THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
The Divine Trinity
Message Three—The Accomplishments of the Processed Triune God
Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4-16; John 1:14; Gal. 5:24; Rom. 8:3b; Acts 13:33
I. The accomplishments of the processed and consummated Triune God, everything He has done and is doing for us, are heavenly, spiritual, mysterious, marvelous, excellent, divine and human as well.—1 Cor. 2:13; Heb. 6:4; 2:14; Col. 1:27; 1 Pet. 2:9.
II. Whatever God has done and is doing is all for the organic Body of Christ in God’s new creation—2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:12.
III. All the accomplishments of the processed and consummated Triune God are for the carrying out of His New Testament economy—Eph. 1:10; 1 Tim. 1:3.
IV. God’s incarnation (John 1:14) was clearly promised and prophesied in the Old Testament; a seed of the woman would come to bruise that serpent’s head; this seed of the woman is Christ—Gen. 3:15; Matt. 1:20; John 1:14:
A. To bring God into man by having God incarnated to be a man in the flesh—Gen. 3:15; 22:18; 2 Sam. 7:12-14; Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Micah 5:2.
B. To mingle divinity with humanity; to be born of the divine Spirit and of a human virgin—Matt. 1:20.
C. To produce a God-man—Emmanuel, as the prototype for the mass reproduction of many God-men—Matt. 1:23.
V. The second great accomplishment of the processed and consummated Triune God was His passing through human living for thirty-three and a half years—Luke 3:23:
A. By living a human life to express the divine attributes as human virtues, thus expressing God in humanity—Luke 3:23-25.
B. By living a crucified human life to express the divine life—Phil. 2:6-8.
C. To set up a model for the many upcoming God-men—being crucified to live that God might be expressed through humanity—1 Pet. 2:21.
VI. On the cross Christ died an all-inclusive death—John 19:30; Gal. 5:24; Colo. 2:14; Gal. 2:20a; John 12:24:
A. Crucifying the flesh of sin—Gal. 5:24; Rom. 8:3b.
B. Condemning sin and taking away sin (including sins) by shedding the blood—Rom. 7:18; 8:3b; John 1:29; Heb. 9:26b, 28a; John 19:34b.
C. Destroying the devil, who has the might of death and who is related to the flesh of man—Heb. 2:14; John 12:31b.
D. Judging the world and casting out its ruler, the devil—John 12:31; Gal. 6:14b.
E. Crucifying the old man—Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20a; 6:14b.
F. Terminating the old creation by the crucifixion of the old man—Rom. 6:6.
G. Abolishing the law of the commandments in ordinances—Eph. 2:15a.
H. Releasing the divine life from the one grain into many grains, signified by the flowing of water at the death of Christ—John 12:24; 19:34b.
VII. The all-conquering resurrection—Acts 13:33; 1 Pet. 1:3; 1 Cor. 15:45b:
A. By uplifting the humanity of Christ into His divinity and by having Christ born of God, that is, by designating the seed of David by the divinity (the Spirit of holiness) of Christ in the power of resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God—Acts 13:33; Psa. 2:7; Rom. 1:4; 8:29; Heb. 1:3-6.
B. Regenerating all of God’s chosen people to be the many sons of God and the many brothers of the firstborn Son of God—the resurrected God-man, Christ—1 Pet. 1:3; Heb. 2:10; Rom. 8:29.
C. Consummating the Spirit of God to be the life-giving Spirit—1 Cor. 15:45b:
1. The Spirit of Christ—the pneumatic Christ, the pneumatized Christ—Rom. 8:9.
2. The ultimate consummation of the processed and consummated Triune God, who is embodied in the pneumatized Christ realized as the life-giving Spirit.
3. The reality of resurrection, which is Christ Himself and the processed and consummated Triune God—John 11:25; 1 John 5:6.
VIII. The all-transcending ascension—Eph. 1:20-21; Acts 2:36; Heb. 4:14; 7:26; Rom. 8:34:
A. Christ in His ascension transcending Hades (where the dead people are being held), the earth (where the fallen men are moving against God), the air (where Satan and his power of darkness are acting against God), and all the heavens (where Satan can go)—Eph. 1:20-21; 4:8-10; Heb. 4:14; 7:26.
B. To be transmitted into the church, which is the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all in all—Eph. 1:22-23.
