d. Ultimate Consummation
In this message we come to the ultimate consummation, the climax
of Genesis 1. We need to recall the various steps in the process of God's
restoration and further creation. The Spirit was brooding over the darkness and
death. Light came, and there was a division between light and darkness. God
made the expanse to divide the things above from the things beneath. Next God
called the dry land out of the death waters. Out of the dry land the plant life
was generated. After the plant life, the fourth-day lights came in to shine
upon the earth. Then came the fish life, the bird life, the cattle life, the beast
life, and all the creeping things. Eventually, God created man. Man is the
climax of God's creation because man bears God's image. This is not a small
thing.
1) God Was Expressed and Represented
Man is the expression of God because he bears God's image. He also
has the dominion of God. Man was committed with God's dominion over the seas,
the air, the earth, and especially over all the creeping things. Man has power,
authority, and dominion because man looks like God. Man bears the image of God;
so, man has authority. The climax in God's creation is man bearing God's image
and representing God with His authority over all things.
When man looks at God and God looks at man, they look alike. If I
take a photograph of you, you will look like the photograph and the photograph
will look like you. Likewise, God can say, "Man, you are very much like
Me." Man will reply, "God, You are so much like me. We two are very
much alike." Also, when man comes out of the presence of God, he is the ruler
over all created things. He has authority to rule. This is dominion, the
kingdom.
The two crucial words in chapter one of Genesis are image and
dominion. You may forget the creeping things and the fish, but don't forget man
with image and dominion. Man was not made in the image of a serpent or
scorpion, but in the image of God. This is the climax: man bearing God's image,
exercising God's authority to maintain dominion.
Image and dominion were sown as two seeds in Genesis 1. However,
these seeds need the whole Bible to grow and develop. The harvest, the full
maturity, is in Revelation 21 and 22. The whole New Jerusalem expresses God,
bearing God's appearance. The New Jerusalem also exercises God's divine
authority to maintain God's dominion for eternity. Today, these two seeds are
growing in you and me. The image of God and the authority of God are constantly
growing within us.
Consider the case of a young married couple. The husband loves the
wife, and the wife loves the husband. Although she loves her husband, the wife
says within herself, "Although I love you, you are just a naughty young
man." It is doctrinally correct to tell the wife that her husband is her
head. However, the wife will say within herself, "I know that my husband
is my head, but actually he is a naughty young man. It is hard for me to
respect him." One day the husband is saved, and the divine life enters
into him. This is the seed, and the seed grows in this young man day after day,
month after month. Perhaps after eighteen months, the wife will look at her
husband and say, "Surely I must respect him. Once he was just a naughty
young man. But look at him today! He has some weight. He is not so loose, so
light. He is weighty." There is no need for the husband to exercise
authority and say, "You must know that I am now a Christian husband. You
must submit to me." The husband need not say this. Whenever the wife looks
at him, she will realize that his words are weighty, that there is something
precious and valuable about him. Spontaneously she respects him. Formerly she
argued. Now she respects and honors him, considering seriously everything he
says because he now bears the image of God, and out of this image comes the
divine authority. This is dominion.
Many people have read Watchman Nee's book, Spiritual Authority.
They simply utilize that book, saying, "We are the elders of the church.
We are the leaders of a group of Christians. We are God's authority." If
you say this, you are through with God's authority. You do not bear the image
of God. When the Lord Jesus came, He never held any attitude toward people that
He was the authority and that people had to submit to Him. He never did this.
However, when He was on this earth, He bore the image of God. He also had the
authority of God. Authority always comes from the image.
The ultimate consummation is that God is expressed and
represented. Nothing can be higher than this. When God is expressed and
represented, that is the climax.
Man was made in God's image that man might express Him. This is a
matter of life. Life with the image is for the expression of God. God gave man
dominion over all things that man might represent Him. This is a matter of
authority. If you are going to represent God with authority, you need to
express God in life. The whole story of the Bible is just one story, telling of
the saints who expressed God and represented God. We need now to consider
eighteen cases covering the Old and the New Testaments.
a) The Case of Abraham
We begin with Abraham. This does not mean that before Abraham
there was no man who expressed God. There were at least three great men—Abel,
Enoch, and Noah. However, if we read their history, we find no record that they
conquered the enemy or subdued anything. Until Abraham, there is no record of
anyone who subdued the enemy. Abraham built an altar that he might contact God
(Gen. 12:7). The more you contact God, the more you will bear God's image. The
more you look at God, the more you will look like God. To build an altar for
the purpose of contacting God means to become more and more transformed into
the image of God. Abraham didn't build a tower. The people at Babel didn't build an altar to contact God;
they built a tower to make themselves a name (Gen. 11:4). That is self-pride.
