The ascension of Christ consummates in the following three main things:
First, Christ's ascension consummates in the heavenly ministry of Christ in the heavens. In such a ministry, Christ ministers as the anointed One of God to carry out God's eternal economy for the propagating of the gospel, the raising up of the church as the kingdom of God, and the building up of the Body of Christ.
Second, Christ's ascension consummates in the distributing of the prey from His triumphant victory as gifts to His Body. This is for the accomplishing of the pleasure of Jehovah, which will prosper in His hand according to God's desire and plan (Isa. 53:10c). The pleasure of Jehovah is the building up of the Body of Christ. God is pleased only with the building up of the Body of Christ. The accomplishing of God's pleasure is for the fulfillment of God's New Testament economy (1 Tim. 1:4b).
Third, Christ's ascension consummates in the accomplishment of the work of God for His new creation. God is producing His new creation among His old creation and out of His old creation. The old creation is like an egg, and the new creation is like a little hen. Just as a hen comes out of an egg, the new creation comes out of the old creation.
The work of God for His new creation is carried out in and through the four ages of His old creation. The four ages of God's old creation are (1) the age before the law, from Adam to Moses (Rom. 5:13-14); (2) the age of the law, from Moses to the first coming of Christ (John 1:17); (3) the age of grace, from Christ's first coming to His second coming; and (4) the age of the kingdom, from Christ's second coming to the end of the thousand-year kingdom. By these four ages God is creating the new creation. The new creation is created altogether in Christ, by Christ, through Christ, and with Christ. This is carried out mainly in Christ's heavenly ministry. Christ's death and resurrection, which belong to His earthly ministry, only terminated the old creation and germinated the new creation. The continuing work of constituting the new creation is being done in the heavens in Christ's heavenly ministry.
The work of God for His new creation is to complete the constitution of the New Jerusalem as the mingling of the processed Triune God with His transformed tripartite saints to be God's expression and the saints' blessing for eternity. At the end of the sixty-six books of the Bible, a city is unveiled, that is, the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is the consummation of Christ's ministry, including His earthly ministry and His heavenly ministry. Again, the greatest part of this ministry is not His earthly ministry but His heavenly ministry. The ministry of Christ, in both its earthly and heavenly parts, will consummate in a city, and this city is the mingling of the processed Triune God with His transformed tripartite saints to be God's expression and the saints' blessing for eternity. For eternity God will have an expression, and for eternity we will enjoy a blessing, that is, the New Jerusalem as the consummation of Christ's ministry in the four stages—incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.