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Scripture Reading: Acts 3:15; 5:30-31; Rom. 4:25; Acts 13:33; Rom. 8:29; John 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:3; John 12:28; 13:31-32; 17:1; Luke 24:26; 1 Cor. 15:45b; John 20:22; Acts 2:36; 10, Eph. 1:22; Acts 2:33; 1 Cor. 12:13; Heb. 7:22, 7:26; 8:6; 9:15-17; 4:15; 1:5, Rev. 1:13; 2:1; 5:5-6
In the three foregoing chapters we pointed out that in order to experience Christ, we first need to receive revelation concerning the person and work of Christ. In the last chapter we covered what Christ accomplished in His life on earth and in His death. We pointed out that there are eight main points concerning His work on the earth, two points in each of the four Gospels. Then we covered seven main things that the Lord accomplished through His death. Thus, in the previous chapters we have seen fifteen items of Christ’s work. In this chapter we will consider another fifteen items accomplished by Christ, seven items in His resurrection and eight in His ascension.
Many Christians today do not have an accurate and adequate view concerning Christ’s resurrection and ascension. Because of this lack, their experience of Christ is inadequate. Believers today often speak about Christ’s death, but they do not speak as much about His resurrection and ascension. Many Christians see very little concerning Christ’s ascension. They only know that Christ went to the heavens and is waiting there until the time of His return. However, the New Testament tells us very much about what Christ is doing now in the heavens. In one sense, He is doing more in the heavens than He did on the earth. Those who read the four Gospels can easily see that while Jesus was on the earth, He did many things, such as working miracles and preaching the gospel. But when they read the Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation, few realize what Christ is doing now in the heavens. Not only is Christ doing many things in the heavens today, but He also accomplished many things before He ascended. We need to be impressed with all the crucial and wonderful things Christ has done in His resurrection and ascension.
The resurrection of Christ was a great proof that God had accepted His all-inclusive redemptive work (Acts 3:15). After Christ had finished His work on earth, He died on the cross to accomplish God’s redemption. His redemptive work was exceedingly great. However, in the eyes of the Jews, Christ was rejected by God. They would not believe that God was one with Christ, that God would accept what Christ had done. Their thought was that Christ had blasphemed God and was against God (Matt. 26:65). So they rejected Him by crucifying Him and putting Him into a tomb. The Jews thought that to put Christ into the tomb was to do a marvelous work for God. But, to their great surprise, God raised Him up. God did this in order to tell the Jews that He accepted what they rejected. God seemed to be saying, “You Jews should know that although you rejected Christ, put Him to death, and even put Him into a tomb, I, the very God whom you serve, raised this man out of death.” This is also confirmed by the word in Acts 2:23-24. Such a resurrection was a great and strong proof that God accepted, sealed, and vindicated all that Christ had done. The resurrection of Christ proved that God was very happy with all that Christ had done.
Christ’s resurrection was a strong vindication of His great success in all His achievements (5:30-31). In history there have been many great men. One of them was Alexander the Great, who lived about three hundred years before Christ. He conquered many countries while he was still under thirty-five years of age. Alexander came from Macedonia, the northern part of Greece. He built up and trained a strong army and conquered Greece, Persia, and Egypt. But suddenly, at the age of thirty-three, he died. His death was a sign of his failure.
When the Jews put Christ to death, they thought that He was altogether defeated and that His death was a sign of His failure. But after three days Christ came out of the tomb. So Christ’s resurrection was a strong vindication of His great success. Many men have accomplished great things, but their success ended with their death. But although Jesus was put to death, God raised Him up. This raising up of Christ by God was a vindication of His great success. In human history there has never been another person as successful as Christ. His resurrection carried out His success, and His success is still continuing on the earth today. Confucius died, Mohammed died, and Socrates died. Many great men died and were buried. In human history there has been only one exception. Only this One came out of the tomb and is still working today. He is moving, He is acting, and He is motivating all His people on the earth. He has obtained a great success, and this success was sealed by His resurrection.
Christ’s resurrection was also the evidence that God has justified us (Rom. 4:25). Because He died on the cross for our sins, God has to forgive us. But if Christ had never been raised from the dead, how could we know that God has forgiven us, that He was satisfied by Christ’s death? Christ’s resurrection from the dead was the evidence that God was satisfied by His death. Because God was content with Christ’s death, God released Him from death.
