Through the once-for-all baptism in the all-inclusive Spirit, the church, in the eyes of God, was once for all, universally formed to be the fullness of Christ for His universal expression. It is after this universal formation of the Body of Christ that, through the centuries, all God’s chosen people were, are, and will be brought into not only the reality but also the practicality of the Body of Christ until the completion is reached.
The formation of the church took place in two steps at two different times: on the day of Pentecost and when Peter was in the house of Cornelius (Acts 2:1; 10:24). What happened on the day of Pentecost with the Jewish believers and in the house of Cornelius with the Gentile believers was for the formation of the church, the Body of Christ.
The church has been formed directly by Christ the Head (Matt. 16:18). Ephesians 1:22 and 23 tell us that God gave Christ to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body. The important phrase “to the church” implies that whatever Christ the Head has attained and obtained is transmitted to the church. This transmission from the Head is the source of the Body.
The formation of the church by Christ the Head took place through the outpouring of the Spirit (Acts 2:17-18, 33). The outpouring of the Spirit differs from the breathing of the Spirit into the disciples out of the mouth of Christ at His resurrection. The pouring out of God’s Spirit was from the heavens at Christ’s ascension. The former is the essential aspect of the Spirit breathed into the disciples as life for their living; the latter is the economical aspect of the Spirit poured upon them as power for their work. The same Spirit is both within them essentially and upon them economically.
The pouring out of the Spirit at Christ’s ascension was the descension of the resurrected and ascended Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit to carry out His heavenly ministry on earth to build up the church as His Body for God’s New Testament economy.
In Acts 2:33 Peter, speaking of the Lord Jesus, says, “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He poured out this which you both see and hear.” This was not the promise given by the Holy Spirit but the promise given by the Father in Joel 2:29, quoted by Peter in Acts 2:17, and referred to by the Lord in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:4, concerning the Holy Spirit. The exalted Christ’s receiving of the promise of the Holy Spirit is actually the receiving of the Holy Spirit Himself. Christ was conceived of the Spirit essentially for His being in humanity (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:18, 20) and was anointed with the Spirit economically for His ministry among men (Luke 4:18). After His resurrection and ascension, He still needed to receive the Spirit economically again that He might pour Himself out upon His Body to carry out on earth His heavenly ministry for the accomplishment of God’s New Testament economy.
Home | First | Prev | Next