Eph 531ff 4/21/87

DOCTRINE OF THE GREAT POWER EXPERIMENT (Part 2)

O. The Reason for Our Lord’s Strength on the Cross.

1. There were two sources of strength for the humanity of Christ while He was on the cross:

a. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit related to living inside the prototype divine dynasphere. He had always lived inside the prototype divine dynasphere during the incarnation, and especially remained inside the prototype divine dynasphere while on the cross being judged for our sins. Therefore, He remained perfect throughout that judgment. So the first source for His strength was the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit.

b. The +H of God.

2. Omnipotence of the Holy Spirit.

a. The Holy Spirit was given without limitation to the humanity of Christ during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. Jn 3:34, “For He [Jesus Christ in great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union] whom the Father has sent teaches the doctrines from God [communicates the proclamations of God], “for He [God the Father] gives the Holy Spirit without limitation.”

b. The power of the Holy Spirit was utilized by the humanity of Christ during the entire time of the previous dispensation, the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit was administered to the humanity of Christ inside the prototype divine dynasphere; a principle and system available also to us, only during this dispensation (great power experiment of the Church Age).

c. Therefore, our Lord had to remain inside the prototype divine dynasphere for the filling of the Spirit and for the perpetuation of His impeccability during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. Rom 1:4, “Who [Jesus Christ] was demonstrated the Son of God by means of power belonging to the Holy Spirit by means of resurrection from the dead.. .. Jesus Christ our Lord.” Christ was demonstrated (as in an experiment) the Son of God by means of omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit.

d. During the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, our Lord’s humanity functioned under the power of the Spirit constantly. Matt 4:1, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tested by the devil [evidence testing].”

e. Mt 12:28, “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God [and I do] . . .” This shows that instead of using His own omnipotence, our Lord relied on the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit inside the prototype divine dynasphere. Lk 4:14, “And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.”

f. So the humanity of Christ resided in the prototype divine dynasphere during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. This is tantamount to the filling of the Spirit, plus walking by means of the Spirit - the two mandates given to us by Paul in Eph 5:18 and Gal 5:16. Both are executed inside the divine dynasphere.

g. Under the true doctrine of kenosis, our Lord restricted the independent use of His deity in keeping with the Father’s plan for the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. Therefore, the humanity of Christ functioned under the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit inside the prototype divine dynasphere.

h. This explains our Lord’s source of strength on the cross, as taught by Heb 9:12-14. Verse 12, “And not through the blood of goats and young bulls, but by means of His own blood He entered the Holy of Holies once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”

(1) The physical death of animal sacrifices was a training aid teaching the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross.

(2) Jesus Christ entered the third heaven, analogous to the Holy of Holies, as a result of His victory of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, His saving work on the cross. Entrance into the Holy of Holies is tantamount to His physical death, burial, resurrection, ascension, session, and the award of His third royal patent.

(3) Having this third royal title without a royal family necessitated the extension of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union into the Church Age. The great power experiment of the Church Age is designed for the election of the royal family of God to accompany and complement our Lord’s strategic victory on the cross. The humanity of Christ in Hypostatic Union now resides in the third heaven, awaiting the completion of the great power experiment of the Church Age.

i. Heb 9:13 teaches the shadow cleansing during the Age of Israel. (See points 9 and 12 for other explanations of verses 13-14.) “For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the purifying of the flesh,”

(1) The ashes from the red heifer are mentioned in Num 19:9. This offering was related to ceremonial uncleanness, such as leprosy, and is tantamount to the rebound offering.

(2) Two categories of ceremonial cleansing are mentioned in this protasis of a first class condition: the cleansing of sin at salvation (blood of goats and bulls] and the cleansing of sin at rebound (ashes of the heifer).

(3) This protasis depicts purification in ceremonial cleansing practiced during the dispensation of Israel. But the real cleansing took place during the dispensation of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, as found in the apodosis of verse 14.

j. Heb 9:14, “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

(1) Animals went to the altar as unwilling sacrifices, which made the horns on the altar necessary, to which the animals were tied. However, our Lord was a willing sacrifice. His volition was involved, Heb 10:4-10. Animal sacrifices were involuntary; our Lord’s sacrifice was a voluntary sin offering.

(2) “Offered Himself without blemish” is so important because it teaches that our Lord remained impeccable throughout the judgment of our sins on the cross; a perfect, efficacious sin offering.

(3) Since all the work of salvation was accomplished by the Lord and none of our works can be added to it, one of the things that must be purified from the conscience (norms and standards, a part of our right lobes) is our dead works.

