Freedom Streams Podcast

In this message we shall cover the matter of Christ’s person in creation. C. IN CREATION 1. The Creator Christ is the Creator. Since God is the Creator of all things and since Christ is God, He surely is also the Creator of all things. 2. The Word through Whom All Things Came into Being Christ is not only the Creator but also the Word through whom all things came into being. 3. The Firstborn of Al...

13. Another Angel At least four times in the book of Revelation Christ is called “another Angel” (Rev. 8:3; 7:2; 10:1; 18:1). Christ is called another Angel in this book because He is the One sent by God to carry out His economy. This Angel is Christ. In the administration of God’s judgment upon the earth, Christ is the Angel standing on the position of One who has been sent by God. In a very posi...

Having considered Christ’s person in the Godhead, we shall go on in this message to see Christ’s person in the divine economy. The aspects of Christ’s person in the Godhead are deep, but the aspects of Christ’s person in the divine economy are even deeper. B. IN THE DIVINE ECONOMY What is the divine economy? The divine economy is God’s household management, God’s household administrative arrangeme...

b. The Lord in Resurrection Being the Spirit—the Lord Spirit In resurrection Christ is the Spirit—the Lord Spirit. 8. The Giver of the Spirit In the Godhead Christ is the complete God, the Son of God, and the life-giving Spirit. He is also the Giver of the Spirit. 9. The Baptizer in the Holy Spirit: In contrast to John the Baptist, who baptized in water, Christ is the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit....

In this message we shall cover more aspects of Christ in the Godhead. 7. The Life-giving Spirit First Corinthians 15:45b says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” Undoubtedly, the last Adam here is Christ in the flesh. This last Adam became the life-giving Spirit through the process of resurrection. Adam became a living soul through creation with a soulish body. Christ became a life-givin...

Although the Son and the Father are one, we should not say that there is no distinction between the Father and the Son. There is a distinction between the Father and the Son, but there is no separation. When the Father is present, the Son is present also. Likewise where the Son is, there the Father is also. The Father and the Son cannot be separated. b. Coinherent with the Father In studying the d...

In this message we shall consider further aspects of Christ in the Godhead. 3. The Word God is mysterious. He needs the Word to express Him. Christ, as the Word, defines, explains, and expresses Him. Therefore, Christ, as the Word, is the definition, explanation, and expression of God. This Word is actually God Himself, not God hidden, concealed, and mysterious, but God defined, explained, and exp...

CHRIST—HIS PERSON (1) In the foregoing messages we have considered the New Testament and God’s New Testament economy and also God in His person, nature, attributes, good pleasure, manifestation, and work. With this message we shall begin to cover Christ’s person, and in later messages we shall cover Christ’s attributes, virtues, and work. As we shall see, concerning Christ’s person there are a gre...

c. Subsisting/Being in the Form of God, in Equality with God The Greek word translated “subsisting” denotes existing from the beginning; it implies Christ’s eternal preexistence. The word “form” refers to the expression, not the fashion, of God’s being. It is identified with the essence and nature of God’s person and thus expresses His essence and nature. This refers to Christ’s deity. According t...

31. Disciplining the Believers Referring to the Hebrew believers’ suffering of persecution, Hebrews 12:5-11 considers the persecution as God the Father’s discipline of the believers who are God’s genuine sons This is God our Father’s finer work in dealing with us as His sons. His work of making us holy is related to the Spirit’s transformation work (2 Cor. 3:18), which is carried out through the d...

28. Caring for and Guarding the Believers and Making a Way out of Temptation for Them God cares for the believers and guards them; He also makes a way out of trials for them. Concerning God’s caring for the believers, 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Casting all your anxiety on Him, because it matters to Him concerning you.” The word “casting” here means throwing upon, that is, committing to, giving up to. 29....

37. Bringing Many Believers into Glory Hebrews 2:10 says that God is “leading many sons into glory.” These many sons are the many brothers in Romans 8:29 and the many grains in John 12:24. The last step of God’s great salvation is to bring His many sons into glory, into the expression of God. 38. Sending the Appointed Christ to His Chosen People at the Times of Restoration: 39. Returning to Rebuil...

