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II. The Son of Man:
L. Ascending to the heavens in His humanity — John 6:62:
1. Sitting at the right hand of God — Matt. 26:64a; Mark 14:62a; Luke 22:69.
2. Seen standing at the right hand of God by Stephen — Acts 7:56.
M. Taking care of the churches as the lampstands in His humanity — Rev. 1:11-13:
1. As the High Priest dressing the churches as the lampstands to cherish them.
2. With His divinity as the energy motivated by His love signified by the golden girdle on His breast.
N. Coming back in His humanity — Matt. 10:23:
1. To destroy the whole earth as the flood did in Noah’s days and as the fire and brimstone did at Lot’s time — 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-30.
2. To take away His believers who are watching and ready for His coming secretly — Matt. 24:40-44; Luke 12:40; 21:36.
3. Expecting to find His believers in faith — 18:8.
4. To reap His harvest openly — Rev. 14:14-16.
5. Sending His angels to collect out of His kingdom all the tares and cast them into the lake of fire — Matt. 13:41-42.
6. In the glory of His Father with His angels in His kingdom — 16:27-28; 25:31; Mark 8:38b; Luke 9:26b.
7. To be ashamed of the people who were ashamed of Him and His words in this adulterous and sinful generation — Mark 8:38a; Luke 9:26a.
8. As the lightning coming forth from the east and shining to the west — Matt. 24:27; Luke 17:24.
9. Appearing in heaven on the clouds with power and great glory to be seen by all the mourning tribes of the earth — Matt. 24:30; 26:64b; Mark 13:26; 14:62b; Luke 21:27.
O. Receiving authority from the Father to execute judgment in His humanity according to the will of the Father who sent Him — John 5:27-30:
1. To judge all the dead people:
а. All His believers who are dead at His coming to be resurrected unto life before the millennium — v. 29a.
b. And all the unbelievers who are dead to be resurrected unto judgment after the millennium — v. 29b.
2. To judge all the people, signified by the sheep and the goats, who are living after His coming back — Matt. 25:31-46:
а. Sitting on the throne of glory — v. 31b.
b. The sheep who have well-treated the Jews and the believers in the great tribulation will go into eternal life to be the nations of the judged world — vv. 33-40, 46b.
c. The goats who have ill-treated the Jews and the believers in the great tribulation will go into eternal punishment (the lake of fire) to perish — vv. 41-46a.
3. To judge all the dead people who will be resurrected unto judgment after the millennium — Rev. 20:11-15.
P. Reigning in His humanity in the millennium — Matt. 19:28-29:
1. Sitting on the throne of His glory — v. 28a.
2. With His faithful followers — vv. 28b-29.
Q. Bringing heaven to earth and joining earth to heaven as the ladder seen by Jacob in Genesis 28:11-12, 16-19 — John 1:51:
1. As the uplifted standing stairway.
2. For the traffic of the angels ascending and descending on Him in eternity future.
Note: While fundamental Christianity was fighting against the heresy that denies the divinity of Christ, another heresy was unconsciously made by some Christians, even Christian teachers, that is, the heresy concerning the humanity of Christ of two points:
Christ, the Son of Man, is the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy. God’s eternal economy is to have a Body for Christ, and this Body consummates the New Jerusalem. The Bible ends with Christ as the Son of Man, as the consummation and completion of God’s eternal economy. Nathanael recognized Jesus as the Son of God (John 1:49), but Jesus told Nathanael that he would see the angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man (v. 51). Christ as the Son of Man is the reality of the ladder that Jacob saw in Genesis 28:12. John 1, the introduction to the Gospel of John, ends with Christ as the Son of Man being a ladder that joins earth to heaven and brings heaven to earth. The entire Bible also ends in this way, that is, with Christ Himself as the Son of Man being a heavenly ladder. This heavenly ladder is the New Jerusalem.
