Now we come to His heavenly ministry. Christ’s ministry is first, on the earth and second, in the heavens.
In His heavenly ministry, He, as the pneumatic Christ, the pneumatized Christ, the Spirit of life, indwells us in the heavenlies to give life to our mortal bodies (Rom. 8:2-16) to minister the divine life of the processed and consummated God into us, the dying ones (signified by “mortal bodies”), for the building up of the Body of Christ which will consummate in the New Jerusalem for the accomplishing of the eternal economy of God. He indwells us in the heavenlies. This expression—in the heavenlies—is used by the apostle Paul in Ephesians (1:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12). It refers to the heavenly nature, state, characteristic, and atmosphere. To be in the heavenlies is to be in the atmosphere of the heavens, the realm of the heavens, and with the heavens’ flavor, taste. We are in the United States, in the state of California, in the county of Orange, and in the city of Anaheim on Ball Road. But when we are singing, praising, and enjoying the Lord, we are in the heavenlies. We are neither in the heavens nor on the earth. We are in a kind of atmosphere just like that of the heavens, but not really in the heavens. We experience the flavor, taste, of the heavens.
In His heavenly ministry, He, as the pneumatic Christ, intercedes for us in our weakness with groanings within us in the heavenlies that we may grow in Him unto maturity to reach our sonship in full, which is the redemption of our body, the glorification of our entire being (Rom. 8:23-30). While He is indwelling us, He is ministering life to us and also interceding for us.
We do not realize exactly how Christ prays for us, but all the real seeking Christians are always groaning—“O, Lord. O Lord.” In the morning we may say, “O Lord, have mercy upon me. I know I have to be a vitalized member. I have to be an overcomer. I have to be one in Mount Zion. But You know my situation. I intended and decided to be such a person, but I failed. What shall I do, Lord?” This is your groaning. Do you not groan in this way all the time? This kind of groaning is our groaning, but in our groaning is Christ’s intercession. When you groan in this way for your failure, for your defeat, in your groaning is Christ’s praying for you. Christ is interceding for us in our weakness through our groaning.
If you were stiff-necked and hardened in your heart, you would say, “I don’t care. I want to be an overcomer, but I cannot do it, and I will never do it.” This is not groaning. This is to be stubborn and hardened. But the ones who would receive mercy and grace would groan, “O Lord, O Lord, what shall I do, Lord? How can I overcome all these failures, Lord?” In this is the indwelling Lord’s prayer for you in your weakness. Even in the meetings we may groan by saying, “O Lord Jesus. I don’t know what to say, Lord. O Lord, what should I say? I have much to say, but I don’t know how to start.” When you groan, right away Christ intercedes for you. Then you will have something to say.
He is groaning within us in the heavenlies that we may grow in Him unto maturity. I have the faith that regardless of how many times we are defeated, one day we will reach the goal of maturity. This is because Christ Himself is interceding for us that we may grow unto maturity to reach our full sonship, which is the redemption of our body, the glorification of our entire being. All of these things are in Romans 8. The first section in Romans 8 is the pneumatic Christ indwelling us. The second section in Romans 8 is the pneumatic Christ interceding within us for us.
In the meantime, He, as the ascended Lord of all, as the consummated and ascended God-man and as the Head of the Body, intercedes at the right hand of God in the heavens for us that we, His many brothers and members, who are the many God-men, could overcome the oppositions and any kind of circumstances and be kept in union with Him in His unconditional love, so that we may be conformed to the image of Him, the firstborn Son of God, as the prototype, to be His consummated mass reproduction for the constitution of His corporate and organic Body (Rom. 8:29-39). Christ has different statuses. In the status of the pneumatic Christ, He intercedes within us in the heavenlies. In the status of the ascended Lord, He is interceding for us in the heavens, not in the heavenlies. He intercedes for us so that we may overcome everything in our surroundings. If God is for us, who can defeat us? According to Romans 8:29-39, nothing can defeat us, and we can overcome. These verses are the third section of Romans 8.
Thus, His earthly ministry up to the end of His resurrection produced the many sons of God who are His many brothers as the constituents for the building up of His Body; and His heavenly ministry, from His ascension to His second coming, ministers the divine life to His members that they may grow unto maturity, unto the redemption of their body, the glorification of God’s redeemed people, and keeps all His members in union with Him that they may be conformed to the image of Him as the prototype for the mass reproduction of Him for the carrying out of God’s eternal economy. His earthly ministry prepared, and His heavenly ministry consummates. This is what I call the crystallization of the study of the Bible.