(4) Note the surprising fact that the purification mentioned is not from sin, but from dead works. This means that the saving work of Christ not only purifies us from sin, but since He did all the work of salvation, His work also purges and purifies our conscience from dead works.

(5) Your conscience must have true norms and standards, acquired from learning Bible doctrine. True norms and standards start with the fact that you cannot be saved or blessed or receive anything else from God by anything you can do by way of your good works. Grace excludes human works, which are dead works. Dead works is synonymous most of the time with being made to feel guilty by others.

(6) The purpose of this cleansing of your conscience from dead works is to “serve the living God.” Note it’s not works, but service. Service is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit related to your stage of spiritual growth. Christian service is the result of spiritual growth, the follow-through of a correct “swing.” As in the analogy, Christian service is not something you need to strive for and focus on; it will automatically occur with spiritual growth.

(7) The great power experiment of the Church Age depends upon utilizing divine power, not human power.

(8) Serving God is the execution of the protocol plan of God. Therefore, serving God cannot be performed through the dead works of legalism.

(9) When our Lord was being judged for the sins of the world, He did not suddenly become sinful in being made sin for us. Jesus Christ remained in a state of perfection during the entire three hours when He was bearing our sins on the cross. He remained perfect, as the analogy also teaches. The animal didn’t suddenly develop a spot or blemish while dying.

(10) Therefore, our Lord’s spiritual death on the cross is not the same as our spiritual death at birth. At the point of physical birth, all members of the human race have real spiritual death through the imputation of Adam’s original sin to the genetically-formed old sin nature. Real spiritual death is defined as separation from God in a state of total depravity, totally helpless to gain any approbation from God through any talent or power we may have.

(11) While being judged for our sins on the cross, Jesus suffered substitutionary spiritual death, which is defined as separation from God in a state of absolute perfection. It lasted for three hours.

k. Just as our Lord was sustained on the cross during those three hours of judgment by the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit, so we in the Church Age are the only believers in history who have that same fantastic power available to us.

3. The Use of the Greatest Problem Solving Device, +H.

a. The second source of our Lord’s strength to endure the cross came from +H, i.e., sharing the happiness of God, one of the four great problem solving devices of spiritual adulthood.

b. Our Lord’s humanity attained spiritual adulthood inside the prototype divine dynasphere. Lk 2:40, “Now the child continued to grow [physically] and become strong, becoming full of wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.” “Becoming full of wisdom” is tantamount to maximum metabolization of Bible doctrine, so that inside the prototype divine dynasphere, He fulfilled all eight gates.

c. Jn 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory, the unique One from the Father, full of grace and truth [Bible doctrine].” So our Lord attained +H through the momentum of metabolized doctrine in the prototype divine dynasphere.

d. Heb 12:2, “Be concentrating on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our [Church Age] doctrine, who because of His exhibited happiness, He endured the cross, having disregarded the shame, and He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

(1) We are ordered to concentrate on how our Lord handled the most intense suffering in history by the use of +H as a problem solving device. (2) The believer with +H can handled the most intense suffering in life and pass evidence testing. Mature believers can endure anything.

(3) The four problem solving devices derive maximum benefit from suffering for blessing.

(4) Our Lord endured the suffering of bearing our sins in a state of perfect happiness. And this was demonstrated on the cross. The mature believer with +H will not fall apart under pressure. He demonstrated the dynamics of +H over all tragedy, suffering, and adversity.

(5) “Having disregarded the shame” emphasizes our Lord’s ability to disregard the disgrace of being judged for our sins, of being identified with and associated with our sins, and remain on the cross in a state of perfection and perfect happiness. Our Lord resisted the temptation to sin while bearing our sins.

P. Application from Christ’s Saving Work on the Cross, Rom 8:31-32.

1. Rom 8:31 is a doctrinal conclusion from the great power experiment of the Church Age; verse 32 is a doctrinal conclusion from the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union in the form of an a fortiori.

2. Verse 31 teaches that metabolized doctrine forces conclusions. “Therefore, with reference to these things, to what conclusion are we forced? If God is for us [and He is], who shall be against us?”

3. Verse 32 introduces an a fortiori, which is a Latin prepositional phrase that means “with stronger reason.” It is a system of logic. It is a system of using comparison between something that is greater and something that is lesser; or it is used to indicate something that is more difficult and compare it with something that is less difficult. So a fortiori is a system of logic related to inference and comparison.