We have seen that the New Jerusalem as the goal of God’s economy is the universal incorporation of the consummated God with His regenerated believers. God in His Divine Trinity is an incorporation, mutually coinhering and working together as one (John 14:10-11). Furthermore, Christ is in the Father, we are in Christ, and Christ is in us (v. 20). The conclusion and totality of these three ins is the Spirit of reality, who is Christ Himself, to be the reality within us (v. 17). The Spirit of reality came not only to be with us but also to be in us. Our being in God the Son and God the Son being in us and also in the Father reveal an incorporation. This incorporation is first the Body of Christ and then the New Jerusalem. Ephesians 4 speaks of one Body, one Spirit, one Lord, and one God and Father (vv. 4-6). The three of the Triune God — the Spirit, the Lord, and the Father — are constituted and incorporated with the believers. We have spent much time to study the humanity of Christ from the prophecy of the Old Testament and from the fulfillment in the New Testament to see a view showing us that God’s economy is to have a Body for Christ, which consummates in the New Jerusalem — the enlarged, universal incorporation of the consummated God with the regenerated believers.
Now we want to conclude our fellowship concerning the revelation of the humanity of Christ in the fulfillment of the eternal economy of God. In the previous chapter we saw Christ as the Son of Man from His incarnation through His resurrection. In this chapter we want to see Him as the Son of Man from His ascension through eternity.
John 6:62 reveals that Christ ascended to the heavens in His humanity. As the Son of Man, He is sitting at the right hand of God (Matt. 26:64a; Mark 14:62a; Luke 22:69). Furthermore, Stephen saw Him as the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56). Sitting is for resting, whereas standing is for working. Because a member of His Body was suffering on this earth, the Son of Man was seen standing at the right hand of God. This indicates that the Lord was greatly concerned for His persecuted one.
Revelation 1:11-13 shows that Christ as the Son of Man is taking care of the churches as the lampstands in His humanity. As the High Priest, He is dressing the churches as the lampstands to cherish them, to make them happy, bright, and shining. He is also caring for the churches with His divinity as the energy motivated by His love signified by the golden girdle on His breast.
Christ will come back as the Son of Man (Matt. 10:23). He will destroy the whole earth as the flood did in Noah’s days and as the fire and brimstone did at Lot’s time (Matt. 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-30) and take away His believers who are watching and ready for His coming secretly (Matt. 24:40-44; Luke 12:40; 21:36). His coming back has two parts: one part is the secret part, and the other is the open part. The watchful ones, the ready ones, will see Him as the morning star and will be taken by Him in the early part of His secret coming back (Rev. 2:28). Later, He will openly come back to the earth as the Sun of righteousness (Mal. 4:2). Today as the Son of Man, He is expecting to find His believers in faith (Luke 18:8). When the Son of Man comes back, He will reap His harvest openly (Rev. 14:14-16). He also will send His angels to collect out of His kingdom all the tares and cast them into the lake of fire (Matt. 13:41-42). All the false believers, the tares, damage God’s economy. They will be cast into the lake of fire when Christ comes back in His humanity.
Christ as the Son of Man will return in the glory of His Father with His angels in His kingdom (Matt. 16:27-28; 25:31; Mark 8:38b; Luke 9:26b). He will be ashamed of the people who were ashamed of Him and His words in this adulterous and sinful generation (Mark 8:38a; Luke 9:26a). When He comes back openly, He will be like the lightning coming forth from the east and shining to the west (Matt. 24:27; Luke 17:24). Lightning may be considered as being concealed in a cloud, waiting for an opportunity to flash forth. In a similar way Christ will be clothed with a cloud (Rev. 10:1) in the air for a time and then will suddenly appear, like a flash of lightning striking the earth. This implies also that the Lord is like electricity. He will appear in heaven on the clouds with power and great glory to be seen by all the mourning tribes of the earth (Matt. 24:30; 26:64b; Mark 13:26; 14:62b; Luke 21:27). At that time they will see and receive Christ, and the whole family of Israel will be saved.
Christ as the Son of Man will receive authority from the Father to execute judgment in His humanity according to the will of the Father who sent Him (John 5:27-30). God has given all judgment to Christ because He is the Son of Man. The apostle Paul said that God has appointed this One to judge the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 17:31; 2 Tim. 4:1). He will judge all the dead people to decide who should be resurrected at His coming and who should be resurrected one thousand years later. At His coming all His believers who are dead will be resurrected unto life before the millennium (John 5:29a), and all the unbelievers who are dead will be resurrected unto judgment after the millennium (v. 29b).
