The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee Page A

Lord must be an initial fundamental act. Then, day by day, I must go on giving to Him, not finding fault with His use of me, but accepting with praise even what the flesh finds hard. In that way lies true enrichment.
    I am the Lord’s, and now no longer reckon myself to be my own, but acknowledge in everything His ownership and authority. That is the attitude God delights in, and to maintain it is true consecration. I do not consecrate myself to be a missionary or a preacher; I consecrate myself to God to do His will where I am, be it in school, office or kitchen or wherever He may, in His wisdom, send me. Whatever He ordains for me is sure to be the very best, for nothing but good can come to those who are wholly His.
    May we always be possessed by the consciousness that we are not our own.

7
    The Eternal Purpose
    W E HAVE SPOKEN of the need of revelation, of faith and of consecration, if we are to live a normal Christian life. But unless we see the end God has in view, we shall never clearly understand why these steps are necessary to lead us to that end. So before we consider further the question of inward experience, let us first look at the great divine goal before us.
    What is God’s purpose in creation, and what is His purpose in redemption? It may be summed up in two phrases, one from each of our two sections of Romans: “the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) and “the glory of the children of God” (8:21).
    In Romans 3:23 we read: “All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” God’s purpose for man was glory, but sin thwarted that purpose by causing man to miss God’s glory. When we think of sin, we instinctively think of the judgment it brings; we invariably associate it with condemnation and hell. Man’s thought is always of the punishment that will come to him if he sins. But God’s thought is alwaysof the glory man will miss if he sins. The result of sin is that we forfeit God’s glory; the result of redemption is that we are qualified again for glory. God’s purpose in redemption is glory, glory, glory.
Firstborn among Many Brethren
    This consideration takes us forward into Romans chapter 8, where the topic is developed in verses 16 to 18 and again in verses 29 and 30. Paul says,
    We are 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 with him. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward. (Rom. 8:16–18)
    And again,
    Whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren; and whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Rom. 8:29–30)
    What was God’s objective? It was that His Son Jesus Christ might be the firstborn among many brethren, all of whom should be conformed to His image. How did God realize that objective? “Whom he justified, them he also glorified.” Thus God’s purpose in creation and redemption was to make Christ the firstborn Son among many glorified sons. That may perhaps at first convey very little to many of us, but let us look into it more carefully.
    In John 1:14 we are told that the Lord Jesus was God’s only begotten Son: “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father).” That He was God’s only begotten Son signifies that God had no other Son but this one. He was with the Father from all eternity. But, we are told, God was not satisfied that Christ should remain the only begotten Son; He wanted also to make Him His first begotten. How could an only begotten Son become a first begotten? The answer is simple: by the Father having more children. If you have but one son, then he is the only begotten, but if thereafter you have other children,