“—the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
”
Until our outward condition is that of sons royal, sons divine; so long as we groan under sickness and weakness and weariness, old age, and all heavy things; so long we have not yet received the sonship in full—we are but getting ready one day to creep from our chrysalis, and spread the great heaven-storming wings of the psyches of God. We groan, waiting for the redemption of the body, the uplifting of the body to be a fit house and revelation of the indwelling spirit—nay, like that of Christ, a fit temple and revelation of the deeper indwelling God. Hence the revealing of the sons of God, spoken of in Romans 8:19, is the same thing as the redemption of the body; the body is redeemed when it is made fit for the sons of God; then it is a revelation of them—the thing it was meant for. When we are the sons of God in heart and soul, then shall we be the sons of God in body, too: “we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
The redeemed body will show the same self as before, but it will show the being truly—without the defects and imperfections of the former bodily revelation. Even through their corporeal presence shall we then know our own infinitely better, and find in them endlessly more delight, than before. Until the redemption of the body arrives, the true sonship is not wrought out, is only upon the way. Nor can it come but by our working out the salvation he is working in us.
Commentary
Creeping From The Chrysalis
by Dave Roney
The pupa of the moth spins a silken chamber, a cocoon, within which it seals itself; not so the butterfly—its own skin hardens into a chrysalis and the insect begins its cycle of change within its own self. And the butterfly is more an analogy of our own selves than the moth; for every person, in time, is changing within his or her own self. And this pupating change, is it the same for all species of butterflies? By no means; for one it may take a week, for another a year or longer. All are being transformed, but according to their particular nature and the clime which affects them.
Did some man tell you, teach you, that in this present life only you have hope for salvation? It is the same as to say to the Monarch he must exit his chrysalis by a day prescribed by that teacher, else he can never become a butterfly. But consider; a Monarch will emerge from its chrysalis in a week, while the Tiger Swallowtail spends 3 weeks, or longer if necessary. If they form their chrysalides toward the end of the season, they may even overwinter until following year—in such case, they shall not have developed until most of their generation has completed the cycle of life and passed away. There is a time, a season, for everything under heaven; and it is God, not man, nor his interpretations, his doctrines, which decide what the season for anything at all shall be.
“Until our outward condition is that of sons royal, sons divine; so long as we groan under sickness and weakness and weariness, old age, and all heavy things; so long we have not yet received the sonship in full—we are but getting ready to creep from our chrysalis and spread the great heaven-storming wings of the psyches of God.” (italics added for emphasis)
“Until.” Until when? Until the work of God in us is complete. Until such time as we join hands with Him in the work. Until means no date of expiration but, by the patience and love of God, as long as it takes. How long did it take God to create the heavens and the earth, and all within them? Seven days you say—He did not do it in a single day as one might think He could have done; the answer may not, as you might have thought, taken the Lord seven literal 24 hour days to accomplish it—that is not the point; nor do we know how long a “day” was with Him; but of a certainty we can say that it took Him as long as it took Him until it was finished. The butterfly, normally remaining in chrysalis for a week; how long does it take for the beautiful butterfly to split the old skin and escape? As long as it takes, be it a week or a season. All things made by God are on His timetable, not ours.
And if a woman having ten coins loses one, and lights her house and sweeps the corners—how long will she search for that which is lost? Our Lord says “Until she finds it.” And if a woman, how much more so do you think the Lord will pursue His lost sheep, His pearls of great price? Not for a day, nor until present life is over, but until eternity crumbles to dust if necessary; as long as it takes, until He has His beloved finally safe in His arms. Until speaks of the patience of God; and the Patience of God with His children, without regard to their condition or deserts, is His salvation—not that patience itself has any salvific power (except as regards the work patience makes way for in time) but certainly the intent; by the Divine Patience, then, for as long as it takes, until salvation, which is wellness, wholeness, which is to say the image of Christ be fully formed in us:
And count the patience of our Lord as salvation... There are some things in [the epistles of St. Paul] that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. (2nd Peter 3:15-16, italics added for emphasis)
I will leave it to you to decide who is ignorant and unstable, and what is to them hard to understand; I have my own idea; it is all those who, meaning well, twist the Scriptures to fit their own doctrines and theologies, which are a reflection of their estimation of God. And among the most horrible of those twists is to slam the door of hope in the face of their brothers and sisters, using fear as though a weapon, telling them that in this life only is their hope, and beyond the final death rattle in their throats they are eternally damned. Horrible it is for the creature if that be true; more horrible yet if that were a defining feature of God. The doctrine is unworthy of men; such a god as would set that pernicious heathenism forth, rooted in Platonic paganism, would likewise be unworthy of His children. Less worthy of our adoration because He would first be less worthy of His own true nature, which is precisely the same as what is detected in our Lord Jesus. “Until,” then, is the open ended possibility for every person, “Until our outward condition is that of sons royal.”
