The Conclusion of the New Testament, Messages 63-78 presents a panoramic view of the work of Christ, including creation, His incarnation, His human living, His earthly ministry, His death, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension, His heavenly ministry, His ruling in the divine administration, His coming back, and His work in the millennium, after the millennium, and in eternity future in the New Jerusalem.
The Four Major Steps of Christ gives a brief sketch of Christ’s accomplishments in His work of incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension.
The Heavenly Ministry of Christ focuses on what Christ is doing in the present age in His heavenly ministry, including His work as Lord and Ruler, as the Head of the Body, as the Executor of the new covenant, and as our High Priest in the heavens.
Affirmation & Critique (A&C):
The July 1997 issue of Affirmation & Critique (II:3) is titled “The Processes of the All-inclusive Christ.” The following articles in this issue examine the steps in the accomplishment of Christ’s work:
“The All-inclusive Death of Christ,” by Witness Lee, identifies crucial aspects of the all-inclusive death of the God-man, including the shedding of His blood, His being forsaken by God economically, and His sevenfold status in His death on the cross, paying particular attention to the significance of the blood and water which came from His side (John 19:34).
“The Significance and Application of the Resurrection of Christ,” by John Pester, critiques the popular tendency to treat the resurrection in terms of its historicity and objective significance rather than in terms of the intrinsic significance of resurrection and its application to the believers.
“The Ministry of Christ in His Ascension,” by Witness Lee, reviews the biblical record of the statuses into which Christ was inaugurated after His ascension and sixteen aspects of what He is doing today in His heavenly ministry.
In “Judged, Crucified, and Buried” (Matthew, program 72) Witness Lee gives a vivid portrayal of the time Christ spent on the cross and its division into two sections—the first section, in which He suffered the mocking and blaspheming of men and the second in which He was forsaken by God while being judged as sin on our behalf.
In “The King’s Victory” (Matthew, program 74) Witness Lee speaks of the resurrection of Christ as the demonstration of God’s righteousness in justifying not only His Son but also all His believers based upon the death of Christ. He also presents Christ’s charge to His disciples to go and disciple the nations, baptizing them into the Triune God.
“The Heavenly Ministry of the Heavenly Christ” (Hebrews, program 31) gives a sketch of the work of Christ in His heavenly ministry as the High Priest according to the order of Melchisedec. It also describes the turn in the book of Hebrews to call the believers to “come forward to the Holy of Holies.”
The All Inclusiveness of Christ’s Death: As a genuine and perfect man, Jesus Christ became the representative of the entire fallen human race. Thus, in His death He fully dealt with all of man’s problems, including Satan, sin, sickness, death, the world, and the fallen human nature. Jesus Christ died an all-inclusive death.
The Intrinsic Significance of the Resurrection of Christ: What is significant about the resurrection of Christ? In His resurrection, Christ was designated the Firstborn Son of God, the believers in Christ were regenerated to be the many sons of God, and Christ became the Life-giving Spirit.
In the Stage of His Ascension: In His ascension, Christ led captive those captured by Satan. All men had been captured by Satan. Yet, Christ defeated Satan, and now, we have been led captive in His ascension and offered to the Father.
