THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Full Ministry of Christ in the Stage of Incarnation
Message One—The Full Ministry of Christ in Three Stages
Scripture Reading: Acts. 2:42; Heb. 1:2a; 1 Tim. 1:3～4，Heb. 1:8～12，Rom. 1:4，1Cor. 15:45b，Rev.5:6
I. The apostles’ teaching is the entire speaking of God in the New Testament; the entire New Testament is the apostles’ teaching—Acts. 2:42; Heb. 1:2a:
A. God’s speaking in the Son as the Man, in the four Gospels—John 14:10; Matt. 28:19-20.
B. God’s speaking did not stop in the four Gospels; He also spoke in the Son as the Spirit through the apostles, from Acts to Revelation—John 16:12-15; 2 Pet. 3:15-16; Rev. 1:1-2; 2:1, 7.
II. The apostles’ teaching is the unique teaching of God’s New Testament economy concerning the full ministry of Christ in three stages—Acts 2:42; 1 Tim. 1:3-4:
A. In the first stage of incarnation in the four Gospels—John 8:58, 28; Luke 1:27, 31, 35; Eph. 3:19; 1 John 1:5; Acts 3:14:
1. To bring the infinite God into the finite man—John 8:58, 28; 1 Tim. 6:16; Heb. 1:8-12.
2. To unite, mingle, and incorporate the Triune God with the tripartite man—Luke 1:27, 31, 35; John 14:10-11.
3. To express in His humanity the bountiful God in His rich attributes through His aromatic virtues—Eph. 3:19; 1 John 1:5; Acts 3:14.
4. To accomplish His all-inclusive judicial redemption—Rom. 1:17a; 3:21-26; 9:30-31.
B. In the second stage of inclusion in the Epistles—Rom. 1:4; Heb. 1:6; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 1 Pet. 1:3:
1. To be begotten as God’s firstborn Son—Rom. 1:4; Heb. 1:6.
2. To become the life-giving Spirit—1 Cor. 15:45b.
3. To regenerate the believers for His Body—1 Pet. 1:3; 1 Cor. 12:13.
C. In the third stage of intensification in Revelation—Rev. 5:6; Rev. 2—3; 21—22:
1. To intensify His organic salvation—Rev. 5:6.
2. To produce the overcomers—Rev. 2—3.
3. To consummate the New Jerusalem—Rev. 21—22.
III. Concerning how to be a co-worker and an elder, there are two precious points: first, to know Christ and second, to experience and enjoy Christ in His full ministry in His three divine and mystical stages—2 Cor. 6:1; Phil. 3:10, 8：
A. To know Christ particularly in four aspects—Phi. 3:10:
1. We need to know particularly that He is both God and man—Math. 26:64; Acts 7:56; Rev.1:13; 14:14; John 1:51.
2. We need to know particularly that Christ possesses both divinity and humanity—Heb. 4:15.
3. We have to know particularly that in His humanity Christ accomplished His judicial redemption through His death—9:22.
4. We need to know particularly that in His divinity Christ is carrying out His organic salvation in His resurrection—Rom. 5:10.
B. It is not enough merely to know Christ; we still need to experience and enjoy Him that we may gain Him; to experience, enjoy, and gain Him is not that simple; we can do this only by being in the full ministry of Christ in His three divine and mystical stages—Phil. 3:8.
IV. Christ in His incarnation was conceived of the Holy Spirit with the divine essence, for the union, mingling, and incorporation of the Triune God with the tripartite man—Luke 1:27; 31, 35; Lev. 2:4-5; John 14:10-11:
A. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit with the divine essence—Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:18, 20:
1. All three of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, joined and participated in this conception.
2. The Father’s divine essence was mingled with the human essence by the Spirit.
3. From such a conception and birth we see the three of the Godhead in humanity.
B. As the God-man, Christ was born of a human virgin and therefore has the essence of man; Christ was born of a human virgin with the human essence—Luke 1:31; Gal. 4:4.
C. He was named Jesus by God and was called the name Emmanuel by man—Matt. 1:21, 23.
D. Union concerns oneness in life; mingling is related to the divine and human natures; and incorporation denotes persons coinhering in each other.
