“SUCH AS THE HEAVENLY ONE”
I desire to set before you, dear brethren, the thought of what is heavenly in relation to ourselves, not only as being partakers of a heavenly calling as we are said to be in the epistle to the Hebrews, but that we are ourselves heavenly. It could be that we do not spontaneously grasp the idea of being heavenly because we have such an awareness that many things in us are far from being identified with what is heavenly; but in spite of that, I believe that it is very important to understand that we are heavenly. It is very remarkable to see that in eternity God maintains the idea of what is heavenly and what is earthly; for in eternity there will be new heavens and a new earth. Thus, the idea of what is heavenly is not just temporary, it is an eternal thought of God, and I believe that by such a thought, God desires to communicate to us a supreme excellence, in a moral sense—what is excellent in the highest degree. You remember what is said in Isaiah 55: 9: “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways”, as if God, in introducing the thought of the heavens, desired by that to give us an impression of what is infinitely greater—morally greater and more blessed than what we generally possess in ourselves and what we find in the world to which we belong at the moment. This has been positively seen in the fact that He who is divine in His Person, eternally God, and with God, has become Man and has introduced in this humanity all the moral excellence inherent in God. It is therefore a wonderful thought that there has been a heavenly Man, and we as I understand it are constituted “heavenly” by the fact that we have received the Spirit of Him who is heavenly and that we have part in the life of the heavenly One.
This we can easily understand is an extraordinary and impressive thought. I believe it represents one of the most blessed and most precious of divine thoughts! Naturally, the saints of the Old Testament are heavenly as well as ourselves, in what relates to their particular character in some measure, and also as to their destiny. But we are the more particularly heavenly because the assembly is the fulness of Christ, the body of Christ. You remember Paul, who had been taken up as minister of the truth of the assembly, and who at the time of his conversion had been arrested by a light coming from heaven; as if God would introduce something entirely new, and he saw Jesus in heaven. The twelve apostles had not had the same privilege; they had had the immense privilege of being in the company of Christ on the earth, and without any doubt they had received impressions of the unique personality and excellence of the heavenly One, while they saw Him here on earth, surrounded by elements so little in harmony with Him. But to Saul of Tarsus was given the great privilege of seeing the heavenly One in His own sphere, and to hear Him say, “Why dost thou persecute me?”
This had been an amazing and wonderful light in the soul of Paul at the time, to learn that there existed a company of saints on earth marked by a character such that the heavenly One could say, It is Myself! Paul had already seen the features of the heavenly One reproduced in undeniable power in those who had suffered by his hand, especially in Stephen who looked steadfastly up into heaven and who then, not only in wonderful peace and in victory says, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”, but also reflects the spirit of the heavenly One in saying, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”. This was different from the men of God in the Old Testament. You remember that Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest, when he was ordered to be stoned by king Joash, towards whom Jehoiada had shown great goodness, says, “Jehovah see and require it”, 2 Chron 24: 22. It is not that Zechariah was not right; he was in perfect accord with the dispensation then, but Stephen is completely different; he says, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”. You can see the supreme moral excellence which shone in this man—the excellence of grace, what was heavenly shining in a man having the same passions as ourselves. I believe that this may suffice to give a little idea of the thought of what is heavenly.
The passage of Scripture that we have read in Corinthians says, “The first man out of the earth, made of dust; the second man, out of heaven”, and not the Lord from heaven, that is to say, it is not a question of the Lord’s authority or official position, it is simply a question of what He is in His particular character: “out of heaven”. The preceding verse (v 46), which says, “But that which is spiritual was not first, but that which is natural; then that which is spiritual”, helps us to see that the first order of things is not what was in God’s mind; it is no longer what will subsist. We must have this before us. God’s intention was to displace the first order of things in favour of the second. The first man, Adam, was a figure of Him that was to come. It is necessary that we have this in mind. What we acquire more slowly is the displacement. However, the Spirit of God works constantly in us on the line of displacement, so as to work what God has in view to assure Himself of what is spiritual and of heavenly character, for His own pleasure eternally. So it says: “Such as he made of dust, such also those made of dust; and such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones”. It is good to take into account that it is so with us, this will continue some kind of leverage in our souls which will direct our testimony and our conduct in giving us progressively more liberty as to our privileges in relation to the service of God, for He will become all the more to us so that we will be more worthy of the place that God has been pleased to give us. As I have always said, and as I understand, we are constituted heavenly by the simple fact that we have received the Spirit of the second Man, He who is from heaven; and we partake in His life by His Spirit.
