Now we want to go on to see the offices of Christ in His ascension. In His ascension He is the Christ (Acts 2:36b). He is God’s anointed One to carry out God’s commission, the great commission of God’s eternal, New Testament economy. As the Christ, He has been commissioned and appointed by God to carry out God’s eternal plan, His eternal economy. He is also the Lord (Acts 2:36b; 10:36b). As the Lord, He is the Possessor, the Owner, the One that has the power to possess all things, all matters, and all persons. Christ is the Possessor and the Owner of everything in the universe.
In His ascension He is the Leader, the Ruler (Acts 5:31a). The Greek word for leader also means prince, author, or originator (Acts 3:15). Christ is the Ruler as the Leader. He rules all the things on earth. Acts 5:31 indicates that Christ as the Ruler and the Leader directs the whole world situation and environment so that God’s chosen ones can be saved one by one. He rules sovereignly over the earth with His authority that the environment might be fit for God’s chosen people to receive His salvation (cf. Acts 17:26-27; John 17:2).
The Leader then becomes our Savior (Acts 5:31a). He directed us into a position to save us, and He is qualified to save us. In ascension He is not only our Savior but also our High Priest (Heb. 4:14-15; 7:26). After saving us, He is now praying for us in the heavens. Now Christ as the High Priest is taking care of us before the face of God, and He is taking care of us in our environment. He is also a Minister (Heb. 8:2). While He is praying for us and taking care of us, He is ministering Himself with all of His riches into us. In His ascension, Christ is also the Ruler of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5a). All of the kings are under Him. The rulers of this world are not the real rulers. Christ is the One ruling over the world. He is also the Head over all things (Eph. 1:22) and the Head of the church (Eph. 5:23a).
No one can compare with Christ. He is the Christ, the Lord, the Leader, the Savior, the High Priest, the Minister, the Ruler of the kings of the earth, the Head over all things, and the Head of the church. His being the Head over all things is for Him to be the Head of the church. This means that whatever He is, is for the church. We are now in the church, which is greatly blessed by having the all-inclusive Christ as its Head.
The heavenly ministry of Christ is the continuation and complement of His earthly ministry. We should not think that Christ’s ministry is finished. His ministry is still going on in the heavens. His ministry in the heavens is a continuation of the ministry He accomplished on this earth. This continuation is also the complement. Without Christ’s heavenly ministry, His earthly ministry could never be complemented or completed.
Christ’s earthly ministry began from His being baptized in water and anointed with the Holy Spirit and ended in His resurrection (Matt. 3:16; Luke 4:18-19; Mark 16:9a, 19). When Christ was baptized in water, He was anointed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit as a dove descended upon Him. That was the anointing of God through the Holy Spirit. That inaugurated Him into His ministry. First, He was assigned and appointed by God. Then He was inaugurated at the Jordan River when He was baptized. From His being baptized to His resurrection was the period of time of His earthly ministry. The major items in the section of His earthly ministry are His human living, His crucifixion, and His resurrection.
Christ’s heavenly ministry began from His outpouring of the Holy Spirit and will end in His second appearing on the earth (Acts 2:1-4, 17, 33; Heb. 9:28b; 2 Tim. 4:1b). The major items in the section of His heavenly ministry are to take care of the church, making it a glorious church, to enforce the new covenant and execute the new testament, to minister to the believers as the High Priest, the Advocate, and the Minister in the heavens, to come back, and to transfigure His believers.
In His earthly ministry, He ministered as the Lamb (John 1:29). As the Lamb in His earthly ministry, Christ accomplished God’s full redemption for us by being slain on the cross to die the all-inclusive death according to God’s requirements of righteousness, holiness, and glory.
In His heavenly ministry, He ministers as the Lion-Lamb (Rev. 5:5-7). The Lion-Lamb indicates that the very Christ who was the Redeemer has become a Victor as the Lion. In His heavenly ministry, as such a Victor, He will conquer all His enemies and bring in His kingdom to this earth.