We’re being Transformed and Glorified to be New Jerusalem to Shine forth God’s Glory

The glory of God is intrinsically related to the economy of God, for in His economy God became man to make man God in life and nature but not in the Godhead for man to be glorified and express God, even to shine forth God’s glory in the universe. Hallelujah!

When we speak of glory we don’t mean concerning anything else except God being expressed in splendor.

Man does not have glory; all man’s glory, his expression, is something that is rejected by God and displeasing to man, for man in his natural being expresses not himself but Satan who is embodied in his flesh. Oh, Lord Jesus!

However, God has many attributes, one of which is glory.

Glory is the expression of God. When man sees God, he sees the glory of God.

When God came to Abraham and called him, it was the God of glory who appeared to him.

Abraham had God’s appearing, and when he saw God, he was simply drawn to God.

The Bible doesn’t say that Abraham was a seeker of God but that God simply appeared to him, and God’s appearing changed everything.

Today we as believers in Christ may not have God’s physical appearing, His glorious shining outwardly, but we have His appearing inwardly, in spirit.

When God appears to us, we have His shining, and we are simply drawn to Him.

We men were created in God’s image and according to His likeness, and when we see God by hearing the gospel, we are simply drawn to Him, for He is the most wonderful One!

Even though we fell into sin and are sinful by birth, Christ came to be a man and died for us, bearing all our sins in His body on the tree.

By faith into Him, we are justified before God and regenerated with His life so that we may partake of His riches and be inwardly changed to be the same as He is. Amen!

Thank the Lord for Christ’s redemption which fulfilled all the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory.

We could never fulfil these requirements; rather, we were sinful, dead in sins and offenses, and we fell short of the glory of God.

No matter how much man tries to improve himself and do things for God, he can never satisfy the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory unless he believes into Christ.

Through the gospel of the glory of Christ, we believers in Christ have been called by God into His eternal glory. Praise the Lord!

Now our whole Christian life is a process of being glorified until we will shine forth God for eternity as the New Jerusalem!

Christ is in us as the Hope of Glory and we’re being Transformed and Glorified to be God’s Glorious Expression

Even though so many times our Christian life seems to be full of sufferings, trials, and dealings, the Bible tells us that we are in the process of being glorified.

We have heard the gospel of the glory of Christ, and God has called us by His eternal glory and into it.

All the genuine believers in Christ have the all-inclusive Christ dwelling in them as the hope of glory (Col. 1:27; 3:4, 11).

The Christ of glory whom we saw at the time of our regeneration has been infused into us and now lives in us.

Christ is our hope of glory because He dwells in our spirit to be our life and our person. Hallelujah!

He is our hope of glory today and, as we grow in life and are being transformed, we will become like Him to be part of God’s glorious expression.

When Christ our life is manifested, we will also be manifested with Him in glory, for we will see Him as He is and we will be just like Him (Col. 3:4). Hallelujah!

When the Lord Jesus returns, we will be glorified in Him, and He will be glorified in us.

Today we are in the process of being transformed by being saturated with the divine glory until, at the Lord’s coming, we will be glorified to express Him in His glorious image.

We are in the process of Christ saturating our whole being, from within to without, with Himself, so that He may glorify us; eventually, even our body will be transfigured and become like His glorious body! Amen!

At that time, Christ will be glorified in us; this is Christ in us, the hope of glory.

Glory is not a thing; glory is a living person, the indwelling Christ. Christ lives and dwells in us as glory, and He as the all-inclusive embodiment of the processed Triune God is the hope of glory in us, the seed of glory.

He grows in us, develops in us, and will one day blossom in us when we will be glorified. Praise the Lord!

As we behold the Lord today face to face, we are being transformed into God’s glory (2 Cor. 3:18) and we will be brought into this glory (Heb. 2:10). Amen!

There are many things happening outwardly and not all things are that pleasant for us, but we can inwardly behold the Lord and reflect Him so that we may be transformed into His glorious image! Amen!

As we spend time with the Lord day by day in His word, as we come to Him throughout the day to just contact Him by calling on His name, there’s a metabolic process taking place in us.

We are being transformed into the image of Christ by the inward process of the addition of God’s element and the discharge of our own element.

Humanly speaking we go through many things, both positive and not-so-positive; all human beings go through sufferings, trials, and tests.

