Seeing the Meaning of Christ’s Ascension and the Position and Authority of the Church

For us to enter into the prayer of the age, we need a heavenly vision to see the meaning of Christ’s ascension, see the position and authority of the church as the Body of Christ.

By the Lord’s grace and mercy, may many saints in the church life in the Lord’s recovery have the reality of the new man in our daily living in the church life, so that the Lord may gain His warrior bride to marry Him for His satisfaction and usher in His kingdom.

This week is our last week in our deeper study of the spiritual warfare of the church as the new man, and we will focus on The Prayer of the Age to Fulfil God’s Economy and the Sacrifice of Praise to Display Christ’s Victory.

We need to exercise our spirit in a greater measure, even more than ever before, so that we may have a spirit of faith to see the unseen things, to look behind the scenery, and see what is really going on in the universe.

We need to realize that all the things happening on earth are temporal, at most a reflection of the things really happening in the spiritual realm.

What is really happening is the warfare between God and His enemy; today the Lord has raised up the church in the New Testament to deal with His enemy and bring in His kingdom. For this, we need to enter into the prayer of the age, and have a sacrifice of praise.

Prayers will eventually end, but praise is eternal; the end point and destination of prayer is praise, for praise in God’s entire economy is higher than prayer.

We need to see that all the wonderful matters in God’s economy involve spiritual warfare. Warfare is necessary because Satan’s will is set against’ God’s will; there’s a war of wills, and everything in our daily life has to do with this conflict, and we can align our will with the divine will or we will inadvertently side with the evil will.

God the Creator wants the creature man to deal with the fallen creature, Satan; for this to happen, the human will must stand with the divine will and fight to subdue the evil will. Our little human will is what the Lord needs today to subdue the devil’s will.

We shouldn’t be passive – we are in a warfare, God’s will is at stake, and if our will is lined up with God’s will, we will subdue the satanic will.

The purpose of spiritual warfare is that the will of God may be done on earth and the kingdom of God would be brought in; the kingdom of God is the exercise of the divine will, and this involves the overthrowing the power of Satan by the power of God.

All spiritual work is a warfare; there’s no such thing as doing a work for God without fighting, for if we’re really engaged in God’s work, we are fighting a spiritual warfare.

But we should not be afraid or scared; we know that God is with us, Christ is victor, and Jesus is King! He has already defeated the enemy – He crushed his head as the seed of the woman, and today we are one with Him – we are on His side, and He’s leading the fight!

He’s our General, we are His army, and we share His position and authority. All spiritual work we do for God – even such a seemingly small thing as taking care of children is a fight. The nature of the church and the building up of the church is a spiritual warfare.

What hinders the gospel is not mainly outward things but Satan; what usurps man and causes them not to love the Lord is not the world or the flesh but the satanic power of darkness.

The real villain and troublemaker is Satan, the devil, the old dragon, the serpent; he’s the problem, and we do not agree with him – we agree with God, we are one with God, and we want that His will be done on earth! Amen!

However, among God’s children today there are simply not enough who are fighting the warfare; not enough saints see this and are involved in this. We shouldn’t be devil-conscious or battle-conscious, but have the constant realisation that there’s a constant element of the spiritual warfare.

We are easily duped by the enemy to sleep, have a lack of vigilance, let our guard down, and not be watchful, simply because we think it’s OK, we can coast a little, we can take a break…and in the meantime Satan still rules, and he’s active on the earth and in the air.

Seeing the Meaning of Christ’s Ascension and the Position and Authority of the Church as the Body of Christ

The prayer of the age is the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ, as the one new man; this prayer is a prayer that exercises the authority of Christ as the ascended Lord and Head of the Body to fulfill God’s economy.

For us to enter into the prayer of the age, we need to have a heavenly vision to see something that is far beyond our natural concept (see Eph. 1:17). We need to see something that transcends what is our natural, traditional, and religious concept that may still be at work in our being.

The prayer of the age is not our common prayer but the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ, the prayer of the new man. For us to have such a prayer, we need to see Christ’s ascension and realize the position and authority of the church as the Body of Christ.

In ascension Christ was given to be Head over all things to the church; all He has done and accomplished is to the church, and He is Head over all things – having everything in subjection to Him – to the church.

As the church, we are on the receiving end of all that Christ has attained and obtained in His ascension. His overruling power, transcending power, His position in the highest place, His enthronement as Lord and Leader, and His all-subjecting power is to the church.

We should NOT look at the church with our own eyes and according to our feeling, saying that the church is not doing so well, that there are problems…God sees the church in ascension one with Christ.

We need to see Christ’s ascension and the position and authority of the church as the Body of Christ, and we need to pray for what is on God’s heart to fulfill His economy.

Seeing the Meaning of Christ’s Ascension – Redemption is Accomplished and His Lordship is Established

The ascension of Christ indicates that Christ’s entire work of redemption – all His work on earth and on the cross – has been completely accomplished (see Heb. 1:3; 10:12). This is a fact; we believe it, we ask no questions, for He has already said, It is finished!

When Christ ascended, all He has done in redemption was legitimized, completely approved and justified. God accepted what Christ, His Son, has done in its entirety! Christ’s redemption became an eternal redemption!