4. Here in verse 32, the format of a fortiori takes a fact of Bible doctrine, one related to the greater difficulty of the cross, and compares it with another fact of Bible doctrine, the lesser difficulty of providing divine power and blessing for the believer in the Church Age. In other words, which is the most difficult: the justice of God the Father judging all sins in Christ on the cross, or the justice of God the Father in sending support and blessing for life to winners and losers alike? Obviously, the most difficult thing God the Father ever did was to use His omnipotence to impute the sins of the world to Christ on the cross, and then to use His justice to judge those sins!

5. If the omnipotence of God the Father accomplished the most difficult at the cross, it follows, a fortiori, that the omnipotence of God the Father can accomplish the least difficult, the provision of our very own portfolio of invisible assets.

6. It is much more difficult for the omnipotence of God the Father to impute our sins to the impeccable humanity of Christ on the cross and judge them than for the omnipotence of God the Father to provide our portfolio of invisible assets and logistical grace during the great power experiment of the Church Age.

7. If a fact with greater degree of difficulty is certain, this passage says that it follows that a fact of lesser degree of difficulty is inescapable!

8. If the omnipotence of God the Father has the power to impute our sins to Christ on the cross, it follows, a fortiori, that the omnipotence of God the Father has the power to provide for the believer both in time and in eternity. So you have the greatest security package in all of history!

9. Verse 32, “The God, who did not even spare His own Son, but delivered Him over to judgment instead of all of us [in place of all of us, on behalf of all of us], how shall He not also with Him graciously give to us the all things [our portfolio of invisible assets]?”

10. If the greater benefit has been given during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, it follows a fortiori, that God will not withhold the lesser benefit during the great power experiment of the Church Age or in the eternal future. This means you have a greater set of assets as an individual believer than anyone who ever lives outside the Church Age, including the perfect era of the Millennium. You have something far greater!

Q. Christ’s Unique Physical Death on the Cross.

1. The purpose of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union had been completed when our Lord was judged for the sins of the world. He anticipated the fact that He would die physically when His work was completed.

2. However, the physical death of the humanity of Christ was unique because of the trichotomous separation of His body, soul, and spirit. When we die, our soul and spirit together leave our body and go to heaven. But our Lord’s death was the only case in human history where the two immaterial parts, the soul and spirit, were also separated.

3. Jn 19:28, “After this [substitutionary spiritual death of Jesus Christ], Jesus, knowing that all things had already been finished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled [Ps 69:21], He said `I am thirsty.’” This was spoken only from His humanity, and is indicative of intense suffering.

4. Jn 19:29, “Now a jar of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of wine on a branch of hyssop and brought it to His mouth.”

a. Hyssop is like a sponge. It was used to sprinkle the blood of animal sacrifices in Israel. Hyssop was first used to sprinkle the blood of the Passover lamb on the sides and top of the door in Egypt before the Exodus. Hyssop was also used in the ceremony of purifying lepers in Lev 14:4-7. Hyssop was used in the ordinance of ceremonial purification of a person who had touched a corpse (analogous to spiritual death), Num 19:1ff.

b. Wine is related to several things. First, less than twenty-four hours before this, He had picked up wine and said, “This represents my blood which is shed for you.” Though called wine, it was unfermented grape juice since drunk during the Passover.

5. Jn 19:30, “Therefore, when Jesus had received the G.I. wine, He said, `It [the purpose of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union: salvation] is finished!’ And having pushed His head forward, He delivered up His human spirit.”

a. Jesus pushed His head forward on purpose, so that we would know there was nothing special about His literal blood. That position caused all His blood to pool in the chest cavity, so that when the Roman soldier thrust a spear into His chest cavity, out came “blood and water” i.e., blood and serum, the natural result of normal separating and layering of blood in a dead person who has not bled to death. Hence, Jesus did not bleed to death.

b. More details of this are given in Lk 23:46: “And Jesus, having enunciated with a loud voice said, `Father, into Your hands, I deposit My spirit.’ Then having said this, He expired.” 6. In His unique trichotomous separation, our Lord’s human body went into the grave (Lk 23:50-53), His human spirit went into the presence of the Father in the third heaven (Lk 23:46; Jn 19:30), and His human soul went to Hades in the heart of the earth.

7. Hades is the place where all members of the human race, prior to our Lord’s resurrection, departed at physical death.

a. Hades has four compartments.

(1) Paradise, or Abraham’s Bosom, where all believers went. The Great Gulf Fixed, divides Paradise from the rest.

(2) Torments, where all unbelievers reside from the beginning of time until the Great White Throne judgment.

(3) Tartarus, the prison of the angels of Gen 6.