Now I refer to the passage in Genesis—a very interesting passage that we often consider—to draw special attention to this, that, Abraham having in his heart to secure a wife for his son Isaac—who, I have no need to say, is a type of the heavenly One—there were two points upon which he particularly insisted. The first was that the woman had to be of Abraham’s family, the second that Isaac must not, on any pretext, return to the land from which Abraham had gone out. That is to say that the testimony of the Spirit, typified in the servant, always relates to a heavenly, glorified Christ. The testimony of the Spirit has for its object to engage the hearts of the saints with Christ where He is and as He is. This does not exclude any thought of what He has been in the days of His flesh; every feature of moral excellence which was manifest then remains in Him at present, but the Spirit has taken possession of the saints with the intention of uniting them to Him in heaven. As has often been remarked, it is not said in Genesis 22 that Isaac came down from the mountain. Without doubt he had to do so literally, but the Spirit of God is very delicate in the way in which he relates the facts, and Isaac is kept so to say by design before our view as raised from the dead, and not only that but as being in heaven!
Let us refer for a moment to the other side of the question, that is to say to the fact that the woman secured for Isaac had to be of his own family; this is also a fact of great importance. In the things of the world, we understand without difficulty that a man could have no real satisfaction who marries a woman of inferior condition to his own. This is the idea here, the bride must be worthy of her husband, and worthy of him because she is related to him. It is a great point to consider the saints and ourselves in this way: as subjects of the work of God, as truly born of God, we are morally related to Christ, those of whom He is not ashamed.
You remember that in the Song of Songs chapters 4 and 5 we have in four places the Beloved speaking of His well-beloved as “my sister, my spouse”, something which could not happen in the natural domain, but of which the spiritual significance is very clear. Before being the spouse, she is his sister. She can then take this position of spouse as someone of whom he will not be ashamed in any way for she is of his family. It is a great thing to have the feeling that it is so with us. We have to learn in our souls to distinguish on the one hand what we are as a result of the work of God in us, being born of God; and on the other what the flesh is in us. While we learn to make the distinction between the two, we learn to regard the fruit of the flesh as proceeding from the flesh and not, so to say, from ourselves. As the apostle puts it in Romans 7: “I myself with the mind serve God’s law”—that is indeed true, it is I myself—“but with the flesh sin’s law”. The flesh in us remains what it is and, from then on, the only thing to do is to repudiate it. The Spirit of God being the power capable of making this effective in our souls. As we identify ourselves in our mind with what we are as born of God and formed by divine work, we learn that, as such, Christ is not ashamed of us and that we are worthy to be united to Him. But it is a heavenly Christ to whom we are united.
Then, as to the woman, the idea is not only in God’s mind that she should be worthy to be united to her husband and the object of his affections, but that she should be with him in all that concerns his interests, which is a matter of his private interests so to say, or his public interests. Thus Eve was led to Adam as to someone who was in a position of responsibility and remarkable glory, for he had been established over all the work of God’s hand; and it is as being found in such a position that Eve was given to him as wife. You can easily understand what satisfaction the heart of Adam proved when he says, “This time, it is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh”. It is as if he said, ‘At last, I have someone who can understand in a sympathetic and intelligent way everything that is in my hand, and who is able to be in everything with me’. That is one of the important features in the position of the woman. We have to cultivate this at the present time, to be with the Lord in His interests with intelligence, being maintained in constant exercise on this matter, whatever the character of His interests may be. There are not only his interests as to administrative order, which is typified in Adam, but there are interests in relation to the sphere of affections; and this is in view with Isaac. Although it is true that Abraham had given him all that he had, Isaac’s great riches are not emphasised nor his interests as to his possessions; what is brought out is that he was the beloved of his father. “Take now thy son, thine only son who thou lovest, Isaac”, chap 22: 2. It is the point of view in which Isaac is presented to us. Rebecca is led to Isaac as one who occupies this position of love. We are led to Christ occupying such a position and united to Him in this very position; the relationship which subsists between the assembly and Christ underlies all the others in which those who comprise the assembly are found, whether as the brethren of Christ or as the sons of God; the power for it all lies in the position that we have in relation to Christ as loved of Him, united to the heavenly One whose position is heavenly.
