In His heavenly ministry today Christ is interceding, ministering, and executing God’s administration, and we need to be those who respond to Christ’s heavenly ministry by setting our mind on the things which are above and corresponding to Him in prayer.
For the Lord to gain the reality of the one new man lived out among us on earth in all the local churches, He needs our prayer; He needs us not only to have a general kind of prayer, but a prayer that is in oneness with Him.
So we need to realise that our daily living has to be in oneness with the Lord, and we need to allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in our heart and let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.
On one hand we let Christ’s peace decide, arbitrate, and rule in us, and on the other, we seek the Lord in His word to be saturated and filled with His living word.
Christ came into us to be our life, our peace, and our everything; the peace of Christ is already installed in our being, and we simply need to let this peace arbitrate in our heart.
Also, we need to not only read the Bible but be inhabited by the word of God, that is, allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hear to the Lord.
When we allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in us and we let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, we will have a certain kind of living, which is a living in union with the Lord.
Whatever we do, we will do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, we will do all things in the organic union with the Lord.
May our Christian life be in such a oneness with the Lord, a oneness that is in the mingled spirit, by the peace of Christ arbitrating in us and by the word of Christ richly dwelling in us.
When we are ruled by the peace of Christ, inhabited by the word of Christ, and live in union with Christ, we will seek the things which are above, where Christ is ministering in the heavenlies; we will be one with Christ in His heavenly ministry, and we will correspond to His ministry on the earth.
The Lord wants to gain such a people who set their mind on the things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God; in this way we receive the heavenly transmission of all that Christ is and does today, and in this transmission we pray for His interest, we intercede with Him, we seek to minister Christ to others, and we cooperate with Him in prayer for Him to administrate the whole universe.
In His Heavenly Ministry Christ is Interceding, Ministering, and Executing God’s Administration
The Lord Jesus finished His earthly ministry, in which He accomplished many great and wonderful things, and now He is carrying out His heavenly ministry, His ministry in the heavens.
Having finished His ministry on earth (the ministry before His resurrection), the Lord sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb. 1:3); now He is carrying out His heavenly ministry.
What is He doing in the heavens, and what has He been doing for these last two thousand years?
There are many things that He does, and the New Testament mentions three main things that He is carrying out.
First, Christ is the heavenly High Priest interceding for all the saints and all the churches on earth (Heb. 7:25); He is able to save to the uttermost all those who come forward to God through Him, because He lives always to intercede for them.
Second, Christ is the heavenly Minister, the Minister of the heavenly places, to minister life and life supply into His people so that they may live a heavenly life on earth.
Third, Christ is the Lamb with seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, to administer the government of God for the accomplishment of God’s purpose (Rev. 5:6).
As the High Priest, Christ intercedes for us; as the heavenly Minister, He ministers Himself into us; and as the Redeemer with the seven eyes of God, He administers the government of God for the accomplishment of God’s purpose.
All these are part of His heavenly ministry, and He does all these three things for the accomplishment of God’s purpose and for the bringing into being of the one new man.
In His heavenly ministry Christ is interceding, ministering, and executing God’s administration, and we need to be those who respond to Christ’s activities in His heavenly ministry (Heb. 2:17; 4:14; 7:26; 8:1-2; Rev. 5:6; Col. 3:1-4; 1:9; 4:12).
Our prayer, therefore, should be according to God’s economy and in God’s economy, and it should be a response, a reflection, an echo, an answer, and a correspondence to the prayers that He already makes.
Our High Priest is praying – He has been praying and He is still praying, and we correspond to His heavenly ministry.
He died and rather, was raised, and He is at the right hand of God, where He intercedes for us (Rom. 8:34). The content of our prayer should simply be a response of what He is praying right now; this is why it is so important for us to be one with Him and live in union with Him.
There’s a heavenly ladder between heaven and earth set up in us, joining our spirit to the throne of God, and there’s a traffic, a fellowship, that goes back and forth.
What is decided and prayed at the throne is transmitted into our spirit as the Holiest of all, and when we’re joined to the Lord and live in oneness with Him, we pray it back to the throne.