To illustrate this point, let us suppose that a brother owes a certain rich man ten million dollars. The rich man holds a note for that loan, which states clearly that the brother owes him ten million dollars. Now, let us suppose that I have the ability to pay his debt and that I pay ten million dollars to the rich man. However, although he accepts my payment, the rich man will not give me a receipt. Without a receipt as evidence that I have repaid the loan, the brother has no way to prove that the rich man has been satisfied by my payment. But if the rich man gives me a receipt, I now can tell the brother the good news that I have paid his debt. I have the receipt as evidence that the rich man has released him from obligation because he has been satisfied by my payment.
In the same way, we know that God was satisfied by Christ’s payment because God raised Him from the dead. Romans 4:25 says, “Who was delivered for our offenses and was raised for our justification.” The first part of this verse indicates that Christ died on the cross for our sins, and the second part tells us that because God was satisfied with Christ’s death for our sins, He released Christ from death. Christ’s coming out of death was a great proof that God was satisfied with His death for us. This resurrected Christ is the “receipt” of His full payment for our debt, issued by God to us, proving that all our sins have been forgiven and that God has justified us.
The New Testament reveals that in Christ’s resurrection He was born as the firstborn Son of God. Acts 13:33 says, “God has fully fulfilled this promise to us their children in raising up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son; this day have I begotten You.’” Furthermore, Romans 8:29 refers to Christ as God’s Son, the Firstborn among many brothers. From these two verses we can see that on the day of resurrection Jesus was begotten by God to be the firstborn Son of God.
Of course, Christ’s incarnation was also a birth, but that birth made Him the Son of Man. Christ did not become the Son of God through incarnation. In eternity past, before His incarnation and before His resurrection, Christ was already the Son of God. The Bible reveals that Christ, the Son of God, is eternal. God is triune—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—and all three are eternal. God the Father is eternal (Isa. 9:6), God the Son is eternal (Heb. 7:3), and God the Spirit is eternal (9:14).
To be eternal means to have no beginning and no ending. Students of the Bible sometimes use a circle to signify eternity. A circle has no beginning and no ending, and it is difficult to tell whether one point on a circle comes before or after another point. In the same way the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all eternal, having no beginning or ending. Hebrews 7:3 tells us that the Son of God is eternal, having neither beginning of days nor end of life. The revelation in the Bible is not that the Father existed before the Son, that the Son came into being after the Father, or that the Spirit came after the Son. Rather, the Bible says that all three are eternal.
The Son of God is eternal, yet this eternal Son of God was born as the Son of Man about two thousand years ago. In His incarnation He was born of Mary, and by that birth He became the Son of Man. Therefore, His incarnation was His first birth. But the Bible also tells us that Christ had a second birth. In His first birth Christ was born as the Son of Man, and in His second birth He was born as the firstborn Son of God. On the one hand, John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” This verse indicates that Christ was God’s only Son. On the other hand, Romans 8:29 says, “That He might be the Firstborn among many brothers.” Have you ever considered that Christ is the Son of God in two ways? In the first way He was God’s only begotten Son, and in the second way He is the firstborn Son among many sons. Romans 8:29 says that the believers are to be conformed not to the image of the only begotten Son but to the image of God’s firstborn Son.
At this point we need to ask ourselves what the difference is between the only begotten Son and the firstborn Son. Our first response may be to say that the only begotten Son had no brothers, but the firstborn Son has many brothers. Although this is true, we still need to ask what the difference is in the Son of God Himself. The difference between the only begotten Son of God in eternity past and the firstborn Son of God in resurrection is that in eternity past, before His incarnation, He possessed only divinity without humanity. But through the process of incarnation, He put on humanity. He passed through human living, entered into death, and came out in resurrection. In resurrection He still remained the Son of God according to His divinity, but there was something more; He also possessed the humanity that He obtained through incarnation. The humanity that He put on in incarnation was also brought into resurrection to share in the sonship. This is why Acts 13:33 says that on the day of resurrection Christ was begotten of God to be God’s Son. It means that resurrection “sonized” His humanity, made it also the Son of God. According to Acts 13:33, Christ’s resurrection was a birth, making Him not only God’s only begotten Son with divinity but also God’s firstborn Son with both divinity and humanity.
