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3. To Accomplish the All-terminating and All-redeeming Death

Christ accomplished an all-terminating and an all-redeeming death to close His ministry in His incarnation. His one death terminated all negative things. Whatever God created became fallen and was terminated by Christ's death. Also, whatever was terminated by Christ's death was redeemed, so His death is all-terminating and all-redeeming. His ministry in His incarnation was closed by His death.

B. The Christ in His Resurrection

1. Entering into His Resurrection

Through His death Christ entered into His resurrection to carry out His ministry in the stage of His inclusion. Before Christ became a man, He was God and the Son of God. At that time there was nothing of humanity in Him. But when He was brought into resurrection through His death, He became all-inclusive. Now in Him there is not only divinity but also humanity. In Him there is also His death with its effectiveness and His resurrection with its power. Now Christ is not simple; He is all-inclusive. Through His death He entered into His resurrection to carry out His ministry in another stage, the stage of inclusion. This is the stage of Christ as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b).

2. Through All the Believers in Him as His Body

Christ carries out His ministry in the stage of His inclusion through all the believers in Him as His Body to accomplish God's eternal economy. Many use the term the great commission, but they do not see that the great commission of Christ is to carry out God's eternal economy. Most think that the great commission is just to save sinners, to carry out soul-winning. Soul-winning is the meaning of their great commission. But the great commission to us revealed in the Bible is not soul-winning, to save sinners, but to carry out God's eternal economy. The goal of this eternal economy is the New Jerusalem, which is a divine-human constitution of the processed and consummated Triune God with His redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified elect.

II. THE COMMISSION OF CHRIST

A. Preparing the Apostles to Carry Out His Heavenly Ministry

After Christ entered into His resurrection from the stage of His incarnation into the stage of His inclusion, He remained among His apostles for forty days to prepare them for carrying out His heavenly ministry in His resurrection (Acts 1:2-3).

B. Giving Them His Great Commission

At the close of His forty days' preparation of the apostles, He gave them His great commission.

C. With All Authority in Heaven and on Earth Given to Him

This commission was given by Christ as the One who had been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18).

D. Receiving the Great Commission as Disciples

We may think that Christ's great commission was given only to the eleven apostles and not to us. But the eleven apostles received the great commission of Christ not only as apostles but also as disciples (Matt. 28:16). When the apostles received this great commission, they were not in their status as apostles. They were in their status as disciples, which is our status. We do not have the apostolic status, but we do have the disciples' status. As disciples, we are qualified to receive Christ's great commission.


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The Vital Groups   pg 20