We’re Created in God’s Image and Called by His Glory to Express God in His Glory

As believers in Christ, we believe into a God of glory, we are called by His glory and into His glory, and we need to have His daily appearing as the God of glory! Amen!

This week we come to the topic of Glory and Glorification as Revealed in the Gospel of John.

We need to turn our heart to the Lord, have all our veils rolled away, and behold the Lord face to face so that we may be transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even from the Lord Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18).

We don’t need to wait for a feeling or inspiration; we simply need to turn our heart to the Lord. Day by day we need to set our heart on Him.

When we wake up in the morning, our heart is away from the Lord; we need to apply His precious blood to last night and to everything of the past, taking Christ as the reality of all the offerings, and simply turn our heart to the Lord.

When we turn our heart to the Lord in the morning, when we begin the day with turning our heart to the Lord, we will behold Him and reflect Him like a mirror.

We will behold and reflect like a mirror the glory of the Lord, and we will be transformed into the same image to be the same as He is. Hallelujah!

On our side, we need to daily turn our heart to the Lord; we need to turn our heart to Him not only in the morning but also throughout the day so that He may infuse us with what He is and we may be inwardly transformed into His glorious image.

As we do this, He is making His home in us. Christ is making His home in our heart (Eph. 3:16-17).

He is working Himself into us, in every part of our being, to make His home in every part of our inner being.

As we turn our heart to the Lord, we realize that there’s a living person in us.

Christ as the Spirit is joined to our spirit, and we are one spirit with Him.

On one hand, He is on the throne in the heavens; on the other hand, He is right within us, in our spirit.

When we turn our heart to the Lord, the Lord as the indwelling One is making His home in our heart a little more.

We behold Him face to face, and He advances in our inner being. The Lord is making His home in our mind, emotion, will, and conscience.

He cares for each one of us, He makes His home in us, and He makes God real to us.

As we deal with Him concerning all things, especially the things around us, we open to Him, we allow Him to fill us, and He becomes more real to us; at the same time, He is transforming us into His image! Hallelujah!

We were Created in God’s Image to Express Him in His Glory – our God is a God of Glory!

What is glory? Glory is an attribute of God, for glory is God expressed in splendour, and glory is the expression of God (see Exo. 40:34; Acts 7:55; 2 Pet. 1:3; Rev. 21:11).

Glory is not what people give to others when they exalt someone and praise them; glory is God expressed.

Self-expression is not glory; we may receive a certain amount of appreciation from others, but eventually, this will fade away, for only God being expressed is real glory.

Our God is a God of glory; He is a Triune God, and He is a God of glory (Acts 7:2; Eph. 1:17; 3:14, 16; 1 Cor. 2:8; 2 Cor. 4:6; 1 Pet. 4:14).

When we behold Him, we see His glory, and we also express Him, for our beholding will result in reflecting Him.

We human beings were created in God’s image to express Him in His glory and for His glory (Gen. 1:26).

Man was created by God in His image in order that man may express Him in His glory (Gen. 1:26; Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4, 6).

God gave us His image and His likeness so that we may express Him and represent Him.

However, man has sinned and rebelled against God, contradicting the holiness and righteousness of God.

Furthermore, instead of expressing God, man expresses sin and his sinful self.

We think that we just express ourselves, for we live in a particular way to express how we feel, how we think, and how we are, but actually, we express Satan, for Satan is embodied in the self and in the flesh.

All men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23).

To sin is not just to commit evil acts or do bad things; to sin is to fall short of the glory of God.

To sin is to fall short of God’s glory and thus to express sin and the sinful self and to love the glory of men more than the glory of God (Rom. 3:23; John 5:44; 7:18a; 12:43).

To sin is to express ourselves, our sinful self, instead of expressing God.

All sinful men fall short of God’s glory, for our expression is sin.

Sinners are not only under the requirements of God’s holiness and righteousness but also under the demands of God’s glory.

Because sinful man does not express God but rather, offends God’s glory, breaks God’s righteous law, and is short of God’s glory, all sinful men are under God’s condemnation. Oh, Lord Jesus!

