Lesson 17
Christ's Threefold Work
An adequate presentation of the gospel must reveal Christ in all His fullness as Sacrifice,
Power-giver, and Coming King. Theologians and preachers must emphasize equally the blood of
Christ, the transforming power of Christ, and the coming kingship of Christ.
I. Christ's Three Ministries
Our Lord's three ministries are His earthly ministry, His heavenly ministry, and His new
earthly ministry. Our Saviour had an earthly ministry in the past; He has a heavenly ministry
at the present; He will have a new earthly ministry in the future.
1. Work of Christ's Earthly Ministry. The outstanding work Christ performed during His
earthly ministry is that He provided the basis for salvation through His perfect obedience, His
sacrificial death, and His glorious resurrection. Christ's earthly ministry makes possible His
heavenly and new earthly ministries. Jesus could not save men from the power of sin and the
presence of sin until He had made it possible for them to be saved from the penalty of sin.
2. Work of His Heavenly Ministry. Through His heavenly ministry, our Lord makes possible
the application of salvation. The application of salvation is made possible by means of
His power and presence, the Holy Spirit, through which He dwells within the believer. Through
His power, Christ transforms the trustful, surrendered, obedient believer into His moral
likeness. This is the work Christ is performing today during His heavenly ministry.
God plans for every believer to be conformed to the image of His Son. God intends for new
creatures in Christ Jesus to be moral reflections of His Son, who is the Beginning of the new
creation. Through resurrection to immortality, believers will share in Christ's physical
likeness. Through transformation of character and reformation of conduct today, they share in
His moral likeness. Man's character change must precede his physical change. One must have a
Christlike mind before he can have a Christlike body, One must partake of the benefits of
Christ's earthly ministry (His sacrifice) and heavenly ministry (His indwelling power) before
he can partake of the benefits of His new earthly ministry (resurrection to immortality and
glory).
3. Work of His New Earthly Ministry. In His new earthly ministry, Christ will make
possible the consummation of salvation in the lives of glorified saints. When Jesus
returns, He will transform the believer's body from mortality to immortality. The true Church
will be completed, assembled, and glorified with Christ. Our planet will experience a
redemptive transformation. The earth will be restored to its original Edenic purity and will
become the eternal paradise of God.
II. Three Pictures of Christ
The three ministries of Christ present three pictures of our glorious Lord. In His earthly
ministry, He was the suffering Sacrifice; in His heavenly ministry, He is Intercessor and
transforming Lord; in His new earthly ministry, He will be the King of kings, reigning on His
throne of glory. In His earthly ministry, we see Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, on the cross
and beside the empty tomb. In His heavenly ministry, we see a picture of Jesus at God's right
hand. In His new earthly ministry, we see the King on His throne.
1. Three Appearings. The threefold ministry of Christ is described in Hebrews 9 by the
threefold occurrence of the word "appear." Hebrews 9:26 refers to His earthly ministry:
"Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself." Hebrews 9:24 describes His heavenly ministry: "Christ is not entered into the holy
places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us." Hebrews 9:28 refers to His new earthly ministry:
"Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
Christ's first appearing was as a sacrifice for sin. His second appearing is in heaven in the
presence of God as Advocate and Intercessor. His third appearing will be His second coming,
when He returns to earth.
2. Three Shepherds. The threefold ministry of Christ is pictured in the New Testament by
three adjectives which describe Him as Shepherd.
Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep"
(John 10:11). In His earthly ministry, He showed Himself as the Good Shepherd when He
gave Himself in sacrificial death for His sheep.
The benediction recorded in Hebrews 13:20, 21 presents Jesus as the Great Shepherd in His
heavenly ministry today: "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you
perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his
sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." The risen Christ is the
Great Shepherd who, through His Spirit, works in the lives of believers. He transforms them
into His likeness and produces in their lives that which is well pleasing in God's sight.