Furthermore, the ascension of Christ indicates that the lordship of Christ has been established (Acts 2:36); God has made Jesus Lord and Christ in His ascension. The Lord Jesus as a Man, as the first God-man, was given the Lordship.

He was inaugurated into this office of being the Lord in the universe – the King, with no one higher than Him. Hallelujah, Jesus is Lord! And everything that the Lord has obtained and attained is being transmitted to the church (see Eph. 1:19-23; 3:20-21).

This is a fact: Christ has been exalted by God, He was established as the Lord of the universe, and He was made Head over all things to the church! Now all things are under His feet, and everything that He has obtained and attained is being transmitted to us, the church, for we are His Body!

We should not be tempted to engage in a conversation or dialog with the enemy; we should simply speak the fact to him.

Our “grandma” Eve was tempted to have a chat with the enemy; we should declare the facts and point them to Satan; we should read the verdict, Satan, you are sentenced! You’re not just prosecuted but sentenced, and you’re simply waiting on death row – and you will be fully destroyed a few hours from now!

We shouldn’t look at our feelings but believe the word of God; our faith is nourished by the word of God, not by our feeling. We should read the word, pray the word, believe the word, and declare the word!

Lord, we praise You for Your ascension! In Your ascension You accomplished Your entire work of redemption and obtained an eternal redemption! Hallelujah! In Your ascension Your Lordship has been established! Hallelujah, Jesus Christ the Man is now the Lord of all, and He is the Head over all things to the church! Amen, Lord, may we see the heavenly fact that Christ has been exalted by God, He was established as the Lord of the universe, and He was made Head over all things to the church!

Seeing the Position of the Church as the Body of Christ – the same Position as Christ!

We need to see that the church’s position as the Body of Christ; in His ascension Christ was exalted and enthroned, and because the church is the Body of Christ, the position of the church is exactly the same as that of the Head (1 Cor. 12:12, 27; Eph. 5:30).

What are we and who are we? We are the Body of Christ; our Head is above all, in the heavenlies, on the throne, in the center of the universe, and we are His Body, sharing in His position!

Being the Body of Christ is not an allegory or illustration but what we are in reality – we are with Christ in the heavenlies right now, and our spirit is connected to the throne! What He is, we are, and where He is, we are also!

We share His exaltation and enthronement by virtue of being in Him and one with Him! We shouldn’t bring ourselves down by believing what we see and not the word of God; we simply need to be one with Him dispositionally and also positionally, one with Him in the same position and condition!

Seeing the Authority of the Church as the Body of Christ, the Authority of the Head Exercised by the Body

Because we share the same position as Christ, we as the Body of Christ have the same authority as He does – the authority of the Body is the authority of the Head exercised by the Body.

We need to see the position and authority of the church as the Body of Christ; the church has no authority in itself; however, the authority of the Body is the authority of the Head exercised by the Body.

The Lord told us that all authority was given to Him in heaven and on earth; so we need to go therefore and exercise His authority. As the church, the Body of Christ, we need to assume the authority of Christ (Matt. 28:18-19; Luke 10:19).

It is often not safe to assume things by being presumptuous, but as the Body of Christ, we need to rightly and accurately assume the authority of Christ. Without such authority, there’s no way for us to wage the spiritual warfare.

What Satan has is power – he is powerful, more powerful than us; what we have is authority, which is the authority of Christ, the Head. Satan has the power, and the only way we can subdue Him is not by more power but by authority.

When a little policeman is dressed with the proper uniform, all the powerful cars and trucks listen to him; it’s not about the power of the policeman but about his authority given by his uniform.

Similarly, it is time for the churches in the Lord’s recovery to learn to exercise the authority of the Head. It’s time to no longer be cowardly or chicken, and even cautious; we need to realize we’re in a spiritual warfare, and we need to exercise the authority of the Head one with Christ, especially in the prayer meeting.

We should not be begging the Lord in prayer – we should learn to be one with the Head and exercise His authority to deal with God’s enemy.

Thank You Lord for making us Your Body who share in Your position and authority to deal with Your enemy and bring in Your kingdom! Amen, Lord, grant us to have the proper boldness as the Body of Christ to exercise the authority of the Head and deal with the enemy to bring in the kingdom of God. Praise You, Lord, for granting the church the same position and authority as the Head, and now we can pray the prayer of the age in oneness to deal with Your enemy, bring in Your kingdom, and release the fulfillment of Your economy on earth!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message given by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1963, vol. 1, pp. 159-161, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Spiritual Warfare of the Church as the New Man (2018 Memorial Day Conference), week 6, The Prayer of the Age to Fulfill God’s Economy and the Sacrifice of Praise to Display Christ’s Victory.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Now is come salvation, power, and the kingdom of our God; / The accuser of the brethren underneath our feet is trod! / The authority of Christ is now the church’s ruling rod— / The victory is won! (Hymns #1101)
  # Power that made Him o’er all things the Head / Is now to the church, now to the church! / Power, such pow’r, will be exhibited / O’er all through His Body, the church! (Hymns #1175)
  # Fight, saints, for Jesus our Lord! / Take in His life, stand in one accord! / Never fear God’s enemy; / Tread on his head triumphantly! / Pray that the daily church life be strong, / That all the saints in spirit press on, / Fighting as the one new man, / Fulfilling our Lord’s great plan! (Hymns #1283)