We must see that Christ became two things. First, He became flesh. Second, He became the Spirit. He became the flesh to crush the flesh and to condemn sin in the flesh, and He became the Spirit to indwell us and become our life. Romans also reveals that Christ is the One who is interceding in the third heaven. Romans 8:34 says, "It is Christ Jesus who died and, rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us." He became flesh to condemn sin in the flesh. As the One who is now here indwelling us and giving life to us, He is the life-giving Spirit. As the One who is interceding for us, pleading for us in the heavenly court, He is in the third heaven. These are the three major points concerning Christ in Romans 8.
In verse 3 of chapter eight, He was on the cross. In verse 10 He is now in us. In verse 34 while He is here imparting life, He is in the third heaven interceding. We need Him to become flesh; we need Him to be the Spirit; and we need Him interceding for us. We have an all-inclusive Christ. He crushed our flesh and condemned sin in our flesh. He became the Spirit to impart Himself as life to us, to indwell our spirit, and to strengthen our spirit. Also, for fulfilling God’s economy, He needs to pray for us. He is now interceding for us in the heavenly administrative office as the very Paraclete (1 John 2:1; Heb. 7:25).
Christ went to the cross, and we went with Him. He came out of the tomb in resurrection, and so did we. He is now in resurrection, and so are we (Eph. 2:6). Today He is in our spirit, and we are walking according to the spirit (Rom. 8:4). While we are walking according to the spirit, He is interceding for us at the right hand of God. The bountiful issue of this is that we will get the help from the flesh but not be bothered by the flesh. We will be absolutely in the spirit.
When we are in our spirit, we are in the heavens. Jacob had a dream in which he saw a ladder set up on earth, the top of which reached to heaven. The angels of God were ascending and descending on this ladder (Gen. 28:12). When he woke up, he said, "This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven" (v. 17). He called the name of that place Bethel, which means the house of God (v. 19). According to Ephesians 2:22, our spirit today is the real Bethel, the house of God. Our spirit is also the gate of heaven. When we turn to our spirit, we are in the third heaven.
Hebrews tells us that we have to come forward to the throne of grace (4:16) and enter into the Holy of Holies (10:22). The throne of grace and the Holy of Holies are in heaven. How can we enter into heaven? We just need to get into our spirit; then we are in heaven because our spirit is the gate of heaven, the entry of heaven. When you get into the spirit, you are in the Holy of Holies.
(The Flesh and the Spirit, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)