The all-inclusive Christ is the history of God’s move in man’s history in order to gain the building of God for the manifestation of God; Christ is skillfully working to sovereignly control the world situation in human history to work Himself into us and obtain the church as His masterpiece. Hallelujah!
Our God is moving and working in human history so that His divine history would go on so that He would carry out His economy.
The nations, however, are in rebellion against God, and many nations actually cooperate with the enemy to persecute and damage the people of God and the interests of God.
Therefore, we as believers in Christ must worship God and pray the prayers that He needs for Him to carry out His economy.
Satan is always trying to rob God of worship; he even came to Christ, the Son of Man, to tempt Him to worship him, telling Him that he will give Him the kingdoms of the earth.
But the Lord’s response should also be our response: we need to worship the Lord our God and Him only shall we serve.
If we worship any idol, there’s a demon before that idol; anything we worship besides God can have a demon behind it.
Because man worships idols, they are influenced by the evil one to be contrary to God’s economy and to frustrate God’s purpose, even to persecute and damage God’s people.
But praise the Lord, He is on the throne, and we can pray to be one with Him and release His will on the earth!
We as His people on earth can be one with God to pray the prayer of the age for Him to carry out His interests on earth.
We are not here to try to see who is right and who is wrong, what country has the right attitude and what leader is the correct one; we stand on the Lord’s side.
We pray for the Lord’s interest on earth, and we stand with the Lord for the building up of His church.
He is moving in man’s history, and the intrinsic divine history is going on within the human history.
There may be wars and rumours of wars, but the Lord keeps going on.
There may be famine, diseases, and all kinds of negative things taking place, but within the outward shell of human history there is the divine history taking place.
Today we are in the age of God’s procedures; He has a certain procedure to gain the church, the desire of God’s heart, to be His masterpiece.
We are part of the church, and we’re here to pray age-turning prayers, like Daniel did, to stand on earth with the God of heaven for His will to be done and His kingdom to come.
We need grace upon grace in our daily living, and we need to stand with the Lord, being truly consecrated to Him for Him to carry out what is in His heart.
Our desire is to be those who end this age and return with the Lord as His mighty ones, the overcomers, to defeat the Antichrist and his armies, and bring in the kingdom of God on earth.
Christ is Skillfully Working to Control the World Situation so that He may work Himself into us and make us His Masterpiece
Both the Old and the New Testaments show us the divine history within the human history, and in particular, we see how God’s move is in man’s history to carry out His economy.
The all-inclusive Christ is the history of God’s move in man’s history in order to gain the building of God for the manifestation of God (Zech. 4:9; 6:12-15; Matt. 16:18; John 1:1, 14; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rev. 4:5; 5:6; 21:2).
The move of God in man is Christ as the all-inclusive One; He is the history of God’s move in man’s history in order for Him to gain the building of God.
What God is after is a corporate people who are built up to be His corporate expression and representation of God. Christ is skillfully working to sovereignly control the world situation in human history for the carrying out of God’s economy.
As He is arranging the world affairs and controlling the world situation, Christ is skillfully working Himself into us to make us the church, the masterpiece of God (Acts 5:31; Eph. 2:10).
In the human history, Christ is skillfully working behind the scenes to sovereignly control the world situation in human history.
In the divine history, He is skillfully working Himself into us to make us the masterpiece of His work, the poem of God!
The church is a new invention of God, expressing His infinite wisdom and divine design.
We are now in the tunnel of transformation, and our body will one day be glorified so that we would be fully completed in the new invention of God.
Today the others may look at us and may see only men who live ordinary days in the divine dispensing, with nothing outwardly spectacular or abnormal.
We may go to work and our workmates may just consider us as normal persons, for they don’t know of the marvellous transformation work going on inside of us.
As Christ is skillfully arranging the world situation, He is skillfully working Himself into us to make us His masterpiece.
One day we will be manifested to be sons of God, the masterpiece of God.
We will be His poem, the masterpiece of His work, the new invention of God expressing His infinite wisdom and divine design.
Christ is the Leader and the Savior (Acts 5:32); as the Leader, He rules sovereignly over the earth, and as the Savior, He is saving us to the uttermost.
As the Leader, Christ is actively ruling in a sovereign way over the earth with His authority so that He would make the environment fit for us, His chosen people, to receive His salvation.
Look at your experience: God arranged so many things, situations, and persons in your environment for you to be saved, and He is still skillfully controlling the world situation to cause us to be saved even more in His life.
As the Savior, He saves us not only initially when we believe into the Lord but continually, daily, even moment-by-moment, by skillfully working Himself into us to make us His masterpiece.
We are His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works (Eph. 2:10).
