In this message we come to the subjective aspect of the Man-Savior’s ascension. It is not as easy to speak of the subjective aspect of the Man-Savior’s ascension as it is to speak of the objective aspect. Concerning the Lord’s ascension being subjective to us, I feel that I lack the utterance to express what the Lord has shown us.
We have seen that in His ascension Christ was crowned with glory and honor and enthroned for God’s administration. This means that He shares God’s throne to be the unique Administrator in the universe. Through His ascension Christ was also inaugurated to be the Lord to possess all and to be the Christ to carry out God’s commission. Since all these matters are objective, how can we prove that Christ’s ascension is related to us in a subjective way? Proof is in the fact that there is a transmission from the ascended Christ to us. I first used the word “transmission” in relation to Christ’s ascension twenty-two years ago, during a message in which I was trying to speak on Ephesians 1:19-23. Verse 22 says that God gave Christ “to be Head over all things to the church.” The phrase “to the church” indicates a transmission from the ascended Christ to the church, His Body.
The second part of Ephesians 1:22—“and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church”—has been a problem for translators of the Bible. Mainly there are three ways to translate this clause. The first way is that followed by the King James Version and the New Translation of J. N. Darby; it is also the translation in the Recovery Version. The King James Version says, “gave him to be the head over all things to the church,” and Darby’s version says, “gave Him [to be] head over all things to the assembly.” The Recovery Version, quoted above, says, “gave Him to be Head over all things to the church.”
According to this translation, God gave Christ to be something to the church. It does not mean that God gave Christ to the church as a gift; it means that God gave Christ a gift—the headship over all things. According to this understanding, a great gift was given to Christ by God, and this great gift was the headship over all things.
God’s giving Christ to be the Head over all things is to the church. “To the church,” as we have pointed out, implies a transmission. What God gave Christ to be is to the church; it is transmitted to the church. The church shares it. This corresponds to the word “His power toward us” in verse 19. The phrase “toward us” is a key, for it also indicates a transmission. God’s power in the heavens is toward us; that is, His power is transmitted to us.
The transmission of electricity from the power plant to our homes is an illustration of the transmission of God’s power from the heavens to the church. The current of electricity flows from the power plant through wires into our homes. This current of electricity is its transmission. When the lights are on, we know that this transmission is taking place. If we go to the meter, we shall see a clear indication that the current of electricity is flowing, that there is transmission of electricity from the power plant into our homes.
In a similar way, there is a transmission of the heavenly current of the divine electricity from the “power plant” in the third heaven to the church. As the church, we are the “building” into which the divine electricity is being transmitted. Therefore, God’s power is toward us. This means that the divine electricity is being transmitted from the heavens to us.
Ephesians 1:19 says that the transmission of God’s power toward us is “according to the operation of the might of His strength.” The phrase “according to” indicates that a track is needed for the transmission of the divine electricity. This track may be compared to the tracks on which a locomotive runs. Without a railroad track a locomotive has no way to move properly. Likewise, the heavenly, divine electricity is being transmitted into us according to a “track.”
As used in verse 19, the phrase “according to” also indicates a model or pattern, showing us how this great power is transmitted to us. God’s power is transmitted according to the operation of the might of His strength. Here Paul, seemingly exhausting the vocabulary of the Greek language, speaks of power, operation, might, and strength. Paul uses all these words to convey something of the vastness of God’s power to us. God’s power is transmitted to us according to an operation, and this operation is of the might of His strength.
In Ephesians 1:20 Paul continues, “Which He wrought in Christ in raising Him from among the dead, and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenlies.” To what does “which” refer? It refers to “power” in verse 19. In verse 20 Paul speaks of the power which God wrought in Christ.
From this verse through verse 22 we see that God wrought this power in Christ by four steps: first, raising Him from among the dead; second, seating Him at His right hand in the heavenlies; third, subjecting all things under His feet; and fourth, giving Him to be Head over all things to the church. The final step of God’s working in Christ with His great power was to give Him to be the Head over all things, and what God gave Christ to be was to the church.