Each time we respond in prayer to the Lord’s heavenly ministry, the heavenly Intercessor would act something more; then we respond some more, having a real time, instant leading of what to pray in our spirit, and He is able to administrate and execute God’s economy.
Lord Jesus, we want to live in oneness with You, living one spirit with You all the time. May we see that You are the heavenly High Priest interceding for us, the heavenly Minister ministering God into us, and the Administrator to execute God’s economy and carry out His purpose in the universe. Amen, Lord, we are joined to You, and in our spirit we can receive the divine transmission from the throne for us to pray and release on earth what You have released in the heavens! Lord Jesus, we respond to You in prayer for You to carry out Your economy!
We Set our Mind on the Things Above to Respond to Christ’s Heavenly Ministry in Prayer
Christ’s heavenly ministry requires our response, our cooperation; on His side, He is busier than ever in the heavens to intercede, minister, and administrate, and on our side we need to set our mind on the things which are above.
We need to become on earth a reflection of Christ’s heavenly ministry.
He doesn’t need our initiation – we don’t initiate but rather, we wait on the Lord, we respond to His signals, and we utter the prayers that He is praying right now.
If therefore we were raised together with Christ, we should seek the things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God to intercede, minister, and administrate (see Col. 3:1-4).
Let us not set our mind on the things which are on earth but on the things which are above, that is, let us remain in a praying condition so that we can correspond to Christ’s heavenly ministry.
When we seek the things which are above, we respond to Christ’s heavenly ministry and we reflect it.
For the building up of the Body, His ministry in heaven is necessary, and His ministering and administrating are crucial.
Between the Christ who intercedes, ministers, and administrates in heaven and us on earth there’s a divine transmission, a heavenly current. But if we’re not continuously connected to Him or if we allow insulation to build up between us and Him, this transmission is interrupted.
May we be infused with a fresh supply from the heaven and experience the transaction between the heavenly Christ and us, so that we may continually respond to Christ’s interceding, ministering, and executing of God’s administration!
Hallelujah for our Christ who today is living in the heavens to intercede for the churches, to minister the heavenly supply to the saints, and to carry out God’s administration.
May we sense what He is praying in heaven and join Him to pray on earth for that very matter; may we set our mind on the things which are above so that we may respond to Christ’s heavenly ministry in prayer on earth.
The purpose of our living with Christ is to be one with Him in His intercession for the churches, in His ministry of the heavenly supply to His saints, and in His administration of God’s government.
This is what we should reflect in our prayer in oneness with the Lord.
Paul was a pattern in this; even when he was away physically from the saints, he did not cease to pray for them and petition the Lord concerning them, keeping them in his remembrance; he also ministered Christ to the saints and to the churches.
We need to pray in oneness with God’s throne so that Christ can carry out His administration not only of the whole universe but especially of this earth. This is why we pray that His kingdom come and His will be done on earth, for we want His administration to be carried out on earth for the fulfillment of His purpose!
Lord Jesus, we set our mind on the things which are above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God and ministering in the heavens. We are joined to You in one spirit, Lord, and we want to live one with You to respond to Your heavenly ministry on earth in prayer. Amen, Lord Jesus, we are one with You in Your intercession for the churches, in Your ministry of the heavenly supply to the saints, and in Your administration of God’s government. May Your kingdom come and may Your will be done on earth!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 59, 61-62 (Witness by Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The One New Man Fulfilling God’s Purpose in Creating Man (2019 fall ITERO), week 6, The Prayer Needed for the Reality and Practicality of the One New Man.
- Hymns on this topic:
– He’s living now to intercede, / Continuing forever; / He undertakes into the age, / His priesthood changes never; / He always lives to intercede, / Such a High Priest is what we need: / He’s higher than the heavens. (Hymns #1130)
– Thou art the Priest from God to us, / The royal Priest of God; / Like Salem’s King, Melchisedec, / The minister of God. / With bread and wine Thou cam’st from God / To us in time of need; / Thou cam’st with God that we in Him / Might fully share indeed. (Hymns #193)
– Pray with one accord in spirit, / Supplicate relatedly; / Seek the Lord, His mind, His leading, / In the Spirit’s harmony. (Hymns #779)
