I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going
up and down on the Son of Man, the One who is the stairway between heaven and
earth. (John 1:51 NLT)
We have seen
Christ as the true spiritual fulfillment of Jacob's ladder, which was set up on
the earth, and the top of which reached into heaven. Of this the Lord later
said to Nathanael: "Hereafter thou shalt see heaven opened, and the angels of
God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." Now if the Lord Jesus is
the same, in effect, as the ladder of Jacob, then He is both in heaven and on
earth. He is on earth, and He is at the same time in heaven. In Him heaven and
earth are united, brought together, and whilst He is here on this earth for
purposes of expression and action, He is also in heaven. The point is that His
Life, and all His resources, were drawn from above. He was in touch with
inexhaustible resources, and resources which could never die, because they
were not of this earth, and could never be subject to the touch of corruption
which is characteristic of everything on this earth....
So then, to gather that up in one word, it means that for our lives and for our service, our ministry, our heavenly vocation, there are, in union with Christ, resources at our disposal which are heavenly, inexhaustible, and incorruptible. This is the great secret of strength. We have seen something of what those resources are, and of how they operate; of their value for spirit, soul, and body; mind, heart, and will. Not on our own charges are we commissioned of the Lord, but He Who commissions places His own resources behind His commissioned and His commission.