I.　The second stage of Christ's full ministry is the stage of inclusion, from His resurrection to the degradation of the church:

A.　The stage of incarnation was the stage of Christ's first "becoming"—the stage of His becoming flesh—John 1:14.

B.　The stage of inclusion is the stage of Christ's second "becoming"—the stage of His becoming the life-giving Spirit—1 Cor. 15:45b.

C.　Our use of the word inclusion is based on our use of the word inclusive; for Christ, as the last Adam, to become the life-giving Spirit was for Him to become the all-inclusive Spirit—Phil. 1:19; Exo. 30:22-25; cf. Gen. 17:1.

II.　Christ's ministry in the stage of inclusion is His ministry in resurrection as the life-giving Spirit in our spirit; resurrection is the life pulse and lifeline of the divine economy—1 Cor. 15:12-19, 31-36, 45-49, 54-58:

A.　If there were no resurrection, God would be the God of the dead, not of the living—Matt. 22:32.

B.　If there were no resurrection, Christ would not have been raised from the dead; He would be a dead Savior, not a living One who lives forever (Rev. 1:18) and is able to save to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25; Rom. 5:10).

C.　If there were no resurrection, there would be no living proof of our being justified by His death (4:25), no imparting of life (John 12:24), no regen?eration (3:5), no renewing (Titus 3:5), no transformation (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18), and no conformity to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).

D.　If there were no resurrection, there would be no members of Christ (12:5), no Body of Christ as His fullness (Eph. 1:20-23), no church as Christ's bride (John 3:29), and therefore no new man (Eph. 2:15; 4:24; Col. 3:10-11).

E.　If there were no resurrection, God's New Testament economy would altogether collapse, and God's eternal purpose would be nullified—Acts 13:33; 1 Pet. 1:3; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Col. 1:18.

III.　We need to see and enter into the unveiled truth of Christ's resurrection in the stage of inclusion for the ultimate goal of God's economy:

A.　In resurrection Christ was born to be the firstborn Son of God—Acts 13:33:

1.　From eternity past without beginning, Christ was God's only begotten Son, possessing only divinity, without humanity and not having passed through death into resurrection—John 1:18.

2.　In incarnation the only begotten Son of God became flesh to be a God-man, a man possessing both the divine nature and the human nature.

3.　Through death and resurrection Christ in the flesh as the seed of David was designated to be the firstborn Son of God—Rom. 1:3-4:

a.　In death His humanity was crucified—1 Pet. 3:18.

b.　In resurrection His crucified humanity was made alive by the Spirit of His divinity and was uplifted into the sonship of the only begotten Son of God; thus, He was begotten by God in His resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God—Rom. 8:29.

B.　In resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit—1 Cor. 15:45b:

1.　The life-giving Spirit "was not yet" before the resurrection of Christ—the glorification of Christ—John 7:39.

2.　Christ, the Son of God as the second of the Divine Trinity, after completing His ministry on the earth, became (was transfigured into) the life-giving Spirit in His resurrection to release the divine life that was confined in the shell of His humanity and to dispense it into His believers, making them the many members which constitute His Body—12:24; cf. 19:34.

3.　This life-giving Spirit, who is the pneumatic Christ, is also called:

a.　The Spirit of life—Rom. 8:2.

b.　The Spirit of Jesus—Acts 16:7.

c.　The Spirit of Christ—Rom. 8:9.

d.　The Spirit of Jesus Christ—Phil. 1:19.

e.　The Lord Spirit—2 Cor. 3:18.

C.　In resurrection we, God's chosen ones, were regenerated—1 Pet. 1:3:

1.　The pneumatic Christ became the firstborn Son of God and the life-giving Spirit for the regenerating of the believers, making them the many sons of God born of God with Him in one great universal delivery.

2.　This great birth of the firstborn Son of God and of the many sons of God in Christ's resurrection was for the composition of the house of God and for the constitution of the Body of Christ to be His fullness, His expression and expansion, to consummate the eternal expression and expansion of the processed and consummated Triune God—Eph. 1:23; 3:19; Rev. 21:10-11.

3.　In the one Spirit all the believers of Christ have been baptized into the one Body of Christ and have been given to drink this Spirit—1 Cor. 12:13.

4.　The Christ in resurrection gives Himself as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit without measure through His speaking of the words of God—John 3:34.

5.　All the believers in Christ are built up into a dwelling place of God in their spirit indwelt by Him as the Spirit (Eph. 2:22) through the process of His organic salvation (Rom. 5:10)—through dispositional sanctification (15:16), renewing (Titus 3:5), transformation (2 Cor. 3:18), and conforma?tion (Rom. 8:29) unto glorification (Phil. 3:21).

IV.　We need to establish and shepherd the churches by the pneumatic Christ, the Christ who is the life-giving Spirit, with His organic salvation:

A.　The Lord Jesus has incorporated the apostolic ministry with His heavenly ministry to take care of God's flock, which is the church, issuing in the Body of Christ—John 21:15-17; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2; 1 Cor. 15:58; cf. Gen. 48:15-16a.

B.　The shepherding of the pneumatic Christ is in five stages—Psa. 23:

1.　The enjoyment of Christ as the green pastures and of the Spirit as the waters of rest—v. 2.

2.　The revival and transformation on the paths of righteousness—v. 3.

3.　The experience of the resurrected pneumatic Christ while walking through the valley of the shadow of death—v. 4.

4.　The deeper and higher enjoyment of the resurrected Christ in fighting against the adversaries—v. 5.

5.　The lifelong enjoyment of the divine goodness and lovingkindness in the house of Jehovah as the ultimate goal of God's eternal economy—v. 6.