But we can contact the Lord and turn our heart to Him so that we behold Him face to face, and we can be transformed into the glorious image of Christ day by day, even as from the Lord Spirit!

Amen, in this way we shine forth God’s glory! We were created in God’s image to express Him in His glory, and we are now being transformed in His glorious image to look like Him and express Him! Hallelujah!

The goal of God’s organic salvation and the last stage of this salvation is glory – our glorification (see Heb. 2:10; Rom. 8:17, 21, 30).

On one hand, there’s an inward process of being glorified; on the other hand, Christ will return to glorify us and make us the same as He is.

We are today undergoing a process of being saved in His life until we are fully glorified to be part of His glorious expression on the earth, shining with God’s glory.

The building of God is the Triune God wrought into us so that we may become His glorious corporate expression (Eph. 2:21-22; 3:17a, 19b, 21; 4:16; 5:27; cf. Exo. 40:34; 1 Kings 8:10-11; Ezek. 43:4-5; Hag. 2:7, 9). Amen!

God’s corporate expression today is the church as the Body of Christ, and all the local churches have God’s glory, expressing Him.

As we live the church life today, we enjoy the Lord’s expression among us, for the saints are growing in life and Christ as glory is manifested through them, little by little.

Whenever the church is built up together and the saints dwell together in oneness, the glory of God is among the saints.

God is expressed among His saints when they are built up together; the building is the Triune God wrought into us so that we may become His corporate expression, His glorious expression!

The last step of God’s great salvation is to bring many sons into glory; we see this in Romans 8.

God’s work of grace upon us with His foreknowing, passed through His predestination, calling, and justification, and will end with His glorification (vv. 29-30).

The whole creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God, that is, the glorification of the sons of God!

When they are glorified, the creation itself will enter into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (vv. 19-21).

This will take place at the Lord’s coming back (Phil. 3:21), and this is our hope today. Praise the Lord!

Thank You, dear Lord Jesus, for being the all-inclusive Christ dwelling in us as our hope of glory! Hallelujah, Christ is in us to be the hope of glory, and He is growing in us until He will glorify us! Amen, Lord, thank You for dwelling in our spirit to be our life and our person. You are our life, and one day You will be manifested, and we will be manifested with You in glory! Praise the Lord! Amen, Lord, this is our hope, that You will appear to be glorified in our redeemed and transfigured body! Oh, when Christ comes, we will be glorified with Him, and He will be glorified in us! Amen, Lord, keep us in the process of being glorified. Transform us into Your image. May the quantity of glory increase in us day by day as we behold You and reflect You with an unveiled face! Amen, Lord, keep us beholding You today. Unveil us and shine on us so that we may reflect You! Praise the Lord, the building of God is the Triune God wrought into us so that we may become His glorious corporate expression!

In the Kingdom Age, the Glory of God will be Manifested and, as the New Jerusalem, we will Shine forth God’s Glory for Eternity

In this age we live in a mystery; we cannot see outwardly what is going on in the depths of our being.

However, the Lord shined on us as the glory of God, and we have been captured by Him; now we have Christ in us as the hope of glory, and He wants to make us the New Jerusalem to shine forth God’s glory!

As we behold the Lord day by day, we are inwardly transformed so that we may match Him in His image. All this is an inward process.

God created us to be His vessels to contain Him and express Him.

He makes known the riches of His glory upon us, His vessels, which He has prepared unto glory (Rom. 9:23). Hallelujah!

We were predestinated by God’s sovereignty to be His containers, His vessels of honour, to express what God is in glory! Praise the Lord!

Since the kingdom of God and the glory of God are inseparable, the glory of God will be manifested in the coming kingdom.

In the coming kingdom, the glory of God will be manifested through His overcoming saints, and the righteous will shine Him forth in the kingdom (Matt. 6:13; 16:27; 26:29; 1 Thes. 2:12; Rev. 5:13).

Most believers, however, will not be in God’s shining kingdom but rather, they will have to be further perfected to be qualified to be the New Jerusalem for eternity.

Today we need to cooperate with the Lord by remaining in the process of being sanctified, renewed and transformed so that we may be conformed to the glorious image of Christ.

We need to learn to open to the Lord in all things and concerning all things, allowing Him to make His home in our heart, so that He may work Himself into us and increase the quantity of glory in our being. Amen!

