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In this message we shall consider further God’s work in the new dispensation, in His new administrative arrangement.
God’s work in the new dispensation includes His passing through death in the Son. The phrase “the blood of Jesus His Son” in 1 John 1:7 indicates this. The blood shed on the cross for our redemption was not only the blood of Jesus, but also the blood of the Son of God. This implies that while Jesus was dying on the cross, God went through death in Him.
It is significant that 1 John 1:7 speaks of “the blood of Jesus His Son.” The name “Jesus” denotes the Lord’s humanity, which was needed for the shedding of the redeeming blood for men, and the title “His Son” denotes the Lord’s divinity, which is needed for the eternal efficacy of the redeeming blood. Thus, the blood of Jesus His Son indicates that this blood is the proper blood of a genuine man for redeeming the fallen men with the divine surety for its eternal efficacy, an efficacy that is all-prevailing in space and everlasting in time. Thus, the redemption accomplished by the God-man is eternal (Heb. 9:12).
Another verse which indicates that God passed through death in the Son is Acts 20:28: “Shepherd the church of God, which He obtained through His own blood.” God obtained the church by paying the price of “His own blood.” “His own blood,” as the blood of God, proves the fact that God died on the cross.
More than two centuries ago, Charles Wesley wrote a hymn that speaks of God dying for us. In this hymn Wesley says:
Amazing love! How can it beThat thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
In this hymn Wesley goes on to say, “’Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies!” Here Wesley declares that God died for us. Charles Wesley saw the vision concerning this and declared in his hymn that God died for us.
The God who died for us is not the God before incarnation. Prior to incarnation, God certainly did not have blood, and He could not have died for us. It was after the incarnation, in which God was mingled with humanity, that He died for us. Through incarnation, our God, the Creator, the eternal One, Jehovah, became mingled with man. As a result, He was no longer only God — He became a God-man. As the God-man, He surely had blood and was able to die for us.
When God was judging Christ as our Substitute made sin for us and bearing our sins, God forsook Christ economically. Regarding this, Matthew 27:45 and 46 say, “Now from the sixth hour darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ”Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” The sixth hour is our twelve o’clock noon, and the ninth is our three o’clock in the afternoon. The Lord Jesus was crucified at the third hour, at our nine o’clock in the morning (Mark 15:25), and He suffered on the cross for six hours. In the first three hours He was persecuted by men for doing God’s will; in the last three hours He was judged by God for the accomplishment of our redemption. During that time God counted Him as our suffering Substitute for sin (Isa. 53:10). Hence, darkness came over all the land because our sin and sins and all negative things were dealt with there, and God forsook Him because of our sin. God forsook Christ on the cross because He took the place of sinners (1 Pet. 3:18), bearing our sins (1 Pet. 2:24; Isa. 53:6) and being made sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). This means that God judged Him as our Substitute for our sins. In the sight of God Christ became a great sinner. Because Christ was our Substitute and was even sin in the sight of God, God judged Him and even forsook Him.
According to the four Gospels, the Lord Jesus was on the cross for six hours. During the first three hours, men did many unrighteous things to Him. They persecuted and mocked Him. Thus, in the first three hours the Lord suffered man’s unrighteous treatment. But at the sixth hour, twelve noon, God came in, and there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour, until three o’clock in the afternoon. The coming of darkness was God’s doing, and in the midst of it the Lord cried out the words quoted in Matthew 27:46. When the Lord was suffering the persecution of man, God was with Him, and He enjoyed the presence of God. But at the end of the first three hours, God forsook Him, and darkness came. Unable to tolerate this, the Lord shouted loudly, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” As we have pointed out, God forsook Him because He was our Substitute bearing our sins. Isaiah 53 reveals that this was the time God put our sins on Him. In the three hours from twelve noon to three o’clock in the afternoon, the righteous God put all our sins upon this Substitute and judged Him righteously for our sins. God forsook Him because during these hours He was a sinner there on the cross; He was even made sin. On the one hand, the Lord bore our sins; on the other hand, He was made sin for us. Therefore, according to His righteousness, God judged Him and forsook Him economically.