(4) The Abyss, the prison of certain rebellious angels.

b. Our Lord said to the dying thief on the cross next to Him, “Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise,” Lk 23:43.

c. That our Lord’s human soul would go to Hades was prophesied in Ps 16:10. It is a matter of record in Acts 2:27, 31; Eph 4:9.

d. According to Lk 16:22, Paradise is where all believers, from Adam and Eve to believers saved just before our Lord’s resurrection, went after physical death. However, with the resurrection of our Lord, all these believers were transferred to the third heaven.

e. According to Lk 16:23, Torments is still occupied with all unbelievers since the beginning of time. At the end of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ, Rev 20 says, “Hades shall deliver up its dead.” There will be a second resurrection in which all unbelievers will be brought before the Great White Throne, judged, and cast into the Lake of Fire forever.

f. Tartarus is the location of the fallen angels who sought to infiltrate the human race in Gen 6:4. They are called in the Hebrew NEPHILIM, meaning fallen ones. They are angels who, at that time, were capable of sexual activity, so that their procreation with human women caused the half-human half-angelic people who became the early heroes told about in Greek mythology. They are also mentioned in 2 Pet 2:4 as “residing in Hades.” They are confined in Tartarus until the last judgment of angels.

g. When the soul of Jesus Christ was in Paradise, we learn from 1 Pet 3 that the Holy Spirit sustained His soul while He went down to Tartarus and made a victorious proclamation, telling those fallen angels that they did not succeed in their bold attempt to destroy the true humanity and so frustrate the First Advent.

h. The Abyss is a barracks in Hades, where the three great demon armies of Rev 9 are located. They violated the rules of the historical phase of the angelic conflict, and therefore they are not available to Satan until the middle of the Tribulation, when they will be released. The king or ruler of these three armies is called Abaddon in the Hebrew, Apollyon in the Greek (Rev 9:11).

i. The final hell where all unbelievers and fallen angels will reside is called Tophet in the Hebrew, Gehenna in the Greek; i.e., the Lake of Fire.

R. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ in the Great Power Experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

1. In the bodily, physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, two categories of divine power were used. Our Lord could have used His own power, but instead He permitted the power of the Father and that of the Holy Spirit to act as agents in His resurrection.

2. The omnipotence of God the Father restored our Lord’s human spirit from the third heaven to His body in the grave, and thereby became an agent in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Acts 2:24; Rom 6:4; Eph 1:20; Col 2:12; 1 Thes 1:10; 1 Pet 1:21.

3. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit restored our Lord’s human soul in Hades to His body in the grave, and thereby became the second agent in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Rom 1:4, 8:11; 1 Pet 3:18.

4. The power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is now available to every believer as new spiritual species, as royal family of God. Furthermore, this power is available to us now, not when we die, in order that we may execute the most exciting and unusual plan God ever designed for believers in history. This is because the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union has been extended into the Church Age.

5. In the Church Age, the omnipotence of God the Father is available to us through our portfolio of invisible assets. In effect, God the Father administers our portfolio of invisible assets which He Himself provided long before anything was created.

6. In the Church Age, the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit is available to us through the divine dynasphere. Just as He sustained the humanity of Christ inside His prototype divine dynasphere, the Holy Spirit now sustains the believer inside the operational-type divine dynasphere.

7. Jesus Christ as eternal God had the power to raise His own humanity from the dead. However, during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, our Lord voluntarily restricted the independent use of His own divine attributes (including omnipotence) in compliance with the Father’s plan for the Incarnation.

8. Jn 10:17-18, “For this reason the Father loves Me because I lay down My life that I may receive it again.” We learned from Jn 19 that our Lord did give up His own physical life simply by exhaling and not inhaling again. He received His life again in resurrection. This is without precedent in the Old Testament. Verse 18, “No one has taken it from Me, but I lay it down from the source of Myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to receive it again. This mandate I received from the Father.”

a. Our Lord had the power to dismiss His human spirit into the presence of the Father and His soul into the presence of the Holy Spirit. The humanity of Christ in Hypostatic Union utilized the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit inside the prototype divine dynasphere to lay down His life as a sin offering. After that was finished, He had the power to dismiss His spirit and His soul. He also had the power to receive His human life again in resurrection.

b. The Father’s mandate is the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, including the salvation plan of God.

c. While Jesus Christ could have used His own omnipotence at the cross and delivered Himself at any time during the greatest suffering in all of human history, He instead depended upon two factors outside of Himself: the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit inside the prototype divine dynasphere, and +H, provided by the Father as a problem solving device but developed through His own momentum inside the prototype divine dynasphere.

