galatians 4:1-6. And as a result of God sending forth 
the Spirit that enters into our heart, it is He who gives Son 
acknowledgement. But how is the Spirit of God going to give Son 
acknowledgement in you and I except He reveal His Son in me? Consequently 
Paul said, "GOD REVEALED HIS SON IN ME." It pleased the Father, it is the 
good pleasure of the Father. I can show you in the Old Testament where 
the pattern of everything in Christ is established. Though it is 
fulfilled in the reality of Christ, it is established in the prophets and 
the scriptures. Scripturally, birth does not give pleasure to the Father. 
The mother may get much pleasure out of the birth because her pain is 
over, her travail is over. But the Father gets pleasure when that one 
that is birthed has come of age and he is able to throw the feast of the 
firstborn and present his firstborn Son to the world, to his neighbors, 
to his kin. It is called the ADOPTION and it is the pleasure of the 
Father's heart. The mother has no part in that at all. This is 
spiritually speaking. We are given birth as, and by, and through the 
Church, that heavenly Church, the New Jerusalem, not the earthly thing - 
the Mother of us all. At our birth we are counted as children of God. But 
when we bring pleasure to the Father's heart is the very time when He is 
able to send forth the very Spirit of His Son in our hearts. Why? Because 
it is the Son, not the Child that cries out - 'GOD, YOU ARE MY 
FATHER!.' 
 
It is the thing of the Child naturally and spiritually to take up with 
the mother, hold on to the mother's skirt. Why? Because it is the mother 
that nurtures the Child, feeds the Child. All these things started out as 
spiritual truth. It is the Holy Spirit moving as one of the names given 
Him - 'The large-breasted One' who nurtures us and feeds us as children 
and brings us along. But don't forget where He's bringing us. He's 
bringing us to the acknowledgement of Sonship! He's bringing us to the 
acknowledgement of the Father. He's bringing us to the good pleasure of 
the Father. This whole thing of a Child birthed has to come to the 
pleasure of the Father. Remember we said Jesus was a Child born, born to 
die. I want to tell you the Father took no pleasure in that part. The 
Father took no pleasure in seeing His Eternal Son reduced to being born 
of a woman, born under the law, and for thirty years abiding under the 
rule of a natural man and a natural woman and a law. And as that whole 
time of childhood was consummated in the garden and in the cross, there 
is no pleasure in the heart of the Father. There is necessity, there is 
commitment, there is determination, there is looking on toward a joy - 
yes, but no pleasure.  
 
Look at the Old Testament type. You can't tell me that there's any 
pleasure in the heart of Abraham as he takes Isaac to the mountain to 
kill him. There's no pleasure, but there is commitment and necessity 
there, because until there is the death of a Child, there is not the 
adoption, the recognition of the Son. And there on that mountain where 
Abraham took Isaac, which is actually Mt. Zion, it's the same mountain 
that Solomon built the temple on, upon that mountain where it is said, 
"In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen." That is revealed, A SON CAME 
INTO VIEW! A greater than Isaac came into view. THE RESURRECTION CAME 
INTO VIEW! Now this is The Son that comes by Resurrection, and it's a 
corporate Son. "For you hath He quickened together and raised together 
and made to be seated together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." He is 
the Resurrection Himself. THE SON THAT IS REALLY RAISED UP IS THE SON 
THAT IS RAISED UP BY HIM, THROUGH HIM, IN HIM, IN UNION WITH HIM - A 
CORPORATE SON! 
 
When He came up out of the Jordan, He represented such a Son. Why? 
Because He was fulfilling what God had set forth in Israel. And it is 
said of Israel, " out of Egypt have I called my son." But God was simply 
showing that The Son that He called out of Egypt is a many membered Son - 
a corporate Son. And He brought them to the place of the Jordan and they 
had to cross over this Jordan, which is the river of the acknowledgement 
of Sonship. As Children they faced the Red Sea. As The Son they faced the 
Jordan! What was it that was in the Jordan that they had to look at when 
they crossed but the Ark of the Covenant of the God of all the earth! And 
what does that Ark stand for except the fulness of the Son of Man 
Himself! And they crossed over into that and all of Canaan then, is God 
dealing with them as a Son. And yet His Son is a many membered Son there. 
All of that is simply a type and a shadow of the reality that takes place 
in Christ Jesus. 
 
