In the three foregoing chapters we pointed out that in order to experience Christ, we first need to receive revelation concerning the Person and work of Christ. In the last chapter we covered what Christ accomplished in His life on earth and in His death. We pointed out that there are eight main points concerning His work on the earth, two points in each of the four Gospels. Then we covered seven main things which the Lord accomplished through His death. Thus, in the previous chapters we have seen fifteen items of Christ's work. In this chapter we shall consider another fifteen items accomplished by Christ, seven items in His resurrection and eight in His ascension.
Many Christians today do not have an accurate and adequate view concerning Christ's resurrection and ascension. Because of this lack, their experience of Christ is inadequate. Believers today often speak about Christ's death, but they do not speak as much about His resurrection and ascension. Many Christians see very little concerning Christ's ascension. They only know that Christ went to the heavens and is waiting there until the time of His return. However, the New Testament tells us very much about what Christ is doing now in the heavens. In one sense, He is doing more in the heavens than He did on the earth. Those who read the four Gospels can easily see that while Jesus was on the earth, He did many things such as working miracles and preaching the gospel. But when they read the Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation, few realize what Christ is doing now in the heavens. Not only is Christ doing many things in the heavens today, but He also accomplished many things before He ascended. We need to be impressed with all the crucial and wonderful things Christ has done in His resurrection and ascension.
The resurrection of Christ was a great proof that God had accepted His all-inclusive redemptive work (Acts 3:15). After Christ had finished His work on earth, He died on the cross to accomplish God's redemption. His redemptive work was exceedingly great. However, in the eyes of the Jews, Christ was rejected by God. They would not believe that God was one with Christ, that God would accept what Christ had done. Their thought was that Christ had blasphemed God and was against God (Matt. 26:65). So they rejected Him by crucifying Him and putting Him into a tomb. The Jews thought that to put Christ into the tomb was to do a marvelous work for God. But, to their great surprise, God raised Him up. God did this in order to tell the Jews that He accepted what they rejected. God seemed to be saying, "You Jews should know that although you rejected Christ, put Him to death, and even put Him into a tomb, I, the very God whom you serve, raised this Man out of death." This is also confirmed by the word in Acts 2:23-24. Such a resurrection was a great and strong proof that God accepted, sealed, and vindicated all that Christ had done. The resurrection of Christ proved that God was very happy with all that Christ had done.