Ezekiel 1 shows us God’s Eternal Intention to have the Manifestation of God in Man

The conclusion of Ezekiel 1 is that on the throne there’s One who has the appearance of a man, and the four living creatures also have the appearance of a man, which shows us that, in His mysterious relationship with man, God mingles Himself with man to become the same as man and make man the same as He is for the manifestation of God in man.

This chapter begins with the heavens being opened to Ezekiel, and he saw visions of God; Ezekiel was the right person, a priest who practiced to contact God, seek God, and be one with God, and he had heavens opened and he saw visions of God.

He carried out his priesthood in the spirit, serving God and fellowshipping with Him, so that the heavens were opened to him; what he saw was the glorious vision of God being life to man so that God and man could be built together.

We need to be those on earth who are one with the Lord and whose heart is a duplication of His heart, so that we may have heavens opened and see visions of God.

We need to exercise our spirit, be pure in heart, and have a clear sky between us and the Lord, so that we may look with our eyes, hear with our ears, and set our heart on what the Lord is showing us in the heavenly visions.

All the visions that God shows those who are fully open to Him are for the building up of the church – and not for building up a particular spiritual individual or for a particular ministry.

When we see visions of God, we are restricted, controlled, preserved, and revolutionized; visions of God give us the boldness to go on, and they keep us in the genuine oneness. How we need to pray ourselves out of ourselves and into a trance, that is, into our spirit, so that we may be fully open to the Lord and receive the divine visions!

Along with these visions the Lord gives us specific words; the Lord’s word came to Ezekiel expressly – and if we are open to the Lord, He speaks express words to us to interpret and apply the vision.

We need to ask God for words that enable us to understand the visions, and we need the words that enable us to proclaim and explain what we have seen. Furthermore, God’s hand always follows His speaking, for He will come in to do what He said He will do.

God will accomplish the desire of His heart, the good pleasure of His will; He is operating in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure, and He will gain what He is after.

What is God after? He desires to gain a corporate man who expresses Him and who represents Him with His authority over the enemy (Gen. 1:26), and this is what we see that He gains in Ezek. 1.

Ezekiel 1 shows us God’s Eternal Intention to have the Manifestation of God in Man

Ezek. 1:26 says, “…upon the likeness of the throne was One in appearance like a man…” Wow, the One on the throne – whom we expect to be God shining in His majesty and splendor – looks like a man!

This is absolutely different from the human concept and from the religious concept! Most people admit that there’s a God on the throne in the universe, and all believers know that the One ruling is God Himself. Mainly, the concept is that the One on the throne is the mighty God.

But have you ever thought that the Lord on the throne is not just the mighty God but also a man? Hallelujah, the One on the throne is a Man!

God became a man, lived a perfect human life on earth, was crucified, died, resurrected, and was ascended to the highest point in the universe; He is a Man yet God, and as a Man, He is the Lord of the universe, sitting on the throne!

Hallelujah, all authority has been given to the Lord Jesus on heaven and on earth, and this Jesus is a Man (Matt. 28:19)! When we look to the throne, we see the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah (Ezek. 1:28), yet the One on the throne has the appearance like a man.

It’s not hard to grasp the concept that God rules the universe, but it is amazing to realize that Jesus from Nazareth is now the Lord of the whole universe! So when we say, Lord Jesus! – we testify of this, we enthrone Him, and we are one with Him, acknowledging that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him!

Furthermore, the four living creatures also have the appearance of a man, just like the One on the throne; this indicates that the four living creatures on earth are the expression of the One on the throne (Ezek. 1:5, 26).

The entire Bible speaks of God’s mysterious intention in His relationship with man, which is to mingle Himself with man and thereby become the same as man and make man the same as He is in life, nature, and expression, but not in the Godhead (John 1:12-14; 1 John 3:2; 2 Pet. 1:4; Rom. 8:29).

The Bible clearly speaks of God’s desire to mingle Himself with us; for this, He became man, mingling God with man, and now He is making us the same as He is in life, nature, and expression, but not in the Godhead.

First, God obtained a glorious expression in Jesus Christ, who is the Man-God, the God-man. Today we are the same as He is: we are men mingled with God, God mingled with men; we are men of God, as Moses was (Deut. 33:1; Josh. 14:6).