Yes, The Son. The Son Himself, not other than Him, but Him in many and 
many in Him. " In that day you will understand that I am in my Father and 
you are in me and I am in you." And that's The Son that gives God 
pleasure!. IT PLEASED THE FATHER TO REVEAL HIS SON IN ME. Galatians 
4:1-6 describes that. The last verse there says, " Where-fore thou art no 
more a servant, but a son." A Son - ONE SON! And this is the One Son you 
and I, by Him, by Christ, by the revealing of Him, are - This is The Son. 
It's a Son given, a Son presented, a Son revealed, a Son declared. How 
does He declare the corporate Son? By revealing The Only Son in you! It 
is not a corporate expression of me. It is a corporate expression of HIM! 
It is not a corporate expression of us, it is a corporate expression of 
HIM! 
 
You and I must by the Spirit come to this association, come to find our 
identity here. We found it with the Child - some have. We must find it 
with the Son. Why did the Eternal Son become a Child if not for us? We 
must come to identify with Him in His death, in His burial, in His 
resurrection. There's no reason for a Child to be born except for us, to 
include us. The Eternal Son is eternal from the beginning! The Son of God 
doesn't need you and I to be the Son of God. But to be the Son of Man, to 
be The Son that is given, to be The Son that is presented, revealed, to 
be The Son that is consecrated, sanctified, to be The Son that is set 
forth and declared - now, you and I are necessary. For That Son must have 
a Body to give Him expression. But before His Body gives Him expression, 
there must be a revealing of Him. And the adoption is the revealing of 
Him, the setting forth, the declaring of Him. But where? IN YOU! Bringing 
you into an acknowledgement. More than an awareness, an acknowledgement, 
into an identity.  
 
I tell you there is a people who are and shall come to such an 
acknowledgement. I keep using that word 'acknowledgement.' Colossians 2, 
verse 24, " Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that 
which is behind of the affliction of Christ in my flesh for his body's 
sake, which is the church: Wherefore I am made a minister according to 
the dispensation (and that word is 'administration') of God which is 
given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;..." To bring in that 
which is lacking of the Word of God. It doesn't mean that the Word of God 
is lacking, but to bring in that which is lacking - to fulfil, to fill up 
God's Word to you. God has a great Word to you, Paul is saying and I am 
of the administration of the Spirit to fill up that Word. " Even the 
mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is 
made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the 
riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ 
in you, the hope of glory." The great expectation of glory. Christ in you 
is the expectation of God having His full expression in you, which is 
what glory means. CHRIST IN YOU. 
 
Now, Chapter 2. " I would that you know what great conflict I have for 
you and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in 
the flesh..." What is the great conflict of Paul? What is the burden that 
he carries on behalf of the Church? Oh yes, everything has happened to 
him short of being thrown to lions - beaten, shipwrecked, starved, 
persecuted, put in prison. But that was not the conflict. Those are 
things that happened to him because of the conflict. He is about to say 
what the real conflict is - the daily battle, the daily burden, the thing 
that is continually upon him, the thing with which he continually 
struggles. "... for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh..." 
He's including all of the Church - that segment of the Church that he has 
not actually seen. And here it is, "... that their hearts might be 
comforted..." In every one of these epistles he expresses this conflict. 
The conflict in the Spirit - 'That I have this great conflict for you, 
that the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened, that God would 
give unto you the spirit of wisdom and knowledge of Him, that God would 
reveal His Son in you, even as He has revealed That Son in me.' In these 
verses above, verse 28, " Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching 
every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Jesus 
Christ." (that means full grown) And he says this is the very thing for 
which I am striving. I'm striving there not according to the flesh. I'm 
striving according to his working which worketh mightily in me. And I 
carry in me this conflict for you.  
 
Oh folks, if we just knew true conflict for one another. While we're 
running around trying to keep from sinning and running around fighting 
the devil, we're missing the conflict, we're missing that for which we're 
called - and that is the intercession for one another! That what? " That 
their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto 
all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement 
of the mystery of God and of the Father (and the original says) which is 
Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." 
Trying to bring us to an acknowledgement. When God reveals The Son in 
you, what is acknowledged? The mystery of God is acknowledged! What is 
the mystery of God? That God actually truly is the Father of One Son, and 
you are That One Son! That you and I would come to that acknowledgement, 
the full assurance of that acknowledgement, the grace of that 
acknowledgement, the benefit of that acknowledgement, the peace of that 
acknowledgement, the comfort of that acknowledgement - that their hearts 
would be comforted. That they could come to the riches of the full 
assurance of the understanding of the acknowledgement! 
 