Abraham, however, was called out of that environment; he built a small altar
and there he contacted God. The more he contacted God, the more he looked like
God. The Bible tells us that eventually God became a friend to Abraham and that
Abraham was called the friend of God (James 2:23). If you read Genesis 18, you
will see that God did not come to Abraham as the Creator or the Almighty God.
God came to him as a friend. God and Abraham had fellowship just like two
friends talking together. By that time Abraham had become more and more like
God. Therefore, we are told that Abraham conquered and defeated the enemies
(Gen. 14:17).
b) The Case of Joseph
Joseph was the last person whose history was recorded in Genesis.
He lived a holy and victorious life (Gen. 39:11-12). He lived a life that was
very much like God. God was holy; Joseph was holy. God was victorious; Joseph
was victorious. Joseph bore the image of God. He was a man who fulfilled God's
intention. The story of Joseph is the story of a holy and victorious life, a
life that eventually became the ruling authority. Joseph ruled over all of Egypt (Gen.
41:39-45). In Genesis chapter one we see a man made by God in His image and
committed with God's dominion. In the last few chapters of Genesis, we also see
a man who really expressed God, represented God, and ruled over the whole
earth.
c) The Case of Moses
Moses was not a great politician. He was a man who contacted God.
After contacting God, his face shone with the divine glory (Exo. 34:29-30).
When Moses' face shone with the glory of God, he bore the image of God. Thus,
Moses became a man with authority. He had authority to rule over the whole
house of Israel
(Heb. 3:2, 5). He also had authority to defeat the enemy (Exo. 14:30-31). He
did not fight the battle with machine guns or atom bombs, but with a little
rod. The little rod not only represented power; it represented authority. Moses
used that rod and said to the Red Sea,
"Open up the way." The waters were divided. That was authority. Moses
was a man who bore God's image and represented God with divine authority.
d) The Case of Israel with the Tabernacle
Following Moses, we have the people of Israel. Israel was a people called to be a
kingdom of priests (Exo. 19:6). Israel
was not called to be a kingdom of kings, but a kingdom of priests. The
priesthood is altogether related to God's image. The kingship is related to
God's authority. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament we have these
two posts, the priesthood and the kingship. The priesthood is for us to contact
God and to have the image of God; the kingship is for us to represent God and
to exercise God's authority. Later on we will see that Christians have been
called to be priests and kings. The destiny of the people of Israel was to
be a kingdom of priests. They were to contact God until, like Moses, their
faces shone with the glory of God. Don't look at the negative side of the
people of Israel.
Look at the positive side. With the ark of the tabernacle they were the priests
that defeated Jericho
(Josh. 6:1-21). If you read Joshua 6 again, you will see that the whole nation
of Israel
did not fight the battle with swords or spears. Day by day, they bore the
testimony and blew the rams' horns. Then they shouted, meaning that they
praised God. Jericho
fell. They did not fight the battle like soldiers or warriors. They fought the
battle like priests. As long as you are a priest, you are qualified to defeat
the enemy.
Wives, why do you lose the war in your family life? Because you
don't have a priest's face. Perhaps you have the face of a scorpion or a turtle
or a serpent. If you don't express the face of a priest, you have lost the war
already. Husbands, we are the head, but what kind of head are we—the head of a
scorpion? The husband who has a scorpion's head can never be a proper head. You
must have a head that bears the face of a priest, shining with God's glory. If
we have a priest's face, we will gain the victory in our family life. I would
even check with you brothers in the brothers' house. What kind of face do you
bear? Do you bear the face of a priest reflecting the glory of the Lord or the
face of a mouse? We must be priests. Then we will subdue the whole environment.
