‹‹ WEEK 1 — DAY 3 ››

Morning Nourishment

Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you have crucified.

Rev. 5:6 And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing as having just been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

   As a child I was taught that the things above are the various features of heaven—the mansions, the pearly gates, and the golden street....According to the New Testament, the things above include Christ’s ascension, His enthronement, and His being made the Head, the Lord, and the Christ. In Acts 2:36 Peter says God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ. In Hebrews 2:9 we are told that the Lord Jesus has been crowned with glory and honor. In Ephesians 1:22 we see that in ascension Christ has been made Head over all things to the church. In Revelation 5:6 we see that Christ as the Lamb with seven eyes is now on the throne executing God’s government. Such things are the things above. (Life-study of Colossians, p. 504)

Today’s Reading

   In writing to the Colossian believers, Paul was charging them to no longer pay attention to Judaism, Gnosticism, or asceticism, all of which are elements of the world, things which are low and inferior. As those who have been raised up with Christ and who are now living with Christ in God, they should seek the things which are above and set their minds on them. Christ has been crowned and enthroned; He has been made the Lord and the Head over all things. He is even now the Lamb with seven eyes executing God’s government in the universe.

   Setting our mind on the things above will help us to experience Christ. The Christ whom we may experience is not only our food, drink, Sabbath, new moon, and feast. He is not only our daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly enjoyment. Our Christ is the One crowned and enthroned, the One who is the Lord and the Head, the One carrying out God’s governmental administration. How much richer our enjoyment of Christ would be if we set our mind on these things! (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 504-505)

   As the One in ascension, He was made Lord—the Lord of all to possess all (Acts 10:36)—and Christ—God’s Anointed to carry out God’s commission (Heb. 1:9). In fact, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit is a proof that God has exalted the Lord Jesus and has made Him both Lord and Christ.

   As God, the Lord was the Lord all the time (Luke 1:43; John 11:21; 20:28). But as man, He was made the Lord in His ascension after He brought His humanity into God in His resurrection. God has always been the Lord, but now a man is on the throne as the Lord. After Jesus was crucified and buried, God resurrected Him and set Him at His right hand, making this Jesus, a Nazarene, the Lord of all the universe.

   Since the lordship of Christ was fully established in His ascension, we— the members of His Body identified with Christ the Head—only need to realize this heavenly fact (Eph. 1:20-23). Once we realize that Christ has obtained the lordship, we, the church as His Body, have to apply it.

   Christ in His ascension has not only been made the Lord of all but also the Christ of God to work out the spreading of the gospel and the building up of the church that God’s chosen people may be saved and perfected for the constitution of the New Jerusalem to be God’s eternal habitation and manifestation according to God’s New Testament economy for God’s eternal satisfaction.

   As the One in ascension, Christ was made both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36) that He might possess all and that He might carry out God’s commission through His heavenly ministry to accomplish God’s plan (10:36; Heb. 1:9). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2978-2980)

Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 75-76, 290