CHRIST’S INAUGURATION
In order for us to behave properly in the house of God, we must realize that God has made Christ Head over all things to the church (Eph. 1:22). In God’s administration there was a specific time when this inauguration of Christ into the headship of the universe occurred. It is clear from Peter’s words on the day of Pentecost that this enthronement took place at the time of Christ’s ascension (Acts 2:32-36).
A MAN TO DEAL WITH GOD’S ENEMY
Why was the headship of Christ not fully established during the time of the Old Testament? Acts 17:31 gives us a hint: “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” God in His administration wanted a man to exercise His judgment; it was not His will to deal with the enemy directly. During the time of the Old Testament Christ had not yet been incarnated; He was Son of God, but not Son of Man. For Christ to be the fully qualified Head He could not be just God; He had to have the human nature as well as the divine. We may think that God Almighty is surely adequate to head up the universe, but in His economy He does not will to exercise His administration in His deity.
Why is there a need for a governmental administration in the universe? We all realize that government is mainly to restrain the lawless, like robbers and murderers; if everyone behaved properly, there would not be much need of human government. Similarly, if in the universe there were no Satan with his evil spirits and demons, there would not be so much need for the divine government over the universe. This is the negative reason for God’s government. Positively speaking, God also has an eternal purpose to carry out. For its fulfillment there is the need of a man.
God would not directly deal with Satan, because their relationship is that of Creator and creature. So as not to lower His status as Creator, God must use man, another of His creatures, to defeat the creature Satan, His enemy.
By His incarnation Christ, the Son of God, gained the humanity which made Him the Son of Man also. By His death on the cross He accomplished God’s purpose and defeated His enemy. Now He qualifies to be Head over all things in God’s government: He has taken on the human element by incarnation, and He has accomplished God’s purpose and destroyed the enemy by crucifixion. Once this work was finished, He rested in the tomb for three days.
Then He was resurrected and ascended into the heavens. At this point He was inaugurated into the full headship of the whole universe. He is not only Head of the church, but also the Head of every man. What we are touching here is not a doctrinal matter but a truth, for the seeing of which we need to have our inner eyes enlightened.
A MAN EXALTED
“Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). When Peter made that declaration in the first gospel message, he was proclaiming that God had inaugurated a little man from Nazareth into the universal headship over all things. Let us exult that a man has been exalted to the throne, a man from a small country village in the despised district of Galilee. This Jesus has been made Head, not of just one country, but over all things.
(Life Messages, Vol. 1 (#1-41), Chapter 18, by Witness Lee)
