TRANSFORMATION AND THE ILLUMINATION OF THE SCRIPTURES
For more great blogs as this one go to Daniel’s blog site at: www.Mannsword.blogspot.com
How does the Lord reveal Himself to us? It has to be supernaturally, since He is not physically here to talk to us. Jesus claimed that He would reveal Himself to His disciples, but how? That had been Judas’ question:
∑ Judas (not Iscariot) saith unto him, Lord, what is come to pass that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, “If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my words...” (John 14:22-24 ASV)
Jesus would reveal Himself through His Words. Jesus would not manifest Himself to those who would not keep His Words, which were ultimately the Father’s Words, the Bible.
I don’t mean to imply that He won’t or cannot reveal Himself in other ways, but it seems that, before all else, it is through the Scriptures, which He has authored, that He primarily reveals Himself through His Spirit. The Scriptures serve as the mighty sword of the Spirit:
∑ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:17)
This being so, we do not want to be far from His Word. This is why we are to meditate on His Word day and night (Psalm 1) and are renewed this this process (Romans 12:2). In contrast, Scripture never instructs us to seek an experience with God.
The Jews did not profit from the reading of the Scriptures. Their heart and mind were hardened against them. However, once their hearts had been regenerated by the Spirit, the Word exercised a profound effect:
∑ But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:14-18)
How are we to behold the glory of God? In the next several verses, Paul revealed that it was through the Word of the Gospel:
∑ ...We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word...And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God...For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:2-4, 6)
This transforming illumination is by the Spirit through the Word of the Gospel. For those on the outside, this sounds strange. Instead, they insist that the understanding of the Scriptures is incapable of transforming us. However, there are thousands examples of how the Spirit’s illumination of the Scriptures has set us free. I had experienced decades of self-condemnation, and it felt like God was also condemning me. Since I hated myself, I also felt that others didn’t like me. Consequently, I was always trying to be someone else so that I could be liked by others.
Years of psychotherapy and positive affirmations proved unable to uproot these feelings. Instead, the Spirit, through the Word, conclusively taught me: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1), and I was freed.
Admittedly, the Spirit intervenes in other ways. However, it is through the Scriptures that we are told to seek and honor God. In contrast, we are never instructed to imagine or to seek to experience God.
New York School of the Bible: http://www.cbcnyc.org/nysb
No comments:
Post a Comment