The Lord was born of the begetting Spirit, who is God reaching man, as the divine essence, who never left Him essentially. Even when He was on the cross crying out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He still had the begetting Spirit (God in the essential sense) as the divine essence. Then who left Him? It was the anointing Spirit (God in the economical sense), through whom He presented Himself as the God-man to be the all-inclusive sacrifice to God (Heb. 9:14), who left Him economically. After God accepted Christ as the all-inclusive offering, the anointing Spirit left Him. But although the anointing Spirit left Him economically, the Lord still had the begetting Spirit essentially.
When the Lord Jesus, the God-man, died on the cross under God’s judgment, He had God within Him essentially as His divine being. Nevertheless, He was forsaken by the righteous and judging God economically.
As part of His work in His new administrative arrangement, or economy, God condemned sin in the flesh through the death of Christ in the flesh. Concerning this, Romans 8:3 says, “For, the law being impossible in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” Here we see that God sent His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin and condemned sin in the flesh. God solved the problem of sin by sending His own Son “in the likeness of the flesh of sin.” Christ became flesh (John 1:14), but He was only in the likeness of the flesh of sin. There was no sin in His flesh. He had only the likeness of the flesh of sin, not the sinful nature of the flesh of sin.
The phrase “the likeness of the flesh of sin” contains three important words: likeness, flesh, and sin. To say only “the flesh of sin” would indicate sinful flesh. Paul, however, adds “in the likeness,” indicating that in Christ’s human nature there was no sin, even though that nature did bear the likeness, the appearance, of the flesh of sin. Furthermore, Paul does not say that God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh and stop there. He adds “of sin.” The word “likeness” denotes strongly that Christ’s humanity does not have sin, but still that His humanity was in some way related to sin.
In doing the work of condemning sin in the flesh through the death of Christ in the flesh, God was wise. He knew that He should not send His Son to be the flesh of sin, for if He had done that, His Son would have been involved with sin. Therefore, God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin, as typified by the brass serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness (Num. 21:9), as mentioned by the Lord Himself in John 3:14. The Lord’s word in John 3:14 indicates that the brass serpent was a type of Himself on the cross in our stead. When Jesus was on the cross, in the sight of God He was in the form of the serpent. Satan is the serpent, and the sin that was injected into man’s body, transmuting it into the flesh of sin, is the nature of Satan. Hence, the flesh of sin actually means the flesh with the nature of Satan. The Bible says that Jesus, the Son of God, became flesh. However, this absolutely does not mean that Christ became the flesh with the nature of Satan, because Romans 8:3 says that God sent Him in the likeness of the flesh of sin, thereby indicating that Christ assumed only the likeness of the flesh of sin, not the sinful nature of the flesh of sin.
In another verse, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul says that Christ “did not know sin.” This means that He had no sin and that He did not know sin in an experiential way by contact or personal experience (cf. John 8:46; 1 Pet. 2:22; Heb. 4:15; 7:26). Yet 2 Corinthians 5:21 also says that this One who had no sin was made sin for us by God. Although this verse says that Christ was made sin, it does not mean that He was sinful in nature, for He was sent only in the likeness of the flesh of sin. The brass serpent had the form of the serpent, but it did not have the poison of the serpent. Christ was made sin in form. Within Him there was no sin; He had nothing to do with the nature of sin. He was made only in the likeness of the flesh of sin for us.
Romans 8:3 says not only that God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin, but also that God sent Him “concerning sin.” Some versions render the Greek here as “an offering for sin.” Paul’s thought is that sin is a problem to us and makes our flesh weak before the law (Rom. 8:3a). Not only our flesh but also sin needs to be dealt with. So God sent His Son not only in the likeness of the flesh of sin but also concerning sin, that is, for sin, for the problem of sin. In this way, God condemned sin and dealt with our flesh to resolve the problem.
Sin was condemned in the flesh of Christ on the cross. Sin is the nature of Satan. Satan’s nature, that is, sin, was in the flesh, and Christ put on the likeness of this flesh of sin, the likeness of the flesh in which sin, the nature of Satan, dwelt. Then Christ took this flesh to the cross and crucified it. In this way God condemned sin in the flesh through the death of Christ in the flesh.