d. While Jesus Christ could have used His own power to raise Himself from the dead, He relied instead upon the power of God the Father who restored His human spirit to His body in the grave, and upon the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit who restored His human soul to His body in the grave.

e. During our Lord’s death, burial, resurrection, Jesus Christ did not use His own omnipotence to benefit Himself, to provide for Himself, to raise Himself from the dead, or to glorify Himself.

f. Under the doctrine of kenosis, Jesus Christ did not use His own divine attributes to function independently of the Father’s plan for the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

9. All during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, including His deaths on the cross, burial and resurrection, our Lord’s omnipotence continued to hold the universe together and to perpetuate human history. Col 1:17, “And by Him all things hold together.” Heb 1:3, “upholding all things by the Word of His power.”

10. The same divine power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is now available to every believer for the execution of the protocol plan of God.

11. Furthermore, the divine omnipotence that raised Jesus Christ from the dead will resurrect every Church Age believer at the Rapture of the Church. For those who are “dead in Christ,” the omnipotence of God the Father will resurrect them from the dead. For those who are alive at the Rapture, the omnipotence of the Spirit will provide a resurrection body. 1 Cor 15 says they will “be changed in a moment, in the winking of an eye.”

12. Between the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of the Church is the greatest power period in all of human history.

13. The resurrection of Jesus Christ terminated the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. Forty days after His resurrection He ascended and was seated at the right hand of the Father, which caused the interruption of the dispensation of Israel for the insertion of the Church Age. All our precedence comes, not from the Old Testament, but from the thirty-three years of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

14. When the great power experiment of the Church Age is completed, it will have been the most concentrated period of power in all human history; power available to every ordinary believer regardless of any human factor.

15. 1 Pet 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope [Hope 1,2,3] through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead [Hope 3], to an inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are guarded by the power of God through doctrine for a deliverance, ready to be revealed in the last time.”

16. Phil 3:10 teaches the four things every believer must know. “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, having become like Christ with reference to His death.”

a. To “know Him” refers to the three categories of spiritual adulthood: spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, and spiritual maturity.

b. The “power of His resurrection” refers to the omnipotence of God the Father and omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit, now available to every believer.

c. The “fellowship of His suffering” does not refer to suffering as a result of bad decisions under the law of volitional responsibility or suffering from divine discipline. This refers to the three categories suffering for blessing: providential preventative suffering, momentum testing, and evidence testing. These unique systems of suffering for blessing were first experienced by the humanity of Christ during the previous dispensation of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. They are now available to us, and designed for blessing! The greatest sufferings in life are designed for blessing that staggers the imagination.

d. The final clause refers to the unique problem solving devices, first used by Jesus Christ. The ultimate use in the problem solving devices came in our Lord’s use of Hope 2 and 3, impersonal love, personal love, and +H while on the cross, being judged for our sins. These are used to meet the greatest disasters in life.

S. The Termination of the Great Power Experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

1. The termination of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union begins with the ascension of Jesus Christ. Ascension is that doctrine of Christology pertaining to our Lord’s transfer of residence from planet earth to heaven in Hypostatic Union in His resurrection body.

2. Both the ascension and session occurred in our Lord’s resurrection body.

3. Both the resurrection and ascension combine to form the climax of our Lord’s strategic victory in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

4. The ascension of Jesus Christ is based on the capabilities of His resurrection body, which is capable of both horizontal and vertical travel. His horizontal travel included His forty days on the earth after His resurrection. His vertical travel included our Lord’s ascension into the third heaven just ten days before the Church Age began, traveling billions and billions of light years into the presence of God the Father. The ascension of Jesus Christ demonstrated how the resurrection body moved vertically with ease through the atmosphere of earth, into space past billions of galaxies, into the third heaven.

5. Upon arrival in the third heaven, our Lord’s humanity was seated at the right hand of the Father and awarded His third royal patent.

6. Just before the ascension of our Lord, He prophesied the coming of the Church Age as the extension of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

a. First, He prophesied the baptism of the Holy Spirit by which the extension is performed in Acts 1:5. “For John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit a few days from now.”

b. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the means of receiving the power or omnipotence of God, according to Acts 1:8, in which our Lord continued His prophecy, saying, “You shall receive power [Omnipotence of God the Father, Son, Holy Spirit].”

c. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the means of creating the new spiritual species for the Church Age. The purpose of the new spiritual species is the utilization of the 100% available divine power.

