Heb. 7:25 Hence also He is able to save to the uttermost those who come forward to God through Him, since He lives always to intercede for them.
Christ Interceding for Us
Only two verses in the Bible, Hebrews 7:25 and Romans 8:34, tell us that Christ is interceding for us, and these two verses correspond to one another. According to Romans 8, Christ is not interceding for poor sinners to be justified— justification is in Romans 4—but He is interceding for us to be glorified. This corresponds to the interceding in Hebrews 7:25, for here Christ intercedes for us that we may be saved to the uttermost. Being saved to the uttermost is the equivalent of glorification. Hence, both of these chapters tell us the same thing. Without Hebrews 7 we would never realize that the interceding Christ is the kingly, divine High Priest. Without Hebrews 7 we might think, according to Romans 8, that the interceding Christ is only the Savior. But the interceding Christ is more than the Savior—He is the kingly and divine High Priest, the heavenly Minister. Now we know who is the heavenly Minister—it is our Melchisedec. (Life-study of Hebrews, msg. 35)
Responding to Christ’s Heavenly Ministry
We need to be those who respond to Christ’s heavenly ministry. For centuries, Christ has tried without adequate success to get a people to respond to His ministry in the heavens. By His mercy and grace, there is on earth today a group of people in the Lord’s recovery responding to Christ’s heavenly ministry. Let us be those who tell the Lord that we are one with Him in this ministry. Day and night, we need to respond to the Christ who is above all. When I respond to the Lord, saying, “Amen, Lord,” I have the conviction deep within that Christ is interceding and ministering, that He is transmitting His riches into me and infusing me with the element of God. Because of this transmission and infusion, I am filled and stirred for the Lord’s interests. Sometimes I am so beside myself with joy that I hardly know what to do. This is what it means to seek the things above.
If we seek the things above and are one with Christ in the things above, we shall not care for religion, philosophy, or ethical teachings, all of which are elements of the world. Rather, we shall care only for Christ’s intercession for His Body and for the transmission of His riches into His members. I have the full assurance that many of the saints in the local churches are experiencing the transfusion of the riches of Christ. Because we have such a transfusion, we do not need ethics, culture, or religion. We simply need more and more oneness with Christ in His heavenly ministry. Praise Him for His intercession, for His ministry, and for the traffic between heaven and earth!
We need to be impressed with the fact that the Christ who is in heaven is very busy. Consider how many local churches He takes care of throughout the world. Christ’s ministry in heaven is all for the goal of building up the Body and forming His Bride. However, Christ’s ministry in heaven requires our response. We need to become on earth the very reflection of that heavenly ministry. When we seek the things above, we respond to the Lord’s heavenly ministry and reflect it. Our experience testifies of this. If in our prayer we are willing to forget insignificant matters and care for the things above, we shall become conscious of the traffic between us and Christ in heaven. We shall sense a current flowing back and forth between Him and us. By means of this kind of prayer, the divine riches are transfused into us. This enables us to be one with others and to be right with everyone. This also issues in the renewing of the new man. Through the heavenly transmission and transfusion, the new man comes into existence in a practical way. Hence, the new man is not produced by teaching; the new man is produced by the heavenly traffic, transaction, and transfusion. (Life-study of Colossians, msg. 61)
Seeking the Things Which Are Above
and Setting Our Mind on Them
As important as Christ’s earthly ministry was, it is not the main aspect of His ministry. The primary part of His ministry is His ministry in heaven. By His earthly ministry He redeemed us, saved us, and regenerated us. But by His heavenly ministry, He is building the church (Matt. 16:18). The Body of Christ needs the heavenly ministry of Christ, the ministry of Christ above, in order to be built up.
To seek the things which are above and to set our mind on them are to join ourselves to the Lord in His ministry in heaven. We need to join ourselves to the One who is interceding, ministering, and executing God’s administration. Our living should be a kind of living in which we seek these heavenly things and set our mind on them. This means that we live in such a way as to join our heavenly Christ in His priesthood, ministry, and administration. If we all live in this way, the church life will be greatly uplifted.
Because Christ is interceding for a particular church, we also may become burdened to pray for that church. We then ask the Lord to transmit His heavenly supply into the saints in that locality. Whenever we receive news of a need in a certain place, we should immediately pray, joining ourselves to Christ in His intercession for that need. If we do this, we will be setting our mind on the things above.
Our standard needs to be uplifted. We are not here to seek earthly things but to have a living that is one with Christ’s living. Christ today is living as the High Priest, the heavenly Minister, and the universal Administrator. We need to join Him in His living and have one living with Him.
If we seek the things which are above and have one living with Christ, we will be wholly occupied with the enterprise of our Master. Our heart will be with Him in heaven, where He is interceding for the churches, supplying the saints, and administrating God’s government. This will be our concern, our desire. If we take Christ as life and seek the things which are above in such a way, the lustful members will be put to death, the evil elements in the fallen soul will be put away, and the old man will be put off. Furthermore, we will automatically put on the new man. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 357)
