WEEK 1 — DAY 2

Morning Nourishment

Rom. 8:17-19 And if children, heirs also; on the one hand, heirs of God; on the other, joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed upon us. For the anxious watching of the creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God.

   Today there are many sons of God. There may be many thousands in Los Angeles alone, but they are not yet revealed. The revelation, the manifestation, of the sons of God is the very glorification mentioned in Romans 8:17. Not only God but even the whole creation, all things, are waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. (CWWL, 1965, vol. 1, "The Vision, Practice, and Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ," p. 49)

Today's Reading

  Romans 8:20 says, "For the creation was made subject to vanity, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it." All creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God because the creation was made subject to vanity. Verse 21 continues, "In hope that the creation itself will also be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God." Here we have the words vanity, slavery, and corruption. These are not good words. The whole creation is in the slavery of corruption, so it is in vanity, waiting for a deliverance.

   How can the creation be delivered from this vanity, slavery, and corruption? The Brethren, for example, saw the truth of the creation being in vanity, slavery, and corruption, but they mainly saw the objective prophecy that when all the sons of God will be manifested, the whole universe will be released. They did not see the subjective way, the process, of deliverance. We believe that in these last days the Lord will show us not merely the prophecy but the way in which all the creation will be delivered into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

  Verse 21 speaks not of the freedom of the children of God but of the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Again, here is a difficult utterance. With the glory of the children of God there is the freedom. The manifestation of the children of God is the very glory of the children of God.Romans 8:19 tells us that the whole creation is waiting for the glory of the sons of God, and Hebrews 2:10 says that Christ is leading many sons into glory. If you would ask me what God is doing today, I would say that He is doing one thing: He is bringing us into glory. We may compare this to the preparation of a feast. If we come to a brother's home for a big feast, we may ask, "Where is he?" Then someone will say, "He is in the kitchen cooking." Today God is "in the kitchen cooking" to bring His many sons into glory.Romans 8:18 speaks of the sufferings of this present time and the coming glory. It is through these sufferings that God is "cooking" us. Ephesians 1:10 speaks of the economy of the fullness of the times. If we ask a sister what she is doing in the kitchen, she will say, "Please sit there patiently and wait for half an hour. Then you will know what I am doing here." The cooking sister has her economy, her dispensation, and the end of the half hour will be the
"fullness of the times" for her economy.

  Today is the time of cooking. The fullness of the times has not yet come.When the fullness of the times comes, all things will be in order. For now, though, God is "cooking" the church, including you and me. Then at the fullness of the times, we all will be brought into glory. At that time the whole creation will be released, delivered, from the slavery of corruption and from vanity, and all creation will be headed up in Christ with His Body. (CWWL,1965, vol. 1, "The Vision, Practice, and Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ," pp. 49-51)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1965, vol. 1, "The Vision, Practice, and Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ," chs. 2-4