III. IN THE STAGE OF HIS RESURRECTION
To consider Christ’s resurrection and all the items produced in and through Christ’s resurrection, we need to be calm and also to have a sober mind. The seed and the issue mentioned in Isaiah 53:10 and 11 imply a great deal. Because of this we need to include many items in the definition of Christ’s resurrection in the New Testament. In his writings Paul explained and defined Christ’s resurrection to the uttermost. In Paul’s definition of Christ’s resurrection, many items concerning the produce of Christ’s resurrection are unveiled to us.
A. As the Processed Christ, the Last Adam,
Becoming the Life-giving Spirit
In His resurrection, as the processed Christ, the last Adam, Christ became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17). After Christ’s resurrection, His being processed was consummated. Originally, Christ was the very God in eternity past (John 1:1; Phil. 2:6). He was only God; with Him there was only divinity and all the attributes of this divinity. John 1:1 indicates this, saying, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Then, four thousand years after man was created, almost two thousand years ago, the unique God became incarnated. That was the first step of His process. When He was incarnated, He entered into the "tunnel" of His process. By so doing, He became a man, a God-man. Outwardly, He was a man; inwardly, He was nothing less than God. After His incarnation, He was no longer merely God. As a little child born of Mary and lying in a manger, He was not only God but a God-man. It is wrong to say that only God was lying there in the manger, because He was lying there not only as God but also as a little boy. Likewise, it is wrong to say that only a boy was lying in the manger, because within that little boy there was God.
In His incarnation Christ lived as a God-man for more than thirty years. He traveled all around the holy land from north to south, mainly from Galilee to Jerusalem, on the west side of the Jordan. In such a narrow strip of land the Lord Jesus traveled back and forth for three and a half years. Although as a God-man He was very great, only once did He do anything to manifest His greatness. In Matthew 17:1-8, He ascended with His disciples, Peter, James, and John, to Mount Hermon and was transfigured before their eyes. Six days before, He had told His disciples that some among them would not taste death until they saw the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. In His transfiguration on the mount, His appearance was still that of a man, but His face shined like the sun, and His garments became as white as the light. At that moment He was a man in glory. This was altogether a part of His process.
At the end of His incarnation, that is, at the end of His human life, He went voluntarily into death. Christ’s death was wonderful in three aspects. In the human aspect, He was murdered. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter (Isa. 53:7), and He was slaughtered by man for three hours, from nine o’clock in the morning until noon. Then from twelve o’clock to three o’clock in the afternoon, God came in. When God put all our sins upon Him, He counted Him as the unique sinner in the universe. Thus Christ died a vicarious death for us, the sinners. On the cross God wounded Him, crushed Him, cut Him off from the land of the living, and judged Him (vv. 5, 6, 8, 10a). Because of this, His death was counted by God as a vicarious death for us.
(Life-Study of Isaiah, Chapter 51, by Witness Lee)