1. Such a conception of the Holy Spirit in a human virgin, accomplished with both the divine and the human essences, constitutes a mingling of the divine nature with the human nature, producing the God-man, the One who is both the complete God and a perfect man, possessing the divine nature and the human nature distinctively, without a third nature being produced; This is the most wonderful and excellent person of Christ in His incarnation.
2. The first definition of the word mingle given in Webster’s Abridged Dictionary is: “to combine or join (one thing with another, or two or more things together), especially so that the original elements are distinguishable in the combination”; according to this definition, when two or more things are mingled together, their original natures are not lost but remain distinguishable; this certainly is the situation regarding Christ as the God-man; He was conceived of two essences, the divine and the human; hence, He is a mingling of God and man.
3. Christ in His incarnation was the incorporation of the Triune God with the tripartite man—John 14:10-11:
a. God in His Divine Trinity is an incorporation.
b. The three of the Divine Trinity are incorporated into one incorporation by coinhering mutually and by working together as one.
c. In His incarnation the second of the Divine Trinity brought this incorporation into humanity.
E. “The crystallized significance of incarnation is not only that divinity was brought into humanity but also that God was brought into man that He might be mingled with man to be a God-man.”
Ministry Excerpts:
TO KNOW CHRIST
To be a co-worker or an elder, first, we must know Christ. In Philippians 3:10 Paul spoke about knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. To know Christ is not a simple matter. I want to fellowship with you concerning how to know Christ mainly in four items. The co-workers and elders must know these items. Not only must you know them, but also you must know them thoroughly and be able to speak them to others. To know Christ is not to know Him in a common way but to know Him in a particular way. The riches of what Christ is, are unsearchable (Eph. 3:8), but among them, there are the four following items which we need to know in particular.
He Is Both God and Man
First, we must know particularly that Christ is both God and man. We should not think that we already know this. We need to be reminded again and again that Christ is both God and man. He was God and He became man, so He is both God and man. Thus, He is a God-man.
He Possesses Both Divinity and Humanity
Second, we need to know that since Christ is a God-man, He possesses both divinity and humanity. Some may say, “We also know this already.” Maybe we know, but we do not know how to speak it. Concerning the divinity and humanity of Christ, we must have a thorough knowledge.
In His Humanity He Accomplished His Judicial Redemption through His Death
Third, we have to know that in His humanity Christ accomplished His judicial redemption through His death. To know Christ, we have to discern clearly that His being in His humanity is one thing and His being in His divinity is another thing. Concerning the redemption of Christ, the general saying is that Christ was a man with blood and flesh, so He could die for us in His flesh. The deeper way, however, is to say that Christ accomplished redemption in His humanity. We should not remain only in the general saying; this is an indication that our knowledge concerning Christ is not deep enough. We must penetrate the deepest part of the divine truth to see the intrinsic significance of Christ in His humanity.
In His Divinity He Is Carrying Out His Organic Salvation in His Resurrection
Fourth, we also need to know that in His divinity Christ is carrying out His organic salvation in His resurrection. We need to see further that Christ’s redemption is different from His salvation. Romans 5:10a says that we “were reconciled to God through the death of His Son”; this refers to His redemption. Romans 5:10b says, “Much more we will be saved in His life”; this refers to His salvation. The organic salvation is being carried out in resurrection by Christ in His divinity. This is new light and the new language given to us by God. In His divinity and in His resurrection, He is carrying out His organic salvation in the believers. The judicial redemption has been accomplished, but the organic salvation is being carried out.
We need to have a clear knowledge concerning these four items. Then whether we are co-workers or elders, when we go to shepherd and teach people, we can speak these things to them in a very clear way. The co-workers and elders need to know Christ particularly in these four main items. You must not despise these four items. You may think that you already know these things, but when you go to speak to others, you may not know how to do it or how to call their attention to the main points. This requires practice. The churches in Taiwan are presently practicing four things: praying, studying, reciting, and speaking. This is the right way. Every co-worker and elder must deal with these four items concerning Christ by pray-reading over them, studying them deeply, reciting them from memory, and speaking them thoroughly to present clearly the main points to others.
