Elijah was a man who received authority from God to control the weather (1 Kings 17:1; 18:41-45). The book of James tells us that Elijah prayed that it should not rain and it did not rain on the earth for three and a half years. Then Elijah prayed again and it rained (James 5:17-18). Elijah had a mantle, and that piece of clothing was his uniform, his authority, to control the heavens for God’s administration. He had the power from God, and that power was in his mantle. Elisha realized that he needed the mantle of Elijah to carry out God’s administration. When Elijah ascended to the heavens, his mantle was transferred to Elisha (2 Kings 2:12-15). Therefore, Elisha inherited the power and the authority which was in the uniform of Elijah.
If a man puts on a police uniform, we all must respect him. Actually, our respect is for his uniform. His uniform is his power and his authority because it represents his government’s administration. The disciples were charged by the Lord to wait in Jerusalem until such a mantle, such a uniform, would descend upon them. Then they would all be clothed with the heavenly uniform, which is the power from on high. After they prayed for ten days, this mantle came down from heaven and they all received the uniform. This mantle, this power from on high, was the ascended, exalted Christ poured down upon them.
The Bible tells us that Christ ascended into heaven (Eph. 4:8-9; Heb. 9:24), but it also says that he was taken up and exalted by God (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:51; Phil. 2:9). After God exalted Him, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples. The Son ascended, the Father exalted Him, and the Spirit was poured out. The Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, was fully involved with the ascension and the pouring out of the Spirit. In the Son’s death the Triune God was involved, in the Son’s resurrection the Triune God was involved, and in the Son’s ascension and exaltation the Triune God is also involved. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are wrapped up with the Son’s ascension and the pouring out of the Spirit.
In the Son’s ascension God exalted Him, and His exaltation includes the highest attainment. In His ascension He obtained the kingship (Acts 5:31; Rev. 17:14), the lordship (Acts 2:36), the enthronement (Heb. 12:2), the headship (Eph. 1:22), and the glory and honor (Heb. 2:9). All authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18; Eph. 1:20-21). All these attainments of Christ are not essential for us and have nothing to do with us intrinsically, but these attainments have everything to do with us economically. If a government is weak and disorderly, the policeman’s uniform does not mean that much. But if the government is strong, proper, full of power, and orderly, the uniform of the policeman means a lot. If Jesus had never been exalted and had never received the kingship, lordship, headship, the enthronement, the glory and honor, and all the authority, nothing could have been carried out economically. Even though He succeeded in incarnation, human living, death, and resurrection, He still needed to be inaugurated into His heavenly office with all its attainments.
We should praise the Lord that our Christ has ascended and that God has exalted Him. He is the top One in the whole universe sitting on the unique throne in the universe. He is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the Head of all things. He has received all the authority, and He has a name above every name (Phil. 2:9). After His ascension, His exaltation, He poured out Himself as authority on His disciples. This poured out, exalted Christ is the authority of the entire universe, and this poured out, exalted Christ has become our clothing, our uniform. Now we not only have His life essentially, but we also are equipped and qualified economically with His authority to carry out God’s economy, God’s administration.
The very Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2) as the breath breathed into us is absolutely for life. We have the Triune God in His humanity with His human living, His all-inclusive death, and His excellent resurrection within us as our life. This is satisfying to the uttermost, but we still need the equipment, the power, the authority, the heavenly uniform. After ten days of prayer, the exalted, pneumatic Christ was poured out upon the disciples. He was breathed into them on the evening of the day of the resurrection as their life essentially, and He was poured out upon them on the day of Pentecost as their authority, as their mantle, as their clothing, as their heavenly uniform economically. Our friends, colleagues, neighbors, and family may not realize that we are wearing the exalted, pneumatic Christ as our uniform, but every demon and evil spirit knows this. They know that we are authorized, and that we are part of the ascended Christ.
Thus far, in our definition of the divine Trinity and of our experience of the divine Trinity, we have used two new words in our spiritual vocabulary: “essential” refers to the existence, to the being, and to the life for existence; “economical” refers to economy, work, and function. When we say the essential Trinity, we mean the divine Trinity in His existence, referring to His Being. When we say the economical Trinity, we mean the divine Trinity in His economy, referring to His move, work, and function. To experience the Triune God as our life for our spiritual being, spiritual existence, is essential. To experience the Triune God as power for our spiritual work and spiritual function, is economical. To feed on the Lord as food, to drink Him as water, and to breathe Him as air is essential because it is related to the inner life for our spiritual existence. To put on the Lord as our clothing, to be clothed with the outpoured Spirit as power from on high, is economical because it is related to the outward move and work. On the day of resurrection, the Lord breathed the Spirit of life into the disciples. That is essential. On the day of Pentecost, the Lord poured out the Spirit of power upon the disciples. This is economical. On the one hand, they received the Spirit of life into their being essentially, and on the other hand, they received the Spirit of power upon them economically. Eventually, they became persons of the all-inclusive Spirit as the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God.