In his first book, Birth of the Holy Nation vol. 1, Dr. Gaulden introduced us to the promise of God given to Abraham, to build a nation out of a seed. From Isaac, born through a miracle, the nation of Israel was founded. The consummate purpose for the creation of this natural nation was to nurture and bring forth yet another seed to fulfill an even greater promise; namely, to reconcile all of the sons of Adam to Himself. From Christ, God started another nation, a holy nation, in the image and likeness of God Himself. Dr. Gaulden showed the consistency of the greater promise governing all aspects of the lesser promise. The nation of Israel was formed to enable the greater promise of redemption of humankind through Christ. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor. 5:19). He continues the development of this central theme in this current book, Birth of the Holy Nation, vol. 2.
Why did God choose to create a holy nation as a central part of His plan to reconcile man to Himself? Was it not enough that Christ died on the cross to save mankind, and is it not enough just to believe in Him?
Whereas the popular gospel emphasizes the message of salvation, meaning going to heaven when we die, the biblical gospel centers on reconciliation to God. They are not the same thing. One message focuses on obtaining a destination upon death while the other recognizes that there was a prior existing reason for the creation of mankind, and man is saved to be reconciled to that original intent. God announced that His purpose for the creation of man was to make a being “in (God’s) image and likeness.” When He created this being, He called him “Son” (Lk. 3:38). A son is designed to be “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Heb. 1:2). The invisible God intended to become visible by putting His nature and character on visible display through His Son. Such a son, of course had to be a spiritual son. Flesh begets flesh, and spirit begets spirit. Since God is a Spirit, any being that is designated as His Son must also be essentially spirit. Yet, if His intent was to display His “likeness,” such a son must also be visible. That is the only way the world could see what God is like. The first Adam was a spirit clothed in flesh. So also was the last Adam. In the first son, God was meant to be seen in the natural creation. Adam was meant to interpret the natural creation as the means of showing the nature of God through the physical order of creation (Rom. 1:20). Christ, the last Adam, was meant to show God as God is. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn. 14:9. “I and the Father are one” (Jn. 10:30). The spiritual Son, though he appears last, is meant to carry the fullness of the representation of God.
The Body of the natural son is limited by physical factors such as time and space. The spiritual is timeless and transcendent. The shadow and type of the representation of God is carried in the natural order, which typically appears first. The nation of Israel is such a type and shadow, and is the best picture of God that was available until Christ.
In studying the birth and development of the nation of Israel, one is looking into a mystery relating to the coming forth of a holy nation whose purpose is the full disclosure of the nature of the invisible Father. Dr. Gaulden does a forensic examination of this developing phenomenon and reveals the secrets of the divine nature of God hidden in the story of the patriarchs.
Just as it required an entire nation functioning over time to reveal the secrets of God as Father dealing with sons whose understanding of Him was as one seeing through a veil, so also it requires a corporate man who is assembled as the spiritual body of Christ to present the many facets of the glory of God. The natural order precedes the spiritual order (2 Cor. 3:1-18). Volumes 1 and 2 of Birth of the Holy Nation are essential for the complete understanding of God’s original intent to bring forth a Son in whom He intended to disclose Himself fully. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16 NKJV).
God’s motivation for revealing Himself is rooted in His essential nature—His love.
—Dr. Samuel Soleyn.