Enter into the Rich & Full Enjoyment of Christ as the Image of God and the Treasure

As believers in Christ, we can experience, enjoy, and express Christ as the image of God and as the treasure, as seen in 2 Cor. 4:4-7; Christ is the image of God, and He shines in our heart to illuminate God into us and bring God into us as a treasure. Praise the Lord!

This week we come to the topic, Christ as the Image of God and the Treasure, based on 2 Cor. 4:4-7. How wonderful it is that we believers in Christ who love Him and desire to know Him can experience, enjoy, and express Him in so many ways!

The New Testament is full of ways for us to experience, enjoy and express Christ.

We have seen many aspects of Christ in the Gospels, in the book of Romans, and in 1 Corinthians; now we come to the book of 2 Corinthians, where the first important aspect of Christ is Christ as the image of God and the treasure.

On the one hand, we understand what it means for Christ to be God’s image and for Christ to be the treasure in our earthen vessel, and we may gladly agree with this.

On the other hand, we need to have a sense of sweetness when we prayerfully consider this matter so that we may enter into the experience, enjoyment, and expression of Christ as the image of God and the treasure.

In so many ways, even we as believers in Christ have our hearts veiled by the god of this age so that we don’t see in a fresh way the glory of God shining on the face of Jesus Christ.

We may love the Lord, we may love His word, and we may be faithful and diligent to come to the Lord daily to enjoy Him. However, do we have a fresh shining from the Lord into our hearts, and even more, do we express Him in His image, allowing Him as the treasure to be seen through us?

Day by day we need to come to the Lord and seek to be unveiled so that we may see Him face to face, even to have Him as the image of God infused into us, shined into us, so that we may express Him.

The god of this age has blinded the thoughts of the unbelievers that the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ – who is the image of God – might not shine on them.

The apostles preached not themselves but Christ Jesus as Lord and themselves as the slaves of the saints for Jesus’ sake. Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us. What a rich portion we see in 2 Cor. 4:4-7!

We may Experience and Enjoy Christ as the Image of God and the Treasure Today

2 Cor. 4:4-7 shows us that we believers in Christ may experience and enjoy Christ as the image of God and the treasure. Christ is the image of God, and the face of Jesus Christ has the glory of God shining on it, and this face in our spirit is the treasure in our earthen vessel. Praise the Lord!

We need to read and pray over this portion in 2 Corinthians so that the Lord may shine on us and infuse us with Himself.

The image of God refers to Christ as our outward expression, whereas the treasure refers to Christ as our inward content. When Christ came into us, He came as the treasure within, and He wants to be expressed as the image of God without.

On the one hand, we have a treasure in our earthen vessel; this treasure is hidden, even concealed, for we have a vessel, and in the vessel there’s the treasure. On the other hand, this treasure within our earthen vessel wants to be expressed, for Christ as the image of God wants to be expressed in us and through us.

We should bear Christ as the image of Christ without and we should have Christ as the treasure within. All believers in Christ have Christ as the treasure within, but so many times they do not express Christ as the image of God without.

May we enter into the rich and full enjoyment of Christ in our daily life so that we may be filled with Him as our treasure within and shine Him out as the image of God without!

May we ask the Lord to lead us into a richer and fuller enjoyment of Himself, aspect by aspect, until we are filled with Him as the treasure within and express Him without as the image of God.

May we have many transactions with the Lord, from the morning to the evening and even during the night, asking Him to empty us of ourselves and fill us with Himself so that He may express Himself through us.

He is in us as the Spirit of reality, ready to guide us into all the reality of what He is. We simply need to open to Him and let Him guide us in the reality of the all-inclusive Christ as the image of God and the treasure within us.

According to Heb. 1:3, Christ is the effulgence of God’s glory; He is the expression of the image of God. This word, effulgence, is quite rarely used in the common English language; we almost never utter this word, for we may not be clear what it means and how to apply it.

Heb. 1:3 says that Christ is the effulgence of God’s glory and the impress of His substance, and He upholds and bears all things by the word of His power. This one made purification of sins and sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High. Christ is the effulgence of God’s glory.

The effulgence is the shining, the radiating; the sun is bright, and when the sun shines, it reaches us as the brightness, the sun rays, which are the effulgence of the sun. God shines, and He reaches us as the effulgence of God’s glory, which is Christ.