As long as you have the priest's face, you have authority. Jericho will be subdued.
e) The Case of Aaron with the Budding Rod
The case of Aaron is very interesting. Although God's intention
was to make the whole nation of Israel
a kingdom of priests, the nation failed God. So, out of the entire nation, God
called out one tribe, the Levites, to be a tribe of priests. The head of that
tribe was the house of Aaron. At a certain time, the people of Israel murmured
and rebelled against Aaron, saying, "Is God only with you and not with
us?" Then God asked each of the twelve tribes to bring a rod with the name
of the tribe written upon it. A rod means authority. Aaron's rod was the only
rod that budded (Num. 17:2-10). It budded almonds. In Palestine, the first thing that blossoms in
the springtime is the almonds. In typology, the almond blossoms signify
resurrection life. After the wintertime, the first thing that blossoms is
almonds—that is resurrection life. Aaron's rod was a piece of dead wood.
Overnight this piece of dead wood budded. It became a budding rod, not budding
with apples or grapefruit, but with almonds. This means that it was surviving
with the resurrection life. Where there is life, there is authority. Where
there is divine life, there is divine authority. Where there is life, there is
the image, and the image brings in dominion. Thus, Aaron had the resurrection
life to express God. So, Aaron had authority to represent God.
Elders in the local churches, leaders in all the service groups,
leading sisters—you all must be very clear that to be a leading one in the
churches among God's people means that you must bud. You must bud with the
resurrection life. We are all simply pieces of dead wood. Whether or not this
dead wood can be a rod of authority depends on whether or not this dead wood
buds with resurrection life. If you have the intention to be a leader in a
certain service, we will wait to see whether or not the dead wood rots or buds.
If it buds with resurrection life, that is a sign authority is there. It is no
more a piece of dead wood; it is a ruling rod.
f) The Case of Joshua and Caleb
The principle is the same in the case of Joshua and Caleb. They
fully followed the Lord (Num. 14:24). The Lord Himself testified that Caleb
fully followed Him. Thus, they defeated the enemy (Num. 14:6-9). When they
followed the Lord, they had the image. Then they were in the authority.
g) The Cases of the Judges
I like Judges 5:31. This verse says that during the time of the
judges, there were some who loved the Lord. They who loved the Lord shone as
the sunshine. So they defeated the enemy. Whenever a certain person shone as
the sun, there was victory over the enemy and rest for the entire nation. The
whole book of Judges is a book of repetition. Whenever there was one who loved
the Lord and shone as the sun, there was victory through him. The whole nation
enjoyed rest through him.
h) The Case of David
David was a man after God's heart. If you read 1 Samuel 13:14, you
will see that originally Saul was the king. However, Saul did not have a heart
after God. He lost the throne, and God found another man who was after His
heart. This one, David, doubtless had the image of God. It was he who defeated
the enemy (1 Chron. 22:8a).
i) The Cases of the Kings
We have seen the priesthood. Now we come to the kingship. Whenever
the kings were one with the Lord, they defeated the enemy (2 Chron. 14:2-14).
Whenever they were not one with the Lord, they were defeated. They lost the
authority. In other words, whenever the kings were in the image of God and
expressed God, they had authority to defeat the enemies. We have now both the priesthood
and the kingship. Never forget that the priesthood is for the image and that
the kingship is for the dominion. Now we are priests to be like God and, at the
same time, we are kings to represent God, exercising His authority over the
enemies.
j) The Case of Daniel
Daniel was a captive in Babylon,
a waiter in the king's palace. Yet, he lived a holy life, a life that expressed
God (Dan. 1:8). Thus, he came into power. He had authority over the world at
that time (Dan. 6:28).
k) The Case of Jesus
When Jesus was on this earth, He expressed God. Wherever He was,
He expressed God. He was a real man and a typical man, but He continually
expressed God. So, He obtained authority over everything (Matt. 28:18).
Zechariah 6:13 tells us that Jesus bears two posts, the priesthood and the
kingship. He was the priest and He was the king. Today, He is still the High
Priest and is still the King of kings. He is the One who expresses God, the One
who represents God. He bears God's image and He holds God's authority. This is
Jesus.
l) The Case of Zebedee's Two Sons
One day, the mother of Zebedee's children came with her two sons
to Jesus to pray (Matt. 20:20-23). She prayed a good prayer, asking that her
two sons sit on the Lord's two sides in the kingdom. We all might have prayed
such a prayer. The Lord Jesus answered her prayer, but not according to the way
she prayed. The Lord Jesus said, "You have prayed about the two sides. Now
you must know that whether or not your sons will have these two sides is not up
to Me. It is up to the Father. But I tell you one thing—you must suffer. You
must drink what I will drink and suffer what I will suffer." This means
that if you are going to have authority, you need to have life. To suffer is to
gain life. If there is no death, there is no life. If there is no suffering,
there is no life. Life always comes through suffering. If we are going to
obtain authority, we need to gain life through suffering.