In verse 15 of chapter 24, it is said that “Rebecca came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother; and she had her pitcher upon her shoulder”. It is remarkable that the Spirit takes the trouble to say all this—“born to Bethuel, son of Milcah the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother”, bringing together these three family links, all concentrated in Rebecca, the relationship of wife, the relationship of brother, the relationship of son. The Spirit of God presents Rebecca in this light. This confirms what we have said—in the power and the gain of what we acquire by union with Christ, as loved by Him, we are made suited to be elevated into the position of brethren of Christ and sons before God.
When we come to the well-known passage that we have read in John 20, the Lord associates His own with Himself in the greatest heavenly privileges. What we have spoken of just now is on an elevated line and here the Lord presents Himself as moving in this direction. He says, “go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God”. He speaks of His disciples as being His brethren, but as I have said, I do not doubt that, underlying the position of the brethren of Christ fully realised, is found the position of union with Him, conscious of being loved by Him. Thus He says, “but go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God”. He would lead us into the most elevated heavenly position—nothing could be greater! The position into which Christ has entered as Man and as Son, in this sphere before the Father, is the guarantee that the Father will have an eternal satisfaction in the Object of His love and the worthy response to this love. This response is not only offered by Christ personally, but the saints have part in this with Him. This is not only revealed to us as the mind of God as to us, but there is the power to respond to this mind in the sense of being heavenly; being loved of Him, and having the Spirit of God’s Son in our hearts, there is capacity to occupy the position in a way worthy of God. In the epistle to the Ephesians, it is said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ”. What is spiritual as well as what is heavenly is set forth here. We need to bear this in mind. What is natural must give place to what is spiritual and what is earthly must give place to what is heavenly. The Lord desires that we should possess what is spiritual and what is heavenly, then we will be in the testimony and able to maintain ourselves there.
In this chapter we have a turn from the ascending line to what I would call the descending line. There is the going up into heaven first, then the descending from heaven. It is the line that John follows in his ministry. John says in the Revelation: “He showed me the holy city … coming down out of the heaven …” The assembly in the day to come will be the great vessel of blessing spreading the influence of what is heavenly over the earth. The whole administration in that day will be of a heavenly character in the saints, hence the importance for us of taking on heavenly features now. How will we express what is heavenly if we are not marked by these features?
The Lord having spoken to His disciples said, “Peace be to you” twice, and then He adds, “as the Father sent me forth, I also send you. And having said this, he breathed into them, and says to them, Receive the Holy Spirit”. The Lord says in John 6, “I am come down from heaven, not that I should do my will, but the will of him that has sent me”. He had been down here as “sent”, but He had been sent as “come down from heaven”. So He was here on earth as the heavenly One. In John 3, He speaks of Himself as “the Son of man who is in heaven”. He was here on earth, sent into this world by the Father to spread a heavenly influence upon men. So the Lord says, “as the Father sent me forth, I also send you”. What a position! It is not exactly an apostolic position. The intention is that the saints should be heavenly here, spreading the light of what is heavenly among men. In order that they should have the power to achieve this, the Lord breathed into them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. They are established here in His own Spirit.
Grace being the predominant feature of this dispensation, He then says, “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted”. It is the first thing that He sets before them. The saints are left here having the confidence of Christ and if they remit sins, the Lord honours the decision; if they retain sins, the Lord leaves them there, without interfering. They have to be in accord with the dispensation, showing what is heavenly—not pardoning evil in itself but letting grace overflow as we see in Stephen when he says, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”.
