THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD
[p. 246] THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD
I desire to say a little on the way in which Christ is presented to us in this passage. We get the thought of the Son of man, and it is in that way the Lord speaks of Himself all through this chapter; but we also find, by the Spirit of grace accorded to Peter, that he confesses Christ as the Son of the living God, and then the Lord forbids them to say any longer that He was Jesus the Christ.
Now, I want to say a little on what is connected with the Son of man, and then on the privilege of christians — because it is a privilege — of knowing Christ as the Son of the living God, given to Peter by revelation of the Father. It is not a question of the mere name, but of the significance of the name. Any one can repeat the name, but the important point is to know the significance of that name. What does it convey to you? I can only speak of it according to the apprehension I have myself; one cannot do more.
The Lord continually speaks of Himself as Son of man, and in each place the responsibility of man is connected with it; but as Son of the living God it is a secret, and was so important that the Lord says, “Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven”. It was of the highest importance that this should be known in regard of Jesus. I think the title of Son of man is that with which the responsibility of man is bound up. It goes right on to the coming of the Lord and to the kingdom, when the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He shall reward every man according to his works. The Lord raises the question, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” Every one had his own thought with regard to the Son of man. He was [p. 247] the veritable seed of the woman, but all had their own ideas in regard of Him. Some thought one thing, and some another. It is much the same in the present day. Men do not reject Christ out and out, but they are answerable for their own opinion, because responsibility with regard to man is bound up with the Son of man. Peter could not understand how that which was most respectable could have part in the death of the Son of man. I think the same sort of thing holds good today, because the rejection of Christ is mostly by the religious leaders of the world rather than by the common rank and file. Peter could not bear the thought of Christ being rejected by the religious leaders, and says, “Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee”. He gets a sharp rebuke from the Lord: “Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me; for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men”. Christ was looking at things from the point of divine necessity, but Peter was looking at them with regard to men.
Then the Lord further speaks of what the pathway would be to those who follow Him. We have to share the rejection of the Son of man. His rights are in abeyance now, and therefore for the moment we have to suffer with Him. The present moment is the moment of suffering. Looked at down here, we only know Him as the One who has suffered. He has been lifted up on the cross, He has no place here, and hence it is a time of suffering; but at the end of the chapter He comes again in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will render to every man according to his works. It is in that way that man’s responsibility is connected with the Son of man. I have no doubt the foundations of all God’s purposes have been laid, but then He comes again in connection with the responsibility of man. When He comes He will render to every man according to his works. We have the same thing in John’s gospel — all judgment is committed to the Son, because He is the [p. 248] Son of man, if you are really governed by this, you will take up your cross and follow Christ. That is the true path of faith, but the test of people is continuance.
The apostle John says to the young man in his epistle, “ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one”; but then he goes on to say, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever”. So when the Son of man comes in the glory of the Father with His angels, He renders to every man according to his works; that is, He will bring responsibility to an end in judgment.
I now pass on to the other light in which the Lord is presented in this passage. “He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven”.
I just refer to three points we get in connection with this confession of Peter. The confession was the result of the revelation; but, there are three things the Lord speaks of afterwards: (1) He pronounces a blessing upon Peter, and tells him the source and spring of His confession; (2) He would give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven; (3) He forbids them to say any longer that He was the Christ. Here we have Jesus presented to us, not in connection with the responsibility of man, but in the light of divine counsels. Peter really knew very little of what he spoke about. Flesh and blood had not revealed it unto him, but the Lord laid great stress upon the confession. It is a great thing to be in the secret of what Christ is as the Son of the living [p. 249] God. There is very much in that. It is no longer Jesus the Christ, that is after the flesh. He is the anointed Man, and hence Head of every man. Christ the anointed Man has come in, and He has taken up all the liabilities to which men were subject, and on that ground becomes Head of every man; but Christ was also to be known in another light. You first get the thought of Christ as Head of every man, the last Adam, and then He is the Son of the living God. It was a wonderful thing that there was a Man down here who was the Son of the living God. The Jews could take in the Son of Abraham, or Son of David, but not the Son of the living God. He was a Man, the anointed Man, but yet He was of God, really was God, He was a divine Person incarnate, and therefore His source was of the living God.
Now there is the beginning of the creation of God, that is, all has its source in God Himself. That is what I understand by being in the secret of God. You get to the ark of the covenant. No one had access to the holiest but the high priest, and that only on the great day of atonement; but now the true ark of the covenant has come into view, that is Christ, the Son of the living God. Everything has its source in the living God — the church of the living God, the word of the living God, and so on. If you speak of the living God, all must be characterised by life, Christ is the beginning of that; but now we have the Spirit of the living God, by which the writing of Christ is made effectual in saints; writing not on tables of stone, inanimate, but by the Spirit of the living God, on fleshy tables of the heart. Everything that is living is of the living God, and is in holy, blessed affections. That is what the Lord made known in John 5 that man may be quickened in the seat and spring of his affections.
It is in that way Peter confesses Christ. The church is built upon that confession; it could not be built upon any other. Christ has built His assembly; and therefore [p. 250] it is all stable. There is that in the apprehension of Christ as the Son of the living God that forms the assembly; those who compose it are brought into contact with His Father, and they serve the living God. Christianity has come to be regarded as a religion of the world. The Lord does not present it in that light, but as of the living God. You cannot connect the living God with a dead world. There is nothing here upon earth for God but Christ’s assembly, there is a very great deal connected with man’s responsibility, but there is nothing of Christ but His assembly.
It is a very great thing for us to be in the secret of God, and to apprehend Christ in the counsels of divine goodness. If you look at things from the divine standpoint, there is nothing but the spiritual house, the holy priesthood, and that is His assembly, it has His mind. We get a little taste of it when we come together.
The Lord was very considerate with His disciples when here upon earth. He was so ready to impart everything to them, but He found them so very dull, they never really understood what He said to them until the Spirit came. That is not the case now; we understand that which Christ has been pleased to declare to us, and in the midst of the church He can sing praises to God. What a wonderful thing to have the mind of Christ! I can conceive of no greater privilege than coming into contact with Him personally. It is not by Scripture, but by the soul coming in personal contact with Christ.
The Lord says to Peter, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven”, and then forbids any one to speak of Him as Jesus the Christ; that is, He has cut off all connection with the world as after the flesh. If we know Him as Christ the Son of the living God, we know Him as He is now above. His church was built, I have no doubt, on the day of Pentecost.
Now all this is true at the present time. The title Son of man is bound up with the responsibility of man;
[p. 251] but in the meantime, by the revelation of the Father in the power of the Spirit, we are in the light of that which Christ is in connection with the purpose of the Father’s will — the Christ, the Son of the living God.
May God give us to know a little better what it is to be of His assembly, and to covet the intelligence of Christ. After all, whatever men may take up in regard of things down here, the gates of hell can never prevail against Christ’s assembly. What I understand by the gates of hell is the powers of evil. The harlot will ride the beast, but the gates of hell will never prevail against the assembly of Christ.