You see, this is the thing that kept the Lord Jesus as He walked in the 
earth and primarily for three and one half years executed ministry. What 
acknowledgement kept Him? In the wilderness when He faced the enemy, with 
His disciples when He faced seemingly insurmountable carnality and 
natural understanding, what kept Him in the midst of His own who 
overwhelmingly received Him not? What kept Him in the midst of the 
onslaught and the attacks of the clergy who continually sought ways to 
entrap Him? What kept Him? THE FATHER AND I ARE ONE! He said that over 
and over and over again. "I am not alone. It's the Father who sent me. He 
is with me. I am in the bosom of My Father". Over and over again. Why did 
He speak that way? Though He was fulfilling the administration of the 
Child, He spoke as THE SON for you and I. He spoke the things to the 
disciples for you and I - to bring these things right over to us. He 
says, you can not hear these things now, but when the Spirit comes, He 
will show you, He will bring these things to your remembrance that I have 
said unto you. Why would He say these things and declare this oneness 
with the Father, even so dramatic as there in John 14, " If you've seen 
the Father, you've seen Me."  A oneness, a union with the Father that He 
was declaring, an acknowledgement. Why? 
 
Because it is there that He says, " In that day you'll know that as I am 
in the Father, so you are in me and I am in you." That you will come to 
this acknowledgement. Hallelujah to God! For you see in the flesh for 
three and one half years He was the forerunner of This Son, This Glorious 
Son that He would bring forth - This Son that would be given! Given - 
given to whom? Given to the Father, given to heaven, given to the 
earth, given to the Church, given to the nations. Declared, declared, 
declared! This Son, this salvation, this redemption, this salvation 
waiting to be revealed in the last day - This One Son! Not a bunch of 
carnal Christians trying to overcome - no, not that, but a Son! Not a 
bunch of carnal Christians still arguing in the flesh. My God, what a 
pitiful picture we see today. No, not that. THE SON MUST BE REVEALED! 
Unfortunately we've taken all of this reality and dispensation teachers 
have so dispensationalized and placed the true union we have with Christ 
so far beyond and so far out of reach that everybody thinks they've got 
to die and be thrown in a hole in the ground and covered up before they 
can ever come to such a union. But there's only one death necessary to 
bring you into this union - and that's the death of the cross. It's the 
death of the Child and the coming forth in resurrection of the Son. He is 
the Resurrection and you live by Him, so surely you are the Body of the 
Resurrection! I didn't say you were a bunch of resurrected bodies, you 
are the Body of the Resurrection. You are the Body of Jesus Christ! How 
long are you going to wait to be that Body? How long are you going to 
wait to acknowledge union with the Lord? 
 
The Son. I tell you there are glorious things said about This Son. And I 
want to come to some of those things now. We have established who is This 
Son of Man. You see, the whole question is who is This Son of Man? And 
the answer comes forth in the revealing of Christ in His Body. Who is 
This Son of Man? It is Christ living in His Body! More importantly, it is 
Christ revealed in His Body! That's who This Son of Man is. This Son is 
finally answered in Christ. What Son is answered in Christ? The Son that 
you and I are by Him! But when does that Son effectively come - when? 
When He is revealed, when God reveals His Son in you, then you're no more 
a servant, that is one bound in the carnality of a heart, no more one who 
is serving the elements of the world - races, creeds, colors, kinds. No, 
none of that, but A Son! Oh, the greatness of our salvation! 
 
Oh, that we come to this vision of the Son - not to see ourselves, but to 
see Him. So, it isn't difficult to attribute to This Son all of the 
glorious names Isaiah spoke of, when you see the face of This Son and you 
realize that the Body is This Son for the expression of the fulness of 
the face. And all of these glorious names are written in the face - 
Wonderful, counselor, prince of peace, mighty God, everlasting Father. 
But is it not said that His name shall be written in your forehead? And 
that you would bear that very name before the nations? Nobody is saying 
you're God, but The Son meant to give Him expression - purposed for that. 
I tell you our salvation is great! More than just getting out of sins, 
more than just coming to death - MUCH MORE. Much more, Paul says in 
Romans 5, "... justified by his blood,... much more ... saved by his 
life." Much more.  
 
But I noticed something in Luke 2 where we were reading. They brought the 
Child in. Verse 34, " And blessed them and said unto Mary the mother, 
Behold this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; 
and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce 
through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be 
revealed." Set for a sign that shall be spoken against. Time to time in 
the New Testament and even by his disciples Jesus was challenged on what 
sign will you show us. And time and time again He says there is no sign 
given to this generation except the sign of Jonah - three days and three 
nights. There is no sign given except destroy this body and in three days 
I will raise it again. There's no sign given except that sign to Ninevah. 
He says that and what He is pointing to there of course, is the cross. It 
is at the cross that the Child becomes The Son because at the cross there 
are three things bound together - death, burial and resurrection. The 
cross represents all three of those. The cross is never represented by 
the Lord except in a span of three days, not one - three days - death, 
burial and resurrection. So in fact, what He is saying is This Son does 
not come giving signs - THIS SON IS THE SIGN HIMSELF! 
 