“Hence the revealing of the sons of God, spoken of in Romans 8:19, is the same thing as the redemption of the body; the body redeemed when it is made fit for the sons of God; then it is a revelation of them—the thing it was meant for. When we are the sons of God in heart and soul, then shall we be the sons of God in body, too: 'We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is'.” (“then” and “when” italicized for emphasis)
When shall the butterfly emerge emerge from its chrysalis? When its full sonship after the kind which is butterfly is complete, when its insect heart and soul has been transformed: Then it shall be the butterfly. How long shall the process take? It will take as long as it takes; the Lord of Butterflies will not rush it, will not impose Himself, will with Patience rooted in the Divine Love attend to the matter in His own way, will be faithful to the butterfly-formation until it is fully formed, though it take an eon or longer, in season or out, as may be necessary. That He does this with His worms, shall He not the more do it with His dear children?
“Redemption of the body” means more than the obvious thought, that to do with a future glorification of the physical self; it has first to do with that inward process which makes possible the outer obvious one. The “body,” here, then, refers to the physical body but includes every aspect of the person—it is the same with the butterfly; its outward appearing shall be the flitting thing of beauty, yet ere that can happen it must first undergo internal changes which make the outer transformation possible. Who ever imagined a caterpillar with wings? And who would, upon giving the matter attention, presume that a glorified physical body could ever shroud a child of God who had not been changed to the uttermost within himself? Such would be a sham, a mockery, and the gravest of deceptions.
God is working with the worm as it struggles within itself; He does not all the work; the worm must also do the work—it is the basis of every relationship, the reciprocation, the participation, of both parties—otherwise, if a relationship is one sided, it is a miserable, broken, thing. God has a part, and man has a part. God will do for butterflies and men what they must do but are unable to do for themselves; He is not much given to doing for a man what the man ought to do and can do for himself. Christ has died for sins; we are to die to sins.
And what the man does within the chrysalis of his indefinite time—be that time his three score and ten, or the future time of indefinite duration, an eon— that he ought not to do, and what he does not do that he ought to do, it has much to do, in fact everything to do, with how long he must remain in his chrysalis; for until he is changed from within himself, doing his part, he cannot emerge. He cannot be revealed as the son of God in the fullness of sonship until he has become what God made him to be. If, then, Christ has been crucified by willingly laying down Himself unto Death, so also must a man crucify himself, the desires of his flesh, all his attitude, everything about himself, willingly as did his Lord. God will not crucify him, it is a thing he must do.
What is this “creeping from the chrysalis?” It is the struggle of the man within himself, which verily is his chrysalis, wherein the great transformation is occurring. He will not one day be found creeping from the chrysalis; his creeping, his incremental change, is occurring within the chrysalis of his life. When he finally emerges it will be with explosive power, breaking free in glory and light, spreading of an instant his “heaven storming wings” and soaring to the throne, and into the heart, of the faithful Father Who has loved His child from all eternity.
Make not the mistake of thinking that the change within is the province of the believer only; it is that of every child of the Father. And every person is his Father's child, even though such an one denies his Father, or even hates Him. The first changes within an evil man may be those of shame for himself, or a feeling of inadequacy, of knowing he is unable to live up to his own standards, or that he finds all the things he pursues to be hollow, unfulfilling, that he has an inner need, a void within himself, that nothing in the world can fill. These are the hidden things in a man; his friends may not detect what he, in his innermost self, is aware of—it may be that, as long as the attractions of the world still charm him he himself does not realize his lack or the Abundant Supply at hand, and thus honestly declare he is satisfied. But that is part and parcel to the changes, rudimentary, which will begin to grow in the man; the small voice within will, in time, grow into a tormenting pelter from which he can find no quarter, no reprieve, no relief, no rest for his soul save in God.
