LIFE-STUDY OF EZEKIEL
Read and pray: “Above the expanse that was over their heads there was something like a throne, like the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon this likeness of a throne there was a figure with the appearance of a man.” (Ezek. 1:26)
In the previous message we showed that in the Christian life and in the church life we need a bright firmament with a throne in it. Having a bright firmament means that we have no clouds or darkness between us and the Lord, and having the throne means that we are under the government of the heavens. We all need to have a life with a bright firmament and the throne above it. In this message we will continue to consider the One who is sitting on the throne (Ezek. 1:26-27).
Verse 26b says, “there was something like a throne; upon this likeness of a throne was a figure with the appearance of a man.” Here we are told that the One who is on the throne is like a man. This is absolutely different from the human concept and also different from the religious concept, including the concept widely spread in today’s Christianity. Mainly, our concept is that the One who is on the throne is the mighty God.
Have you ever thought that the Lord on the throne is not only the mighty God but also a man? Oh, the One who is sitting on the throne is a man! Nevertheless, verse 28 speaks of “the appearance of the glory of the Lord.” The One who is on the throne looks like a man; however, with Him there is the appearance of the glory of the Lord.
Christians realize, of course, that the Lord Jesus was a man when He was on the earth. They acknowledge the fact that, from the manger in Bethlehem to the time when He was on the cross, at Golgotha, He was a man. We all have this concept.
However, many believers in Christ have not considered that the Lord who is on the throne, even today, is a man. He is a man there. As the One who is on the throne, the Lord is still a man. Although He is the omnipotent God, on the throne He appears like a man. Therefore, Matthew 19:28 tells us that “in the restoration,” that is, in the coming kingdom age, the Son of Man will sit on the throne of His glory.
How precious it is that the One who was sitting on the throne in Ezekiel 1:26 has the appearance of a man! This verse does not speak of the omnipotent God, but of the One who is “like a man.”
There is at least a twofold meaning to the fact that the One who is sitting on the throne here has the appearance of a man. First, there is certainly a connection between Ezekiel 1:26 and Genesis 1:26, which says that God created man in His image and according to His likeness.
Second, in incarnation, God Himself became a man. Having the human nature, He lived, died, resurrected, and ascended as a man, and now, in the heavens, He is still the Son of Man (John 6:62; Acts 7:56).
In the Bible there is a mysterious thought concerning the relationship between God and man. God’s desire is to become the same as man so that man may be the same as He. This means that God’s intention is to mingle Himself with man and thus become the same as man and cause man to become the same as He.
The Lord Jesus is the God-man; He is the complete God and the perfect man. We may also say that He is the Man-God. The One whom we worship today is the Man-God. Furthermore, to be a man of God, like Moses (Deut. 33:1; Josh. 14:6; Psa. 90), is to be a man-God, a man who is mingled with God. It is a delight to God that all His chosen and redeemed people would be men-God.
GOD’S INTENTION TO HAVE A MAN
God’s intention on the earth is to have a man. This is His desire. Eventually, He Himself became a man, and today on the throne He is still a man. People may want to be like God, but God wants to be man.
God’s intention is to work Himself into us, making us the same as He is, and even more, to become the same as we are. Thus, God’s intention is to have a man and to work Himself into man. We need to be deeply impressed with the fact that the Lord is still on the throne as a man.
In the book of Ezekiel, the term the son of man is used more than ninety times. This indicates how much God desires to have a man. If we want to live God and express God, we need to be a man and have the appearance of a man. Ezekiel 1:5 says that the four living creatures have the appearance of a man, and verse 26 says that the One who is on the throne has the appearance of a man.
The crucial point here is that because man was created in the image of God in order to express God, only man is the same as God. A person must have the appearance of a man in order to live out the image of God and thus express God. If we want to live and express God, we must be a man and have the appearance of a man. Anyone who does not have the appearance of a man cannot express God.
The One who is on the throne and the four living creatures both have the appearance of a man, which indicates that the four living creatures on the earth are the expression of the One who is on the throne. Chapter one of Ezekiel is the deepest chapter in the Bible. The thought in this chapter is deep.
We have seen that the throne is above a clear sky, above a spiritual and heavenly expanse, or firmament. The grace of God works upon a group of people in such a way that their condition now is the very condition of heaven. In this condition, indicated by a crystal-clear sky, the throne of God is present. The place of the throne is the place where heaven and earth are connected.
Because with the living creatures on the earth there is a throne above a clear sky, God is not only the God of heaven but also the God of the earth. Through these living creatures, who have the throne above their heads, heaven and earth are united.
In Ezekiel 1, the One who is on the throne is the union of God and man. Thus, the place where the throne is is the place where heaven and earth are united. The One who is on the throne is God, yet He manifests the appearance of a man.
When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He was God manifested in the flesh, for He was the God-man and had the appearance of a man. Inwardly He was God, but His appearance on the earth was the appearance of a man. Now, as the One who is on the throne after His ascension, He is still the God-man; He is God, yet with the appearance of a man.
In the church life today there must be a condition in which God is manifested in man. This means that in the church we should have not only a clear sky with a throne and the Lord on the throne, but also the expression of that man who is on the throne. When this is the condition of the church, there will be in the church the great mystery of godliness—God manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:15-16).
On the one hand, there is a clear sky, a throne, and the Lord on the throne; on the other hand, the manifestation of the Lord in the church is in the appearance of a man. In the church life there must be the manifestation of God in the flesh. For this to be the situation, there must be in the church the glorious union of God and man.
Inwardly we must have God, yet God is manifested in the flesh, manifested in and through a normal and proper humanity. Everyone in the church life, whether brothers and sisters, the elderly or the younger ones, should behave in a normal and proper way according to their respective ages. Instead of pretension, there should be a genuine humanity and divinity. This is the condition of God being manifested in humanity.
God’s eternal plan is to connect heaven and earth and to unite God and man. God in heaven wants to gain man on earth for His expression by working Himself into man. The desire of God’s heart is to reach the goal of connecting heaven and earth and uniting God and man. Where such a condition exists, there is the throne.
The One who is sitting on the throne is God, yet His manifestation has the appearance of a man. God’s eternal plan is to have such a manifestation. In the church today we need to be in a condition where God is manifested in the appearance of a man.
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