We have to see This Son. You've got to see that the Child and The Son are 
united in the cross. And that is so in our actual experience in the Lord. 
The Child that you are, The Son that He is, is united in the cross. The 
one dies and the other is set forth in you. And that works in you and it 
works in you because it is established in Him. The Spirit of God is 
working in you the reality of Christ, working in His Body, the fulness of 
Himself. And so This Son that results, This Son that He not only hanged 
there representing, but hanged there fulfilled, it is This Son.  
 
There's something about the cross that puzzled me a few years ago, and 
the Lord wouldn't let me go, and it was in dealing with this thing, 'the 
sign'. He mentioned Jonah. He mentioned in the heart of the earth, He 
mentioned three days and three nights, but He also brought something else 
into view. " As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must 
the Son of Man be lifted up." And I had always looked at that as death. 
But you see, that wasn't death, that was life. They were already dying of 
snake bites! What He provided for them was life! And the Lord brings that 
right over in Himself and says 'so must the Son of Man be lifted up.' But 
in John's gospel the twelfth chapter He associates that with the 
glorification of the Son of Man. " The hour is come, that the Son of Man 
should be glorified." That ends later on with Him saying, " And I, if I 
be lifted up from the earth..." It's the word "lifted up" that stood out 
to me so I just did a search on it. The Greek term "lifted up" means 
'exalted up out of the earth'. At the cross a Child died, and A Son was 
exalted up out of the earth. You see this Child took upon Him the form of 
all humanity. He was made a little lower, born of a woman, born under the 
law. He took upon Him the form of a servant. All of that relates to the 
Child that was born. He was born to die, born to be crucified.  
 
At the cross a Child died, but then The Son is lifted up and says to the 
Father, " Into thy hands I commend my spirit." It is by that same Spirit 
that you and I live now! For if that Spirit whereby He was raised 
dwelleth in you, that same Spirit... In fact, if any man have not the 
Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. Therefore we have not received the 
spirit of bondage again to fear, but we have received that same Spirit, 
that same Spirit of the Son, that Spirit that acknowledges only The Son, 
that Spirit that declares only One Son, reveals only One Son. It is that 
Spirit we have received. By that Spirit we live. He that is joined to the 
Lord is ONE SPIRIT! It is just that. " Set for a sign that shall be 
spoken against." You wonder, my, what is there to say against such a Son? 
What possibly could be said against Him? 
 
Ezekiel 20:12 says, " Moreover also I gave them my Sabbath to be a sign 
between me and them that they might know that I am the Lord that 
sanctifieth them." Mark 2:28. Jesus and his disciples are coming through 
the cornfield on a Sabbath and they eat corn. The Pharisees are along and 
jump on them. And He says, " The Sabbath was made for man, not man for 
the Sabbath." The Man for whom the Sabbath was made is the Son of Man 
Himself - This Man we're talking about. God said where is the place of my 
rest? Unto This Man will I look! (Isaiah 66) Sabbath does not mean seven, 
though it came on the seventh day. Sabbath means REST. A lot of people 
all over the world are joining this Saturday religious group - the 
seventh day. But how carnal can you get? How naturally minded can you be 
to think that Saturday is the great Sabbath, the sign of God? Because in 
effect, the word 'Sabbath' and the word 'seven' have no connection. 
Sabbath is The Man who is at rest, entered into rest. Why would a Man who 
has entered into rest be a sign spoken against? Because the rest into 
which He has entered is out from the cross. This is where NONE LIVETH BUT 
CHRIST! 
 
He is a sign spoken against by those who would find rest on Saturday in 
the first place. He's a sign spoken against by those who would busy 
themselves trying to be like Jesus in the second place. He's a sign 
spoken against by those who would seek to establish their own 
righteousness in the third place, and I could go on and on. He is a sign 
spoken against by those who would have a life of their own, a heaven of 
their own, a holiness of their own. He is a sign spoken against by all 
who would live but by Him. It sounds spiritual to quote the scripture, 
'Not I, but Christ', but to acknowledge that spiritual reality is another 
matter. Those who do stand as a sign that is spoken against. I'll give 
you a very basic example. Why as This Son would I stand as a sign spoken 
against? Well, I stand at the very basis saying that I am not white. I am 
not black. I am not male, female. Can you see immediately that is a sign 
spoken against? Immediately who would be white would speak against That 
Son. All that would be black will speak against That Son. All who would 
be red, brown, male, female will speak against That Son.  
 
