THE CELESTIAL
MINISTRY OF CHRIST
THE SCENE OF THE ASCENSION
Revelation 4 and 5 used to be a great mystery to me. As far as I can recall, I never heard any message about these chapters, and it took a long time before I could understand anything of their meaning.
These two chapters present a scene of the heavens opened. There is a throne where God is seated, surrounded by another twenty-four thrones. There are also twenty-four angels as the elders of the universe and four living creatures.
Surely there are also myriads of angels present, as well as all the other created beings. This picture portrays God on the throne as the center of the universe.
Then John saw a scroll in the hand of the One who was seated on the throne. When the question arose as to who could open the scroll, John wept because no one was qualified to do so. “Do not weep,” one of the elders told him; “behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the scroll and its seven seals” (Rev 5:5).
When John looked, what he saw was a Lamb with seven eyes. This Lamb-Lion was standing, not seated, and His seven eyes were flaming. From this picture we can clearly see that His work is not completed.
What was completed in John 19 was the work of redemption. Yet His standing position and His seven flaming eyes indicate that He is still working. “And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne” (Rev 5:7).
This is the beginning of Christ’s ministry in the heavens. Without these two chapters we would not know what happened when Christ ascended into the heavens.
In Revelation 4 and 5 we see that, upon ascending, Christ went directly to the throne at the center of the universe. Before the throne, before the twenty-four elders, and surrounded by all created beings, He received the commission to carry out the divine economy, symbolized by that scroll.
We enjoy singing the hymn based on Revelation 5:12–13:
Praise, honor, and glory are for the Lamb—not on the cross, but standing before the throne at the center of the universe, who received a universal commission! We must not be so superficial as to limit our praise of Christ only to redemption. We need to broaden our view to behold this same Lamb carrying out a work of immeasurable and eternal dimensions.
Look at this scene John portrays for us. The redeeming Lamb is now standing at the center of the universe, before the throne of God. This reveals to us that the Redeemer is now engaged in the divine administration.
He is the Administrator of the universe, executing the divine economy. He is not sitting or sleeping there but standing, with seven flaming, observing, searching, and even burning eyes.
The entire universe observes this scene. The four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, myriads of angels, and all other creatures are fully awake, alert, and watching. Under these circumstances they proclaim: “To Him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the dominion forever and ever” (Rev 5:13).
How do we know that this scene occurred at the time of Christ’s ascension? We conclude this from 5:6, where the Lamb is described as “having been slain.” The Greek verb tense here implies that He had just been slain. Right after His sacrificial death, He received the universal and eternal commission from the hand of God.
THE TWO-FOLD WORK OF CHRIST
In His earthly ministry, Christ accomplished redemption. Now, in His heavenly ministry, He carries out God’s building. Redemption has as its goal God’s building. The center of this building is the church, and its ultimate consummation will be the New Jerusalem.
At present the church is a house (1 Tim 3:15), but this house will ultimately become a city. When this happens, God’s building will be complete. The work of redemption was finished in John 19. A few chapters later, in Acts 2, the work of building began, and it continues to this day.
These two aspects of the work of Christ are generally unknown to Christians today. They are familiar with the work of redemption, yet if you tell them that Christ is still working in the heavens with the purpose of completing God’s building, they may question you for this strange doctrine.
How wonderful it is to be in the light and have this heavenly vision, hidden from most Christians! There is a Lamb-Lion standing at the center of the universe with seven flaming, burning eyes! He can save you from silence, coldness, and laziness!
THE RECIPROCITY BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH
Who can oppose this Lamb-Lion? Who can hinder the Lord’s recovery? The recovery is not part of traditional Christendom. I truly believe that what the Lord does in the heavens finds a response among us in His recovery.
On the day of Pentecost, the corresponding reaction on earth began to Christ’s move in the heavens. Only one hundred twenty people were there in the beginning—mostly simple Galileans, not scholars.
That work, then in its beginning, is the same work of which we are a part today. The work did not begin in China but in Jerusalem! We are here in our day to reflect what Christ is doing in the heavens.
Wherever we are, we cause problems for Christendom. This is a country with a solid and long Christian tradition. And now a young man arises to cause problems! He has been in Europe since 1971, disturbing and unsettling traditional religion.
The first time I came across him was in Manila in 1950, when he was still a boy. Ten years later we had a retreat in the mountains of Baguio, in the Philippines. He attended that young people’s conference. More than a hundred young people were present, and all were enlivened, including him.
Eight years later, after I went to the United States, I received a letter from him. He was studying medicine in Germany but had the burden to drop his studies and serve the Lord full time. He asked for my counsel.
He had already contacted a famous preacher who advised him to continue his studies. After much prayer, I replied that if he felt led by the Lord to do so, he could come to Los Angeles that summer and attend a training and a conference we would hold.
After that, about one hundred thirty saints would participate in a trip to visit the churches in the Far East, including Manila. He came to Los Angeles, stayed for the conference, and then joined us on the trip to the Far East.
When we arrived in Manila, his parents invited me for dinner. They begged me to urge him to return to Germany and finish medical school. He could serve the Lord, but first he should complete his studies.
I replied that I had not urged him to quit his studies and that we had had no contact for eight years. He himself felt he could not continue studying but should dedicate himself to serving the Lord.
They pleaded further, saying that only I could influence him to change his plans. I said neither yes nor no, but indicated that what they were asking was not my task nor my responsibility, but concerned the Lord’s work. That young man was not persuaded by his family. He returned to Los Angeles, where he remained for three years.
After that, in 1971, he felt burdened to return to Germany—not to complete his studies but for the Lord’s recovery. Whatever opposition existed, the seven eyes operated within him like a motor. Nothing could stop him!
🌿 Enjoy more:
Hymn: Praise to the Lord – “Various”
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