In the whole universe, God has a great project to accomplish: that is, to build the New Jerusalem. No other project could be greater than this. Who has the qualifications for such a building work? Christ! He has been fully qualified. All the highest educational degrees on this earth mean nothing. God’s great project requires much more, and only Christ has the qualifications.
Who defeated Satan? Christ! Who put him to the end? Christ! Who bruised the head of the serpent? Christ! Could you do it? Who took away all the sins of the world? Christ! Who conquered death? Christ! Who took a tour in hades to see what death could do? Christ! Who entered hades and resurrected from it? Christ! Who could meet the requirements of God’s righteousness? Christ! Who can meet the holy requirements of God? Christ! Who can meet the requirements of the glory of God? Christ!
Only Christ is qualified. We are short of all the requirements. All the degrees on this earth could not qualify us. Only Christ has all the divine degrees. Whatever God required, Christ accomplished. Therefore, God fully approved Him.
Then on the day of the ascension God declared the inauguration of Christ. He was inaugurated into His post. Now He is the official Redeemer. Now He is the official Savior. Now He is the official Author of life. Whatever He is, is official, and whatever He is doing is official. Praise Him! He is the only One that is qualified to carry out God’s great project of building the New Jerusalem.
Has Christ accomplished redemption? His ascension says, “Yes!” Has Christ dealt with the serpent? His ascension says, “Yes!” Whatever Christ did was approved by God in His ascension. Now He is seated at the right hand of God. He is more than qualified. He is fully approved by God. Now He is the greatest operator to carry out God’s divine project of building the New Jerusalem. He is the builder. Hallelujah!
Have you ever realized that Christ is a qualified builder to carry out God’s project of building the New Jerusalem? Christ has accomplished the work of redemption. Now He is operating to build the New Jerusalem. God’s intention is to obtain the New Jerusalem. Today’s church life is just a small miniature of the New Jerusalem. This is God’s project. Who can carry out such a project? Only Christ!
To complete this project there is the need of four basic things. First of all, there is the need of the stones. The New Jerusalem could not be built without stones. The wall of the holy city is built with jasper and has twelve foundation stones (Rev. 21:17-20). Praise the Lord that we all are the living stones for His building (1 Pet. 2:5). The second need is that of life. The New Jerusalem is a matter of life. In the New Jerusalem there is the tree of life and the water of life. Then, thirdly, there is the need of the Spirit. For God’s project, we need the Spirit. Finally, the fourth need is that of the technique, the skill to build such a tremendous building. This is the gifts. For such a building, we need the stones as the materials, the life, the Spirit, and the gifts.
We are the materials. In the last message, I mentioned how in eternity past, God the Father in His foreknowledge chose us and marked us out. But in time we became fallen. God’s marked-out people became fallen. Therefore, Christ came to accomplish redemption for us and brought us back. In John 17:2, 6 we see that God the Father gave all His chosen ones to the Son. Even before the Son redeemed us, God gave us all to the Son.
Then, when Christ was exalted to the Father at the time of His ascension, the Father made Him to be the Author of life, He gave Him the Spirit, and He gave Him all the gifts. God made Christ the Author of life in order that Christ would take all His chosen people and put His divine life into every one of them. Then He would fill and empower them with the Spirit and make them functioning gifts to the Body. They not only would have the gifts; they themselves would become gifts.
In the Lord’s ascension, He was officially authorized and inaugurated into His position, and He was commissioned with the Kingship, the Lordship, and the Headship. After His ascension, He came back on the day of Pentecost to put all the materials together. He collected them, He put the divine life into them, and He poured out the Spirit upon them. They received the life within and the Spirit without. Then with this life and Spirit He imparted the spiritual ability to every believer. Therefore, all the believers obtained the life, the Spirit, and the functioning ability. Then eventually everyone, from the least to the greatest, became a gift to the Body.