But praise the Lord Jesus, He came as the perfect Lamb of God and He fulfilled all the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory to redeem us and even to become the place in which we meet with God.

Rom. 3:24-25 further says that, though man is sinful and falls short of the glory of God, we can be justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

This Christ God set forth as a propitiation place through faith in His blood, for the demonstrating of His righteousness.

In the Old Testament we see the propitiation place in Exo. 25:17, the place where God met with man.

This was the sin-covering lid on the ark, which was under the watching of the golden cherubim and covered by the blood sprinkled by the high priest once a year.

Under the golden lid of the ark there’s the righteous law of God which condemns man, but this law is covered by the blood which redeems man.

The cherubim are also there as God’s glory to condemn man and watch him, but the blood covers and qualifies man.

God’s holiness, righteousness, and glory are satisfied by Christ, who Himself became the very place in which we can meet with God.

We broke God’s righteous law, we offended God’s glory, and we rebelled against Him and are not holy as He is; however, Christ came as the Lamb of God to take away the sin that causes man to have a problem with God (John 1:29).

Christ’s redemption has fulfilled the requirements of God’s glory (Rom. 3:24-25; Heb. 9:5; cf. Gen. 3:24).

Furthermore, Christ became the very place where we can meet with God to fellowship with Him.

We are qualified by Christ to meet with God in Christ, and in Christ we are being justified and even glorified to be fully one with God in our fellowship with God. Hallelujah!

Now we who were created in God’s image to express Him in His glory are qualified to fellowship with God, be filled with God, and to express God in His glory. Hallelujah!

Hallelujah, our Triune God is a God of glory! Praise the Lord; we human beings were created by God in His image and according to His likeness so that we can express God and represent Him. Thank You, Lord, for giving us Your image and likeness. Thank You for not leaving us in our fallen and sinful state but coming to be a man in the flesh like us to be the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. Hallelujah, Jesus Christ came to fulfill all the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory, and now we can be justified freely in Him! Praise the Lord, Christ became the propitiation place in which we can meet with God, and in Christ, we’re justified and accepted by God! Amen, Lord, we come to You based on the precious blood of Christ. We take You as our redemption, we stand in You and we are one with You. Work Yourself more into us today. Dispense more of Your glorious element into us so that we may no longer express ourselves but express God with His glory!

God Called us By and Into His Glory, and His Appearing Attracts us and Strengthens us

In Acts 7:2 we are told that the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham.

Our God is a God of glory; both in the Old and the New Testament He appears to man and draws man with His glory.

The glory of the God who appeared to Abraham in the Old Testament might have been visible glory (Acts 7:55), similar to the situation with the people of Israel who had God’s glory with them as the cloud and the fire in the wilderness (Exo. 16:10; 24:16-17) and filled the tabernacle and the temple (40:35; 1 Kings 8:11).

The God of such glory appeared to Abraham and called him. When Abraham saw God’s glory and the God of glory appeared to him, he was attracted by God and followed His leading.

The appearing of the God of glory was a great attraction to Abraham, and it separated him, sanctified him, from the world unto God (Exo. 29:43), being a great encouragement and strength to enable him to follow God and fulfil His purpose (Gen. 12:1, 4).

In the same principle today, we as believers in Christ have seen not the visible glory of God but His invisible glory in our spirit, for our Triune God is a God of glory.

God called us, the New Testament believers, by His invisible glory (2 Pet. 1:3).

Through the gospel of the glory of Christ, God has called us by His eternal glory and into His eternal glory (2 Cor. 4:4; 1 Tim. 1:11; 1 Thes. 2:12; 1 Pet. 5:10).

The gospel we heard did not just pierce our heart and impressed us with God’s love and Christ’s sacrifice for us but even more, it illuminated the glory of God into our heart.

In Acts 7:55, as Stephen was being stoned to death, he looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God. Wow!

The God of glory appears to us not only initially at the time of our regeneration but day by day He appears to us, and He particularly appears to us as we suffer for the Lord.

