Being One with our Ascended Head to Exercise His Authority as the Body of Christ

What Christ as a Man has accomplished and attained in His ascension is tremendous and amazing: He was inaugurated, exalted, and enthroned by God to be Lord of all, King of kings, and Head over all things in the universe to administrate the whole universe for God and accomplish God’s New Testament economy.

As believers in Christ, we need to look away from anything of ourselves, our situation, and our condition unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who was made a little inferior to angels by partaking of blood and flesh but was exalted by God to the uttermost. When we look away unto Him, we are infused with Him and we’re filled with faith.

This One, the ascended Christ, executes God’s universal administration and carries out God’s New Testament economy through His Body, the church! Whatever the Head of the Body has attained to and has accomplished is TO the church: God made Him Head over all things to the church, and we as the Body of Christ are enjoying a continual transmission of all that Christ is and has attained to (Eph. 1:22-23).

Since the day of the Pentecost when He poured out the Holy Spirit upon the Body of Christ, Christ has been transmitting Himself with all He has done to us, the church, by His Spirit. He carries out His divine economy in this way, by His continual transmission.

We as the Body of Christ are joined to Him, even one with Him in spirit (1 Cor. 6:17); the Head and the Body are one, and all that Christ has attained and obtained is being constantly transmitted to the Body of Christ! And since Christ the Head is in ascension and we as the Body are joined to Him, the position of the church is the same as that of the ascended Christ (see Col. 1:18; 2:19; 1 Cor. 12:27)! Hallelujah!

Our Head, Christ, has received all authority over everything and everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and He transmits that authority to the church as the Body. We can exercise the authority of the resurrected and ascended Christ today on earth by cooperating with Him in prayer, agreeing with Him in all He is deciding and doing concerning matters on the earth!

As the Body of Christ, the Church has the Same Position as Christ: in Ascension!

Today the church is the Body of Christ; this is not just a “metaphor” or “an illustration” for us to understand what the church is, but it is a reality. All the believers in Christ are members of the Body of Christ, and Christ is our Head. Christ as the Head and the church as the Body of Christ are one, being joined, one and the same.

All that the Head has obtained and attained in His ascension is now being transmitted to the church, and the position of the church is the same as of the Head: in the heavenlies, seated with Christ, in ascension! Christ is the Head over the entire universe: He’s the head over the earth, the earthly governments, all rulers and authorities; He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords (Rev. 1:5; 17:14; 19:16).

As such a One, Christ is the Head over all things TO the church (Eph. 1:22); He transmits all that He is and has attained to the church so that He may execute His government to the church and through the church. How does the ascended Christ carry out God’s economy on earth today? He as the Head of the Body carries out God’s economy through the church as the Body of Christ.

This doesn’t mean that the church should get involved in politics and give “official statements” concerning the way to run the country or the state of things. Christ’s government and ruling are far above and beyond any human politics; He doesn’t rule through politics but through the church.

Christ executes the divine administration on the throne in the heavens, and the church as the Body of Christ stands on earth ONE with Him, cooperating with Him by prayer, and executing the divine administration throughout the world. This is above and beyond any human politics or government decisions.

Hallelujah, the position of the church today is the same as Christ’s: in ascension, and wherever the Head is, there the Body also must be! As the members of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 5:30), we are identified with Christ the Head, and we share the same position as He does.

The church does not share in Christ’s position as Creator or in the Godhead, but the church is one with Christ in His ascension to share His position of authority to execute God’s government on the earth for the accomplishing of His economy.

We are seated with Christ in the heavenlies in ascension; all the things that are heavenly are now our portion because we are joined to Him and share in His position, His anointing, and His commission.

Praise the Lord, the church as the Body of Christ is one with Christ in His ascension, and we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies! Lord, as Your Body on earth we enjoy the constant transmission of all that You are and all You have achieved in Your ascension. We praise You for what You are and what You have accomplished and attained to. Lord, we are one with You to release on earth what You want to release and to bind on earth what You want to bind. Lord, release Your divine economy on earth. Gain the full cooperation of Your Body for the accomplishment of Your economy on earth!

Being One with our Ascended Head to Exercise His Authority as the Body of Christ

Christ has been enthroned by God and has been given the lordship and authority in heaven and on earth and even under the earth. He has authority over all the angels in heavens, over all people on earth, and over all the dead under the earth.

The Body is the Body of Christ; since He has received all authority, we as the Body of Christ identified with Him also have received all authority in Christ, and we can exercise the authority (see Eph. 1:19-23; 2:6). We need to speak this and proclaim this.

We need to be one with the Lord in His ascension and be bold to proclaim the facts. The proper boldness and authority need to be recovered in the church life; we should not live in a low, defeated way, crawling around and being depressed or oppressed, but we should have a church life in ascension, in transcendence, full of authority, filled with proclamations and claiming of what the Word of God says!

We need to reject ourselves, exercise faith, and be people of faith; we need to forget our feelings and use our faith to believe where we are and claim what is rightfully ours. We need to use our faith to preach the gospel and speak to people, claiming the authority of the Head and standing in ascension one with Him.

If we see our position as the church, the Body of Christ one with the Head in ascension, the way we pray will change. The authority of the Body is the authority of the Head exercised through the Body; the church as the Body of Christ shouldn’t exercise authority over nations and people and situations in an outward way apart from Christ but should exercise to be one with Christ in ascension and she will share in His authority.

If the Body of Christ does not assume and exercise the authority of the Head in oneness with the Head, Christ as the Head is limited in carrying out God’s economy. Peter and the disciples exercised the authority of the Head on the day of Pentecost when they said, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you have crucified” (Acts 2:36).

We need to see the position of the church in ascension, be one with Christ as the Head, be properly joined to the other members of the Body of Christ, and pray in oneness with the Head to exercise the authority of the Head on the earth. As the church, the Body of Christ, we need to exercise the authority of the resurrected and ascended Christ (Matt. 28:18-19; Luke 10:19). This is our right as those in ascension one with Christ as our Head.

Lord Jesus, we stand one with You on earth as Your Body; may Your authority be exercised through Your Body on earth for the accomplishing of Your economy. Lord, may the exercise of Your authority be recovered and manifested in the Body of Christ. We praise You, our ascended Head, and we stand one with You in ascension, exercising Your authority on earth. Lord, we reject ourselves, deny our feelings, acknowledge and proclaim the facts, and exercise our spirit of faith to stand on earth one with You, our ascended Head, to exercise Your authority!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Minoru Chen’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1964, vol. 2, “A General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church: Part 1, The Gospels and the Acts,” chs. 7-8, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on,The Vision and Experience of Christ in His Resurrection and Ascension, week 4 / msg 4, The Vision and Experience of Christ in His Ascension (1) – Christ Inaugurated, Exalted, and Enthroned to Execute God’s Universal Administration and to Carry Out God’s New Testament Economy through His Body.
• All verses are taken from, Recovery Version Bible.
• Hymns to strengthen this matter:
  # To the throne Christ has ascended, / Far above all rule and power; / God has made Him Head o’er all things / To the Church, His Body here. / All in all He ever filleth, / And His fulness is expressed / Through the Church, which is His Body / And His image manifests. (Hymns #823)
  # By the blood of Christ the Victor / Standing in the heavenlies; / In the pow’r of Christ ascended, / Tread the principalities. (Hymns #889)
  # One with Thee, Thou Son ascended, / Seated with Thee on the throne, / Thine authority we share and / Rule with Thee, Thy rank our own. / One with Thee, Thou Son returning, / Glorified with Thee we’ll be, / E’er to manifest Thy beauty, / One with Thee eternally. (Hymns #475)