The Daily Word of Righteousness

One in Christ in God, #10

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, . . . . (II Corinthians 5:17,18)

It is a new creation. It is the Body of Christ, the eternal habitation of the fullness of the Father and the fullness of the Son through the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

As Christ gains in stature in us we taste the good Word of God and the works of power of the age to come (from Hebrews 6:5). There is in us a healthy appetite for the Word of God; and the saying, "Man shall not live by bread alone" takes on vital meaning to us. There is a deeply felt hunger for the Bread from Heaven (John 6:48-53). The old things are passing away. All things are becoming new.

Transformed by the Glory of the Lord

The Glory of God, that even now is working in the personality of each of us as we give our lives to the Holy Spirit's guidance, will increase day after day until we are filled and clothed with the Spirit. If we move forward with God until the Holy Spirit has become the Source of our life, then, at the coming of our Lord, the Holy Spirit will make alive our mortal body.

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (II Corinthians 3:18)

The text of the third chapter of II Corinthians includes a reference to the face of Moses (verse 13). The condition referred to is described in the thirty-fourth chapter of Exodus:

And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him. (Exodus 34:33-35)

Moses' face was transfigured permanently because of repeated exposure to the Glory of the Lord. In the same manner the character and personality of the Christian undergoes a permanent transformation as he beholds the Glory of the Lord in the new covenant.

When we rest our faith on Christ the light of the Glory of God shines in our heart. Repeated exposure to the Glory of God, as it is reflected in the face of Christ, transforms the disciple just as the face of Moses was transformed. The overcomer beholds God until he is in God's image and is able to commune with God directly, as was true of Moses.

Therefore Revelation 22:4 is able to announce, "they shall see his face." But Exodus 33:20 declares, "Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live." Anyone who has set his heart on beholding God will be brought to the death of his sinful, self-centered nature. Only the pure in heart shall see God.

For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. (II Corinthians 4:11)

To be continued.