The physical sun is too hot and too bright to come close to or touch, but the effulgence of the sun is pleasant and supplies us to go on in our human life.

God dwells in unapproachable light, and we cannot touch Him or look Him in the face, for He is holy, righteous, and glorious; however, Christ as the effulgence of God’s glory is pleasant, reaching us to supply us with all that God is.

Christ is the image of God – He is the declaration of God, the expression of God. He declares God and expresses God (John 1:18).

Col. 1:15 speaks of Christ as the image of the invisible God; the image here in this verse is not merely a physical form but the expression of God’s being in all His attributes and virtues.

No one has ever seen God; however, the only begotten Son of God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

God is love, but how do we know God as love? It is by looking at Christ, who declared God and expressed Him. In the Gospels, we see the Lord Jesus loving man.

In John 8, when an adulterous woman was caught in the act and condemned by the religionists around her, the Lord’s attitude was to stoop, write something on the ground, and say, Those who have no sin, let them throw the first stone. This is God as love, God forgiving people in His love.

When everyone left and no one was left to condemn the woman, the Lord said, Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more. This is God as love being expressed in Christ.

We need to experience and enjoy Christ as the image of God and the treasure in our vessel.

If we read the Gospels we see many examples of Christ being the expression of God, and if we pray over the New Testament we will be infused with what God is, for He has an image – Christ.

Our mind needs to be renewed to such an extent that we have a clear view of Christ as the image of God (Rom. 12:2) and He is infused into us to become our treasure, the indwelling treasure in our earthen vessel.

Lord Jesus, bring us into a deeper experience and enjoyment of Christ as the image of God and the treasure. May we see that Christ came to express God in His image, and He defined, declared, and explained God for us to know God and enjoy God. Hallelujah, Christ is the image of God, the effulgence of God’s glory! Amen, Lord, we love to be here, under Your shining, enjoying the effulgence of the glory of God, Christ. May we enter into a rich and full enjoyment of Christ as the image of God and also as the treasure within us. Keep us coming to You in Your word, dear Lord Jesus, to not only know You but also to be infused with You. Infuse us with all that You are. Shine on us and shine God into our being. May we be fully open to You from within. Guide us as the Spirit of reality into all the reality of what Christ is as the image of God and the treasure. May we bear Christ as the image of God without and may we have Christ as the treasure within!

The Illumination of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ, who is the Image of God, Shines in us

God is almighty, all-inclusive, self-existent, ever-existent, majestic, and powerful; however, He is also holy, righteous, and glorious, and no human being has ever seen God face to face. However, God has an image – Christ is the image of God.

What is the image of God? The New Testament tells us twice that Christ is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15), and John tells us in his Gospel that Christ, the only begotten Son, has declared God. Although God is invisible, He is expressed by a living person; He is expressed by Christ, the Son of God.

Today we can experience and enjoy Christ as the image of God and the treasure within.

2 Cor. 4:4 speaks of the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Wow!

If we take all these words separately, we understand what they mean; however, if we put them together, it is easy to take for granted what this means.

We need the Lord’s shining on His word so that we may see a vision of what it means that the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, might shine on us and in us.

These terms – God, image, Christ, glory, gospel, and illumination – are all in apposition to one another.

God is the image of God, for the image of God is what God is. The image of God is Christ, for Christ is the One who expressed and declared God. Christ is the glory, for He shines God forth.

The glory is the gospel, for the glory of God shines to us and reaches us through the gospel. And the gospel is the illumination, the shining of God on the face of Jesus Christ infused into our being.

God has an image; He is not merely invisible and intangible, but He has an image which can be seen and touched. The image of God is Christ.

When we see Christ, when we read the gospels and see what Christ is, what He spoke, how He lived, and what He did, we see God expressed, for Christ is the image of God.

And this Christ is the glory of God shining forth; He is the effulgence of the glory of God, the shining forth of God. There was something about Christ, something more than being a moral and nice person – there was a shining from God to man.

The glory which is Christ as God shining forth is the gospel. Christ is the Gospel. In Acts we see that the believers preached Christ Jesus as the Gospel (Acts 5:42; 8:35; 11:20; 17:18).

