In God's New Testament economy, Christ accomplished three new things which remain as landmarks in the universe. These landmarks in the accomplishment of God's New Testament economy are incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. First, He accomplished incarnation in order to produce Himself as Immanuel (Matt. 1:23). Then He accomplished crucifixion which issued in His becoming the life-giving Spirit in resurrection (1 Cor. 15:45b). Christ as the Shoot of Jehovah (Isa. 4:2) was the branching out of divinity into humanity to be our Immanuel. Incarnation took place two thousand years ago, but according to God's reckoning of time, it was only two days ago (2 Pet. 3:8). Before incarnation, God remained in His divinity for an undeterminable amount of time. After His creation of man, God still remained merely in divinity for approximately four thousand more years. Then through incarnation, God branched Himself into humanity. Incarnation was something new; it is one of the landmarks of the ages. Before incarnation, God was merely in divinity, but in His incarnation, a God-man was produced. This was a new thing. Today we are in the age of incarnation, and we are enjoying Immanuel as the result, the consummation, of incarnation.
The second accomplishment of Christ in God's New Testament economy was crucifixion. According to the Old Testament, the Jewish death penalty was carried out by stoning (Lev. 20:2, 27; 24:23; Deut. 13:10; 17:5), not by crucifixion. Crucifixion was a heathen practice (Ezra 6:11) adopted by the Roman Empire for the execution of slaves and heinous criminals only. Christ's crucifixion was foreshadowed in Deuteronomy 21. Verses 22 through 23 predict that a man found worthy of death would be hanged on a tree. Tree in these verses typifies the cross of Christ (1 Pet 2:24). Paul strongly confirmed this understanding in Galatians 3, when he said, "Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf; because it is written, Cursed is every one hanging on a tree" (v. 13). The cross of Christ was also typified by the way in which the Passover lamb was slaughtered. According to tradition, the Passover lamb was tied to a cross of wood and slaughtered. Thus, the crucifixion of Christ was a fulfillment of the prophecy in Deuteronomy 21:23 and of the type in Exodus 12.
Incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection are landmarks in the accomplishment of God's New Testament economy. What a great blessing it is to live in the age of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection! Many prophets and righteous men, including Abraham, desired to see and understand the things of this age and did not perceive them (Matt. 13:17). In the history of the universe, incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection are of the highest significance. In resurrection Christ germinated the new creation by imparting Himself into the old creation. The One who became Immanuel through incarnation became the life-giving Spirit in resurrection. Of these three landmarks, Paul esteemed the crucifixion of Christ to the uttermost (Rom. 6:6a; Gal. 2:20; 6:14; 1 Cor. 1:23-24; 2:2).