Today Christ is the Son of God in two respects: He is God’s only begotten Son, and He is also God’s firstborn Son. However, if He were only God’s only begotten Son, He could not have any brothers. To have us as His brothers, He must possess humanity, but as God’s only begotten Son in eternity past, He possessed only divinity, not humanity. Nevertheless, in His incarnation Christ put on humanity, and through resurrection He brought this humanity into sonship. In this way He became God’s firstborn Son with both divinity and humanity. Then, as the life-giving Spirit, He entered into us to make us also sons of God. Now we are the many sons of God being conformed to the image, not of God’s only begotten Son but of His firstborn Son. Therefore, as God’s firstborn Son, Christ has many brothers. We all need to see that being born as the firstborn Son of God was a great work, which Christ accomplished through His resurrection. Although it is clearly taught in the Bible, many Christians have never seen this matter.
On the day of His resurrection Christ was begotten by God in His humanity. He became the firstborn Son of God in order to produce many sons of God. We need to realize that the date of our regeneration was the date of Christ’s resurrection. When Christ was resurrected from the dead, we, all the believers, were resurrected with Him (1 Pet. 1:3). Through His resurrection He was born to be God’s firstborn Son, and at the same time all His believers were born to be the many sons of God. On the day of Christ’s resurrection, all God’s chosen people were resurrected and were born to be God’s many sons. Now God has many sons with both divinity and humanity. But among these many sons, only the Firstborn is His only begotten Son. This only begotten Son of God, in His resurrected humanity, is also the firstborn Son of God. As the firstborn Son of God, He has both divinity and humanity, and we His believers as God’s many sons also possess both the human nature and the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). Now day by day we are being conformed to the image of God’s firstborn Son (Rom. 8:29).
In His resurrection Christ also released His divine life for His propagation (John 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:3). When the Lord Jesus died as the grain of wheat, His inner divine life rose up to grow. In His resurrection this life was released to produce many grains as His multiplication. This multiplication was His propagation. The one grain was propagated into many grains. Christ accomplished this great work in His resurrection.
Furthermore, Christ’s resurrection was His glorification, that God might be glorified in Him (John 12:28; 13:31-32; 17:1; Luke 24:26). A carnation flower is an illustration of this. When a carnation seed is sown, in a sense the carnation blossom is concealed within the seed. But when the plant blossoms, the glory of the carnation flower is manifested. This blossoming is the glorification of the carnation. Similarly, when Christ became a man, God’s divine life was concealed in His human shell. When Christ’s death broke His human shell, His divine life was released. This releasing of the divine life was the glorification of Christ. At the same time it was also the glorification of the concealed God. Luke 24:26 says, “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter into His glory?” This word refers to His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:43a; Acts 3:13a, 15a). Therefore, this verse tells us that through His resurrection Christ entered into glory. Before He ascended to the heavens, Christ had already entered into glory. Christ was glorified in His resurrection, and in His glorification God was also glorified.
In His resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit, that He may enter into His believers (1 Cor. 15:45b; John 20:22). While He was in the flesh, He was only able to be among the believers. He had no way to enter into Peter, John, or any of the other disciples. But in resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit, and on the day of resurrection He came back to the disciples and breathed Himself as the Spirit into them. Becoming the life-giving Spirit to enter into the believers was another great work of Christ in resurrection.
Christ accomplished a great deal in His death, in His resurrection, and in His ascension. However, His work in His ascension has not yet been completed but will continue until He comes back.
Christ’s ascension made Him the Lord (Acts 2:36a). Just as Christ is both God’s only begotten Son from eternity past and God’s firstborn Son in resurrection, so Christ being the Lord is also in two aspects. From eternity past Christ is the Lord because He is the very God. But this Christ who is the very God one day put on humanity through incarnation. Then, as we have seen, this humanity was sonized through Christ’s resurrection. It was then in Christ’s ascension as a man that God made Him the Lord not only in His divinity but also in His humanity. Now the One who is the Lord of the entire universe is not only God, but also a man, the God-man.