Christ created the one new man in Himself (v. 15) to be the masterpiece of God.
He created the Jews and the Gentiles in Himself to be the one new man. His death was a new-man-creating death, for He created His masterpiece in His death.
In Zech. 1:7-17 we see Christ in His humanity being the Angel of Jehovah, even Jehovah Himself as the Triune God.
He stands with God’s people in the lowest part of the valley in their humiliation to care for them, intercede for them, and bring them swiftly out of Babylonian captivity (Zech. 1:7-17; Exo. 3:2, 4-6, 13-15; Isa. 63:9; Deut. 33:27).
This is what He did in history as the Angel of Jehovah toward His people Israel, and this is what He is actively doing today in the church life.
He knows how much of the Babylonian element still is in us, and He is there with us, standing with us even in the lowest part of our humiliation, to intercede for us and bring us out of any captivity.
Lord Jesus, grant us to see the all-inclusive Christ as the history of God’s move in man’s history for God to gain His building for His manifestation. May we realize that Christ is skillfully working to sovereignly control the world situation in human history for the carrying out of God’s economy. Hallelujah, God is in control, and Christ is sovereignly arranging all things both in the world situation outwardly and in our personal universe inwardly for Him to carry out His economy! Praise the Lord, Christ is skillfully working Himself into us in the divine history to make us the masterpiece of His work! Wow, we the church are a new invention of God, the poem of God, to express His infinite wisdom and divine design!
Christ is the Last Craftsman used by God to Break the Four Horns and bring in the Kingdom of God
In Zech. 1:18-21 we see Christ as the last Craftsman used by God to break the four horns.
The four horns refer to the four kingdoms with their kings – Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and the Roman Empire.
These are also signified by the great human image with four sections in Daniel 2:31-33, the four stages of locusts in Joel 1:4, and the four beasts in Daniel 7:3-8, that damaged and destroyed the chosen people of God.
There are quite a few prophecies concerning these four empires that were used by God in a sovereign way to deal with His people and to facilitate the coming in of Christ.
In Daniel 2 we see the great human image of four sections, in Joel 1:4 we see four stages of locusts, in Daniel 7 we see the four beasts, and in Zech. 1 we see the four horns.
The four craftsmen are the skills used by God to destroy these kingdoms with their kings. Each of the first three kingdoms – Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece – was taken over in a skilful way by the kingdom that followed it (see Dan. 5; 8:3-7).
The first craftsman is Medo-Persia, which was used by the Lord sovereignly to destroy the kingdom of Babylon.
The taking over of the kingdom of Babylon was in one evening.
Then, the Grecian Empire took over the Babylonian Empire, and then the Roman Empire took over the Grecian Empire. And the last craftsman is Christ.
The fourth craftsman will be Christ as the stone cut out without hands, who will crush the restored Roman Empire and thereby crush the great human image as the totality of human government at His coming back (Dan. 2:31-35).
This stone signifies not only Christ individually but also the corporate Christ, Christ with His overcomers.
Christ with His “mighty ones” (Joel 3:11) are the corporate smiting stone cut without hands to destroy human government and bring in the kingdom of God.
Christ with His bride, His overcomers, will come as a stone to crush the aggregate of human government in order to bring in the kingdom of God.
Antichrist, the great figure in the human history, is the man of lawlessness, and we are in an age of lawlessness.
This figure in the outward human history will rebel and try to fight directly against God, and Christ with His overcomers will fight and destroy Antichrist and his armies.
The mystery of lawlessness culminates in the man of lawlessness, and he is defeated by the mystery of godliness, which is God manifested in the flesh.
These two mysteries collide, and the mystery of godliness prevails.
The corporate Christ, Christ with His overcoming bride, will come as a stone to crush the aggregate of human government in order to bring in the kingdom of God for one thousand years (Dan. 2:34-35; Joel 3:11; Rev. 19:11-21; cf. Gen. 1:26).
Daniel 2 speaks of Christ coming as a stone cut out without hands, but Revelation 19 speaks of Christ coming as the One who has His bride as His army.
Today we are very close to the end; we are right at the feet of the great human image, and soon Christ will return with His overcomers to destroy the totality of human government.
Christ will return as the fourth Craftsman to destroy the four horns, the totality of human government, and He with His overcomers will bring in the kingdom of God.
We are not there yet, but we are very close.
Soon Antichrist will be manifested, and the Lord will return. He will come and will bring in the kingdom of God.
We need to be joined to Him today, pray the prayer of the age, and be one with Him for His kingdom to come and His will to be done!
The Lord’s return is imminent, and we can cooperate with Him by allowing the Lord to skillfully work Himself into us in the divine history to make us His masterpiece, His bride, so that we return with Him and end this age!
