Prayer: Lord, how we thank You that You have gathered us again into Your name. Today the whole world is busy, yet You have separated us unto Yourself that we may come here to know You through Your word. We want to be clear about You, about Your steps, about Your stages, about what You are and what You have done. Lord Jesus, be with us tonight. Cover us with Your prevailing blood against all the frustrations from the dark one. Lord, we trust in You that You will come to anoint every one of us, to anoint every action in this meeting. And Lord, we do tell You that we love You. We desire to live You. So we want to know You in every detail. Lord, defeat the enemy, and be merciful to each one of us. Amen.
In this message and the next two messages, the subject will be "The All-inclusive Christ in His Four Stages according to God's New Testament Economy." If we desire to know Christ according to Isaiah 53, we must realize that Isaiah 53 speaks clearly concerning Christ in four stages. The first stage is the stage of Christ's incarnation; the second, the stage of His crucifixion; the third, the stage of His resurrection; and the fourth, the stage of His ascension. In this message we will consider the first two stages, and in the next two messages we will see the last two stages.
Isaiah 53 is a very significant chapter. This chapter is a confession that will be made by the household of Israel who will be saved at the Lord's coming back. Zechariah 12 tells us that when the Lord Jesus comes back, the household of Israel will be saved on the same day and even at the same time. Zechariah tells us that the Jews will return to their fathers' land (8:7-8). At the beginning of the last week, the last seven years of this age, Antichrist will make a covenant with Israel, and in the middle of that week he will change his mind (Dan. 9:27). Then, for three and a half years he will persecute the Jews to the uttermost. According to Zechariah 13:8, two-thirds of the Jews will be killed by him; only one-third will be left. Those who remain will probably be mostly in the area of Jerusalem. After killing that many Jews, Antichrist will still not be satisfied. According to Zechariah 14:2, he will capture Jerusalem, and half of the city will be exiled. Those who remain will constitute only about one-sixth of the Jews who return to their fathers' land. At that juncture Antichrist will attempt to devour, to destroy, the entire race of Israel, but the Lord will come down to defeat him, and the remaining Jews will see Him and recognize Him as the One whom their forefathers pierced. Then they will all repent and wail (12:10-14). By so doing, this remnant will receive Christ. They will all be saved in a household salvation. At that time they will recount Isaiah 53, and that portion of the Word will be full of taste to them.
Isaiah 53 was written nearly twenty-seven hundred years ago. Although throughout these twenty-seven centuries the Jews have read this chapter again and again, they do not know what it talks about. Today nearly all who read the Bible appreciate Isaiah 53, but they may not truly understand this chapter. I have discovered that the best way to make this chapter clear to you is to help you to see the four stages of Christ revealed in this chapter.
Christ was in the first stage, the stage of incarnation, for thirty-three and a half years; He was in the second stage, the stage of crucifixion, for approximately six hours; and He has been in the third stage, the stage of resurrection, for two thousand years already. The stage of Christ's resurrection will have no ending; it will last for eternity (Rev. 1:18). After His resurrection, Christ entered into His ascension. He ascended in resurrection. It is impossible to separate Christ's resurrection from His ascension. Today Christ is in both resurrection and ascension. He was incarnated and He was crucified, but now He is in ascension and resurrection. He is in ascension based on His resurrection. His resurrection issued in His ascension. These two can never be separated. Now He lives forever in both resurrection and ascension. He is not only the resurrected Christ, but also the resurrected and ascended Christ.