The Stewardship of the Mystery # 72

Taking the Ground of the Heavenly Man

Colossians 2:16-23; 3:1-11; Ephesians 4:13-15

There is one particular application of this whole vast, comprehensive truth which we feel we should stress at this time. It has to do with our taking the ground of the Heavenly Man. Whether you consider Him personally or corporately in the Word, you will see that the one thing which is being pointed out as absolutely necessary, is that the ground of the Heavenly Man shall be taken; that is, that man shall come on to the ground of the Heavenly Man. His attitude is that, if you want Him to speak to you, to have anything to do with you, you must come on to His ground, which is that of the Heavenly Man. You have to leave your own ground of nature, whatever be your thought of it, and you have to come on to His ground. You must leave the ground of the earthly man, the fallen Adam, leave natural ground, and come on to the ground of the last Adam, on to heavenly ground, which is spiritual ground.

If you were to take that thought,and begin to read again the Gospel by John, and then go on into the Epistles, especially those of Paul, although it is not confined to them, you would see that this is he one thing all the way through, and it would give you a wonderful opening up of the Word.

Christ the Sole Ground of God's Dealings With Man

We begin, then, by seeing that the Father has set forth the Son as His ground of dealing with men, and He will deal with no man on any other ground: "... Him the Father, even God, hath sealed" (John 6:27). Jesus of Nazareth was anointed by God. Now this is God's ground: "This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17); "This is My beloved Son ... hear ye Him" (Matthew 17:5). He has set forth the Son, and if you want to have anything to do with God at all, if you want Him to have anything at all to do with you, you have come on to the ground of the Son, the ground of the Heavenly Man. God meets us in Him. God takes up His work with us there on that ground. God carries on His work with us on that ground alone. For all God's interest and activity with us, Christ is the First and the Last. He is set forth, sealed, anointed, and there only shall we find an opened heaven.

Referring again to Jacob and his dream, we read: "And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night ... And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said ..." (Genesis 28:11-13). The Lord took that up, as you remember, with Nathaniel, and said: "... ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man" (John 1:51). The Lord communes with man by way of that ladder, which is the Son of Man, and by way of His Son alone; He speaks to us at the end of these times "in His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all things." I think it hardly needs stressing that this is where we begin, and this is what the Father has done. He has made the Heavenly Man, His Son, the sole ground upon which to meet man.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 73 - (The Meaning of the Divine Appointment of the Son)