Lord Jesus, prepare us for Your return. Work Yourself into us in a skilful way so that You may prepare us to be Your bride! Amen, Lord, we desire for You to return as the stone cut without hands to destroy the enemy with his armies and bring in the kingdom of God! Come, Lord Jesus! Produce us to be Your bride, the corporate group of overcomers who will return to You to bring in the kingdom age! Amen, Lord, keep us in the process of being transformed into the glorious image of Christ so that we may match Him in every possible way for our marriage together! Lord, come as the last Craftsman to destroy the four horns, tear down the great human image, and bring in the kingdom of God!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks in the message, and portions from, Life-study of Zechariah, msg. 2 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther (2022 winter training), week 1, entitled, God’s Move in Man’s History for the Carrying Out of His Eternal Economy.
- Hymns on this topic:
– We, once dead in our offences, / Walking in the worldly course, / Lusts of flesh and mind fulfilling, / Satan and his hosts their source, / God with Christ has resurrected, / Seated in the heavenlies; / We, His masterpiece, created / In Christ Jesus, Him to please. (Hymns #823 stanza 3)
– God’s intention is to have us / All conformed to His dear Son; / Thus a work of transformation / By the Spirit must be done. / Lord, transform us to Thine image / In emotion, mind, and will; / Saturate us with Thy Spirit, / All our being wholly fill. (Hymns #750 stanza 1 and chorus)
– The truth should triumph and be king, / And freedom should be queen; / But falsehood, which has rampant run, / Head of the world be seen. / We ask Thee, Truth, to quickly come / And bring Thy light from heav’n; / The foe be crushed and all Thy sons / Into Thy bosom giv’n. (Hymns #960 stanza 8)
About aGodMan
These four craftsmen [in Zechariah 1:20 and 21] are the skills, including the stone not hewn by man’s hands, used by God to destroy the four kingdoms, with their kings, that destroyed the nation of Israel. Christ is the One among the craftsmen who will come as the stone cut out without handsto smash the great image. Each of the first three kingdoms — Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece — was taken over in a skillful way by the kingdom which followed it. Babylon was defeated in one night when Darius the Mede came and defeated Belshazzar. How skillful was Darius! Then, as Daniel 8 reveals, the goat from Macedonia (the Grecian Empire under Alexander the Great) came to trample the ram of Persia. History tells us that Alexander the Great was very skillful. He was one of the craftsmen that dealt with the four horns. Later the Roman Empire came in to deal with Greece. These four empires are the central factors of human history. Eventually, the restored Roman Empire will be smashed into powder by Christ as the top Craftsman. All four empires devastated and destroyed Israel. But they all have been or, in the case of the restored Roman Empire, will be destroyed by the fourcraftsmen raised up by God. This is a comforting and encouraging word of promise. Life-study of Zechariah, pp. 10-12, by Witness Lee
While Christ is skillfully working to sovereignly control the world situation in human history, He is skillfully working Himself into us in the divine history to make us the masterpiece of His work, the poem of God, a new invention of God, expressing His infinite wisdom and divine design. Wow!
Brother we see that Christ riding on the red horse was for our redemption and has brought us back to God
having been reconciled and justified before God
now he has moved throughout the ages to strategically defeat all the four horn nations and he will come as the stone without hands to destroy once for all
Amen brother!
Zech. 1:20 Then Jehovah showed me 1four craftsmen.
Zech. 1:21 And I said, What do these come to do? And he spoke, saying, These are the horns that have so ascattered Judah that no man lifts up his head, but these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations who have lifted up the horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.
O Lord All four empires devastated and destroyed Israel. But they all have been or, in the case of the restored Roman Empire, will be destroyed by the four craftsmen raised up by God. This is a comforting and encouraging word of promise. Amen Lord!
Gain us Lord absolutely to express you for your coming kingdom!
Hallelujah!
Amen, Hallelujah.
Amen! Lord do work more of Yourself into us today!
Between the Lord’s first coming in a humble, hidden, and intimate way as a lowly, humiliated King and His second coming as victorious King with power and authority, He as the Angel of Jehovah and as the last Craftsman is working Himself skillfully into us to make us the masterpiece of God as a display of His multifarious and infinite wisdom and grand skills and design.
Praise the Lord!!!!
Amen brother. We have an encouraging & comforting word of promise: the worldly system will eventually be smashed into powder by our skilful Jesus.
We need only to be steadfast in the New Testament faith and hold on to the riches of Christ.
He will do everything necessary to deal with us so that we are justified.
Amen! Lord work Yourself into us more today!