Section 6
the Spirit, Christ has brought divinity into us. Therefore, we also have two natures, the human nature and the divine nature. By being born of the Spirit we have become partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). God no longer has just one Son, the only begotten Son, but many sons, Christ as the Firstborn and us as the many sons of God. Christ has already been designated the Son of God, but we are still in the process of designa tion. One day this process will be completed, and for eternity we shall be the same as Christ, God's firstborn Son.
DESIGNATED BY RESURRECTION
Christ was designated the Son of God "out of the resurrection of the dead" (Rom. 1:4). In 6:5 Paul says that "we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection." Christ was designated by res urrection, and we shall be in the likeness of this resurrection. As we share Christ's resurrection, we undergo the process of being designated the sons of God.
To designate something is to mark it out, not merely to label it. As sons of God, we are des ignated by resurrection, that is, by a change in life. Let us use a carnation seed as an illustration once again. Most people cannot tell the difference