And by this, which is now the inner darkness but shall become the Outer Darkness to him if necessary, a man will begin to think differently, to probe, question, and doubt; it is happening within his chrysalis, he is creeping forward through the process; he will, before it is ended, come to his Father through his Savior and—even as we who long for the appearing—break free from the confining encasement, be changed utterly, transformed into a thing of beauty, the likeness of Christ—and God will spend all the time in the world if necessary to win His child unto Himself—and be faithful to do it for every creature child “until” we, and all them outside His gates, with us and with Him shall together as one shout aloud “It is finished!” Then shall the full sonship come to every person, each in his own time:
“Until the redemption of the body arrives, the true sonship is not wrought out, is only upon the way. Nor can it come but by our working out the salvation He is working in us.”
And the word “adoption,” whereby we now, and some yet later shall join their voices with ours, crying out “Abba! Father! Poppa! Daddy!” has not to do with orphans in the world as some have taught, but with this matter of full sonship—as it was understood in the days and the world of the Apostle who first penned the phrase. “Abba” is the first utterance, shouted in joy, by all those who arrive at their true sonship; it is the word of endearment which escapes our lips as we erupt from our chrysalides. It is also the utterance of some who, even this hour, are now struggling to emerge, who have cut partially through the engulfing chamber to glimpse the Light from heaven, that of the Son Who is Light and His own Father of Lights.
Let not one billowing cloud of hopelessness close off the Son-shine from our countenances; there is a place for anguish, for grief; there is no place given for despair, or hopelessness. I think here, and close, with the thought of so many lids screwed down upon the coffins of our friends and loved ones, those we know not to have ever given their Father or His great Son a thought, who never in this life surrendered themselves to God. Take heart, for our God has not abandoned His errant children; they are still in their chrysalises, they must remain so for a while, but the Consuming Fire which is our loving Father shall do His work in them, to cause them to desire the transformation, to bring them—each and every one—to Himself. He Who IS Truth says of a truth that before time has served its purpose all things which are from Him, and exist through Him are ultimately—the glorious thought—to Him. He will redeem to the uttermost and have the Victory over all things. To Him be the glory and honor, not only in time, but forever and ever...
Adoption and the Sons of Abba
by Dave Roney
There are two accomplished things, one lying within the other, neither as yet fully realized by us; the first of these is the comprehensive Victory wrought by Christ over all things whatsoever; the second has to do with the full ascendancy of the creature transformed not in part but the whole into the glorious image of Christ; it is the full Sonship of the child grown up, accorded all the rights of familial adulthood, which is the meaning of “adoption.” The first thing must appear before the second is possible; “Until our outward condition is that of sons royal, sons divine; so long as we groan under sickness and weakness and weariness, old age,and all the heavy things; so long we have not yet received the sonship in full.” It is for this adulthood of the children of the Father, the Adoption, that the entire created cosmic realm has long awaited with groanings inutterable; for it is by that present made yet future coming Adoption that the bondage of sin, of failings and misfortunes of misery and death, of pathos and pain, shall pass away as must the mist gathered in darkness flee before the risen sun.
The Son of Man, come as the Babe, made war against sin and death and wrought the Victory; He did not do it of an instant but only through trial, ordeal, by the increasing of earthly years, was about thirty of those years in age before He was prepared for the ministry of Reconciliation. We, likewise, have been called by God as those “but getting ready one day to creep from our chrysallis, and spread the great heaven-storming wings.” What means to us “Now is the day of our salvation” except it is the time for us to struggle within earthen chrysalides, the breaking out a little at a time, with each Spirit led volley against the walls encapsulating Self, producing fissures through which floods more and more of the Divine light-streams from Heaven's portals? Is our Captain to be the only one bearing a cross? He did it for our redemption; we must do it for our sanctification; He bore His cross for all men everywhere, and so also must we bear ours, the demonstration of light and salt in a broken world; even as He died for sins we must die to sin, and as we crucify our own flesh and its desires we are breaking free from the bondage, growing as children ever more toward our adulthood in Christ and the Adoption yet future. This present age and our life in it is our ordeal of earthly years wherein we mature from small children to adult children qualified for our future entry into the reign and rule of sons. Even now we are putting away the things of childhood and assuming those of adults; it is our preparation for Adoption. Can you detect the relationship between Christ being prepared during His life to become our Ransom and we, in our lives, being prepared for our Adoption? The same obedience, the same desire toward God, the same trials and temptations, the same death and resurrection life is common to both.
