Seeing that Jesus is the Man on the Throne and that We’re being Brought to the Throne

The mysterious thought concerning the relationship between God and man is that God created man in His image, according to His kind, so that He would work Himself into man and make Himself the same as man and make man the same as God until man fully expresses God and represents Him, and there’s a Man on the throne.

Last week in our crystallization study of Ezekiel we saw that the highest point in our Christian experience is that we would have a clear sky with a throne above it; God’s authority is brought to earth and He is represented through those who maintain a clear sky with a throne above it.

As long as we take care of having a clear sky, the throne of God is immediately installed in our being, we are under God’s rule, and He can reign in us and through us. This week we are going further to see that there is a Man on the throne – the man-God Jesus Christ.

We need to realize that the One on the throne is not just God but a Man, who is Jesus Christ, and this Man-God – this God-man – is now being wrought into us to make us the same as He is and bring us all the way to the throne! Hallelujah!

Seeing that Jesus is the Man on the Throne and that We’re being Brought to the Throne

The Bible mentions a few people having heavens opened, and one of them is Stephen in Acts. He was a brother assigned to distribute the food supply, especially to widows, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit and with wisdom; he was also full of faith, grace, and power, and his speaking was prevailing.

When he stood before the religious court, his face was like the face of an angel, and he testified, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.

Stephen saw that the Son of Man, Jesus, a crucified, resurrected, and ascended Jesus, is now in heavens in a position of authority at the right hand of God. Jesus was there as a Man, standing and looking at Stephen.

As he was being stoned to death, Stephen called on the name of the Lord, and said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit…and then later, Lord, don’t hold this sin against them. Stephen saw Jesus, the Man in the glory, and he became the reproduction of this One; even in his dying he was Jesus living again, the same as Jesus in life, nature, and expression.

Stephen saw the ascended and enthroned Jesus, and Jesus saw a reproduction of Himself on earth.

We need to see that there is a Man on the throne, and we need to be willing to be brought to the throne one with Him.

We need to begin to see that it is not only God who is on the throne, but, as indicated in Ezekiel 1 and in Acts, the One on the throne has the appearance of a man. It is not hard for us to grasp the concept that God is sovereign, that He’s on the throne; but it takes a vision to realize that there’s a Man on the throne.

Even when the Lord spoke to Saul of Tarsus, He referred to Himself as Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus the Man is the Lord of the universe, and we need to see this in an increasing way. Then, we need to realize that God’s intention is to have more than one man on the throne of administration.

Only God can be on the throne of sovereignty, but in His economy God wants man to rule with Him. God wants a group of created, redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified believers to be brought to the throne, and they, together with God’s firstborn Son, would rule over the whole universe.

Even now, God wants a group of people who are one with Jesus Christ, the man-God, to be brought to the throne and deal with the fundamental problem in the universe: the rebellion of Satan to bring in the kingdom of God.

We need to not only be satisfied with the concept that Jesus the Man is on the throne, but see a vision under an open heavens. We need to see in our spirit that there’s a Man on the throne, and this Man is the Lord of the universe.

Then, we need to realize that God’s desire from the beginning – when He created us in His image and wanted us to represent Him – was to bring us to the throne.

Lord, show us a vision of the Man on the throne. May we clearly see under an open heavens that Jesus Christ the Man is the Lord of the universe, and He rules over all things. We want to have a clear, open, expanding sky, with a throne above it, and we want to be under the throne. Lord, work Yourself into us and make us willing to be brought to the throne to be one with the Man on the throne. Amen, Lord, gain a corporate man that would rule with You on the throne of administration in this universe!

God Created man according to His Kind, and He became man to produce God-man Kind

If we read the Bible carefully we will realize that there’s a mysterious thought concerning the relationship between God and man; there are many resemblances between God and man in their images and likenesses (see Gen. 1:26; 18:2-13; Dan. 7:13-14; Acts 7:56; Rom. 5:14; 8:29; Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 3:18; Phil. 3:21; 1 John 3:2b; Rev. 4:3a; 21:11b).

First of all, God created man not according to “man-kind” but according to His own kind, for He created man in His image and according to His likeness (Gen. 1:26-27).