C. To be the Head of the Body, the church, having the first place in all things—Col. 1:18.
D. To be made both Lord and Christ—Acts 2:36; 5:31.
E. To be our High Priest in God’s New Testament economy—Heb. 4:14; 7:26; 9:11.
F. To be the Mediator of the new covenant—v. 15.
G. To be the surety of the better covenant—7:22.
H. To be the Minister in the heavenly Holy of Holies—8:2.
I. To be the Paraclete (Advocate) of the New Testament believers—1 John 2:1; John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7.
J. To be the New Testament believers’ Intercessor at the right hand of God and within them as well—Rom. 8:34, 26.
IX. All these excellent, divine, and human accomplishments are for the producing and building up of the organic Body of Christ as the organism of the processed and consummated Triune God, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth as the expansion and expression of the processed and consummated Triune God in humanity for eternity—Eph. 1:23; 4:12, 16; Rev. 21:1-22:5.
Ministry Excerpts:
BEING INCARNATED
By sending His Son God Himself was incarnated. Actually, God sent His Son through the incarnation. The New Testament way of speaking about the incarnation is to say that the Word, which is God, became flesh (John 1:1, 14) and that God was manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16).
It was surely a marvelous thing for God to come into man and to be born of mankind through a virgin. Our God became a man! In creation He was the Creator. But though He created all things, He did not enter into any of the things He created. Even in creating man He only breathed the breath of life into him (Gen. 2:7). He was still outside man. His breath, according to Job 33:4, gave man life; however, He Himself did not come into man. Until the incarnation He was separate from man. But with the incarnation He personally entered into man. He was first conceived and then remained in the virgin’s womb for nine months, after which He was born.
It is important for us to realize that it was the entire God and not only the Son of God who was incarnated. The Word, which was God, became flesh. We need to realize that this God, who the Word was, is not only a partial God, that is, not only God the Son but God the Son, God the Father, and God the Spirit, the entire God. The New Testament does not say that the Word, who became flesh, was God the Son. Rather, the New Testament says that in the beginning was the Word, and this Word was the entire Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. It was the entire God, the complete God, that became flesh. The whole God was manifested in the flesh. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 16)
PASSING THROUGH DEATH IN THE SON
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. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 17)
BEARING THE SINS OF MANY
On the cross Christ bore our sins. According to Isaiah 53:6, when Christ was on the cross God took all our sins and put them upon this Lamb of God. Hebrews 9:28 says that Christ has been “once offered to bear the sins of many.” Christ died once to bear our sins, and He suffered the judgment for us on the cross (Isa. 53:5, 11).
First Peter 2:24 tells us that Christ “carried up our sins in His body onto the tree, in order that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness.” The tree in this verse denotes the cross made of wood, a Roman instrument of capital punishment for the execution of malefactors, as prophesied in the Old Testament (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13). Sins here, as in Hebrews 9:28, refer to sins we commit in our outward conduct, whereas sin in John 1:29 refers to the sin that is in our nature by birth. Christ died for our sins, carrying up our sins onto the cross, that we might be forgiven by God.
The subjective aspect of the cross of Christ continues in our experience today by the Spirit. The life-giving Spirit is working within us continually to carry out the subjective aspect of Christ’s cross in our living. Christ’s death has drawn a separating line between us and sins. Now through His death we are being kept away from sins. This is the objective cross becoming subjective to us in our experience through the working of the life-giving Spirit within us. When we call on the name of the Lord and have fellowship with Him, the life-giving Spirit operates within us. Spontaneously we experience the subjective working of the cross to make a separation between us and sins so that we automatically live to righteousness. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 71)
BECOMING THE LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT
In resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). This was not an easy matter; on the contrary, it was a great work. In order to accomplish the work of becoming the life-giving Spirit, the Lord Jesus had to pass through death and then, in resurrection, do certain wonderful things. Now He is the Spirit who gives life, the Spirit who imparts life to us, the Spirit who dispenses Himself as life into the believers.
Christ’s resurrection was His transfiguration into the life-giving Spirit. He was Christ in the flesh, but He has been transfigured into the pneumatic Christ, the Christ who is the life-giving Spirit. Resurrection was His actual transfiguration. Before His death and resurrection He was transfigured on the Mount of Transfiguration. However, that transfiguration was temporary. His actual transfiguration was His resurrection, for in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit.