In the meantime, while abiding here in this life, “We groan, waiting for the redemption of the body, the uplifting of the body to be a fit house andrevelation of the indwelling Spirit—Nay, like that of Christ!” He had created the earth, will not destroy the old one but will make the old thing entirely new lest He suffer the loss of even an atom of what He has made; He will do it with all contained in His creation; He will do it with men, will transform them entirely, throughout, from fleshly seam to spirit heart, the entire fabric of worlds, beasts, sand and stars, of flora and fauna, with thoughts and desires, with all things comprehensively and so also, then, with His crown jewel, Man: His Reconciliation will be unbounded. “Behold!” He declares concerning the Renovation; “I am making all things new.” He is doing it now, will continue the work to its glorious and eternal conclusion. He will bring to Himself His Church “without spot or blemish;” do you suppose He will not make a new creation of all other things? Or that He would content Himself to set that great diamond in a rusty ring? That He would make a mansion and have the herder's swine residing outside? That He would leave any of the former things, those which are corrupted and passing away, to remain in His universe? We who have been made alive in Him are the firstfruits of the coming Season; in our train all things will be made new, and must be; for how else should the world be fit for such as we who shall be clothed in righteousness and glory? The Adoption of the sons and daughters will usher in the fullness of God from Whom, and through Whom, and to Whom are all things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.
Does the reader see, are you able to grasp a little of the magnitude of what I am saying, of that glory which even now lies before us, at the doorstep? “When we are the sons of God in heart and soul, then shall we be the sons of God in body, too; 'We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is'.” And we shall see all which He has made as it then, as yet now future to us and by our perspective, “is” as well; for from the humblest to the highest among the works of His hands shall be this: The whole of it and not the part will perfectly reflect Him in all its substance. There will be no more defect anywhere in the creation of God then which will worry our glorified bodies as now, with the present mortality and corruption; as we, “after our kind,” when “this mortal shall have put on immortality and this corruptible shall have put on incorruption” it is then, then! will we be like Him, so also everything He ever created will, after its own dimension, likewise be like, which is to say, fully reflect, the Maker of it. We are even now “partakers of the Divine nature,” and the now brute Nature will likewise, according to the limitations of it, come to reflect that Divine nature throughout. In the meanwhile, we have much work to do: “Until the redemption of the body arrives, the true sonship is not wrought out, is only upon the way. Nor can it come but by our working out the salvation He is working in us.”
Says St. John; “No man has seen God at any time,” which is not the same as to say “No man will ever at any time see God.” Do you not, even now, long to sit in your Papa's lap? and feel His great heart beating next to your small one? —look up into the Face of Love, the Eyes of Compassion, and pull His whiskers? —have Him enfold you in His great arms and whisper to your ear “I love you, My child; more than I could ever tell you, more than you could ever know?” The tiny ant has eyes but are so weak that it cannot see the man standing in front of it; the man is there to be seen, but in its present condition we would say of the ant “No ant has seen a man at any time.” Does Jesus see His Father? If He could not, then what need would He have for eyes? And if Him, how much more so we? And we, when the final glorification has taken place, when we are become like Him, when our great Adoption has been celebrated, when our childhood has blossomed into the fullness of Christ as Adult Children, what need would we have for our eyes if the God of Love was invisible to us? When we “shall see Him as He is,” the great Ceremony shall have taken place; we shall not only see Him as He is, but will see all things as He sees them. And He is eternally seeing the Father first before all things, as shall we.
In the forgoing I have mentioned our Adoption and related what it means to each of us, what it means for the entire universe, and what it means to our Abba. I have done it quite poorly. I would encourage every reader to take the true concept of Adoption, which is far from the miserable interpretation given by some noted theologians, and mix with the small facts we can garner out of Scripture as liberal a portion of upward looking imagination as one can muster. And know that even if the imagination does not reflect the actual glory ahead, it will in the least be moving us in the right heart-direction. Knowing also that whatever is our grandest, highest, and most beautiful thoughts concerning it, these all fall entirely short of the glory to be revealed in us. We have not yet this grand Adoption but only the spirit of Adoption— yet this spirit, that of hope, of uprushing hearts, is sufficient even now to compel us by Love poured out to cry with all our expectant hearts and all within us “ Abba, Father!”