The sin in the flesh condemned by God may be called personified sin. This personified sin is described in Romans 5 through 7, where we are told that sin reigns (5:21; 6:12), that it can lord it over us (6:14), that it deceives us (7:11), and that it dwells in us (7:17, 20). This personified sin in the flesh, which can force us to do things against our will, is actually Satan moving in our sinful flesh. Therefore, when God condemned sin in the flesh, He also destroyed Satan, the Devil (Heb. 2:14).
When the Lord Jesus was crucified, God tore the veil to open the way to the Holy of Holies. Matthew 27:51 says, “Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom.” This signifies that the separation between God and man was abolished, because the flesh (signified by the veil) of sin taken by Christ in its likeness (Rom. 8:3) had been crucified (Heb. 10:20). The words “from the top to the bottom” indicate that the tearing of the veil was God’s doing from above. Because sin had been judged and the flesh of sin had been crucified, the separation between God and man was taken away. Now the way to enter into the presence of God is open for us.
Hebrews 10:19 and 20 also speak of God’s tearing the veil to open the way for us to enter into the Holy of Holies: “Having therefore, brothers, boldness for entering the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He dedicated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh.” The Holy of Holies today is in heaven, where the Lord Jesus is (Heb. 9:12, 24). How, then, can we enter it while we are still on earth? The secret is our spirit (Heb. 4:12). The Christ who is in heaven is also now in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). He, as the heavenly ladder (Gen. 28:12; John 1:51), joins our spirit to heaven and brings heaven into our spirit. Whenever we turn to our spirit, we enter into the Holy of Holies, and here we meet with God who is on the throne of grace.
According to Hebrews 10:20, we enter the Holy of Holies by a new and living way, which Christ dedicated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh. The way into the Holy of Holies has been cut. The Greek word translated “new” in this verse means freshly slain. Through Christ’s death on the cross, the way has been freshly slain for us. What was slain? Not only the flesh but the entire old creation. In this verse, the veil, which is Christ’s flesh, signifies the old creation, including us. On the veil were cherubim (Exo. 26:31), which signify the creatures (Ezek. 10:15). When the veil was torn, the cherubim were also torn, signifying that when the flesh of Christ, which is typified by the veil, was crucified, all the creatures also were crucified with His flesh. We have seen that when the Lord Jesus died, the veil in the temple was torn from the top to the bottom, meaning that it was torn by God in the heavens. The old creation has been slain, and a new and living way to enter into the Holy of Holies has been opened by God. Now through the riven veil of the flesh and by the blood of Jesus we can enter into the Holy of Holies.
The veil in Hebrews 10:20 is the second veil (Heb. 9:3) within the tabernacle which, as we have seen, typifies the flesh of Christ. When Christ’s flesh was crucified, this veil was torn, thus opening the way for us, who were excluded from God signified by the tree of life (Gen. 3:22-24), to enter into the Holy of Holies to contact Him and take Him as the tree of life for our enjoyment.
When Christ was crucified, God wiped out the handwriting in ordinances, nailing it to the cross. Speaking of God, Colossians 2:14 says, “Wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us, which was contrary to us; and He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.” The Greek word rendered “wiping out” can also be translated blotting out, obliterating, erasing, or annulling (a decree of law). The Greek word for “handwriting” denotes a legal document, a bond. Here it refers to the written law. The ordinances, or decrees, refer to the ceremonial law with its rituals, the forms or ways of living and worship. These ordinances God has taken out of the way by nailing them to the cross. This is to abolish the law of the commandments in ordinances (Eph. 2:15).
Ordinances, rituals, and ceremonies of the law have been crucified in Christ’s death. Not only were sin, the natural man, the world, and Satan crucified; the law was also crucified. As evil men were putting Christ on the cross, God was nailing the law to the cross. Although the law had been given by God through angels, God Himself nailed it to the cross of Christ. Just as sin has been condemned (Rom. 8:3), so the law has been crucified. God does not want the law to remain in between Christ and us. What He desires is for us to live together with the risen Christ without any interruption.
Colossians 2:15 says, “Stripping off the rulers and the authorities, He made a display of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” The pronoun “He” refers to God. When Christ was on the cross, God not only wiped out the ordinances of the law, but also stripped off the rulers and the authorities and made a display of them openly, triumphing over them. The rulers and the authorities are evil angels, fallen angels that are subordinates of Satan working for him. While the Lord Jesus was dying on the cross, these rulers and authorities, these fallen angels, were very busy. Actually, during the time of Christ’s crucifixion; there was an invisible spiritual conflict between God and these evil rulers and authorities. God won the victory, stripped off the rulers and authorities, and made a display of them openly, triumphing over them in the cross.