TO EXPERIENCE AND ENJOY CHRIST (TO GAIN CHRIST) IN HIS FULL MINISTRY IN HIS THREE DIVINE AND MYSTICAL STAGES
To be a co-worker or an elder, we also need to experience and enjoy Christ (to gain Christ—Phil. 3:8) in His full ministry in His three divine and mystical stages. How can we be a co-worker and an elder? First, we need to know Christ; second, we need to experience and enjoy Christ, that is, to gain Christ, in His full ministry. First, we have the knowledge, and then we have the experience and enjoyment. To experience and enjoy Christ is to gain Christ. In Philippians 3:8 Paul said, “…Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ.” To “have” is not sufficient; we need to “gain.” To gain Christ requires paying a price. To gain Christ is to experience, enjoy, and take possession of all His unsearchable riches by paying a price. This is not so simple. Hence, Paul went on to say, “Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue….I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal” (vv.12-14a). It is not easy to win a game, and it is also not easy to win the victory in a war. These require us to pursue by forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before. Likewise, we need to gain Christ by experiencing and enjoying Him in His full ministry.
In the First Stage, the Stage of His Incarnation,
from His Human Birth to His Death
The full ministry of Christ is in three divine and mystical stages. The first stage, the stage of His incarnation, began with His human birth and ended with His death, including the entire course of His human life. Hence, His human birth, His passing through human living, and His death formed the stage of His incarnation.
To Bring the Infinite God into the Finite Man
In His full ministry in the first stage, the stage of His incarnation, Christ brought the infinite God into the finite man. Some may think that this point is very simple. However, perhaps the most you can say is that Christ in His incarnation brought “God into man”; you cannot say that He brought “the infinite God into the finite man.” This is our new language today. God is infinite, and we human beings are finite. In His full ministry in the stage of His incarnation, Christ brought the infinite God into the finite man. One is infinite and the other is finite—how could the two become one? Nevertheless, it was carried out by Christ in His ministry. This is truly wonderful.
In general, most Christians today know only about the so-called Christmas to celebrate the birth of Christ as our Savior. However, they have not seen anything concerning the mystical aspect of the full ministry of Christ in the stage of His incarnation. I am very concerned and afraid that perhaps many co-workers and elders in the Lord’s recovery have not entered into these deep and profound significances. Because of this, people find nothing interesting in the things which you speak, and they consider them something trite, something which even non-Christians have already heard. However, if you use the new language to speak the things seen in the new culture, telling people that, in His full ministry in the stage of His incarnation, Christ brought the infinite God into the finite man, people will be stirred up and will be interested in listening to you, because this is something not found in the old culture but in the new culture in the divine and mystical realm.
To Unite and Mingle the Triune God with the Tripartite Man
In His full ministry in the first stage of His incarnation, Christ also united and mingled the Triune God with the tripartite man. The Triune God is mysterious, and the tripartite man is difficult to understand. If we simply say that Christ united and mingled God with man, this is easy. However, according to the new language of the new culture in the divine and mystical realm, we need to say that Christ united and mingled the Triune God with the tripartite man. Concerning the Triune God, the Father is the source, the Son is the expression, and the Spirit is the entering in. Concerning the tripartite man, the spirit is the innermost part, the soul is in the middle, and the body is on the outside. This is not easy to explain clearly. Nevertheless, we need to know these things. If we do not have the knowledge, we cannot have the experience or the enjoyment. If we do not have the experience and enjoyment of Christ, we simply cannot gain Christ. Then when we go to speak to others, we will have nothing to say and will be poor in utterance and void of words. Even if we compel ourselves to speak, what we speak will be shallow, simple, and trite.
Some co-workers and elders often would say to me, “I don’t dare to speak about these high truths because the believers whom I am serving cannot understand them according to their present spiritual condition.” My reply is: “It is not that they cannot understand, but it is that you cannot speak clearly.” It is only after we have known, experienced, and gained Christ that we can speak to others, according to the new language in the Lord’s recovery, concerning this Christ whom we have gained. We must learn to use the new language to speak the new culture in the divine and mystical realm. Then people will listen to us with great pleasure and will definitely understand the things we speak. It is only by this way that we are qualified to be co-workers and elders. Otherwise, we are outdated in the Lord’s move in the present age.
The ministry of Christ was not only to unite but even more to mingle the Triune God with the tripartite man. We must be able to tell people clearly what it means to be united and what it means to be mingled. When two pieces of wood are connected together, they are united; when two things are ground into powder and blended together, they are mingled. It is easy to speak concerning the union of God with man, but it is not easy to speak concerning the mingling of God with man. When we preach these truths, we need to explain them in detail.