Notice that Christ's work as Good Shepherd was external to the Christian. He did something
for the Christian. His work as Great Shepherd, on the other hand, is internal within the
Christian. Today, He does something in the Christian. As Good Shepherd, Jesus created the
proper legal relationship between the believer and God; as Great Shepherd, He makes possible the
proper vital relationship. Through Him, Christians have a living contact with God.
In His future new earthly ministry, Jesus is described as Chief Shepherd. "When the
chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away"
(1 Pet. 5:4).
III. Threefold Salvation
The gospel of salvation, centered in the person and work of Christ, can readily be designated
"The Threefold Gospel." The sinner's salvation is dependent upon Christ's work in His three
ministries. The threefold ministry of Christ results in the threefold salvation of the
believer. In Christian experience, there is a past salvation, which is an accomplished
fact; there is a present salvation, which is a progressive process; and there is a future
salvation, which is a promised hope. Therefore, the believer can truthfully say, "I have been
saved, I am being saved, and I shall be saved."
1. Salvation Prom Penalty of Sin. Through His sacrificial death, Jesus has saved us
from the penalty of sin. He paid the wages of sin for us. He removed our guilt and
condemnation. When the sinner accepts the sacrifice of Christ through conversion, he is saved
from the penalty of sin. He has therefore now no condemnation (Rom. 8:1); he is justified
before God.
2. Salvation From Power of Sin. When Christ dwells in our lives through His power, He
progressively saves us from the power of sin. The power of sin is the influence that sin and a
sinful habit exert upon the sinner. The power of Christ counterbalances the power of self, the
carnal mind. By walking in the Spirit, the believer does not fulfill the lust of the flesh
(Gal. 5:16). Only the power of Christ can liberate from the power of sin. As one surrenders
himself to Christ's transforming power and lives in trustful obedience to Him as Lord, he is
progressively saved from the power of sin.
3. Salvation From Presence of Sin. The presence of sin is the evidence of sin in one's
environment. When Christ returns to earth and begins His new earthly ministry, He will save us
from the presence of sin. All evidence of sin eventually will be removed; sinners will be
destroyed. He will transform our environment, this planet, so that "the earth shall be full of
the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."
IV. Threefold Relationships
The earthly ministry of Christ was characterized by what He did for us. Christ died for
sinners. The heavenly ministry of Christ is indicated by what He does in us. Christ
dwells in believers through His transforming power. The new earthly ministry of Christ will be
characterized by what He will do to us and with us. Christ will change believers'
bodies and make glorified saints joint-heirs with Him.
What Christ did for us in His crucifixion and resurrection is external to us. What He is
doing in us through His transforming power is internal within us. What Christ is going
to do to us and with us in God's glorious tomorrow will be eternal for us.
The work of Christ's earthly ministry makes possible our change of standing before God,
our justification. The work of Christ's heavenly ministry makes possible transformation of our
character and reformation of our conduct. The work of Christ's new earthly
ministry will result in the redemption of our bodies from mortality to immortality. His
three ministries can be summarized by the words: justification, transformation, and
glorification.
When the believer accepts the benefits of Christ's earthly ministry through repentance, faith,
and baptism, he enters into Christ. (Gal. 3:27.) He is in Christ; he has a new standing
before God. When he enters into the benefits of Christ's heavenly ministry and permits Christ
to transform his life, Christ is in the believer. When the believer takes part in the
results of Christ's new earthly ministry through resurrection to immortality, he will be with
Christ.
Christ, the sacrificed Lamb, brings peace with God. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). Christ, the indwelling Lord,
gives the peace of God, a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22; Phil. 4:7). Peace with God
refers to a divine-human relationship in which all enmity is removed. Peace of God refers to
inner calm and poise. Christ, the coming King, will bring peace among nations. (Micah 4:3.)
(Adapted from Systematic Theology, by Alva Huffer, published by Church of God General
Conference, Oregon, Illinois 61061, U.S.A.)
© Church of God General Conference. This lesson may be reproduced
without change for non-commercial purposes without prior permission.