Eph. 1:10 Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him.
The New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new heart is the consummation of God heading up all things in Christ, the complete fulfillment of Eph. 1:10. Throughout the ages God has been doing the work of recovery by heading up all things in Christ – first in the church and then, through the church, in the entire universe.
The New Jerusalem will be the consummation, the result of God’s work in His economy throughout the ages in many dispensations (sin, law, grace, and kingdom), all resulting in one thing – the heading up of all things in the universe in Christ! At the fullness of the times, God will head up all things in Christ – the things in the heaven and the things on the earth, in Him.
How does He do it? God is life and God is light, and the way He heads up all things is by first entering into the “all things” to be a man, then as the Spirit He works Himself into a group of people, the church, who would take the lead to be headed up in Christ by life and by light.
Today in the church life we are being headed up in Christ, recovered to our rightful place out of the heap of collapse and under the Head. The way we are headed up in Christ is by growing in the divine life; our growth in life delivers us from the heap of collapse in the universe in a practical way.
How wonderful that today in the church life we have the privilege of taking the lead to be headed up by Christ by growing in life and by being under His light! When we are full of Christ as life, we are under His light and we are controlled by the power of His light.
Eventually, we will become the New Jerusalem, the bright city with God in Christ as the light being diffused through the city to become a pleasant light for all the nations to walk in.
We will be fully transformed and conformed to Christ’s image, becoming children of light in reality, the same as He is in life, nature, expression, and function (but not in the Godhead), expressing God in Christ to the entire universe as light!
In the New Jerusalem All Things will be Headed up in Christ
God’s desire is focused on Christ, His Beloved, whom He wants to make the Head over all things and bring all things under Him as the Head (Eph. 1:10).
Because of Satan’s rebellion, the entire universe is in a “heap of collapse”, being fallen and away from God. But what God will obtain is the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth, where all things will be headed up in Christ.
At the top of the New Jerusalem God is in Christ shining out and ruling by His shining, and from Him flows the river of water of life with the tree of life to supply everyone in the holy city (Rev. 22:1-2).
God is the light, Christ as the Lamb is the lamp, and the whole city is a “diffuser” to diffuse the light and amplify it, making it known to the whole new heaven and new earth. All the nations in the new universe will walk in the light of the New Jerusalem, and there will be harmony, no more death, darkness, and confusion.
God will rule over everything by His shining, and all things will be under Christ as the Head. By that time, the church has been fully headed up in Christ and, through the church, the entire universe has been headed up in Christ.
The holy city, New Jerusalem, enjoys the riches of God’s divine life and the shining of His light in Christ, but the nations, those outside of the city, walk in the light of the city. Today all men can receive and enjoy God’s life, but in that day only those in the New Jerusalem will enjoy God’s life, and the rest will walk in the light of the city.
In the New Jerusalem we see Christ as the Head and the Body surrounding the Head – all the people of God are the constituents of the city, and they are the great diffuser shining out God as the light to the nations to walk in.
This will be such a glorious scene: God in Christ shining in the city and dispensing life into His people, and the New Jerusalem diffusing God’s light to make it known to the whole universe to walk in it (Rev. 21:18).
Being Headed up in Christ by Growing in Life and by Walking in the Light
As God is light, so we, the children of God, are children of light, and we are even light itself because we are one with God in the Lord. (quote from, Witness Lee)
How does God head up all things in Christ? Today in the church life God is heading up all the saints in Christ by His life and by His light (see John 1:4; 8:12).
God is the source of life, and the way He recovers the oneness of the universe is by Him entering into man to be man’s life. God became a man to enter and be part of the “all things” which are to be headed up in Christ (Eph. 1:10), and then He became the life-giving Spirit to enter into us and make us constituents of the church, His Body.
When Christ enters into us as our life, He starts a process of heading up all things in Himself by His life and by His light. As He shines on us, as we learn to walk in the light, and as we grow in life, we will be in one accord with the saints and one with God, being headed up in Christ.
God’s way of recovery is Christ versus Satan, life versus death, light versus darkness, and order versus confusion.
All things and people in this world are in a universal heap of collapse due to Satan, the factor of death; God comes in to head up all things in Christ through Christ as the factor of life (Ezek. 34:4-10). The way God recovers us is by imparting Himself into us as our life and then, from within, He spreads in all our being to head all our inward being in Himself (see Rom. 8:6, 10-11, 19-21).
The more we grow in the divine life, the more we are being headed up in Christ; the way we are delivered and rescued from the heap of collapse is by growing in life every day (Eph. 4:15; Col. 2:19). The divine life in us is a shining life, bringing in the light of God to dispel all the darkness and confusion, and to remove any death and corruption.
God’s life in us swallows any death, and God’s light dispels all the darkness. The more we enjoy the Lord, grow in life, and walk in the light, the more we are delivered out of confusion and darkness and we’re brought into order, harmony, and oneness.
God is working today to obtain such a glorious expression of Himself in humanity – He is working out the New Jerusalem in us. In the church life we have the privilege and the responsibility to live out and work out the New Jerusalem by taking the lead to be headed up in Christ by life and light.
God is working Himself into us until the whole church is full of life inwardly and is fully subject to Him as the Head. The whole universe is waiting for this: they are groaning in the slavery of corruption, waiting to see the glory of the freedom of the sons of God.
We are all responsible to go to the Lord and allow Him to work Himself into us, allow the cross to break us, let God deal with us, and allow Christ’s life to live out through us. When God in Christ can be “diffused through us”, we will be fully mature. In that day all the nations will walk by our light – since we have become a diffuser for the divine light.
As God is light, so we as children of God are becoming in reality children of light, and we become light itself because we are one with God in the Lord, being fully headed up in Christ (1 John 1:5; John 12:36; Eph. 5:8; Matt. 5:14).
Lord, work Yourself into us today. We want to allow the cross to break us and let God deal with us until Christ’s life is lived out through us. Head us up in Christ, bringing all the things in our being and in our possession, even our very being, under Christ as the Head. Lord, we seek to grow in life so that we would be rescued out of the heap of collapse and headed up in Christ. We want to walk in the light so that we would be controlled by the light and be brought into order, harmony, and oneness. Lord, gain many saints who would take the lead to grow in life and walk in the light so that they would be headed up in Christ for the New Jerusalem!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Minor Chen’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament (msg. 436), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Aspects of the Christian Life and Church Life Seen in the New Jerusalem, week 6 / msg 6, The Lamb as the Lamp with God as the Light.
- Hymns on this topic:
# In His Christ to head up all things / Is our God’s economy; / Taking Christ as Head and Center, / All is one in harmony. (Hymns #981)
# The New Jerusalem will consummate / With Christ, as Head, over all things to be / The Lamb enthroned—its unique centerpiece / Ruling and reigning for eternity. (Song on the New Jerusalem)
# In fulness of the seasons / God’s Christ will head up all. / Then all will own His reigning / And worship, great and small. / Such reign in life and glory / The Church e’en now foretastes / And to His rule submitting / Unto His kingdom hastes. (Hymns #941)
