Scripture Reading: Ezek. 1:26-28; Rev. 3:21; Rom. 5:17, 21
Ⅰ
In Ezekiel 1:26 the One on the throne has the appearance of a man:
A
The One sitting on the throne is not only God but also man; He is the God-man, the Man-God, the mingling of God and man—Acts 7:56.
B
There is a twofold significance to the fact that the One sitting on the throne has the appearance of a man:
１
There is a connection between Ezekiel 1:26 and Genesis 1:26.
２
Through incarnation God became a man; He lived, died, resurrected, and ascended as a man; and now as the One on the throne He is still a man—John 6:62; Acts 7:56.
C
In the Bible there is a mysterious thought concerning the relationship between God and man—Gen. 1:26; 1 John 3:2b; Rev. 4:3a; 21:11b:
１
God's desire is to become the same as man is and to make man the same as He is—1 John 3:2b.
２
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. 3:17a.
３
God's economy is to make Himself man and to make us, His created beings, God, so that He is God "man-ized" and we are man "God-ized."
D
Through His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, the Lord Jesus was brought to the throne—Acts 2:36; Phil. 2:5-11:
１
God has always been the Lord, but now a man is on the throne as the Lord—Rev. 4:2-3; 5:6.
２
After the Lord Jesus was crucified and buried, God resurrected Him and set Him at His right hand, making Him the Lord of all the universe.
E
The appearance of the man on the throne has two aspects; His upper part, from the loins upward, looks like electrum, and His lower part, from the loins downward, looks like fire—Ezek. 1:27:
１
The upper part signifies His nature and disposition; according to His nature and disposition, the One on the throne looks like electrum.
２
The lower part is for moving; the appearance of fire from the loins downward signifies the Lord's appearance in His move.
F
As the Pioneer and Forerunner, the Lord Jesus cut the path to the throne and led the way to the throne—Heb. 6:20; 2:10:
１
The Lord Jesus became a man, and as a man He went to the throne—Rev. 3:21.
２
This indicates that He is not the only man destined for the throne; rather, He has cut the path so that we may follow.
３
God intends to bring us into glory and to set us on the throne—22:3-5.
Ⅱ
God's intention is to work on man in order that man can be on the throne—Psa. 8:4-8; Rev. 3:21:
A
God's mind is on man; He wants man to express Him and to exercise His authority—Psa. 8:4, 6; Gen. 1:26.
B
God desires to manifest Himself through man and to reign through man.
C
God's goal is to bring us to the throne; His desire is to make us people of the throne:
１
God will not be satisfied until we are on the throne; He cannot receive the full glory until we are brought to the throne—Rev. 22:3-5.
２
God's kingdom cannot come in full until we are on the throne.
３
God's enemy will not be subdued until we are on the throne.
D
God desires to bring us to the throne because of the rebellion of Satan against God's throne—Isa. 14:12-14:
１
The greatest difficulty God faces in the universe is that His throne has been opposed and attacked by rebel forces.
２
In his rebellion against God's throne, Satan intended to exalt his throne and thereby to intrude upon God's authority.
３
From the time of Satan's rebellion until now, there has been a dispute regarding authority; much of what is happening on earth today is an expression of Satan's resistance to God's throne.
４
God's intention is to cast Satan down and to redeem many of those taken captive by Satan and to bring them to His throne—Rev. 3:21.
５
There needs to be a people who have been gained by God so that through them the authority of God can be executed and the kingdom of God can come to the earth.
６
We should desire to reign—to exercise authority for God—and to enjoy the blessing of reigning for God—Rev. 20:4, 6.
E
God's complete salvation is for us to reign in life by the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness—Rom. 5:17, 21:
１
The gift of righteousness is God's judicial redemption applied to us in a practical way; grace is God Himself as our all-sufficient supply.
２
We have been regenerated with a divine, spiritual, heavenly, kingly, and royal life; this life enables us to reign as kings over all things—John 3:3-6.
３
To reign in life is to conquer, subdue, and rule over Satan, the world, sin, the flesh, ourselves, all kinds of insubordination, and all the environmental circumstances—Rom. 8:35, 37.
４
Since we reign in life as God does, by reigning in life we become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead—5:17, 21.