To be a man of God is to be a man mingled with God, a man in the process of having God wrought into him to make him the expression of God. To be one who expresses God, we need to be a man, for only man matches God (see Gen. 1:26, man was made in the image of God and with the likeness of God).

Because man was created in the image of God in order to express God, only man is like God; we need to be proper human beings, with a proper humanity, so that God may be mingled with us and be expressed through us.

We should not try to be like the “angels” or live an “angelic life”; we should have the appearance of a man, yet inwardly being mingled with God until God is fully expressed through us. It is so wonderful and glorious to see that both the One on the throne and the four living creatures have the appearance of a man!

The place where the throne is – that is the place where heaven and earth are joined. On the throne is God, but He is expressed through man. On earth there’s a corporate man who expresses God. This is what God desires to have, and this is what He obtains: He wants to be expressed in man!

Today in the church life we should have the condition where God is manifested in man; this means that in the church life we should have the expression in man of the One who is on the throne.

Lord Jesus, we praise You as the Man on the throne! Praise You for becoming man, dying for our sins, resurrecting as a Man, and ascending as a glorified Man to be the Man-God, the God-man, on the throne in the universe! Hallelujah, there’s a Man in the glory, and there’s a Man on the throne, the God-man Jesus Christ! Thank You Lord for mingling Yourself with us so that You may make us one with You and even the same as You to gain a corporate expression in humanity. Keep us in this process of mingling until You gain a corporate expression in man. We enthrone You in our being and among us, and we want to stay in this place where heavens is joined to earth and earth is one with the heavens!

God’s Intention is to Dispense Himself into His Chosen People and make them the Same as He is!

The Bible as a whole – and the book of Ezekiel as a miniature of the Bible – reveals that God’s eternal intention is to dispense Himself into His chosen people, making them the same as He is in His life, His nature, and His image but not in the Godhead (Eph. 3:15-16).

From eternity to eternity, what God intends is to gain a group of people who are fully open to Him so that He may dispense Himself into them with His element, riches, life, and nature, so that they would be fully one with Him and even become the same as He is to express Him in a corporate way.

If we see this wonderful economy of God which is to make us the same as He is, we will just pray,

Lord Jesus, we give You today: dispense Yourself into us all day long. All throughout the day, Lord, keep us under Your divine dispensing. In the hours and minutes we have left of today, we want to gain more God and to be mingled more with God so that God would be expressed through us and in us!

God’s goal is that His people – who are chosen, redeemed, and regenerated, and in whom He is working Himself in Christ – will be mingled with Him as one entity and be built together in Him to be His eternal habitation, the church as the Body of Christ in this age and the New Jerusalem for eternity (see John 14:20; Eph. 3:16-17; 1 Cor. 6:17; 12:12; Rev. 21:2, 10-11).

God gained such a person in Ezekiel, who was selfless and fully one with Him; through such a one God could freely speak and act, being manifested among His people.

When God gains such a person, He can freely speak, reveal what’s on His heart, and bring others back under the rule of the heavens. May we be such ones today.

May we be those who allow God to mingle Himself with us a little more today so that we may be built together in Him to be His eternal habitation – the New Jerusalem! Amen! This is the central point of the revelation of the Bible and of all the four visions presented in the book of Ezekiel.

Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You for Your purpose. Work Yourself into us a little more today. Mingle Yourself with us and build us up together in You to be Your eternal habitation. Lord, it is Your desire to gain a people who is fully one with You and who let You mingle Yourself with them – make us these ones! Gain Your habitation, Your dwelling place, in the reality of the Body of Christ being lived out among us in the local churches!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by brother Ron K. for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Ezekiel, msg. 12 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Ezekiel (1), msg. 1 (week 1), Visions of God and the Unveiling of God’s Purpose and the Desire of His Heart.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Son of Man, Son of Man on the throne today; / Son of Man, Pioneer, He has led the way; / Following, how we sing, Jesus leads us on; / We are marching with the Victor to the throne. (Hymns #1189)
  # If we die we’ll live with Christ, / If we suffer we shall reign; / Only thus the prize of glory / Can the conqueror attain. (Hymns #481)
  # When all Thy members self forsake, / Thy glorious Body, Lord, is known; / When of Thy Person we partake, / The one new man is shown. / The church life is the one new man / In every local church expressed; / Thy Body is a corporate man, / One Person manifest. (Hymns #1120)