m) The Cases of the Apostles
The entire book of Acts and all the Epistles show us that the
apostles were persons who bore the image of God. Therefore, they constantly had
God's authority. They had God's image and they exercised God's authority. We
should not just consider them as good preachers or great teachers. That is too
low. That is not the climax. We must look at them as persons who bore God's
image and exercised divine authority.
n) The Negative Case of Sceva's Seven Sons
The seven sons of Sceva saw how Paul cast out demons by the name
of Jesus (Acts 19:13-16). They imitated Paul, telling the demons, "I cast
you out by the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches." The demons are not so
easy to deal with. The demon said, "Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who
are you to cast me out? I will jump all over you." Instead of defeating the
demons, the demons defeated them. If you don't have the image, you can never
have authority. The demons know and you yourself also know. If you don't have
life, you don't have authority. If you don't bear the image, you can never
exercise dominion.
o) The Case of the Believers in the Church Age
Revelation 5:10 and 1 Peter 2:9 both tell us that today Christians
are royal priests. On the one hand we are priests; on the other hand we are
kings. However, we need to contact God that we may have the real image to bear
the glory of God in life. Then we have the authority to represent God. But most
Christians miss this. They don't look like priests and, thus, they are not
kings. If you don't bear the image, you will lose the authority. Praise God
that through all the centuries there have been and there still are some saints
who contact God, keeping themselves in the real priesthood. They have authority
and they exercise kingship.
p) The Case of the Overcoming Saints in the Millennium
During the millennium, the coming kingdom age of a thousand years,
the overcoming saints will be priests and kings (Rev. 20:4, 6). They will be
priests expressing God and kings representing God.
q) The Case of All the Saints in the New Heaven and the New Earth
In eternity, all the saints will serve God as priests (Rev.
22:3b-4). They will express God and bear God's image. The saints will also
reign as kings, representing God with His authority (Rev. 22:5b).
r) The Case of the New Jerusalem
Finally, the New Jerusalem will bear God's appearance. Revelation
4:3a tells us that the appearance of God is like jasper. Eventually, the wall
of the whole city of New Jerusalem
will be built with jasper (Rev. 21:18a). The entire city will have the
appearance of God (Rev. 21:11). Then the city will exercise God's authority
(Rev. 21:24, 26). In eternity the whole body of the redeemed saints will bear
God's image to express God and exercise God's authority to represent God. That
will be the climax and the ultimate consummation.
We don't have to wait for that day. We can all have a foretaste
today. We can enjoy the image of God and the dominion of God. Today we are
priests and we are kings. We must keep our birthright. We are here expressing
God with His image and we are here representing God with His dominion.
Hallelujah! What a position this is and what a responsibility—yet what an
enjoyment! Praise the Lord! We are God's priests and we are God's kings. We
bear God's image and we have God's dominion. Now we are the people in the
church who express God and represent God. Hallelujah! We do have the image and
the dominion.
I hope that you all can see that the whole Bible is a record of
the development of image and dominion. It is not a small thing that these two
items are the climax of the record in Genesis 1. That chapter began with
darkness, emptiness, waste, and death waters. Then the Spirit brooded, the
light separated, and the expanse divided. The dry land appeared to generate
life. Then came the lowest life, the lower life, the higher life, and the
highest created life—man. Look at all of the life forms. With the grass, the
herbs, and the trees there is no face. A fish does have a face, but it is not
very distinct. The face of a bird is more distinguished. Then we have the
cattle and the beasts. Eventually, we have man's face. We all must admit that
the human face is the most distinctive. This face is the face that bears God's
image. With this face, that is, with this expression, God's authority has been
committed.
Everything is determined by what you look like. If you look like a
scorpion, that is something related to demons. If you look like a serpent, that
is something related to Satan. But if you look like a real man, that is related
to God's image. A real man has authority.
What is a real man? A real man is a priest to God. If you are a
priest, then you are a king. If you are in the priesthood, you surely have the
kingship. This means that if you have the image of God in life, you certainly
have the authority of God for His dominion.
