BASIC WORD: THE TRIUNE GOD IN CHRIST BEING LIFE TO US BY SHINING IN OUR HEARTS

           THE TRIUNE GOD IN CHRIST BEING LIFE TO US BY SHINING IN OUR HEARTS

Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 4:4 , 6-7 ; 3:18 ; Matt. 17:2 ; Eph. 5:8-9 ; Rev. 22:4a , 5b ; 21:23

Prayer: Beloved Lord Jesus, we turn our hearts to You that the veil would be taken away and that we all will behold the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. Lord, as we are beholding, please shine in our hearts. Shine in us for the glory of God and the building up of the Body of Christ. Glory be to the Triune God. Amen.

The title of this message indicates that the Triune God in Christ being life to us is the goal and that God’s shining in our hearts opens the way for the Triune God in Christ to be life to us. The matter of God’s shining in our hearts is practical and experiential. When the Lord shines in our hearts, His intention is to eventually reach the depths of our inner being; no part of our soul should be unreachable for His shining.

Second Corinthians 4:6 says, “The God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” However, Paul’s word about God’s shining did not originate from him but can instead be traced to a few verses from the Old Testament, which testify of this. Numbers 6:25 says, “Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.” This was Jehovah’s blessing of the children of Israel ( v. 23 ). These are not merely words in the Bible; this is what the Lord is saying to us. Even at this moment He is saying, “Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.” If we are open vessels, He has a way to reach our inner being. Psalm 31:16 says, “Cause Your face to shine upon Your servant; / Save me in Your lovingkindness.” If those who are serving the Lord are truly enlightened, they will realize that every member of the Body is serving the Lord and that there is a prayer for the Lord to shine upon His servants. Three verses from Psalm 80 also testify of God’s shining. These three verses are very similar with some distinctions. Psalm 80:3 says, “O God, restore us; / And cause Your face to shine, and we will be saved.” Verse 7 says, “O God of hosts, restore us; / And cause Your face to shine, and we will be saved.” Then verse 19 says, “O Jehovah God of hosts, restore us; / Cause Your face to shine, and we will be saved.” These verses indicate that God’s shining is intrinsically related to the organic aspect of our salvation.

When Paul was formerly Saul, he was fully giving himself to destroy all the churches and to bring judgment and death to many believers. For example, he witnessed Stephen being stoned to death ( Acts 7:58 ). When Stephen was dying, he was Christ expressed. Stephen saw the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God ( vv. 55-56 ). When the Lord was looking at him, He saw Himself lived again. As Stephen was being stoned, he cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” ( v. 60 ). Saul was there. Later, at a time ordained by the Lord, Saul was on a journey to Damascus with authority to capture anyone calling on the name of the Lord; this audible calling on the Lord Jesus was the indicator that one was a believer. Saul determined that if he heard anyone calling on that name, he would arrest him and bring him to Jerusalem. Our wise God did not send another apostle to argue with Saul. Probably no one, humanly speaking, would have been able to win an argument with such a brilliant person. Instead, the Lord took a way that no one could resist. Paul later testified of this to King Agrippa. In 26:13 he said, “At midday, on the way, I saw, O king, a light from heaven beyond the brightness of the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.” The Lord gained him by shining on him. No human being can withstand the shining of the Triune God. When the light brighter than the sun is shining on us, we can only respond in a positive way.

When the Lord returns at the end of this age with the bridal army as His companion, they will come with a shining face to bring the glory of God to the earth. The New Jerusalem is not a physical city but a person. In Revelation 21:2 John says, “I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” John saw the New Jerusalem coming down as a bride. A bride is not a place but a person. In verses 10 and 11 he says, “He carried me away in spirit onto a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal.” For eternity we will be living in this shining in every part of our being.

“IN WHOM THE GOD OF THIS AGE HAS BLINDED THE THOUGHTS OF THE UNBELIEVERS THAT THE ILLUMINATION OF THE GOSPEL OF THE GLORY OF CHRIST,WHO IS THE IMAGE OF GOD, MIGHT NOT SHINE ON THEM”

Second Corinthians 4:4 says, “In whom the god of this age has blinded the thoughts of the unbelievers that the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine on them.” Glory is closely related to shining. One definition of glory is God expressed in splendor. According to 3:18 , we are being transformed into His image from glory to glory.

In John 17 the Lord prayed to the Father for our oneness. In verse 22 He utters the highest level of His prayer: “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, even as We are one”. When we all are saturated with the divine glory, there will be no self-expression by anyone or any place ever again. For now, we are all in a procedure. The stage of our development may be obvious to the saints when we speak, yet it is nothing to be ashamed of because we all are growing in life, in the same way that our children are humanly still growing and developing. As long as we remain in the procedure, we can anticipate that Christ will eventually be shining in us, and the gospel of the glory will become real to us.

Christ as the Image of God Being the Effulgence of His Glory;

Hence, the Gospel of Christ Being the Gospel of His Glory

That Illuminates, Radiates, and Shines in Our Hearts

Christ as the image of God is the effulgence of His glory; hence, the gospel of Christ is the gospel of His glory that illuminates, radiates, and shines in our hearts ( Heb. 1:3 ; 2 Cor. 4:6 ). The effulgence is the extremely bright shining forth of His glory. The glory is God expressed in splendor; thus, the shining and the glory are distinct but are not separate. The shining and the glory go hand in hand.

At this present moment, if our heart is turned to the Lord and we are an open vessel, the God of glory can illuminate, radiate, and shine in our hearts. In our personal life with the Lord, whether it is in the morning or any time during the day, we can pray this simple prayer, “Lord, I open my whole being to You. Please shine into me. When I meet You at the judgment seat, I want You to be able to say, ‘Well done. You allowed Me to shine into every part of your being. Come into the enjoyment.