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Scripture Reading: Heb. 2:9; 12:2; Acts 2:36
In the previous message we saw that the Man-Savior’s ascension was His inauguration into His heavenly office through the process of creation, incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. The Man-Savior was inaugurated as God and man, as the Creator and a creature, and as the Redeemer, the Savior, and the life-giving Spirit to execute God’s administration and to carry out God’s New Testament economy. Considering the objective aspect of Christ’s ascension, we saw that in His ascension He was crowned with glory and honor (Heb. 2:9), enthroned for God’s administration (Heb. 12:2), and made the Lord to possess all and the Christ to carry out God’s commission (Acts 2:36).
When some hear about the objective aspect of Christ’s ascension, they may say, “Yes, in His ascension the Man-Savior has been inaugurated into His heavenly office. This is wonderful but it seems to be something too high for me and too far away from me. What does this have to do with me?” In answering such a question we need to realize that the very Christ in resurrection, the pneumatic Christ, lives in us. According to John 20:22, in His resurrection Christ came back to the disciples to breathe Himself into them. But according to Mark 16, Luke 24, and Acts 1, the Lord ascended to the heavens so that something further could take place. If His relationship with us ceased with His breathing Himself into us, it would be difficult for Him to work out anything for the accomplishment of God’s New Testament economy. After breathing Himself into the disciples, it was still necessary for Him to be inaugurated into His heavenly office.
We may use the election and inauguration of the President of the United States as an illustration. The President does not begin executing his presidency immediately after the election. No, he must wait until the day of inauguration, the day he is inaugurated into his office. Then, after his inauguration, he may begin to carry out his administration as President. Likewise, after the Man-Savior’s resurrection, He still needed to be inaugurated in His ascension. For fifty days after the Lord breathed Himself into the disciples, they were quiet. But after the Lord ascended to the heavens and was inaugurated into His post, a great many things began to happen, starting on the day of Pentecost.
We need to realize the significance of the Man-Savior’s ascension. In addition to His resurrection, there is also His ascension. Now the very Christ who lives in us and works through us is not only the One in resurrection but also the One in ascension. The One in resurrection is full of life and power, but He still needs authority in ascension. After His ascension the Lord has not only life and power in resurrection but also authority in ascension.
Apart from a proper inauguration, a government official cannot have authority. Authority comes through inauguration. Once a person has been inaugurated into a certain post, he has the authority of that office. We need to see that, as believers, we have One living in us who has not only life and power in resurrection but also authority in ascension. The very Christ in resurrection and ascension lives in us and dwells upon us. He lives in us as life, and He dwells upon us as authority. Therefore, we are now one with this Christ in His resurrection and ascension. As a result, we have life and power in resurrection and also authority in ascension.
We may not have much appreciation for what is revealed in the Scriptures concerning the Man-Savior’s resurrection and ascension. Recently, while I was having a time with the Lord, I realized that we all need the Lord’s mercy. We may never have seen into the depths of the truths that are revealed in the Bible. Rather, we may often read the Bible in a very superficial way. We do not go below the surface to see what is in the depths. For example, we may appreciate the Lord’s word in Matthew 11:28: “Come to Me all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” When we read this verse, we may say, “Thank You, Lord. I am one who labors, one who is burdened. Lord, I come to You and ask You to give me rest.” We may understand even such a verse as John 3:16 in a shallow way. In this verse the Lord says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that every one who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” In reading this verse, we may pay attention only to the fact that God loves the world. However, we may not study what it means to believe. We may not consider what eternal life is, or what it means to have eternal life. We may not realize that eternal life is actually the Triune God. To have eternal life, therefore, is to enjoy, participate in, and experience the Triune God. However, we may have little or no understanding of this.
Reading the Bible in a superficial way can be compared to skating on the ice that covers a deep lake: the skater does not break the ice to see what is under the surface. When we read the Bible, we may “skate” on the “ice,” the surface, of the Word. We do not break through the surface, go down into the depths, and see what is revealed there.
Because of superficiality in the reading of the Bible, very few Christians know the matters of resurrection, ascension, and the coming down of the Spirit. Therefore, we are burdened that we all see that the Christ who is now living and working within us is the One in resurrection with life and power and also the One in ascension with authority. The One in resurrection and ascension now lives, works, and operates in us.
We need to be impressed with the fact that the Lord’s relationship with us does not stop with His resurrection, but goes on to His ascension. Many things happened as a result of His ascension. We have emphasized that as God, man, the Creator, a creature, the Redeemer, the Savior, and the life-giving Spirit, He has been crowned and enthroned. He has been inaugurated into His heavenly office to administrate the entire universe and to execute God’s New Testament economy. This administration and execution are not only with life and power but also with authority. He is now in us both in His resurrection and in His ascension. We all need to realize Him to such an extent.