He will judge all the people, signified by the sheep and the goats, who are living after His coming back (Matt. 25:31-46). During the great tribulation, Antichrist will persecute the believers. At that time an eternal gospel will be preached to the nations (Rev. 14:6-7 and footnotes, Recovery Version). Those who obey that gospel and treat the Jews and the suffering believers well will be blessed, will be reckoned as righteous, and will inherit the kingdom (Matt. 25:34, 37). These are the sheep. But those who do not will be cursed (v. 41) and will perish for eternity. These are the goats. The Lord will sit on the throne of glory at His return to separate the sheep from the goats. The sheep who have well-treated the Jews and the believers in the great tribulation will go into eternal life to be the nations of the judged world (vv. 33-40, 46b). They will be saved, not to receive eternal life but to enter into eternal life. Eternal life will be the sphere and the realm into which they will enter and in which they will live. They will be the nations around the New Jerusalem but not the kings. We believers, who are the New Jerusalem, will be the royal family to rule over all the nations. The goats who have ill-treated the Jews and the believers in the great tribulation will go into eternal punishment (the lake of fire) to perish (vv. 41-46a). Later, the Lord as the Son of Man will judge all the dead people who will be resurrected unto judgment after the millennium (Rev. 20:11-15).
Christ will reign in His humanity in the millennium, sitting on the throne of His glory with His faithful followers (Matt. 19:28-29).
For eternity Christ as the Son of Man will bring heaven to earth and join earth to heaven as the ladder seen by Jacob (John 1:51; Gen. 28:11-12, 16-19). Nathanael recognized Jesus as the Son of God, but Jesus answered Nathanael by saying that he would see the angels ascending from earth to heaven and descending from heaven to earth upon the Son of Man. The Son of Man is the ladder as the uplifted standing stairway for the traffic of the ascending and descending angels in eternity future. This is a picture of the eternal age. In eternity future the New Jerusalem will be standing in the universe as something uplifted toward the heavens upon which the angelic family will ascend and descend to bring heaven to earth and join earth to heaven. This is the universal vision of God’s economy.
God’s economy will consummate in such a ladder, which is a city. This city is an incorporation of the consummated God with the regenerated believers, an incorporation of God in man and man in God. We will be God’s incorporation for God’s glory to be manifested in humanity. We will be His dwelling place, the tabernacle (Rev. 21:3), and He will be our dwelling place, the temple (v. 22). That will be the mutual abiding of God in us and us in God to have God’s glory manifested in humanity radiantly. This is the conclusion of the humanity of Christ in both the Old and New Testaments.
Note: While fundamental Christianity was fighting against the heresy that denies the divinity of Christ, another heresy was unconsciously made by some Christians, even Christian teachers, that is, the heresy concerning the humanity of Christ of two points:
1. Many Christian Bible teachers dare not recognize that Christ is the Firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:15). This implies that they dare not acknowledge the humanity of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation. According to our human view, Christ was born about two thousand years ago. But according to the divine view, He is the Firstborn of all creation. In God’s eyes there is no time element. Although Christ was slain less than two thousand years ago, Revelation 13:8 says that Christ was slain from the foundation of the world. With God there is only the fact, not the element of time. According to the fact, God reckons Christ as the Firstborn of God’s old creation so that Christ might be the first in everything. We reject that heresy which says that Christ was only a creature and not God. Christ as God is the Creator, but we also have to recognize that Christ is a part of the creation because He is a man who partook of the created blood and flesh. As such a man, He is the Firstborn of God’s old creation.
2. Some Christians do not believe that after His resurrection Christ is still a man through His ascension, coming back, reigning in the millennium, and being the heavenly ladder in eternity. Probably even a good number of Christian teachers make the same mistake unconsciously. Eventually, the centrality and universality of the universe, signified by the New Jerusalem, is Christ as the Son of Man.
