Scripture Reading: John 1:14; 1 Cor. 15:45b; John 20:22; Rev. 1:4; 5:6

A WONDERFUL PERSON IN THREE STAGES

If we would know Christ in these three stages, we need to consider the whole Bible. The Old Testament contains many types and prophecies concerning Christ, the Messiah, the coming One. In the New Testament we have the fulfillment of the types and prophecies regarding Christ in the Old Testament. (We have considered these in detail in The Conclusion of the New Testament, Messages 34 through 45.) The whole New Testament is concerned with one person—Christ. The New Testament clearly reveals that as the fulfillment of the types and prophecies in the Old Testament, Christ is a wonderful person in three stages. As the wonderful One He is deep, mysterious, and very complicated.

THE FIRST STAGE—INCARNATION—THE STAGE OF CHRIST IN THE FLESH

As the record of the four Gospels indicates, this stage lasted only thirty-three and a half years. This was the time in which the Lord Jesus accomplished God’s redemption judicially. The four Gospels reveal Christ in the flesh as the One who lived a human life on earth and who was then crucified, dying for our sins in order to redeem us back to God. Strictly speaking, this is a matter not of salvation but of judicial redemption.

This judicial redemption is not God’s full salvation. Rather, judicial redemption is simply the initial part, the foundational part, of God’s full salvation; it is the base upon which God’s complete, organic salvation is built.

THE SECOND STAGE—INCLUSION—THE STAGE OF CHRIST AS THE LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT

At this juncture we need to consider the way the four Gospels end. The Gospels end with a record regarding the resurrected Christ who has become the all-inclusive, compound, life-giving Spirit. In the evening of the day of His resurrection, this One came back to His disciples in an altogether mystical way (John 20:19-22). We cannot say that He appeared to them merely in a spiritual way, because He still had a body of flesh and bones. He said to them, “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you behold Me having.” And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet (Luke 24:39-40). The disciples could see the mark of the nails in His hands and touch His body. Although the resurrected Christ had a body of flesh and bones that could be seen and touched, He suddenly appeared to the disciples without coming through a door (John 20:19). He did not knock on the door, and no one opened the door, yet He came and stood in their midst. His coming in this way was actually His appearing, His manifestation (21:1, 14). He appeared suddenly to the disciples and then He disappeared suddenly. Although the Lord Jesus had a physical body, He suddenly appeared in the room where the doors were shut. His appearing and disappearing at the end of the four Gospels is not merely spiritual; it is mystical, something that no one can explain.

The Pneumatic Christ

John 20:22 says, “He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.” This word indicates that Christ was there with the disciples not only in a physical way but also as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b), as the pneumatic Christ. If He had been present only physically and not as the Spirit, His disciples could not have received Him as the holy pneuma, the holy breath. If the Lord had not come to them as the Spirit, they could have touched His physical body of flesh and bones and they could have embraced Him, but they could not have received Him by breathing Him in. In John 20 the resurrected Christ exhaled, breathing Himself out, and the disciples inhaled, breathing Him in. This indicates strongly that in resurrection He has become the pneumatic Christ, the Christ who is the life-giving Spirit.

Christ’s Two Becomings

The compounding of the Spirit took place when Christ as the last Adam became the life-giving Spirit. This becoming was not a simple matter. As we pointed out in the previous message, Christ has passed through two becomings. The first becoming was His incarnation: “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). This becoming was rather simple, for it involved the entering of divinity into humanity and the mingling of divinity with humanity, but it did not include either death or resurrection. Christ’s second becoming was His becoming in resurrection: “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45b). This becoming was quite complicated because it included divinity, humanity, Christ’s death, and Christ’s resurrection.

THE THIRD STAGE—INTENSIFICATION—THE STAGE OF CHRIST AS THE SEVENFOLD INTENSIFIED SPIRIT

To Deal with the Degradation of the Church

Shortly after the church was produced, it began to become degraded. This is clearly seen in Acts. In chapter five Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit; in chapter six there was a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews regarding the daily dispensing; and in chapter fifteen there was trouble concerning circumcision. The separation of Barnabas from Paul (15:35-39) should also be regarded as a part of the degradation. Eventually the church degraded to such an extent that the Lord could no longer tolerate it, and He reacted by intensifying Himself sevenfold to become the sevenfold intensified Spirit (Rev. 1:4; 5:6). He became intensified sevenfold to deal with the degradation of the church.

To Produce the Body of Christ to Consummate the New Jerusalem

In order for the Body to be produced in a full and complete way, there is the need of the third stage of Christ, the stage of intensification in which Christ becomes the sevenfold intensified Spirit.

The issue of Christ in the flesh was a group of redeemed persons, and the issue of Christ as the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit was the churches. For the Body to be produced there is the need for the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit to be intensified sevenfold. This sevenfold intensification deals with the sevenfold situation of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3.

The stage of incarnation produced a group of redeemed people, and the stage of inclusion produced the church. The stage of intensification will build up the Body to consummate the New Jerusalem.