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The eternal purpose—the purpose of the ages—is the eternal plan that God made in eternity past—Eph. 3:11; 1:9, 11; Rom. 8:28:
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The purpose of God in the universe is to produce a group of people who will be exactly the same as He is; this is the unique subject of the Bible—John 1:12-13; 1 John 3:2:
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In life, nature, image, appearance, radiance, glory, and outward expression, they will be the same as God—Rev. 4:2-3; 21:10-11, 18.
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God's purpose is accomplished by the divine life dispensed into His chosen and redeemed people; as God's life is wrought into His people, a metabolic reaction takes place within them that causes them to be transformed and become the same as God—John 3:15; 1 John 5:11-12; 2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29.
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Man is a great word in the Bible—Gen. 1:26; Psa. 8:4-6:
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God's intention is with man, God's thought is focused on man, and God's heart is set upon man.
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It is man who fulfills God's plan, it is man who expresses God, it is man who defeats God's enemy, and it is man who brings the kingdom of God into the human race.
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Man is the means of God's manifestation, man is the means of God's move, and man is the means of God's administration—Ezek. 1:26, 5, 10.
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The eternal purpose of God is to have a corporate man to express Him and represent Him; this was God's purpose in creating man—Gen. 1:26-28; 5:1-2; Eph. 3:11; 1:9, 11.
Morning Nourishment
Ezek. 1:5 And from the midst of it there came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: They had the likeness of a man.26 And above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, like the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was One in appearance like a man, above it.
Man was created in God's image in order to be God's expression. God is the center of the universe, but He needs an expression, and this expression is through man….The millions of angels cannot be the expression of God. God needs a corporate man to express Him. You should never despise the fact that you are a man.
We may talk about the church as the expression of Christ, but we may not realize what the expression of Christ is. The Christ whom the church must express is the man upon the throne. If we would express Christ, we need to realize Christ today is still a man. We do not express merely God; we express God in a man. The church is the expression of Christ. This means that the church is an expression not merely of God but also of a man. (Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 48-49)
Today's Reading
Ezekiel 1:26 shows us that the Lord today is a man on the throne. God needs a man, and eventually He became a man. We as the living creatures express Him as a man. He is the man on the throne, and we also bear the appearance of a man. It is man who fulfills God's plan, it is man who expresses God, it is man who defeats the enemy, and it is man who brings the kingdom of God into the human race. God needs a man.The religious teachings in Christianity encourage us either to be like an angel or to be like God. However, the divine revelation unveils that God's desire is to have a man. We need to remember that the subtle one tempted the first man by telling him that if he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would be like God (Gen. 3:5). From that day the concept of being like God has been in our blood. Every fallen human being has the concept of wanting to be like God. Certain devilish teachings encourage people to be something other than man. But in His redemption and salvation God has no intention of making anything other than man. God's redemption and God's salvation are to bring us back to the beginning and to recover us to being a proper man. We are the living creatures and we have God's life within us, yet we bear the appearance of a man. We should not try to be like an angel. Instead, in whatever we do, in whatever we say, and in whatever we express, we should be a man. This is what God needs today.
The vision in Ezekiel 1 reveals three crucial matters concerning the four living creatures' bearing the appearance of a man. First, God's glory is manifested upon them. The manifestation of God's glory depends upon their having the appearance of a man. Where they are, there God's glory is. God's glory is not separate from them, and apart from them God's glory cannot be manifested. Second, these living creatures are the means of God's move. God's move depends on them. When they move, God will move, for His move is with them. Third, the four living creatures, who bear the appearance of a man, are the means of God's administration. Ezekiel 1 reveals that God is sitting on the throne. God's throne dominates everything on earth and everything recorded in this book. This throne, therefore, is the center of God's administration. However, the center of God's administration depends on the four living creatures having the appearance of a man. Because of this, there is the administration of God's throne. If we put these three things together, we will see that man is the means of God's manifestation, that man is the means of God's move, and that man is the means of God's administration. In God's eyes and in God's hands, man has such an important position. (Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 49-50)
Further Reading: Life-study of Ezekiel, msgs. 5, 12; CWWL, 1971, vol. 1, “The Meaning of Human Life and a Proper Consecration,” ch. 2; CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “The Divine Economy,” ch. 2