41. Putting All the Enemies under the Feet of Christ at the End of the Millennium At the end of the millennium God will put all the enemies under the feet of Christ. 42. Abolishing the Last Enemy, Death The last aspect of God’s work in the new dispensation will be the abolishing of the last enemy, death D. IN ETERNITY FUTURE 1. As the Redeeming God Administrating within the New Jerusalem in the Ne...

i. Glorifying the Believers In His work in the new dispensation God also glorifies the believers. Since glorification will occur in the future, why does Paul use the past tense and say “glorified”? Have you been glorified? Although in our experience we have not been glorified, the Bible says that we have been glorified already. Everything mentioned in verse 30 is an accomplished fact—predestinated...

f. Regenerating the Believers: Regeneration, like redemption and justification, is an aspect of God’s full salvation. Redemption and justification solve our problem with God and reconcile us to God. Regeneration enlivens us with God’s life and brings us into a relationship of life, an organic union, with God. g. Washing the Believers First John 1:9 speaks of God’s cleansing, or washing, the believ...

In this message we shall consider more aspects of God’s work in the new dispensation. 22. Calling, Forgiving, Justifying, Reconciling, Receiving, Regenerating, Washing, Sanctifying, and Glorifying the Believers God’s work includes His calling, forgiving, justifying, reconciling, receiving, regenerating, washing, sanctifying, and glorifying the believers. Let us briefly consider these matters one b...

20. Pouring Out His Spirit Economically upon His Slaves After God seated Christ in the heavens, made Him both Lord and Christ, exalted Him to be a Leader and a Savior, made Him the High Priest, and designated Him to be the Judge of the living and the dead, He poured out His Spirit upon His slaves. The pouring out of the Spirit here differs from the breathing of the Spirit into the disciples out of...

In this message we shall continue to see God’s work in His new administrative arrangement, particularly in Christ’s ascension. 15. Seating Christ in the Heavens, Subjecting All Things under His Feet, and Giving Him to Be Head over All Things to the Church 16. Making Jesus Both Lord and Christ God has made Christ the Lord not only of God’s chosen people but also of the angels and of all those who w...

18. Making Christ the High Priest Sin frustrates people from enjoying God’s dispensing. When God condemned sin in the flesh through the death of Christ in the flesh (Rom. 8:3), He dealt with this hindrance to His dispensing. When Christ was crucified, God also wiped out the handwriting in ordinances (Col. 2:14) and stripped off the rulers and authorities, making a display of them openly and triump...

11. Wiping Out the Handwriting in Ordinances by Nailing It to the Cross When Christ was crucified, God wiped out the handwriting in ordinances, nailing it to the cross. Ordinances, rituals, and ceremonies of the law have been crucified in Christ’s death. Not only were sin, the natural man, the world, and Satan crucified; the law was also crucified. As evil men were putting Christ on the cross, God...

As part of His work in His new administrative arrangement, or economy, God condemned sin in the flesh through the death of Christ in the flesh. The phrase “the likeness of the flesh of sin” contains three important words: likeness, flesh, and sin. To say only “the flesh of sin” would indicate sinful flesh. Paul, however, adds “in the likeness,” indicating that in Christ’s human nature there was no...

8. Forsaking Christ Economically When He Was Judging Christ as Our Substitute Made Sin for Us and Bearing Our Sins When God was judging Christ as our Substitute made sin for us and bearing our sins, God forsook Christ economically. The sixth hour is our twelve o’clock noon, and the ninth is our three o’clock in the afternoon. The Lord Jesus was crucified at the third hour, at our nine o’clock in t...

5. Anointing the Son to Carry Out His Commission When the Son became thirty years of age, God anointed Him for the carrying out of His commission. Because the Lord Jesus was baptized, fulfilling God’s righteousness, the heavens were opened to Him, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and the Father spoke concerning Him. Before the Spirit of God descended and came upon Him, the Lord Jesus had been b...

C. IN THE NEW DISPENSATION Having considered God’s work in eternity past and in the old dispensation, let us now go on to view His work in the new dispensation, in His new administrative arrangement—economy. 1. Sending John the Baptist to Prepare the Way for Christ First, in His work in the new dispensation God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for Christ. 2. Sending His Son in the Likeness...

The subject of Romans 8:3 is God. God sent His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin. God was wise. He knew that He could not send His Son to be the flesh of sin, for, if He did that, His Son would have been involved with sin. Therefore, He sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin, as typified by the brass serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness. Christ does not have the nature...