Experiencing Christ as the Reality of the Heavenly Ladder Set up in our Spirit

John 1:51 And He said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, You shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Source: Christian Pictures blog

Jacob dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it (see Gen. 28:12). This is a very significant dream, and the Lord Jesus confirmed in John 1:51 that He as the Son of Man is the heavenly ladder upon which the angels of God ascend and descend.

The focus of Jacob’s dream is this ladder, the heavenly ladder joining earth to heaven and bringing heaven to earth. The reality of this ladder is Christ Himself as the Son of Man, the incarnated Christ who brought God into man through incarnation and brought man into God through His death and resurrection.

When He was on the earth Christ told us, I am the way and the reality and the life (John 14:6) – this way is not horizontal as the streets are today on earth, but a vertical way, the ladder joining earth to heaven and bringing heaven on earth. In His humanity, Christ is the ladder bringing heaven (God) to earth (man) and joining earth to heaven as one.

This ladder is not for man to “get to heaven” but for God to be brought into man and for man to be brought into God so that God and man would be mingled together for the house of God, Bethel.

Today God’s dwelling place on earth is our regenerated spirit (see Eph. 2:22), and when we received the Lord Jesus as our Savior and life we had the heavenly ladder installed in our spirit.

Whenever we turn to our spirit today, the Lord is with our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22) and we are enjoying God being brought into us and us being brought into God! Hallelujah for our mingled spirit! When we turn to our spirit, we have the heavens opened, we are being transformed by God into the image of Christ, we are being anointed with the Spirit, and we build up the church as the house of God.

The issue of our turning to the spirit and remaining in spirit is the church, the Body of Christ, and the consummation is the New Jerusalem!

Hallelujah for Christ as the Son of Man as the heavenly ladder installed in our spirit bringing God into man and man into God for the building up of the church, the house of God, consummating in the New Jerusalem!

Christ as the Son of Man is the Reality of the Ladder in Jacob’s Dream

Gen. 28:12 And he dreamed: There was a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

In understanding what does the ladder in Jacob’s dream mean I was very much helped by a footnote in the Recovery Version focused on “the ladder”,

[The] ladder [in Genesis 28:12] is the center, the focus, of Jacob’s dream. This dream is a revelation of Christ, for Christ is the reality of the ladder that Jacob saw (John 1:51 and footnotes). Christ as the Son of Man, in His humanity, is the ladder that brings heaven (God) to earth (man) and joins earth and heaven as one (cf. John 14:6). Our regenerated spirit, which is God’s dwelling place today (Eph. 2:22), is the base on earth where Christ as the heavenly ladder has been set up (2 Tim. 4:22). Hence, whenever we turn to our spirit, we experience Christ as the ladder bringing God to us and us to God (see footnote 1 on Hebrews 10:19). Where this ladder is, there are an open heaven, the transformed man, the anointing upon this man, and the building up of the house of God with this man. The issue of Christ as the heavenly ladder is Bethel, the church, the Body of Christ, and the consummation of this ladder is the New Jerusalem. (Gen. 28:12, footnote 2, Recovery Version Bible)

Later, when the Lord Jesus came and called His disciples, He told Nathanael, Truly, truly I say to you, You shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man (John 1:51).

He didn’t say, “on the Son of God” but “on the Son of Man”, indicating that through His incarnation Christ brought God into man (John 1:14), and later through His death and resurrection He will bring man into God (John 14:6, 20). Nathanael must have realized that the Lord Jesus was the fulfillment of Jacob’s dream, and so he followed the Lord.

Christ is the heavenly ladder set up in our spirit reaching heaven, and through Christ we have a way to get into God and for God to come into us. Christ is the ladder, the vertical way into God. Christ joins the heavens and the earth and brings the heavens to earth, giving earth a taste of the heavens.

This ladder is the focus and center of Jacob’s dream; this dream is a revelation of Christ, for Christ is the reality of the ladder that Jacob saw. In every spiritual dream we see Christ, the ladder joining man to God and bringing God into man.