We have been called by God by and to God’s own glory. Furthermore, God has called us into His eternal glory (1 Pet. 5:10).

God’s salvation, which we have received by faith, is with eternal glory (2 Tim. 2:10).

The ultimate goal of God’s salvation is eternal glory (Rom. 8:21).

In His salvation, Christ has taken the lead to enter into glory, He has cut the way into glory, and now He is leading the many sons of God into glory (Heb. 2:10). Praise the Lord!

Day by day we believers in Christ need to come to the Lord and have His fresh appearing as the God of glory.

We love Him, we come to Him in His word, and we seek to have His fresh appearing so that He may infuse us with Himself and strengthen us to follow Him.

The only way we can follow the Lord and be one with Him to fulfil His purpose is by having His fresh appearing day by day.

God calls us, the New Testament believers, by His invisible glory, and He calls us into His eternal glory.

As we read the Bible and have the Lord’s shining, we see the Christ who came full of grace and reality; we behold His glory, for He came to express God and declare Him (John 1:18).

Praise the Lord, we have been ordained for God’s glory and we are called into this glory (1 Cor. 2:7; 1 Thes. 2:12).

And today we are in the process of being transformed from one degree of glory to another.

May we learn to open to the Lord in our daily living to partake of His riches in spirit so that He may go on in each one of us in the process of glorification until He gains a full expression in humanity, the church as the Body of Christ and the one new man bearing His glory!

Thank You, dear Lord, for appearing to us as the God of glory in our spirit! Hallelujah, we believers in Christ have been called by God by His invisible glory! We love You, Lord, and we give ourselves to You. Thank You for calling us in and by Your eternal glory! You called us to express You in Your glory, and You are working in us to make us glorious, even the same as You are, to be Your corporate expression! Wow, Lord, Your salvation is with eternal glory, and the ultimate goal of God’s salvation is the eternal glory! Praise the Lord, Christ is leading us into His glory to make us glorious, even the same as He is! Amen, Lord, we open to You today. Appear to us. Appear to us in Your word and appear to us throughout the day. Your appearing as the God of glory attracts us, strengthens us and encourages us to go on with You! Praise the Lord, we have been ordained for God’s glory and we were called into God’s glory! Amen, Lord, be glorified in us, Your saints!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ron Kangas in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 11, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2024 July Semiannual Training), week 10, Glory and Glorification as Revealed in the Gospel of John.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Made according to God’s image, a portion from, Concerning the Lord’s Recovery, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
  – The Joy of the Triune God is becoming our Joy! More via, 21st Century Nazarites.
  – Glory – a portion from, Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 001-020), Chapter 11, by Witness Lee.
  – 3 Steps to Receive Spiritual Vision from God’s Word, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The creation of man in God’s image and according to God’s likeness, a portion from, The Organic Union in God’s Relationship with Man, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
  – The Glory of God Becoming Our Experience, via, Living to Him.
  – The glory of God and the glorification of the believers, article in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Created in God’s Image for New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Glorification being a matter of life, a portion from, Christ in His Excellency, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – What we are, we’re His image; / We’re created in His image, / To express the Christ, subdue the earth, / The purpose of our second birth, / We’re His image, glorious! / What we are, we’re the called ones, / We’ve been called into the purpose. / No longer low in Adam’s fall, / God’s glory is our holy call. / We’re the called ones, glorious! (Hymns #1279 stanzas 1-2)
  – Naught have I gotten but what I received; / Grace hath bestowed it since I have believed; / Boasting excluded, pride I abase; / I’m only a sinner saved by grace! / Only a sinner saved by grace! / Only a sinner saved by grace! / This is my story, to God be the glory, / I’m only a sinner saved by grace! (Hymns #311 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – O God of glory, shine; draw and we’ll follow You. / Our strength and motive be, it’s nothing we could do. / Your light attracts us, Lord, ’til all else fades from view— / O Lord, do shine on us, we pray. / O Lord, do shine on us today; / Till all our background fades away, / Till You alone we see, / Shining so gloriously— / O Lord, do shine on us today. (Hymns #1190 stanza 2 and chorus)