To Express in His Humanity the Bountiful God in His Rich Attributes through His Aromatic Virtues
In His full ministry in the first stage of His incarnation, Christ also expressed in His humanity the bountiful God in His rich attributes through His aromatic virtues. No one can deny that the human virtues of Christ were aromatic; even when non-Christians read the four Gospels, they sense that the Jesus recorded in these books was a sweet and fragrant One, whose virtues were aromatic. This is because He expressed in His humanity the bountiful God in His rich attributes.
Our attributes are the characteristics of what we are. For example, losing one’s temper easily, loving to speak first, speaking carelessly and irresponsibly, and acting lightly are human attributes. On the other hand, behaving cautiously, speaking rationally, doing things purposefully, and not acting irresponsibly or carelessly are also human attributes. Our God has His attributes, and His attributes are rich because He is great and bountiful. He is love, light, holiness, and righteousness. These rich attributes were expressed by the Lord Jesus in His humanity to become the aromatic virtues in His humanity.
The record in the four Gospels shows that when some people brought their little children to Jesus that He might lay His hands on them and pray, they were rebuked by the disciples. But Jesus said, “Allow the little children and do not prevent them from coming to Me, for of such is the kingdom of the heavens” (Matt. 19:13-15). The Lord’s way was different from the disciples’ way. The disciples did not act in accordance with God’s attributes. God has chosen the foolish, the weak, the lowborn, and the despised of the world (1 Cor. 1:27-28); throughout the generations according to His love, forbearance, and forgiving grace, He has called, one by one, those who are weak and have nothing, who are like the little children. In this way Christ expressed God’s attributes in His humanity.
God is bountiful; hence, He is rich in His attributes, His characteristics. Only some of the rich attributes of the bountiful God were lived out by the Lord on the earth in His humanity and seen by men as the virtues expressed in His humanity, yet these virtues were so aromatic and sweet. In His human living Christ expressed the bountiful God mainly in His rich attributes, that is, in the unsearchable riches of what God is.
Furthermore, Christ in His humanity expressed God through His aromatic virtues by which He attracted and captivated people. The record in Matthew 4 shows us that when the Lord Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Peter, John, and James, who were either fishing or mending nets with their fathers. Then He called them, saying, “Come after Me.” Immediately they followed Him, giving up their net mending, abandoning their boats, and forsaking their fathers (vv. 18-22). To this day I still do not understand why it is that when He simply said, “Come after Me,” the disciples forsook everything to follow Him. I truly believe that at that time the Lord Jesus must have displayed an aromatic power in His countenance and His voice which could really attract and captivate people.
To be attracted and captivated is to be charmed. People often asked us, “Who has captivated you? Wake up!” Once we are charmed by the Lord, we are charmed forever, so it is difficult for us to be awakened. This may be illustrated by a male and a female falling in love at first sight; the male is charmed by the female, and the female is attracted and captivated by the male. Likewise, the Lord must have had an indescribable sweetness and aroma emanating from Him in His humanity. If we had been with the Lord at that time, we also would have been “foolishly” charmed by Him.
Peter was charmed by the Lord to such an extent that although he was rebuked by the Lord frequently, he still determined to follow Him. The Lord’s frequent rebuking could not make him go away. Today I dare not speak strong words to the co-workers and elders. If my rebuke is strong, I am afraid that they will not be able to take it and will quit. However, Peter was thick-skinned. He had been rebuked by the Lord many times, but he still followed Him. On the night of His betrayal, the Lord said to the disciples, “You will all be stumbled because of Me this night.” Then Peter answered and said to Him, “If all will be stumbled because of You, I will never be stumbled” (Matt. 26:31-33). And the Lord said to him, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has asked to have you all to sift you as wheat. But I have made petition concerning you that your faith would not fail.” Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death.” But the Lord said, “I tell you, Peter, a rooster will not crow today until you deny three times that you know Me” (Luke 22:31-34). Not only did Peter disbelieve this word, but he even said, “Even if I must die with You, I will by no means deny You” (Matt. 26:35). Later, while Peter was sitting in the courtyard of the high priest, a little servant girl came to question him. Because of her questioning, Peter denied the Lord. At that time the Lord turned and looked at Peter, and Peter, remembering the Lord’s word to him, went outside and wept bitterly (Luke 22:54-62).