In His humanity, Christ is the ladder set up on earth that brings heaven (God) to earth (man) and joins earth and heaven as one. This ladder doesn’t protrude out of heaven but is set up on earth, referring to Christ as the incarnated Son of God.

Christ came to fulfill God’s dream of being brought into man and bringing man into God for God’s house, His home. Through all the processes He went through, Christ brought God into man and man into God, and now God and man are joined together: heaven and earth are one! Now Christ is the vertical way, the vertical street, the ladder, joining earth to heaven and bringing heavens to earth.

Experiencing Christ as the Heavenly Ladder Set up in our Spirit

Our regenerated spirit, which is God’s dwelling place today (Eph. 2:22), is the base on earth where Christ as the heavenly ladder has been set up (Gen. 28:12; 2 Tim. 4:22); hence, whenever we turn to our spirit, we experience Christ as the ladder bringing God to us and us to God (Quote from, Witness Lee).

Hallelujah, through the processes of incarnation, death, and resurrection, Christ brought God into man and man into God; this is a divine traffic for the divine building! Now our spirit is the base on earth where Christ as the heavenly ladder has been set up (Gen. 28:12; 2 Tim. 4:22), and we simply need to turn to our spirit to experience Christ as the ladder bringing God to us and us to God!

God’s dwelling place today is in our regenerated spirit, our mingled spirit. Whenever we turn to the spirit, we touch the heavenly ladder, and we experience God coming to us and us being brought into God.

By means of this divine traffic in our spirit, the church is built up and God has Bethel, the house of God. When we enjoy the Lord in our spirit we realize that God’s desire is not for us to “go to heaven” but for the heavenly atmosphere and rule to be brought to the earth, so that God’s will may be done on earth as it is being done in the heavens (Matt. 6:10).

How much we need to exercise our spirit today so that we may have more God brought into us and we would be brought more into God! Outwardly the circumstances may not be that pleasant but inwardly, when we turn to our spirit, we enjoy God being brought to us and we being brought to God.

Through simple prayers such as, “Lord Jesus, I love You; I turn my heart to You right now!”, “Lord, I choose to look away from anything else to You: I simply want to turn to my spirit!”, and, “Thank You Lord for being installed in my spirit as the heavenly ladder; I turn to You right now to enjoy You and experience You as the One bringing God into me and me into God!” we touch the reality of Jacob’s dream and we enjoy Christ as the heavenly ladder.

Whatever we do, we should never forget to turn to our spirit to enjoy the Lord as the heavenly ladder!

When we turn to our spirit, we have an open heaven and we can see God, enjoy God, and have God brought into us. When we turn to our spirit, we are being transformed by God and anointed by the Spirit for the house of God. When we turn to our spirit, the church as the house of God, the reality of Bethel, is being built up.

Lord Jesus, we choose to turn to our spirit right now. It is in our spirit that You as the heavenly ladder has been installed. Lord, we turn to You and we want to remain here, in the mingled spirit, to enjoy the divine traffic of God being brought into man and man being brought into God! Thank You for joining us to God and bringing God into us. Lord, keep us turning to our spirit to experience Christ as the heavenly ladder bringing God to us and us to God! Hallelujah for our mingled spirit where Christ as the Son of man is the heavenly ladder right now bringing God to us and us to God!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Minoru Chen’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1963, vol. 3, “The Building of God,” chs. 2-3, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Genesis (3), week 1 / msg 1, The Dream of Bethel.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Turn to your spirit, where the Spirit of Jesus is, / Turn to your spirit, calling upon His name— / Now and forever, Jesus is the very same. / Turn to the Lord. Oh, turn to the Lord! (Song on Turning to our Spirit)
  # Thou art the ladder Jacob saw, / By Thee the heav’n is open; / In Thee we are the house of God, / And earth is joined to heaven. (Hymns #187)
  # Ladder joining earth and heaven, / Make my heart Your dwelling place. / Burden me to build Your house, Lord; / For this now I consecrate. / Pillars stand — “He will Establish,” / “In Him’s Strength” — of truth the base. / Gain me to enlarge Your temple, / Testimony propagate. (Song on the Heavenly Ladder)