Christ’s ascension made Him the Christ of God (v. 36b). Actually, He was the Christ already before His ascension (Matt. 16:16). He was even called Christ from His birth (1:16). That was for Him to accomplish the first part of God’s economy for the accomplishment of God’s redemption and the release of the divine life by His earthly ministry. In His ascension He was officially inaugurated into the position of God’s Christ, God’s appointed One, to carry out the second part of God’s economy for the producing and the building up of the church by His heavenly ministry. The title Lord refers to His lordship in possessing all the universe. The title Christ refers to His being made the One who carries out God’s eternal purpose.
Christ’s ascension made Him Head over all things to the church (Eph. 1:22). In ascension Christ was made the Head over all things to the church and for the church. This means that whatever He is as the Head over all things is transmitted to the church for the church’s participation in His attainment, that all things may be headed up in Him (v. 10). He is the Head over all things, and He is also the focus, the center, of all things. All things will be headed up in Him through the church.
Satan’s fall and the fall of man made the universe a place of confusion and disorder. But Christ’s ascension made Him the Head over all things to the church to bring everything in the universe back into good order. Therefore, all things will one day be headed up in Christ. This will be in the new heavens and the new earth through the New Jerusalem, which is the ultimate consummation of the church.
In His ascension Christ baptized all His believers into one Body in the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33; 1 Cor. 12:13). In His death He redeemed all His believers, in His resurrection He caused all His believers to be regenerated, and in His ascension He baptized all His believers into one Body in the Holy Spirit. By these three steps of death, resurrection, and ascension, to redeem the believers, to cause them to be regenerated, and to baptize them, He produced a Body. He completed this producing of His Body by His ascension. This was a great work accomplished by Christ in His ascension.
In His ascension Christ also became the heavenly Minister (Heb. 8:1). As the Minister of the true (heavenly) tabernacle, He has obtained in His ascension a more excellent ministry (v. 6) to minister heaven, which is not only a place but a condition of life, into us that we may have the heavenly life and power to live a heavenly life on earth, as He did while He was here, to fulfill our heavenly calling (3:1).
In His death Christ made the better covenant for us with God. In ascension He became the Mediator, the Surety, of the better covenant made by Him through His death (8:6; 9:15-17; 7:22). As the Mediator, He is the Executor in His heavenly ministry of the new covenant, which became the new testament, bequeathed to us by His death with all the riches of the new testament. As the Surety, He is not only the pledge but also the Guarantor to guarantee all the blessings of the new testament bequeathed to us by His death.
In ascension Christ became the Executor of the new testament (9:15-17). The word testament means “a will.” In this will many blessings have been bequeathed to the believers. Every will requires someone to execute it, to carry it out. In His ascension Christ became such an Executor.
In His ascension Christ is the High Priest to care for all the believers and to care for the lampstands—the churches (4:15; 7:26; Rev. 1:13; 2:1). In the Old Testament type the priest cared for the lampstand by dressing it so that the lampstand might shine brightly. Likewise, today in His ascension Christ as our High Priest cares for His believers and cares for the churches as the lampstands.
Finally, Christ’s ascension made Him the Administrator of the divine government over the universe (Rev. 1:5; 5:5-6). This fact is fully revealed in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 1:5 Christ is called “the Ruler of the kings of the earth.” Today the One who governs the entire world, the Administrator of the entire universe, is not any king, any president, or any world organization. The head Ruler of God’s government over the universe is Christ. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and He administrates the entire universe for the purpose of fulfilling God’s eternal plan. All the world situation is under His rule, not under the control of any nation. Jesus Christ is the Administrator of today’s universe.
Our experience confirms the fact that Christ is ruling over the world situation in order to fulfill God’s purpose. I was born and raised in China. I had no thought of coming to America. But about thirty-five years ago the Lord managed the world situation in such a way that many of us in the churches were forced to leave mainland China and to go to Taiwan. Then later the Lord arranged the situation again, causing us to leave Taiwan and to go to America. In this way the Lord’s recovery was brought into the English language. If we had never come from China to America, the Lord’s recovery would have been concealed in the Chinese language. Today the English language is spoken worldwide. After the Lord’s recovery entered into the English language, it was brought to six continents. It was Jesus Christ as the Administrator of the universe who did this. Hallelujah!
Today in His ascension Christ is managing and administrating the entire universe. He will continue to do this until He comes back. This is the Christ whom we must experience, and this is the Christ whom we enjoy.