If we cooperate with the Lord’s transforming work today, we will become like Him; first, we will be like Him inwardly, and at the Lord’s return, we will be like Him even outwardly, for we will see Him even as He is. Hallelujah!

For eternity, we will be the New Jerusalem, the holy city which has the glory of God, His expression (Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2, 10-11).

The glory of God is being wrought into us to such an extent that we will simply shine God forth to the entire universe. Praise the Lord!

An outstanding feature of the New Jerusalem is that it has the glory of God, His expression.

If we read Rev. 19-21 we will see that the entire city of New Jerusalem is a corporate person bearing the glory of God, which is God Himself shining out through the city, His wife.

Our destiny as believers in Christ is a glorious one; though the process may be filled with ups and downs, our destiny is to express God in His glory and be part of His corporate glorious expression. Hallelujah!

The glory of God saturates us and permeates us until eventually is expressed through us.

The glory of God in the economy of God involves the high peak of the divine revelation, which is that God became man to make man God in life, nature, and expression but not in the Godhead (John 1:14; Col. 3:4; Heb. 2:10; Rev. 21:10-11).

This crystallizes many portions in the New Testament that speak concerning God’s intention not just to rescue man or save man but even more, to make man the same as God in every possible way so that man would corporately shine forth God’s glory! Hallelujah!

God became man in His economy with the purpose that we human beings may become the same as He is to bear His image and express Him with His glory.

The goal of God’s economy is that we all shine forth God’s glory (vv. 2, 23-24); He will obtain this goal, for John already saw the New Jerusalem!

We need to see it, believe it, and pray that the Lord would bring us all the way! We can boldly pray to the Lord in our personal time with Him,

Lord Jesus, keep us beholding You and reflecting You with an unveiled face so that You may transform us into Your glorious image from one degree of glory to another degree of glory! Amen, Lord, we want to give You our best cooperation in this age so that You may gain in us what You are after. Transform us more today. Renew our mind. Sanctify us in our nature and disposition. Conform us to Your image. Have a way to discharge our old element and add Your new element to our being. Oh Lord Jesus, we want to become the same as You are! Amen, Lord, we don’t know what we will be but we know that, when You return, we will be like You, for we will see You even as You are! Hallelujah, our destiny is to be the New Jerusalem, the holy city bearing the glory of God! Praise the Lord, for eternity we will shine forth God’s glory to the whole universe! Amen, Lord, keep us in the process of being transformed into your image today so that we may corporately shine You forth for eternity as New Jerusalem!

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. 180, 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:
  – The New Jerusalem, a portion from, Concerning the Lord’s Recovery, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee.
  – Heaven or the New Jerusalem—Is there a Difference? More via, Holding to truth in love.
  – Aspects of the New Jerusalem – Glorification, article in Affirmation and Critique.
  – We Are Being Led into the Glory of New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Life-study of Ephesians, Message 38: God Glorified in the Church and in Christ, video message via, LSM YouTube channel.
  – What miracle! What mystery! A new song via, Hymnal.net.
  – The New Jerusalem – a portion from, Lesson Book, Level 2: The Triune God—The Triune God and the Person and Work of Christ, Chapter 12, by Witness Lee.
  – The holy city, New Jerusalem, article in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – What is Transformation? More via, The Hearing of Faith.
  – Glorification, a portion from, The Spirit and the Body, Chapter 7, by Witness Lee.
  – New Jerusalem’s Constitution: God in Us, via, New Jerusalem blog.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Christ is the hope of glory, my very life is He, / He has regenerated and saturated me; / He comes to change my body by His subduing might / Like to His glorious body in glory bright! / He comes, He comes, Christ comes to glorify me! / My body He’ll transfigure, like His own it then will be. / He comes, He comes, redemption to apply! / As Hope of glory He will come, His saints to glorify. (Hymns #949 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – God hath us regenerated / In our spirit with His life; / But He must transform us further— / In our soul by His own life. / Spreading outward from our spirit / Doth the Lord transform our soul, / By the inward parts renewing, / Till within His full control. / By the power of His Spirit / In His pattern He transforms; / From His glory to His glory / To His image He conforms. (Hymns #750 stanzas 2-4)
  – ’Tis the holy city, / New Jerusalem; / With His saints God mingles, / Makes His home with them. / He becomes their content, / His expression they; / They shall share His glory, / One with Him for aye. (Hymns #971 stanza 4)