I have read the two passages in Numbers to underline the references to blue, the idea of what is heavenly. In Numbers we have provision for the testimony through the wilderness, that is to say that the chapter is not a contemplation of the testimony in a static position, in the moments when Israel were at rest, but we are presented with the testimony in movement. To the priests is given the responsibility to ensure that the ark first, and then the other accessories of the tabernacle, are suitably covered. You will remark that in relation to all the parts of the tabernacle mentioned in what we have read (not all are mentioned in this passage, the brazen altar is not included which is an exception), all are covered with a cloth of blue. In fact, the ark is covered with a cloth “wholly of blue” which is the outward covering, while for the other parts, they are covered first with a cloth of blue, but which is in turn covered with a covering of badgers’ skin. All this is with a view to impressing us with the sense that the testimony of God here on the earth is of a heavenly character and is not to be demeaned in any way; in view of the journey to be undertaken, everything in relation to the tabernacle had to be covered by spiritual hands. The ark stands alone, covered with a cloth “wholly of blue”, so that the blue could be seen while it was being carried through the wilderness. This emphasises the fact that we must always carry Christ with the heavenly distinction which belongs to Him in our hearts’ affections, “as is the heavenly one, so also the heavenly ones”. It is not one of the heavenly ones, but “the heavenly one”. He communicates His distinctive character to those who are held in intimate relations with Himself and it was thus with the transport of the ark which alone was to be covered with a cloth wholly of blue. We must always have Christ before the vision of our hearts as the heavenly One; that is to say, with a distinctive mark of the immense superiority over the greatest or the best of men according to the first order of things.
You remember that when men were sent by the chief priests to take Jesus, that they returned and said, “Never man spake as this man speaks”. They received the impression by their contact with Christ who was in Himself what was unique, what was immensely superior in Him to every other man. And this must always be present in our hearts in relation to the testimony and the way in which it is carried on—Christ must always be presented with the distinction that marks Him and as “the heavenly One”.
The other parts of the tabernacle, that is the table of shewbread, the candlestick and the utensils which belonged to them, or the altar of incense and its accessories, were wrapped in turn; and in every case they were covered with a covering of blue, that is to say that priestly sensibilities considered all the details of the testimony as heavenly and, as I have said earlier, it must not be demeaned or lowered to the level of the natural man. Then, so as to maintain this, because of what we are, and because of the character of the world around us, there has to be a covering of badgers’ skins, which reminds us of all that which is one way or another contrary to the character of the testimony.
I cannot enlarge on questions of detail, but I would draw your attention to the cloth of blue and the way in which the testimony must be continued while we pass through this scene.
In chapter 15, we have a very simple instruction given by Jehovah to the children of Israel by the mediation of Moses, it is, “that they make them tassels on the corners of their garments, throughout their generations, and that they attach to the tassel of the corners a lace of blue; and it shall be unto you for a tassel, that ye may look upon it”. To what end? “And remember all the commandments of Jehovah, and do them; and that ye seek not after the lusts of your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye go a whoring”. I believe that the idea here is that we must remind ourselves what we are in ourselves. There is such intermittence in our activities, dear brethren! How often what is of God is submerged by the pressure of circumstances that arise, so that these things absorb our thoughts, so that the power of what is heavenly is weakened in our souls. This is why God, in His condescension, seems to say: Remember what you are. For the children of Israel, a lace of blue was necessary. It is not so for us in the same way, for we have the Spirit of God, dear brethren, always ready, if only we give Him liberty, to remind us that we belong to Christ, that we are bound up with Him and partake of His life. The Spirit that dwells in us is the Spirit of the heavenly Man, so that we can remind ourselves that we are heavenly; that is what God desires that we should do.
The tassel of blue served to remind the children of Israel what they were in relation to what was nearest to the earth; there had to be a distinctive feature with them as the people of God “in their generations”. We have to be struck by the thought that we belong to the heavenly One; that we are partakers of His life; we are down here as those who are “sent”; on the same principle as the Father sent the Son, so that we are sent by Him. What is heavenly, as I said at the beginning, is infinitely greater than what is normal among men, “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways”—how the heavens are elevated above the earth! “So are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts”.
God desires to have a testimony on the earth in His people, a people who walk here under the influence of the heavenly One. He desires to have a testimony here in ways infinitely more elevated than all that is natural to man around us, so that what is worthy of Him and His glory should be in evidence. “As is the heavenly one, so also the heavenly ones”, and we must add further, “And as we have borne the image of the one made of dust, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly one”.
DULWICH, LONDON
25th August 1945
Translated from the French magazine, ‘Ondées’, December 1946
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