CHAPTER TWO

TO ENTER INTO THE MYSTICAL REALM OF CHRIST’S HEAVENLY MINISTRY

OUTLINE

1. Passing through the physical realm of Christ’s earthly ministry:
   1. In the physical realm of His earthly ministry, Christ is the Christ in the flesh:
      1. For thirty-three and a half years, from His incarnation to become the flesh to His all- inclusive death.
      2. In His flesh (Col. 1:22) Christ carried out His earthly ministry by accomplishing God’s judicial redemption, resulting objectively in God’s:
         1. Forgiveness of the believers’ sins-Eph. 1:7.
         2. Washing away the believers’ sins-Heb. 1:3.
         3. Justifying the believers-Rom. 3:24.
         4. Reconciling the believers as His enemies to Himself-Rom. 5:10a.
         5. Sanctifying the believers in their position unto Himself as His holy people-Heb. 13:12; 10:29.
      3. As a procedure of the complete salvation of God for the believers to participate in God’s organic salvation as the purpose of the complete salvation of God.
   2. One who has experienced God’s judicial redemption may be considered saved by being redeemed only, but he still needs to be saved more by God’s organic salvation in the accomplishing of God’s economy.
2. To enter into the mystical realm of Christ’s heavenly ministry:
   1. In the mystical realm of His heavenly ministry, Christ is the Christ as the life-giving Spirit:
      1. From His resurrection in which He became the life-giving Spirit through eternity.
      2. As the life-giving Spirit (Rom. 8:9-10; 2 Cor. 3:17-18), Christ is carrying out His heavenly ministry by accomplishing God’s organic salvation subjectively in eight steps:
         1. Regeneration-to generate the redeemed believers with His divine life that they may be born of God to be His children of His species-John 1:12-13; 3:6b.
         2. Feeding-to feed the newborn babes by regeneration in His shepherding His flock by nourishing and cherishing (Eph. 5:29) that His sheep may grow in the divine life unto maturity-John 10:10-11, 14-16; 21:15-17; Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 5:4; 2:25.
         3. Dispositional sanctification-to sanctify the believers who are growing in the divine life in their disposition with the holy nature of God-Rom. 15:16; 6:19, 22; 1 Thes. 5:23.
         4. Renewing-to have their mind changed in their religion, logic, and philosophy concerning the universe, mankind, God, etc., by the Spirit of truth with the revelations of the Scriptures, even to have Christ’s mind replacing their mind through the consuming work of the cross-Titus 3:5; Rom. 12:2b; Eph. 4:23; Rom. 8:6; Phil. 2:5; 2 Cor. 4:16.
         5. Transformation-to be transformed not only in the nature within but much more in the outward form for expression. It is not a correction nor merely an outward change; it is an inward metabolism by having more of the element of the divine life added to the believers for the outward expression-Rom. 12:2b; 2 Cor. 3:18.
         6. Building up-the believers’ growth in the divine life and their being joined together with other believers in the divine life (Eph. 4:15-16). Renewing issues in transformation, and transformation issues in building up. This is fully proven by the wall with its foundations of the New Jerusalem. The wall of the New Jerusalem is of jasper, expressing the appearance of God (Rev. 4:3). While the jasper stones were being transformed, they were joined together and built up into a wall.
         7. Conformation-to be conformed to the full-grown image of the firstborn Son of God, who is the first God-man, as the prototype for mass reproduction. He is God mingled with man and man mingled with God to live a God-man living that expresses all the attributes of God as human virtues for the expression of the divine glory in humanity, whose ultimate consummation, whose maturity in the divine life, is the New Jerusalem-Rom. 8:29; 1:4; Eph. 4:14; Rev. 21.
         8. Glorification-to be saturated with the divine glory from within in the maturity of the divine life and to be glorified from without by and with the divine glory as the finalization of God’s judicial redemption of the believers’ body and the top portion of the divine sonship in God’s organic salvation-Rom. 8:30; Heb. 2:10; Phil. 3:21; Eph. 4:30; Rom. 8:23.
   2. We must be reminded all the time that Christ accomplishes God’s organic salvation not by Himself as the Christ in the flesh but by Himself as the Spirit.
   3. We also have to remember that all the items of God’s organic salvation are carried out not by Christ’s earthly ministry judicially and objectively but by His heavenly ministry organically and subjectively.