That's how the Son of the Living God came to His own and his own received 
Him not - this is how! He came to bring them out of their race into a 
divine generation and they wanted Him to simply bless their race! That's 
how. He came to bring them out of a temple that was nothing but a symbol 
into a living temple, and they wanted to retain their own - that's how. 
And it's the same with you and I today. And we end up speaking against 
That Son. ' A sign that will be spoken against'. By who? By those who 
seek a sign! And the only people I know around who seek a sign is 
ignorant Christians. Sinners aren't seeking a sign - ignorant Christians 
are running around seeking a sign. We're the most gullible people on the 
face of the earth. I speak of my own - sign-seeking. Jesus said, 'Seek 
all you want. There isn't any but one sign given. I'm not here to give 
you a sign - I AM THE SIGN!!' This Son is not going to give signs or do 
signs - THIS SON IS THE SIGN. He comes to be a sign in the midst. He is 
spoken against by those who seek a sign. 
 
It's easier to try to figure out when Russia is going to bomb Washington. 
Don't misunderstand me, but as far as spiritual things go, I say, who 
cares? Because that has nothing to do with it. The sign is fulfilled in 
That Son in association with that cross. He's the Sign! To be a sign now. 
Jesus says in Mark 2, " The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the 
Sabbath." It's This Man He's speaking of there. Because in Hebrews 2 it 
says this whole thing is not to be in subjection to angels, but a MAN. 
And to see That Man we must come to see Jesus. " BUT WE SEE JESUS." So 
the Lord goes on and says because the Sabbath, the rest, God's true rest 
is designed for a Man, therefore, the Son of Man is the Lord of the 
Sabbath. Does He speak there only of Himself, or does He speak there of 
that One that is to come also? Well, you know that He speaks of the 
Coming Son. He's not just trying to pick a fight with the Pharisees, He's 
declaring the truth of God.  
 
Isaiah 11:10, " And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which 
shall stand for an ensign..." It's This Son and that simply means a sign. 
"... of the people." See, This One Son stands for all. In that day One 
Son shall be seen - all shall be seen in Him. He stands for a sign. All 
the people. Isaiah 5:26, " He will lift up an ensign to the nations from 
far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth, and behold they 
shall come with speed..." See He presents an ensign to the nations. But 
in Isaiah 11, this root of Jesse which is the Branch, he stands for a 
sign of the people. 
 
Let me say it this way, if you want to see me, then you look to the first 
man, not to This Man. Paul says, "TO BE FOUND IN HIM." "When he who is 
your life shall appear, then shall you appear..." One Son shall represent 
all the people. That's not hard for me to comprehend in a literary or 
theological way because how did God see Israel? He saw twelve tribes. He 
summed them up in a tribe of Levites. In the Levites, He saw all of 
Israel. He saw the Levites in the priesthood, in five priests He saw all 
the Levites. He saw the five priests in the High Priest. In the High 
Priest He saw all of Israel. Who is This Son except the Priest after the 
order of Melchisedek? First a Son, then a Priest! THIS SON, THIS ONE SON 
STANDS FOR ALL. IN THAT HE DIED, ALL DIED WITH HIM. IN THAT HE LIVES, ALL 
WHO LIVE, LIVE IN HIM, BY HIM! This One Son is the sign of all. When 
you've seen Him, you've seen all. But you have not seen all or any until 
you see Him. Until you see Him, you're just seeing in the flesh, and 
you're seeing black, white and all of this, male, female. When you see 
Him, you see The Son that we are! When you see Him you see all.  This is 
great, because every time Israel camped they had to camp by their ensign. 
They had to put up their standard. And they had twelve standards, but 
those twelve standards were gathered up in one standard. And the standard 
of the Levites was found in the tabernacle - and it was the Ark of the 
Covenant. So finally we all come under one standard and THIS MAN IS 
HIMSELF THE STANDARD! 
 
God, reveal your Son in me. Then, when This Son truly stands, it is that 
One standing, then He has His salvation, His Man, His Son that He can set 
for a sign to the nations. He can set there His standard of 
righteousness, His standard of holiness, His standard of life, His 
standard! This is to be The Church! This will be The Church - not that 
religious thing, but The Church. The sign spoken against, yes, but a sign 
unto which the blind, the deaf, the lame, the dispersed and outcast of 
Israel gather together unto. What a sign! WHAT A SON! One who is revealed 
in you and manifested! 
 
Father, we thank you for your grace and for your mercy. By your 
Spirit, do reveal This Son that He may have His full adoption in a 
people unto His full expression. Move by your Spirit, I pray. Amen.