If we are lacking in revelation, in proper spiritual vision, we may not realize that in resurrection Christ as the last Adam became the life-giving Spirit. To deny that Christ is the life-giving Spirit is equal to denying the reality of resurrection. The life-giving Spirit is the life pulse of Christ’s resurrection. If Christ had merely been resurrected with a body and had not become the life-giving Spirit, His resurrection would not mean nearly as much to us. It would simply be an objective fact unrelated to life. It could then be compared to the resurrection of Lazarus. The resurrection of Lazarus was merely an act of resurrection; it did not produce anything related to life. But Christ’s resurrection is a matter absolutely related to life, for in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit who imparts life.
Resurrection was not merely an objective act accomplished by Christ. It is very much related to us subjectively. Through incarnation Christ became a man. Incarnation was much more than an objective fact; it was a process that brought God into humanity. The principle is the same with the process of resurrection. Resurrection was not merely an act in itself; it was a process to bring forth the life-giving Spirit. Through the process of resurrection Christ, who ended the old creation, became the life-giving Spirit, the germinating element of the new creation. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 74)
SENDING FORTH THE HOLY SPIRIT, PROMISED BY THE FATHER,
UPON THE BELIEVERS ECONOMICALLY
FOR HIS PROPAGATION TO PRODUCE THE CHURCH
After receiving the believers as gifts and giving them to the church, Christ, in His heavenly ministry, sent forth the Holy Spirit, promised by the Father, upon the believers economically for His propagation to produce the church. In Luke 24:49 the Lord Jesus said, “Behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you, stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” The promise here is the promise of Joel 2:28 and 29, fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:4-5, 8; 2:1-4, 16-18), for the outpouring as the power from on high for the believers’ ministry economically. This is different from the Spirit of life, who was breathed into the believers (John 20:22) by the resurrected Christ on the day of His resurrection for His indwelling so that He might be life to them essentially.
In order to carry out the work of propagation for the producing of the church, Christ’s disciples needed to be equipped with the Spirit economically. Essentially, they had what they needed; economically, however, there was a lack. They were to wait in Jerusalem until the ascended Christ poured out upon them the promise of the Father, the promise of the economical Spirit. After His ascension and enthronement, Christ poured out the economical Spirit upon the believers, who had already become members of the Body of Christ essentially. What had been accomplished by Christ in His resurrection was something essential. But the sending forth of the Holy Spirit upon the believers, accomplished by the Lord in His heavenly ministry, was economical. (The Conclusion of New Testament, msg. 75)
AS MEDIATOR OF THE NEW COVENANT,
EXECUTING THAT COVENANT,
WHICH IS THE NEW TESTAMENT,
ENACTED AND BEQUEATHED TO US BY HIS DEATH
In His heavenly ministry Christ, as Mediator of the new covenant, is executing that covenant, which is the new testament, enacted and bequeathed to us by His death (Heb. 9:15). In Greek the same word is used for both covenant and testament. A covenant is an agreement with some promises to accomplish certain things for the covenanted people, while a testament is a will with certain accomplished things bequeathed to the inheritors. The new covenant consummated with the blood of Christ is not merely a covenant but a testament with all the things which have been accomplished by the death of Christ bequeathed to us. First God gave the promise that He would make a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34). Then Christ shed His blood to enact the covenant (Luke 22:20). Because these are accomplished facts promised in this covenant, it is also a testament. This testament, this will, has been confirmed and validated by Christ’s death, and it is being executed and enforced by Christ in His heavenly ministry. The promise of God’s covenant is ensured by God’s faithfulness; God’s covenant is guaranteed by God’s righteousness; and the new testament is enforced by the resurrected and ascended Christ in His heavenly ministry.
Christ is now in the heavens, living, divine, and capable of executing the new testament. Nothing can frustrate Him. He, the living One, is able to execute the new testament in every detail. As He executes the new testament, He makes every bequest contained in it available and real to us.
What Christ is executing today is not merely the new covenant but the new testament, a will that was enacted by His death and bequeathed to us through His resurrection. Now in His heavenly ministry He is executing this will with all its bequests. In ourselves we would never imagine that Christ today, the Mediator of the new covenant, is working to execute this covenant, which has become the new testament. We need to see this crucial aspect of Christ’s work in His heavenly ministry. (The Conclusion of New Testament, msg. 76)