After God created the heavens, the earth, and other items in the universe, an archangel rebelled, and many angels followed him. This archangel became Satan, and his followers became the evil rulers, powers, and authorities in the heavenlies. And after man was created, Satan induced man to fall and man became sinful. The rebellion of the angels and the fall of man put God into a difficult situation. God’s way to deal with this difficulty was the cross. First, God became a man, thereby putting humanity on Himself. Then Christ, God incarnate, went to the cross and was crucified. While He was dying on the cross, many things took place. God judged sin and the sinful old man. At the same time, He nailed the law to the cross. When God was nailing the law to the cross, the evil angels were present and very active. But God stripped them off through the cross.
While Christ was laboring on the cross to accomplish redemption, God was working. At the time of the Lord’s crucifixion, the cross was the center of the universe. The Savior, sin, Satan, we, and God were all there. God was judging sin and nailing the law to the cross. As He was doing this, the rulers and authorities gathered around God and Christ. Both God and Christ were working. Christ’s work was His crucifixion, whereas God’s work was to judge sin and all the negative things and to nail the law with its ordinances to the cross. The rulers and authorities who had gathered around God and Christ were also working, busy in the attempt to frustrate the work of God and Christ, pressing in closely around God and Christ. If they had not pressed in closely, how could God have stripped them off? The words “stripping off indicate that they were very close, as close as our garments are to our body. By stripping off the rulers and authorities God made a display of them openly. He openly put them to shame and triumphed over them. What a great matter this is!
The word “triumph” implies fighting. It indicates that a war was raging. While Christ was accomplishing redemption and God was dealing with the law and with negative things, the rulers and authorities came to interfere, pressing in close to God and Christ. At that very juncture God stripped them off, triumphed over them, and made a display of them openly, putting them to shame.
Now that the law and the evil angels have been set aside, God has a clear ground and a peaceful environment to enliven His chosen ones. He has a proper atmosphere to carry out the pleasant task of dispensing Himself into the very ones He chose in eternity past. As the life-giving Spirit, the Triune God, having stripped off the rulers and authorities, is giving life to us by dispensing Himself into our being.
In His work God also raised up Christ from the dead. Acts 2:24 says, “Whom God raised up, having loosed the pangs of death, since it was not possible for Him to be held by it.” Here and in verse 32 Peter says that God raised up the Lord Jesus. Considering Christ as God, the New Testament tells us that He Himself rose from the dead (Rom. 14:9). But regarding the Lord as a man, the New Testament says that God raised Him from the dead (Rom. 8:11). God’s raising up Christ from the dead was His approval of Christ to be the Messiah. Through the resurrection of Christ God was declaring that the resurrected Christ was the real Messiah, the One anointed and appointed by God to carry out His eternal commission.
In Acts 3:15 Peter again speaks about Christ’s being raised up by God from the dead: “The Author of life you killed, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.” Although the Author of life, Christ, as the Originator of life, had been killed, God raised Him from the dead. Considering the Lord Jesus as a man, Acts 3:15 again tells us that He was raised up from the dead by God.
In John 14:26 the Lord told the disciples that the Father will send the Holy Spirit as the Comforter in His name. This took place in Christ’s resurrection. Through Christ’s resurrection God sent His Spirit essentially in the Son’s name. The Son came in the Father’s name (John 5:43), because the Son and the Father are one (10:30). The Spirit is sent in the Son’s name, because the Spirit and the Son are also one (2 Cor. 3:17). John 14:16-20 proves that the Spirit, who is the Spirit of reality, sent by the Father, is the reality, the realization, of the Son. John 15:26 says that the Son will send the Spirit from with the Father, and the Spirit comes from with the Father. This, compared with John 14:26, which says that the Father will send the Spirit, indicates that the Son and the Father are one in sending the Spirit, and the Spirit, in His coming, is not only one with the Son, as indicated by His coming in the Son’s name in John 14:26, but also one with the Father, as indicated by His coming with the Father in John 15:26. This is the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — reaching man eventually as the Spirit.