If we have this realization of the Man-Savior as we contact Him, our contact with Him will be different. Our realization of the Lord makes a great difference in our contact with Him. This can be illustrated by our contact with people. If you do not know a person’s status and qualifications, this will influence the way you contact him. For example, if you do not know that a certain man is the principal of the school but consider him a janitor, this will surely influence the way you contact him. But if you know that he is the principal, your way of contacting him will be different. It always makes a difference in contacting others when we know their status, qualifications, position, and office. In like manner, if we know the Man-Savior’s status and office, this will affect our contact with Him.
Today many believers pray to the Lord and contact Him in a way that is far from adequate. They do not have much appreciation of the Lord’s status, position, and qualification. They do not have much understanding of the process through which He passed in order to be inaugurated into His heavenly office.
Before the Man-Savior was inaugurated in His ascension, He passed through the process of creation, incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. The creation came into being through Him. Concerning this, John 1:3 says, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being which has come into being.” Furthermore, Colossians 1:16 says, “In Him were all things created in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or lordships or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and unto Him.” Christ also passed through incarnation: He as the Word, which is God, became flesh (John 1:1, 14). Through incarnation, He brought the creating God into His creature, into humanity. He lived on earth for thirty-three and a half years, and we need to know Him in His human living. Eventually, He went to the cross through which He entered into death and had a tour of the region of death. Following this, in His resurrection He conquered death and nullified it (2 Tim. 1:10). Because death could not hold Him (Acts 2:24), He walked out of death and entered into resurrection. After His wonderful resurrection and in resurrection, He ascended to the highest place in the universe; He ascended to the heavens.
In His ascension the Man-Savior was crowned with glory and honor. In His ascension He was also enthroned to be the Administrator over the whole universe. Furthermore, in His ascension He was made the Lord of all and the Christ to carry out God’s eternal plan to propagate Himself on earth to produce a Body to match Him for His expression. Now when we contact Him we should contact Him as such a One. When we contact Him, we need to have the realization of what He is, a realization of His status, position, and office.
We thank the Lord that we are no longer “skating” on the surface of the Word. In His mercy He has broken through the “ice” and opened the depths of the Scriptures to show us all these treasures.
Recently, I heard of some words of appreciation spoken by certain Christians concerning the expounding of the Bible among us. However, some of them do not feel good that we use some new expressions, expressions not used by others in teaching the truths of the Bible. I admit that during the past thirty years we have introduced quite a few new terms and expressions to convey the truths buried in the Word of God. However, we have not invented any teaching; on the contrary, we have simply discovered what is revealed in the Bible. We cannot improve nor should we alter the divine truths. But, by the Lord’s grace, we can and should improve or adjust the discoveries of the deeper truths conveyed in the Holy Word.
The truths we discover in the Word often need new terms to denote them. However, this is not something unusual, for this is the situation in man’s culture. New terms and expressions are always needed to denote new discoveries. For example, a few centuries ago did we have the words “computer,” “vitamin,” and “X-ray”? No, we did not have these terms because those things had not been discovered. But as soon as something new is discovered, there is the need for an expression or term to designate it. The principle is the same with using new terms and expressions to convey the truths in the Bible. “Triune God” and “Trinity” were new expressions used by the early teachers of the biblical truths to denote the triune Godhead. Some deeper aspects of the truth concerning God’s New Testament economy, which the Lord has shown us in recent years, require new expressions.
Let us use the word “economy” as an illustration. It is not likely that as recently as twenty or twenty-five years ago this word was often used in Christian writings. Instead of the word economy, many teachers used the word “dispensation,” a word that has caused much confusion. What is a dispensation? Some think that a dispensation is merely a period of time. Actually, according to the Bible, the real, genuine, and basic meaning of dispensation is economy — God’s household administration to work Himself into His children. God’s economy is a matter of the Triune God dispensing Himself into the tripartite man. Our use of the expression “God’s economy” is just one illustration of the fact that the Lord’s recovery is going on. In the going on of the Lord’s recovery we need to use certain terms and expressions to convey the truth.
We praise the Lord for what He has shown us from the Word regarding the ascension of the Man-Savior. The more we consider His ascension, the more we are in the heavens, for we are in His ascension. Our Christ today is not only the One through whom everything was created, the One who became incarnate, the One who lived on earth, the One who died on the cross for our sins, and the One who resurrected from among the dead. Today our Christ is the One who, after passing through the lengthy process of creation, incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection, has ascended to the highest and is in the heavens. In His ascension, He was crowned and enthroned, and He was made the Lord and the Christ to possess all and to carry out God’s commission so that God’s economy, His eternal plan, may be fulfilled on earth among us and through us in this age. How wonderful that we have such a Christ in ascension!