The whole Bible is a record of the development of image and
dominion. In Genesis 1 we have Adam in God's image and with God's dominion, but
that is only a little seed. We go on to Abraham. Abraham was the first person
who matured and developed something of God's image and authority. He contacted
God and defeated the enemy. Then we come to Joseph, a very matured person. As
we read Joseph's story, we see a man bearing God's full image of holiness and
victory. We see the man Joseph exercising authority. At that time, the
authority was not Pharaoh of Egypt—it was Joseph. Joseph ruled over the whole
earth. As we continue through the Old Testament, we see that God called out a
people to be a nation of priests. The whole nation was to contact God and bear
God's image as His priests. Therefore, they would be kings in every kind of
situation. There would be no need for them to fight. The whole situation would
be subdued under their feet. Then we come to the kings and the prophets.
Finally, we come to Jesus. He is fully a priest as well as a king. With Him
there is the priesthood to express God and the kingship to represent God.
Christ is the Head. Following Him, is the Body, the composition of all the
redeemed saints. As the Body, we are the same as the Head, bearing the image as
priests and exercising the authority as kings. Today we are priests to God and
kings over every situation. We express God in the church life and represent Him
in every situation. Then will come the millennium, the fullness of time, during
which all the overcoming saints will literally be the priests expressing God
with God's image and the kings representing God with God's authority, having
full dominion over this earth. Eventually, we will have eternity. In eternity
we will see a wonderful consummation—the New Jerusalem. That will be the real
climax. Nothing can be higher and fuller than that. The whole city of New Jerusalem will bear
the image of God and the whole city will exercise God's dominion. Hallelujah!
This is the record of the Bible. The Bible records the development of God's
image with God's dominion. God will be eternally expressed and God will be
eternally represented by His redeemed people.
A FURTHER WORD
Let us turn to the book of Matthew and read the last verse of
chapter sixteen and the first two verses of chapter seventeen. The Lord Jesus
said, "Truly I say to you, There are some of those standing here who shall
by no means taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.
And after six days Jesus takes with Him Peter and James and John his brother,
and brings them up into a high mountain apart. And He was transfigured before
them, and His face shone as the sun, and His garments became white as the
light." In these verses we see the coming of Jesus in His kingdom. When
Jesus was shining in the transfiguration, that was the coming of the kingdom.
Where there is the shining of Jesus, there is the kingdom. This shining is the
bearing of God's image. The image is present, and immediately the dominion
appears. When we shine with God's glory, there is no need for us to exercise
dominion purposely. The authority of God is just there.
How can we shine with the glory of God? We need to read 2
Corinthians 3:18. "And we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting
as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image
from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit." I like the word face,
unveiled face. In the transfiguration the face of the Lord Jesus shone as the
bright sun. However, the face mentioned in 2 Corinthians 3:18 is not simply the
outward face, but the inward face. We all have an outer face and an inner face.
The outer face is simply the expression of the inner face. The outer face is
our outward being; the inward face is our inward being. The face is the index
of our whole being, the expression of our whole being. None of us here has a
veil upon his outward face, but I am afraid that many of us still have some
veils over our inner face. We need an unveiled face.
Religious things and holy things as well as sinful things and
worldly things can be a veil to us. If you study the context of 2 Corinthians
3, you will see that the veil mentioned there is specifically the Old Testament
in letters. Even the Bible can be a veil. Even the letters in the Bible can be
a veil to cover us, keeping us from seeing the living Lord. If the letters of
the Bible can be a veil to us, then everything can be a veil—your wife, your
husband, your friends, your children, your self, your brothers and sisters,
your good behavior, your bad behavior, your zealous activity, your work for
God—everything. All things, provided they are not the Lord Himself, can be a
veil. It doesn't matter how holy a thing is, how heavenly it is, how spiritual
it is, or how religious it is, as long as it is not the Lord Himself, it can be
a veil. You may still be under this kind of veiling. That is why you sit here,
but you cannot see the Lord.
Second Corinthians 3:18 says that we all with an unveiled face
behold as a mirror. We are a mirror. As a mirror, we behold. What a mirror
beholds, it reflects. We need to have an unveiled face beholding and reflecting
the glory of the Lord, just like Moses when he beheld the glory of God for
forty days and God's glory radiated from the skin of his face. When he came
down from the mountain, he was shining, glowing with God's glory. We all need
to be like that. We all need to forget everything bad, good, holy, unholy,
religious, unreligious, spiritual, unspiritual. Regardless of what a thing may
be, if it is not the Lord Himself, we must put it aside. We need to recognize
the subtlety of the enemy. Satan can utilize anything to turn you away from
beholding the Lord. The only thing that Satan cannot utilize is the Lord
Himself.
