THREE SPHERES
BLESSING
69
OF
Three times it is written that the heavenly city descends from God out of heaven to the earth (Rev. 3:12;
21:2,10). The 1,000 year rule of the earthly Jerusalem ends in rebellion (Rev. 20:7-9); earthly rule under the most
favourable conditions collapses. Since the beginning man has been enamoured of `Self-government'. At the time of
the end the Gentiles will have experienced every form of government, from the most absolute autocracy of
Nebuchadnezzar, to the extremest form of democracy. Nebuchadnezzar himself was ultimately brought to realize
that `the heavens do rule' (Dan. 4:26), and our Saviour, as King of Israel, visualized a kingdom on the earth where
the will of God shall be done `as it is in heaven'. The heavenly Jerusalem and its descent to the earth is God's
solution for the government of the world. With its descent, the rule of the earth by heaven begins, and the purpose
of the ages nears its goal. In the beginning there were but two spheres - `The heavens and the earth'; at the end,
when the heavenly city descends to earth, there will once more be two spheres. In the beginning God was `All'; at
the end God will be `All in all', and in the realization of this `consummation so devoutly to be wished' the heavenly
Jerusalem plays an important part.
There are, however, blessings that are neither those of Israel as a Kingdom, nor the heavenly calling of the Bride,
and these are enjoyed in heavenly places, where Christ sits, far above all principality and power, and far above all
heavens. They who enjoy them constitute neither a Kingdom nor the Bride, but are the Body of Christ and a perfect
Man. While individual believing Israelites are not precluded, this calling is mainly Gentile, for it operates during the
period of Israel's blindness. It has also a citizenship, but it is one which has nothing to do with the New Jerusalem:
not nations nor angels are subservient to it, but principalities and powers. To this company pertains the adoption
associated with this sphere, and Christ, as the Firstborn from the dead, is its Head, each believer of the company
forming a member of the church which is His body.
As this highest of all callings is the subject of a secret that goes back before the overthrow of the world (Gen.
1:2), so it goes up beyond the `firmament that was called heaven', which spans the ages, and finds its sphere in the
super-heavens'; those heavens of Genesis 1:1, which remain unmoved by the ebb and flow of time, sin, death, or
dispensational change.
We must now turn our attention to that great principle of interpretation:
Right Division.- This great principle is expressed by Paul in the second epistle to Timothy thus:
`Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word
of truth' (2 Tim. 2:15).
This verse necessarily has a context, and the outstanding items of that context are brought to light by the
structure, and the structure reveals three attitudes toward `The Truth'; two that are commendable, and one that is
evil.
2 Timothy 2:14-26.
A a 14. Strive not about words.
THE WORKMAN,
b 15. Study to show thyself approved.
AND THE
c 15. That he may be unashamed.
TRUTH.
B 16. Exhortation. Shun. Increase ungodliness.
C d 17,18. Teachers and doctrine. A canker.
ERROR
e 19.
God's foundation. Sure.
AND
e 19.
God's foundation. Seal.
TRUTH.
d 20,21. Teachers and doctrine. Great House.
B 22,23. Exhortation. Flee. Gender strifes.
A a 24. Must not strive.
THE SERVANT,
b 25. Repentance.
AND THE
c 26. That he may be delivered.
TRUTH.
In the first case it will be seen that by rightly dividing the Word of truth, the workman is unashamed; in the
second, by wrongly dividing the Word of truth, and by teaching that a future event is one that has passed (`the
resurrection is past already'), faith is overthrown.