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The transformation of the tripartite man is God’s move to deify man, to constitute man with the processed and consummated Triune God; in God’s appearing to him, Job saw God in order to gain God to be transformed by God for the purpose of God—Job 38:1-3; 42:1-6; 2 Cor. 3:16-18; Heb. 12:1-2a:
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Seeing God issues in the transformation of our being into God’s image; hence, the more we look at Him as the consummated Spirit in our spirit, the more we receive all His ingredients into our being as the divine element to discharge our old element so that our whole being becomes new; our Christian life is not a matter of changing outwardly but of being transformed from within—2 Cor. 3:18; Psa. 27:4; Gal. 6:15-16.
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We can remain in the daily process of transformation by turning our heart to the Lord so that we can behold and reflect Him with an unveiled face; an unveiled face is a heart that turns to the Lord—2 Cor. 3:16, 18:
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To turn our heart to the Lord is to love the Lord; the more we love the Lord, the more our heart will be open to the Lord, and He will have a way to spread out from our spirit into all the parts of our heart.
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To turn our heart to the Lord, to open our heart to the Lord, is the key to our growing in life; we can open our heart to the Lord simply by telling the Lord, “O Lord, I love You; I want to please You.”
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As we behold the Lord day after day in all our situations (Psa. 27:4), we will reflect the Lord’s glory and be transformed into His image from glory to glory.
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Many Christians are not joyful because the Spirit within them is not joyful (Eph. 4:30; cf. Psa. 16:11; 43:4; Acts 3:19-20; Exo. 33:11, 14-17; Heb. 1:9; Jer. 15:16; John 15:9-11; 1 John 1:3-4; 2 John 12; Phil. 4:4); if we do not turn our heart to the Lord to let the Spirit of the Lord spread out of our spirit into our heart, we will feel restrained and depressed.
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Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor. 3:17); if someone says that a meeting is boring, we must realize that it is he himself who is bored within; but when we turn our heart to the Lord, we enjoy the Spirit as our freedom.
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Once the liberating Spirit has the way to spread into all the parts of our heart, we are released, transcendent, and free; this freedom is glory, which is the presence of God and the expression of God; we feel noble, honorable, and glorious because we are being transformed into His image—v. 18; Gen. 1:26.
Morning Nourishment
2 Cor. 3:16-18 …Whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.How do we open our heart to the Lord? Whenever we have to make a determination or decision, we should first say to the Lord, “O Lord, I love You. I am willing to please You.” This kind of prayer opens our will to the Lord, and once our will is opened, the Lord will enter into it. In addition, whenever we love or desire something, we should stop for a moment and say to the Lord, “O Lord, I love You. I want to please You.” This opens our emotion to the Lord. When we do this, the Lord will surely enter into our emotion. Similarly, whenever we begin to think about something, we should stop our thinking for a moment and say to the Lord, “O Lord, I love You. I want to please You.” This kind of statement opens our mind to the Lord, and through this opening, the Lord will be able to enter into our mind. Whenever we open to the Lord in our mind, the Lord’s Spirit will gain the opportunity to enter into the different parts of our soul. (CWWL, 1955, vol. 3, “The Way for a Christian to Mature in Life,” pp. 307-308)
Today’s Reading
Whenever our heart opens to the Lord, this Spirit spreads out from within us into our mind, emotion, and will….One obvious proof [of this] is the freedom mentioned in 2 Corinthians 3:17….Once you have the Spirit of the Lord in your mind, your mind will have freedom. Once you have the Spirit of the Lord in your emotion, your emotion will also have freedom. And once you have the Spirit of the Lord in your will, it will surely be freed.If someone says that a meeting is boring, we must realize that it is he himself who is bored within. Because his spirit, his inner being, is bored, he feels that everything is boring…. If you do not let the Spirit of the Lord spread out of you, you will be restrained and depressed….Your mind, emotion, and will are not released and thus have no joy…. If you do not let the Spirit pass through you, surely you will not have freedom.
Second Corinthians 3:18… includes the phrase reflecting like a mirror. If we have our face covered with a veil, there will be a barrier between the light and us. It is not until we have the veil taken away that our face and the light can be face to face. Then we can see the light. This is like the reflecting of a mirror. Because the Spirit is in us, we have freedom, our face is unveiled to the Lord, and we are face to face with Him. His glory shines upon our face, and we reflect His glory like a mirror. We cannot pretend to do this.
If day by day we love the Lord and give Him the opportunities, day by day the Lord will spread out from within us. Then we will grow and be transformed day by day. Ultimately, we will be transformed into the image of the Lord….This image is the Lord Himself. People will realize that we have a certain condition. This condition is the image of the Lord. We can also call this a condition of having glory, freedom, release, the presence of the Lord, and the Lord’s Spirit. These five things are actually one. The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. When we have freedom, our face is unveiled to see the glory of the Lord. Then, from glory to glory, we are transformed into the image of the Lord.
When the Lord lives out from within us, we grow and become mature. Therefore, we need to open our heart to the Lord and let Him spread out from our spirit into our mind, emotion, and will….When our mind is like His mind, our desires are like His desires, and our decisions are like His decisions, we will have His image. (CWWL, 1955, vol. 3, “The Way for a Christian to Mature in Life,” pp. 308-310, 313-315)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1955, vol. 3, “The Way for a Christian to Mature in Life,” chs. 17-19