7. In Acts 1:9 the ascension then occurred. “And after He had said these things, He was lifted up. And while they were looking on, a cloud received Him out of their sight.” 8. Then followed the session of Jesus Christ, first prophesied in Ps 110:1, “The Lord said to my Lord, `Sit down at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’” The session of Jesus Christ is the basis for the award of His third royal patent, and the extension of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union into the Church Age.

a. Part of the significance of the extension of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union into our Church Age is the 100% availability of divine omnipotence, unique to this dispensation. Eph 1:19-20, “And what is the surpassing greatness of His power to us who have believed, which superior power He put into operation by means of Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand in heavenly places.”

b. When our Lord received His third royal patent at His session, that opened up a whole new dispensation. His third royal title became King of kings, Lord of lords, the Bright Morning Star; but He was without a royal family to accompany His new royalty. Therefore, the new dispensation of the Church Age was created for the calling out of a royal family of God.

c. Therefore, the great power experiment exists in two dispensations: that of our Lord’s Hypostatic Union (His second royal patent) and that of the Church (His third royal patent). 9. Heb 10:12, “But this One [Jesus Christ], when He had offered one unique sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.”

10. Therefore, the resurrection, ascension, and session of Jesus Christ is the Father’s public announcement of our Lord’s strategic victory of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

a. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the mechanics for providing a royal family to accompany our Lord’s strategic victory and resultant third royal patent.

b. The baptism of the Holy Spirit results in the creation of a new spiritual species, necessitated by the great divine power now available. Only the new spiritual species can utilize such a fantastic availability of divine power.

c. The baptism of the Holy Spirit also result in the formation of the royal family of God for the purpose of glorifying Him in tactical victory. Tactical victory comes when the believer who resides inside the divine dynasphere, under the enabling power of the Spirit, and momentum from metabolized doctrine, advances from gate #4 to gate #8 by way of the three categories of spiritual adulthood: spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, and spiritual maturity.

d. Tactical victory includes our cognition of our portfolio of invisible assets related to the omnipotence of God the Father; the daily epistemological rehabilitation related to perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine; living and functioning inside the operational-type divine dynasphere related to the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit; and the utilization of the four problem solving devices: personal love directed toward God, impersonal love directed toward all mankind, hope 2 and 3 directed toward Bible doctrine, and +H directed toward self.

11. The session also confirms the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. This was the subject of early preaching at the beginning of the Church Age.

a. Acts 2:33, “Therefore, having been exalted at the right hand of God...”

b. Acts 5:31, “He is the One whom God has exalted at His right hand as Prince and Savior.”

c. Phil 2:9, “Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and given Him a title which is above every title, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father.”

12. As a result of resurrection, ascension, and session, the humanity of Christ in Hypostatic Union is now superior to all angelic creatures.

a. Heb 1:13, “But to which of the angels has He said at any time, `Sit down at My right hand until I appoint Your enemies a footstool for your feet?’” b. 1 Pet 3:22, “Who [Jesus Christ] is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers have been subordinated to Him.” Although angelic creatures were initially superior to homo sapien by creation, they have now become inferior to the humanity of Christ.

c. Heb 1:3, “Who [Jesus Christ] being the flashing forth of His glory and the exact image of His essence, also sustained all things by the Word of His power, having Himself accomplished purification of sins, Who was caused to sit down at the right hand of the Majesty on High.”

13. Our Lord now has three categories of royalty.

a. Divine royalty as eternal infinite God. As the manifest person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ now wears the crown of divine royalty, Jn 1:18, 6:46; 1 Tim 6:10. His title is Son of God. His royal family is God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

b. Jewish royalty as the human son of David. Matthew gives the genealogy of David’s son Solomon, ending with Joseph, our Lord’s legal father. The virgin birth cut off Solomon’s line as contributing anything to the true humanity of our Lord, a part of Coniah’s curse. Luke gives the genealogy of David’s son Nathan, ending with Mary, our Lord’s mother in His virgin birth. The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union began with the virgin birth, at which point our Lord’s humanity became Jewish royalty, Rom 1:3-4. As Jewish royalty descended from David, our Lord in Hypostatic Union is the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant, which will be entirely fulfilled during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. His Jewish title is Son of David; His royal family is the davidic dynasty.

c. Hypostatic Union royalty. The strategic victory of the Hypostatic Union resulted in what could be called His battlefield royalty after His resurrection, ascension, and session. During the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, the humanity of Jesus Christ resided in the prototype divine dynasphere resulting in His impeccability, so that He was qualified for a sin offering. Therefore, the humanity of Christ received the imputation and judgment of the sins of the world on the cross, the basis of our salvation. As a result of His salvation work on the cross (including His substitutionary spiritual death, unlimited atonement, redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, imputation, justification), our Lord won the strategic victory of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. This includes His execution of the salvation plan of God and becoming a winner in the angelic conflict. The victory was confirmed by our Lord’s resurrection, ascension, and session. His title is King of kings, Lord of lords, the Bright Morning Star. His royal family is now being formed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