After Peter denied the Lord, the Lord could have forgotten about him. However, the Lord did not forget him. On the morning of the Lord’s resurrection, an angel said to several women, “Go, tell His disciples and Peter…” (Mark 16:7). Also, the Lord personally told Mary the Magdalene, “Go to My brothers…” (John 20:17). The Lord called His disciples “brothers” and particularly mentioned Peter’s name. In this way He captivated Peter.
The Lord Jesus must have possessed some aromatic virtues in His humanity that could attract and captivate people. Otherwise, there could not have been so many people who would follow Him. Among them, there were even a number of noble women who cared only for the Lord and who simply followed Him continually for three and a half years (Luke 8:1-3). Sometimes when the Lord spoke certain words that were in another realm, the divine and mystical realm, His disciples could not understand or apprehend them because they had not yet entered into that realm. It was not until after the Lord’s resurrection, when they had been regenerated, that they understood what the Lord had told them before (John 16:13; cf. 2:22).
Christ expressed His aromatic virtues by which He attracted and captivated people, not by living His human life in the flesh but by living His divine life in resurrection. He was in the flesh, but He did not live by His human life in His flesh; rather, He lived by His divine life in His resurrection. Today, as God-men, by which life do we live? No doubt, we are all in the flesh. Nevertheless, we can get out of the realm of the flesh and enter into resurrection to live by the divine life in resurrection, that is, in the divine and mystical realm.
Today the kind of living we have depends upon the kind of life by which we live in our physical body. We must not live by the human life but by the divine life. Galatians 2:20 says, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” This means that we should not live the life of the old “I” but the life of the new “I.” Dear brothers, we cannot listen to these detailed points and simply let them go. May the Lord cover me. It is after I have studied these things for several decades that I can be led by the Lord to put them into writing. You need to actually experience these things.
To Accomplish His All-inclusive Judicial Redemption
In His full ministry in the first stage of His incarnation, Christ accomplished four great things. First, He brought the infinite God into the finite man; second, He united and mingled the Triune God with the tripartite man; third, He expressed the bountiful God in His rich attributes through His aromatic virtues; and fourth, eventually, He accomplished His all-inclusive judicial redemption. The first two things were concerning His birth, the third thing was concerning His human living, and the fourth thing was concerning His death. After He passed through His human living, He went to die on the cross for the accomplishment of His all-inclusive judicial redemption.
The all-inclusive judicial redemption of Christ is of five aspects. First, He terminated all things of the old creation. Second, He redeemed all the things created by God and fallen in sin (Heb. 2:9; Col. 1:20). Everything belonging to the old creation was terminated by Christ through His death. After this termination, He redeemed back all the things created by God and fallen in sin. Third, He created (conceived) the new man with His divine element. Ephesians 2:15 says that on the cross He created the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers in Himself into one new man. That creation was a conception. Any conception requires an element; without the element, there cannot be a conception. Christ created (conceived) the new man in Himself, indicating that He was the very element for the conceiving of the new man. He conceived in Himself as the element the two peoples into one new man. While the Lord Jesus was dying on the cross, He was creating the new man.
Fourth, when Christ accomplished His all-inclusive judicial redemption, He released His divine life from the shell of His humanity. John 12:24 says that the Lord Jesus was a grain of wheat. Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, its outer shell cannot be broken and its life within cannot be released. Christ had the divine life, but it was concealed in the shell of His humanity. Hence, He needed to suffer death on the cross that the shell of His humanity might be broken to release His divine life from His human shell.
Fifth, in accomplishing His all-inclusive judicial death, Christ also laid a foundation for His organic salvation and set up the procedure to attain His ministry in the stage of His inclusion. Christ’s judicial redemption is the foundation of His organic salvation. Christ in His full ministry in the second stage of His inclusion requires a procedure, and His judicial redemption is such a procedure to accomplish His ministry in the stage of His inclusion.
LEARNING TO ENTER INTO, TO SPEAK, AND TO EXPERIENCE
Concerning all the crucial points mentioned above, we need to learn them in a thorough and penetrating way and spend time to study them with much endeavoring. I have spoken on some of these crucial points before, and you have also heard them. Nevertheless, you need to learn to enter into them, to speak them, and to let all of them become your experience. (How to Be a Co-worker and an Elder and How to Fulfill Their Obligations, msg. 1)