In this message we shall give a concluding word on the subjective aspect of the Man-Savior’s ascension. We have seen that in His ascension Christ was given to be the Head over all things to the church so that all things might be headed up in Him (Eph. 1:22, 10). Now we shall go on to see that the ascended Christ is the Head of the church and also the High Priest in the heavens.
In His ascension Christ was made the Head of the church, His Body, to express God in His fullness. Colossians 1:18 says, “He is the Head of the Body, the church.” According to Ephesians 1:23, His Body is the fullness of the One who fills all in all. In Ephesians 3:19 Paul speaks of our being “filled unto all the fullness of God.” All this fullness dwells in Christ (Col. 1:19; 2:9). Through His dwelling in us, Christ imparts His unsearchable riches into our being, so that eventually we shall be filled unto all the fullness of God. This makes us the expression of God, which is what the church should be.
As the Head of the church, His Body, Christ certainly is joined to the Body. Just as in one’s physical body the head and the body are one, so Christ, the Head, and the church, His Body, are joined and therefore are one. It would be absurd to think that one’s head is not related to one’s body. Likewise, it would also be a mistake to think that as the Head Christ is far away from the Body. However, some think that Christ is far away from us, the members of His Body. According to this concept, the Head is in the heavens, and the Body is on earth. To those who hold this concept it seems that there is a vast distance between the Head in the heavens and the Body on earth. How, then are the Head and Body connected? This understanding of the Head and the Body is nonsensical.
In His ascension Christ was made the Head of the church. How can we say that the Head is in the heavens and that the church, the Body, is on earth, far away from the Head? According to the Bible, the Head is not alone in the heavens without His Body, and the Body is not on earth without the Head. The Body without the Head would be a monstrosity.
No doubt, the Bible reveals that Christ, the Head, has ascended to the heavens. We, of course, are on earth. Then where are the Head and the Body—in heaven or on earth? The Head and the Body are one and form a universal man. But is this universal man in heaven or on earth? If you say that the Head is in heaven and the Body is on earth, you will be seriously mistaken. If this is the situation, what joins the Head and the Body? Some may say that the Head and the Body are both in heaven and on earth. But what does this mean? Does it mean that sometimes we are in heaven and that at other times we are on earth?
In answering the question concerning the location of the Head and the Body, we need to realize that this does not involve the elements of space and time. With material things there are these elements. But with divine things there is neither the element of space nor the element of time. For Christ to be the Head of the church, His Body, is certainly not a material thing; this is altogether a divine matter. With this divine matter there is not the element of space nor the element of time. Therefore, we need to see that in the divine life and in the divine Spirit, we, the believers, are one with Christ.
The Body is one with the Head in the divine life and in the divine Spirit. Regarding the Head and the Body, we should not consider space and time, for here these elements do not apply. As members of the Body in the divine life and the divine Spirit, we are not separated by space or time. We all are now in the Body.
We would emphasize the fact that with material matters we have the elements of space and time, but we do not have these elements with divine things. For example, the Lord Jesus said, “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven” (John 3:13). Here the Lord says that although He came down from heaven, He was still in heaven. This means that while He was on earth, He was still in heaven. According to His physical body, He was on earth when He spoke these words. But according to His divine being, which does not involve the elements of space and time, He was in heaven.
In the church life we should not consider the Head and the Body from a physical point of view. Rather, we need to consider the Head and the Body from the divine viewpoint. According to the divine viewpoint, we are one with the ascended Christ, and His ascension is also ours (Eph. 2:6). Here in the ascension we express Him in His fullness.
Ephesians 3:19 speaks of our being filled unto all the fullness of God, and 1:23 says that the church, His Body, is the fullness of the One who fills all in all. We have often pointed out that this fullness is the result, the issue, of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8). Through the enjoyment of Christ’s riches we become His fullness to express Him. When we enjoy Christ, there will be a result of this enjoyment. The result of enjoying Christ is the fullness, and this fullness is the proper church life. In the church life, which is the fullness of Christ, the church expresses Christ. This expression of Christ in the church is in the divine nature and the divine sphere.
We can see from this that Christ’s ascension has much to do with us. It is in His ascension that we are one with Him. Furthermore, in His ascension, not merely in His resurrection, He is our Head and we are His Body. The New Testament does not say that it was in Christ’s resurrection that God made Him Head of the church. Rather, the Bible reveals that it was in His ascension that God made Christ the Head of the church, His Body.