Due to the fall of man, man became mankind, the fallen mankind; man still has God’s image, but he no longer expresses God but he has another source within, Satan with his evil life.

However, God’s intention is to mingle Himself with the man He created in His image so that He may make man the same as He is for man to express God and represent Him with His authority.

To accomplish this, God Himself became a man – He became a God-man, Jesus Christ; the Lord Jesus is the God-man, a complete God and a perfect man mingled together.

This One, through His death and resurrection, was brought to the throne, and now on the throne there’s a man – the man-God Jesus Christ!

The choosing God became a man. This God-man, through His death and resurrection, has made a mass reproduction of Himself. He as the one grain became many grains (John 12:24). The many grains are ground into fine flour and blended together to become one loaf (1 Cor. 10:17). The Lord Jesus as the only begotten Son of God was the one grain, and He made us the many grains, His many “twins,” His many brothers (Rom. 8:29), to be blended into one loaf, one Body. Among us there is no difference in nationality, race, or social rank (Col. 3:11). We are a new kind, “God-man kind.” (Life-study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, p. 85, by Witness Lee)

We may want to be good men, godly men, or men of God, but what God wants is God-men, men who are mingled with God to express God and represent Him. It is God’s delight to have all His chosen and redeemed people as God-men, men in the God-man kind, to express God corporately.

Every believer in Christ is a God-man, and every genuine Christian is part of a new kind, the God-man kind.

God’s intention is to work Himself into man and bring man all the way to the throne, so that there would be a corporate man – the corporate man-God and God-man Jesus Christ (the Head and the Body of Christ) ruling on the throne for God.

For this, God made an economy, and in His economy God was man-ized (God became a man) so that man would be God-ized (man would become the same as God in life, nature, and expression, but not in the Godhead).

God’s economy and plan is to make Himself man and to make us, His created beings, “God,” so that He is “man-ized” and we are “God-ized.” In the end, He and we, we and He, all become God-men. Hence, it is not enough for us to be good men, spiritual men, or holy men. These are not what God is after. What God wants today is God-men. God does not expect us to improve ourselves, because God is not after our being good men. He wants us to be God-men. He is our life and everything to us for the purpose that we would express Him and live Him out. Witness Lee, A Deeper Study of the Divine Dispensing, p. 54

God is not after better men, improved human beings, or moral and well-behaved people; what He wants is God-men, men who have God as life and everything so that we would express Him, live Him out, and represent Him.

God’s intention is to work Himself in Christ into us, making Himself the same as we are and making us the same as He is (Eph. 3:17).

If we are willing to allow God to work Himself into us thoroughly, we will have an opportunity to be among the overcomers who learn to reign with the Lord on the throne – first in this age, and then in the coming age.

Thank You Lord for creating us in Your image, according to God’s kind, to express and represent God corporately. Thank You for becoming a man and passing through death and resurrection to produce a new kind, the God-man kind. Hallelujah, now we the believers in Christ are the God-man kind – we are no longer fallen mankind but the God-man kind that God desires to have to fulfill His purpose! Lord, work Yourself into us more to make us the same as You are in life, nature, and expression, so that we would be brought to the throne and be one with the Man on the throne to rule for God!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by brother Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, msgs. 2, 4 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Ezekiel (1), msg. 8 (week 8), The Man on the Throne.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Praise Him’ Christ hath now ascended! / God hath raised Him to the throne! / Far above all rule and power, / He the highest Name doth own! / All authority receiving / Till His foe is overthrown! (Hymns #124)
  # There’s a Man in the glory / Whose Life is for me. / He’s pure and He’s holy, / Triumphant and free. / He’s wise and He’s loving / How tender is He! / His Life in the glory, / My life must be. (Hymns #505)
  # What miracle! What mystery! / That God and man should blended be! / God became man to make man God, / Untraceable economy!… / Flesh He became, the first God-man, / His pleasure that I God may be: / In life and nature I’m God’s kind, / Though Godhead’s His exclusively. / His attributes my virtues are; / His glorious image shines through me. (Song on God’s economy)