In the New Testament there are at least four books written
specifically about the things that frustrate people from beholding the Lord,
things that veil people from contacting and enjoying the Lord. The book of
Galatians deals with the law, religion, and tradition. All of these are a veil
of separation. The law was given by God and was holy. Even the New Testament
says that the law is holy (Rom. 7:12). Yet, even something holy such as the law
can sever you from Christ, cutting you off from the enjoyment of Christ (Gal.
5:4 ASV). It is possible to be severed from Christ, not just by immoral books,
but by the God-given law. How? Because your face can be turned to the law
instead of Christ. Thus, the law immediately becomes a veil. The law always
forms a religion, and religion has long traditions. So we have the law,
religion, and traditions, all forming layers of insulation, insulating you from
the heavenly electricity which is the Lord Himself.
Colossians is another book. In Colossians the word philosophy is
used. The word philosophy in Colossians really means Gnosticism. Gnosticism was
a higher philosophy, a composition of Greek, Egyptian, and Babylonian
philosophy, plus the philosophy of Christianity, which included the Jewish
philosophy. That was quite a mixture. That philosophy, the highest product of
human culture, came into the early church, causing considerable frustration.
Although philosophy may be good and the best product of human culture, since it
is not the Lord it becomes a veil. It must be dealt with.
We come to another book, the book of Hebrews. If you read the book
of Hebrews, you will see that it itemizes all the good things of Judaism.
Hebrews shows us that all the good things in Judaism should just be considered
as types, figures, and shadows of Christ.
Suppose, before you come to visit me, you send me a picture of
yourself. Since I love you, I will treasure your picture. This is right. I
simply love your picture. Now you come to visit me in person. Instead of
looking at you, I continue to look at your picture, loving the picture. Even your
picture becomes a veil to my eyes. You would say, "Stupid man, throw away
the picture. Look at me."
Before Jesus came, God used the Old Testament to present to His
people many pictures of Christ from different angles. But the Jewish people
just held on to the pictures, not only pictures in four directions, but maybe
in thirty-two directions. That enclosed them, keeping them from seeing Christ.
Christ is outside of that enclosure. The Jewish people saw so many things about
Christ, but they couldn't see Christ Himself. Thus, the book of Hebrews was
written to tell all the Jewish believers that they must drop the pictures, the
whole system of Judaism, and look at Christ. Consider the Apostle and High
Priest, Jesus Christ (Heb. 3:1). Forget Moses, forget the angels, and forget
Joshua. Just consider our Apostle, Jesus Christ. Consider our High Priest,
Jesus Christ. Look at Him. Not only look at Him, but look away unto Him (Heb.
12:2). Look away from all the Jewish things. Look away from the Bible unto
Jesus Himself.
We have still another book, 1 Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians Paul
warned us that even the spiritual gifts—speaking in tongues, interpretation of
tongues, healings, miracles—can all be veils to the Christian. Do you see the
subtlety of the enemy?
The law, philosophy, Judaism with its scriptural items and
teachings, spiritual gifts—all these things are good, but have become veils
over the faces of many real Christians. We all need to tell the Lord Jesus,
"Lord Jesus, I love You. I love the Bible because it reveals You, but I
will never let the Bible become a veil. I love You, Lord Jesus. I love You
personally, I love You directly, I love You most intimately. I love You by
kissing You. I don't like to see You far away. I like to see You face to face.
Lord, I would even kiss You." Many of you, I believe, have entered into
this experience already, but we all need to be preserved in this experience. We
need to tell the Lord, "Lord Jesus, I love the gifts because the gifts
help me to touch You, but if the gifts become a veil, I will throw them away. I
just love You Lord. I love You personally, directly, intimately. I love You in
the way that I can kiss You at any time. There is no distance between You and
me, no distance, no separation, and no isolation. I am directly, intimately in
Your presence." If you are like this, you will be on the mount of
transfiguration. You will be transfigured and you will shine.
Many of us can testify about our folks. When they came out of
their room after spending time in the presence of the Lord, their faces were
shining, causing us to realize that they had been with the Lord. That shining
subdues every rebellious creature. It subdues the husband, the wife, the
children, and every kind of environment. This is the kingdom. This is dominion.
Dominion comes from the shining. Jesus appeared in His kingdom when He was
transfigured. He was shining as the sun. He had the image and He had dominion.
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