The gospel is not something separate from Christ; rather, the gospel is Christ Himself shining forth, and the gospel is the wonderful person of Christ. The gospel we preach and the gospel that was preached to us is a living person, Jesus Christ, who is the image of God.

The gospel is God Himself embodied and expressed in Christ. And the gospel came to us not merely as some words that touched us or impressed us; the gospel is the illumination, the enlightenment.

When we heard the gospel, we were illuminated and enlightened. The gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ, which illuminates us and radiates God into our being.

We can all testify that when we heard the gospel, an impression of Christ was shined into us and imprinted on our being. When the gospel came to us, it came to us by the way of illuminating and radiating.

A certain impression of Christ is impressed on us, and we cannot reject it or repudiate it, nor can we erase it; Christ is infused into our being. Wow! Christ as the image of God was infused into us, shined into us, and we simply believed into the Lord.

Our gospel preaching should be such a shining, an illuminating of the Christ we have enjoyed and experienced into others.

Even though others may try to reject Him or argue with Him, they cannot deny that an impression of Christ, the image of God, is infused into them to radiate God into them. Amen! This is truly amazing!

The illumination is the gospel, the gospel is the glory, the glory is Christ, Christ is the image of God, and as such a One, Christ is God. What is infused by illumination into our being is Christ the image of God, the shining forth of God.

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to us as the image of God to illuminate and radiate God into our being. Hallelujah, the gospel is the glory shining forth Christ, who is the image of God, into us! Amen, Lord, we simply believe into You, for You are the most wonderful One. You are the image of God, declaring God and expressing God. When we look at You, we see that God is love, light, holiness, righteousness, and glory in an expressed way. Keep us beholding You today. We want to have the experience and enjoyment of Christ as the image of God and the treasure. Infuse more of Yourself into us. Keep us under the hearing of the faith so that God in Christ may be infused and imprinted into our inner being. Amen, Lord, imprint Your image on us. Conform us to Your image. We want to gain more of the glorious treasure and express Christ as the image of God in our daily living! Oh Lord, be expressed through us today! Shine in us, shine within us, and shine through us!

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 Ricky Acosta in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 317 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2) (2024 December Training), week 17 (msg. 5), Christ as the Image of God and the Treasure.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Christ as the treasure hidden in the earthen vessel, a portion from, Practical Lessons on the Experience of Life, Chapter 15, by Witness Lee.
  – 4 Characteristics of Blessed People You Might Not Expect, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The economy of God and the mark of God’s economy, a portion from, Dealing with Our Inward Parts for the Growth in Life, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
  – Spiritual Transformation (2 Corinthians 3:18), a sharing via, CSOC UT Austin: Christian Students on Campus youtube channel.
  – The main part related to the inner life being the heart, a portion from, Practical Lessons on the Experience of Life, Chapter 9, by Witness Lee.
  – What Does It Mean to Be Saved “Much More” in Romans 5:10? More via, Bibles for America blog.
  – The glory of God and the glorification of the believers, article in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – 2 Corinthians (Program #9) – The Ministers of the New Covenant (2), via, Bible study radio.
  – The Glory of God Becoming Our Experience, via, Living to Him.
  – Man was Created in God’s Image to Express God, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – In 2 Corinthians (2) – the Image of God and the Treasure, pdf outline via, LSM Webcast.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – The image of the Father God, / Lord, we behold in Thee; / The fulness of the Godhead true / In Thee dwells bodily. / Lord, Thou art God’s eternal Word / With life divine in Thee; / In Thee His grace we all receive / With His reality. / Effulgence of God’s glory true, / The Son of God art Thou; / The very substance of Himself / In Thee we all avow. (Hymns #57 stanzas 1-3)
  – O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee! / Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art; / Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness; / Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart. (Hymns #398 chorus)
  – Christ is the mystery of God; / God is invisible, unshown, / His image man hath never seen, / But Christ the Son hath made Him known. / Christ is the very Word of God, / He is God’s explanation true; / God’s full embodiment is He / And God’s own image brings to view. / Image of God invisible, / Effulgence of God’s glory fair; / God’s fulness ever dwells in Him, / God’s testimony He doth bear. (Hymns #818 stanzas 1-3)