14. The results of the baptism of the Holy Spirit are important.

a. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the basis for the extension of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union into the Church Age.

b. It is the basis of the election of the royal family of God.

c. It is the basis for the creation of new spiritual species for the utilization of 100% available divine power.

d. The Church Age believer becomes the heir of God and the joint-heir with the Son of God.

e. It is the means of extending to us the greatest assets ever to exist in human history.

f. It erases all human distinctions and barriers.

15. Therefore, the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union fulfilled two functions.

a. It divided the dispensation of Israel from the Church Age. It is not only a dividing line, but a dispensation in itself. It separates the plan of God for Israel (ritual plan of God) from the plan of God for the Church Age (protocol plan of God). It separates the election of Israel from the election of the Church. The royal family of God is now being elected. Under election, all Church Age believers have equal privilege as royal priests, and equal opportunity from receiving logistical grace support. Under predestination, all Church Age believers have equal privilege from the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and equal opportunity from the provision of our divine dynasphere.

b. The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union functioned as its very own dispensation. This means that the ritual plan of God for the dispensation of Israel has been superseded by the protocol plan of God for the Church Age. The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union separates Israel and the Church, so that precedence for the Church Age is taken from the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

Great Power Experiment of the Church Age

T. The Precedence for the Church Age.

1. The extension of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union results in the establishing of a Church dispensation.

2. The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union had two applications. It served as a permanent separation between Israel and the Church, and it served as the basis for precedence for the protocol plan of God. The protocol plan of God is unique for the Church Age.

3. This forces us to conclude that the protocol plan of God for the Church Age, which supersedes the ritual plan of God for Israel, is not taken from the Old Testament Scripture, including the Mosaic Law. The Church is a mystery dispensation.

4. Most reform denominations include the Mosaic Law as a part of the Christian way of life. Therefore, since the Reformation, there has been very little about what constitutes God’s plan, purpose, and will for the Church Age believer.

5. Since the baptism of the Holy Spirit we have a brand new plan, never revealed before, having no precedence from the Old Testament.

6. The inclusion of the Mosaic Law into the Christian way of life is repudiated in both Romans and Galatians. The book of Galatians rejects two false doctrines.

a. Salvation through keeping the Mosaic Law.

b. Spirituality through keeping the Mosaic Law (morality).

7. Morality is for both believers and unbelievers as a part of establishment doctrine. Anything the unbeliever can do cannot be the Christian way of life. Unbelievers can be very moral.

8. The reform denominations have introduced a generally accepted legalism which advocates such things as tithing (which was an income tax in the Mosaic Law), Sabbath observance, Sermon on the Mount principles (which refer to the Second Advent, since the Jews rejected Christ as the Messiah in the First Advent), and morality as the basis for spirituality.

9. The dispensation of Israel provides no precedence for the Church Age. All precedence for the protocol plan of God is taken from the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union is the dividing line between Israel and the Church, and separates the two forever as being separate dispensations.

10. The baptism of the Holy Spirit never occurred in the Old Testament. There was neither a new spiritual species nor maximum availability of divine power in the dispensation of Israel. All previous dispensations divided believers into spiritual giants and spiritual peasants.

11. The unique characteristics of the Church Age are all a part of the doctrine of the mystery, and were completely unknown in the Old Testament. This includes such unique assets as the indwelling of all three members of the Trinity, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, our portfolio of invisible assets, the universal priesthood of the believer, the ambassadorship of every believer, the times of Gentile client nations to God, the equal privilege and equal opportunity of the protocol plan of God; these things are absolutely unique! You have the same privileges and opportunities as any other believer in this age to advance to maturity!

12. In the Age of Israel, no precedence exists for the formation of a royal family of God composed of all believers. There is no body of Christ, no baptism of the Holy Spirit, no universal priesthood. There were two specialized priesthoods in the Old Testament: family priests and Levitical priests. There was no portfolio of invisible assets.

