Message Six

God’s Central Testimony—
the Incarnated, Crucified, Resurrected, and
Ascended Christ as the All-inclusive One

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:22-36; 3:13-15, 22-23, 26;
4:10-12; 5:30-31; 9:20, 22; 13:33-34

1. As we study the book of Acts, we need to have the view of the Lord Jesus as the One who is on the throne economically and within us essentially; this is the revelation that precedes the book of Acts—Heb. 12:2; Rev. 5:6; 2 Tim. 4:22; 1 Cor. 6:17.
2. God’s central testimony is the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ—Acts 1:3, 9-11; 2:22-24, 32-36.
3. We all need the full enjoyment of Christ as the Feast of Harvest; this full enjoyment of Christ is actually the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God reaching us—v. 1, footnote 1.
4. All the apostles carried out the same ministry to bear the testimony of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, announcing Christ in His person and work—1:17; 9:20, 22; 10:36-43:
   1. With Christ there are two main aspects—the aspect of His person and the aspect of His work; the Son of God denotes His person, and the Christ denotes His work—9:20, 22; John 20:31:
      1. For the Lord Jesus to be the Son of God means that He is God, the One with the unique divine source—1:18; 3:16.
      2. For the Lord Jesus to be the Christ means that He is the God-anointed and God-appointed One to carry out whatever God intends—Matt. 16:16-18.
   2. Peter witnessed concerning the man Jesus in His work, death, resurrection, and ascension—Acts 2:22-36:
      1. While Christ was living and ministering, whatever He did was an exhibition that His work was done by God and was fully tested, proved, and approved by God—v. 22.
      2. The Lord’s crucifixion was not an accident in human history but a purposeful fulfillment of the divine counsel determined by God, taking place according to the eternal predestination of the Triune God—v. 23.
      3. Christ’s resurrection was God’s approval and declaration of Him as the real Messiah, the One anointed and appointed by God to carry out His eternal commission—vv. 24-32.
      4. Christ’s ascension was God’s exaltation of Him; the pouring out of the Holy Spirit was a proof that God had exalted the Lord Jesus and made Him both Lord and Christ—vv. 33-36.
   3. Jesus’ incarnation made Him a man, His human living on earth qualified Him to be man’s Savior, His crucifixion accomplished full redemption for man, His resurrection vindicated His redemptive work, and His exaltation inaugurated Him to be the ruling Leader that He might be the Savior; this exalting of Him was the ultimate step in His being perfected to be the Savior of man—5:30-31; Heb. 2:10; 5:9.
5. The apostles’ testimony of Jesus Christ, the Lord of all, was all-inclusive; as depicted in the book of Acts, they preached and ministered the all-inclusive Christ—3:13-26; 4:10-12; 13:22-39:
   1. In his ministry Peter announced the all-inclusive Christ—3:13-26; 4:10-12:
      1. The Lord Jesus, the Servant of God, the Healer, is the holy and righteous One— 3:13-14, 16:
         1. As the holy One, He is absolutely for God, unto God, and one with God.
         2. As the righteous One, He is right with God and with everyone and everything—v. 14.
      2. Christ is the Author of life, the origin and Originator of life, the Chief Leader in life—v. 15.
      3. The Lord Jesus is the Prophet, who speaks for God and speaks forth God—vv. 22-23.
      4. Christ is the seasons of refreshing; to have Christ is to have times of refreshing—v. 20.
      5. Christ is the seed in whom we receive God’s blessing—v. 25.
      6. God’s way of sending the ascended Christ was by pouring out the Spirit; when the outpoured Spirit came to the people, that was Christ, the ascended One, sent by God to them—v. 26.
      7. As the Stone-Savior, Christ is the material for God’s building; in resurrection God made Him the cornerstone, the prominent stone that joins the walls of a building—4:10-12.
   2. In his ministry Paul announced the all-inclusive Christ; he carried out a work of presenting, conveying, and ministering the all-inclusive Christ realized as the life-giving Spirit—13:22-39; 1 Cor. 15:45b:
      1. Through resurrection Christ became the firstborn Son of God; God’s raising up Jesus from the dead was His begetting of Him to be His firstborn Son—Acts 13:33; Rom. 8:29:
         1. As the only begotten Son, the Lord is the embodiment of the divine life—John 1:4; 1 John 5:11-12.
         2. As the firstborn Son, Christ is the life-dispenser for the propagation of life—Rom. 1:3-4; 8:2, 6, 10-11, 29.
         3. In Acts 13 Paul was preaching Christ as the firstborn Son for propagation; for this reason, he preached the resurrection of the Lord Jesus as His birth in His humanity to be God’s firstborn Son—v. 33.
      2. The resurrected Christ is a great gift given by God to us, and this gift is entitled the holy things of David, the faithful things—v. 34:
         1. This Holy One is Christ, the Son of David, in whom God’s mercies are centered and conveyed; hence, the holy things of David, the faithful things refers to the resurrected Christ.
         2. The holy and faithful things are all the aspects of what Christ is—Christ Himself as mercies to us, an all-inclusive gift given by God to us for our experience and enjoyment—v. 34.