81. Christ's Two-Fold Ministry in Heaven

Christ’s Two-Fold Ministry in Heaven

Facing this need of utter dependence on Him, how glorious it is that in addition to His work for us on the cross, and in us by the Holy Spirit, Christ is also doing a two-fold work at the Father’s right hand that fully covers our need Godward, while we are still possessed of a sinful nature and surrounded by the enemy’s enticements to go on sinning. In the last pages (page 128f) of Chapter VII we saw God raising Christ from the dead and taking Him to heaven in proof that He was righteous, as He claimed to be. We can now see that phase of His exaltation to God’s right hand, whereby He stands before the throne as our justification, while at the same time He works in us through the Holy Spirit for our sanctification. This is all based on His shed blood in substitution for us on the cross, of which the Old Testament types are rich in wonderful meaning. In the types, the blood of the slain animal was taken by the high priest once a year into the holy of holies, and sprinkled on the mercy seat before God, that thus it might avail for God’s people until He should come who was the Lamb of God.

Then when He came and shed His blood, the indications seem clear that upon His resurrection He ascended at once to present His sacrifice before the throne for our acceptance, before He had been touched by man, and then returned to commission and instruct His disciples until the time when He ascended to send forth the Holy Spirit and begin His ministry for us in heaven (John 20:17; Luke 24:39; Hebrews 7:25). The Holy Spirit, then, when He came, bore witness that Christ’s sacrifice was accepted, and availed for all who would receive salvation as an outright gift (Acts 5:32), while Christ, in the glory, carries on His ministry for us on the basis of His shed blood. And what a marvelous ministry it is!