13. The first conclusion is that everything related to the protocol plan of God for the Church Age derives its precedence and authorization from the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

14. The substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross is the basis for the modus operandi of the protocol plan of God. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the basis for the modus vivendi of the protocol plan of God. There is no resurrection in human history prior to the resurrection of the humanity of Christ in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

15. The ritual plan of God with its ritual animal sacrifices was authorized by the Mosaic Law. But the protocol plan of God finds its authorization in the realities of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. The fact that there was no resurrection in the Old Testament is significant. You cannot mix shadows with reality. Hebrews says that the ritual plan of God was shadows, pointing to the reality, but not the reality in itself. Shadows belong to the Old Testament; the realities belong to the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

16. Distinction must be recognized between resurrection and resuscitation. In resuscitation, a person is brought back to life but subsequently dies. In resurrection, the humanity of Christ received an eternal human body which is not subject to death. The next resurrection will occur at the end of the Church Age with the Rapture.

17. The resurrection of Christ therefore establishes a precedent for all believer resurrections: the royal family of God at the Rapture, the Old Testament believers and Tribulational martyrs at the Second Advent, and the millennial believers at the end of the Millennium.

18. The power precedence for the Church Age is derived from the resurrection of Christ in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. The omnipotence of God the Father restored our Lord’s human spirit in heaven to His body in the grave, thereby becoming an agent in the unprecedented resurrection of Jesus Christ. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit restored our Lord’s human soul in Hades to His body in the grave, thereby becoming an agent in the unprecedented resurrection of Jesus Christ. Therefore, precedence for resurrection is established in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, not in the Old Testament!

19. The power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is now available to every believer for the execution of the protocol plan of God; the omnipotence of God the Father related to our portfolio of invisible assets, and the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit related to our operational-type divine dynasphere.

a. Eph 1:19-20.

b. Rom 1:4 documents the fact that precedence for the Church Age goes back to the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. “Who was demonstrated the Son of God by means of power belonging to the Holy Spirit, by means of the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” From the word “demonstrated” we derive our terminology “experiment,” which is defined as the demonstration of known truth or the testing of truth.

20. The Apostle Paul communicated the precedence established between the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union and the great power experiment of the Church Age in Phil 3:10 when he said, “That I may come to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”

21. Between the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union and the resurrection of the royal family of God which ends the Church Age is the greatest availability of divine power in all of human history! It is up to your volition whether you will learn this that you might execute the protocol plan of God.

22. After His resurrection, ascension, and session, our Lord was awarded His third royal patent, but was without a royal family. This was also without precedent. Therefore, God the Father introduced a new dispensation for the calling out (election) of the royal family of God.

23. Therefore, the second conclusion is that all precedence and authorization for the protocol plan of God for the Church Age is taken from the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. This includes the fact that the content of the Mosaic Law provides no precedence or authorization for God’s plan for the Church Age. We learn many things from the Mosaic Law, but not the Christian way of life!

24. All doctrine related to the modus operandi of the protocol plan of God is classified as mystery doctrine, which means that none of the unique characteristics of the Church Age are revealed in the Old Testament. This is taught three times in the New Testament: Rom 16:25-26; Eph 3:1-6; Col 1:25-26. The great power experiment of the Church Age was under a blackout; it was neither understood nor revealed to the Old Testament saints.

25. Under the doctrine of plenary verbal inspiration, a New Testament Canon had to be written in order to explain two dispensations: the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union and the great power experiment of the Church Age, and to explain the relationship between these two. Generally, the record of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union is revealed in the Gospels, though there are extensive prophecies about it in the Old Testament. Generally, the record of the great power experiment of the Church Age is revealed in the epistles, and the content of the epistles was never revealed in the Old Testament.

26. Hence, the third conclusion is that precedence and authorization for the modus vivendi of the Church Age is taken from the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, not from the Mosaic Law or from any Old Testament Scripture. Furthermore, the Old Testament cannot establish any precedent for the Christian way of life.

27. The Old Testament is part of the Canon of Scripture, and has both instructional advantage in epistemological rehabilitation, and applicational advantage after cognition and metabolization of New Testament epistles. 28. In 2 Cor 10:11-13, there is a commentary on the importance of the Old Testament. “Now these things happened to them [Exodus generation] as an example [of the law of volitional responsibility and divine discipline]. Furthermore, they were written for our instruction, upon whom the accomplishment of the ages [by royal family of God] have come. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall [punitive suffering under the law of volitional responsibility, and divine discipline]. Testing [suffering for blessing] has not caught up with you except the human kind [punitive suffering]. Moreover, God is faithful, who will not permit you to be tested [suffering for blessing] beyond what you are able, but with the testing, He will also provide a way of escape [the ten problem solving devices] so that you [mature believers] can endure it.”

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Bill and Amy Puryear, and were made available to R. B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries for distribution.

R. B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740

© 1989, by R. B. Thieme, Jr. All rights reserved.

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