Be Unveiled and Open to have the Illumination of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ

According to the gospel of the glory of the blessed God, with which I was entrusted. 1 Tim. 1:11

According to Heb. 1:3, Christ is the image of God and the effulgence of His glory; therefore, the gospel of Christ is the gospel of the glory of Christ that illuminates and shines forth. Amen!

We need to be updated and uplifted in our understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of the gospel; the gospel is not merely to save sinners from eternal perdition and help them have eternal life.

The gospel is of glory, unto glory, and is the shining of Christ!

Christ through His incarnation was the shining of God, showing forth God’s glory in a limited way, for He was constrained by the shell of His flesh, His humanity.

However, some of the disciples saw His glory (John 1:14; Matt. 17:2).

In His human living He sought the Father’s glory, and through His death, the shell of His humanity was broken to release the divine life from within Him.

Then, in resurrection, Christ was glorified by the Father for the multiplication and reproduction of the Triune God into many human beings.

He became a life-giving Spirit, the Spirit of the glorified Jesus, to impart all that God is into those who believe into Him.

The Lord’s whole life on earth was one big shining out of God; wherever He was, whatever He did, and whatever He spoke, there was shining out of Him – God was shined forth.

The people sitting in darkness saw a great light shining – Jesus Christ as the shining forth of God. He shined out all the different aspects of God, the riches of God’s glory.

When we speak the gospel, we continue this shining out of God, for we speak of this wonderful God-man who shined out God, and that shining imprints the very God of glory in Christ as the Spirit into those who hear. Wow!

When we speak to others about the Lord, we should not preach merely what we know or enjoy about Him but shine Him forth, speak Him forth, so that Christ may be imprinted into those who hear us.

As we speak of the Lord’s incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, light shines, and the God of glory shines on the face of Jesus Christ to illuminate the hearts of the hearers. Hallelujah!

We have a glorious gospel, for our gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ, shining forth Christ to infuse Him, imprint Him, and illuminate the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ in the hearts of men.

May the Lord enlighten us, remove any veils from our eyes, and cause our heart to turn to Him so that we may see this wonderful Person, and we may shine Him forth to others also.

The Gospel of Christ is the Gospel of the Glory of Christ that Illuminates and Shines forth

Who, being the effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance and upholding and bearing all things by the word of His power, having made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Heb. 1:3When we preach the gospel, we do not go out to convince people of the existence of God and the imminence of His judgment; when we preach the gospel, we speak of the gospel of the glory of Christ that illuminates and shines forth.

Christ is the very image of God, and He’s the effulgence of the glory of God (Heb. 1:3); therefore, the gospel of Christ is simply the gospel of His glory that illuminates and shines forth (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3; 2 Cor. 4:3-4; Rev. 6:2).

When the gospel is preached, light must be there; there should be the shining of Christ. Satan, the god of this age, has blinded the thoughts and the minds of the unbelievers so that illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ would not shine into their hearts.

Therefore, our preaching of the gospel is an unveiling, a removing of the veils, until there’s the shining of the gospel of the glory of Christ into them.

And this is done not only in a setting called a “gospel meeting” or a “gospel crusade”; this needs to be done in our daily living.

We need to be people who are in the light. We need to be those who are under the Lord’s shining every day.

We need to let the Lord shine on us, remove our veils, and impress Himself with His image and all that He is into our being.

The shining of Jesus Christ needs to be in our daily living, even in our behaviour.

Merely knowing that the gospel is of glory and it shines forth Christ does not suffice; merely preparing to speak in a gospel meeting or when we meet a new one is not enough. Our daily living needs to be in the light of the Lord.

For this, we need to be fully open to the Lord, fully unveiled, so that we may behold Him and reflect Him.

We can use the illustration of a classical camera regarding this. The camera has a lens, there’s a film (or a memory card) inside it, and there’s a cover over the lens.

You can press the shutter button as much as you want, if the lens cover is not removed, nothing gets imprinted on the film.

Similarly, if there’s no light, there is no scenery to be taken in.

When the God of glory shines through the gospel (the light is shining) and the heart of the hearer is turned to the Lord (the lens cover is removed), there is a lot of click-click-click, that is, a lot of the glorious Christ being imprinted onto the heart of the hearer.

This is the preaching of the gospel. This is the shining in of the glory of God.

The gospel of Christ is the gospel of the glory of Christ, and the preaching of the gospel illuminates the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, imprinting Christ into our heart.

The gospel of the glory of Christ is the gospel of the glory of the blessed God, with which both Paul and we were entrusted (1 Tim. 1:11).

The expression “the gospel of the glory of the blessed God” refers to God’s economy in 1 Tim. 1:4.

We were entrusted with a gospel that is filled with glory, that shines with glory.

The gospel we were entrusted with is the effulgence of the glory of the blessed God (Heb. 1:3; Rom. 1:25; 9:5).

Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Rom. 1:25 Whose are the fathers, and out of whom, as regards what is according to flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. Rom. 9:5 To the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved...That we would be to the praise of His glory who have first hoped in Christ. Eph. 1:3, 6The gospel of the glory of Christ is simply an illumination of man and especially of his mind and thoughts, for that’s where the light comes in first.

The gospel is preached to touch man’s heart, to get into man’s heart; however, it doesn’t stop there.

It has to reach the film, that is, the human spirit.

When the heart is turned and touched, the Lord has a way to infuse something of Himself into our heart, and once His image is infused and imprinted into us, that’s it – we are saved!

What we’re talking about is not a physical picture of Christ being imprinted into us, a man of this stature and with this kind of hair and clothes, etc; we are speaking of the glory of Christ, the effulgence of God’s glory, being infused into us.

Christ is the effulgence of God’s glory, the coming out of the glory of God; furthermore, He is the impress of His substance, for He wants to impress the substance of God into the heart of man.

When we preach the gospel, we need to realize that the gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ, and our preaching needs to be a shining out of Christ to infuse Him, imprint Him, and impress Him into man’s heart so that He would reach their spirit and regenerate them to make them sons of God. Hallelujah!

Lord Jesus, uplift and upgrade our understanding of the gospel. May we see that our gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the effulgence of God and the impress of His substance. Amen, Lord, we open to You today; cause our heart to turn to You and remove any veil from our eyes. We want to see You face to face to be infused with You. May the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ be imprinted into our being again and again until we are fully shining with this gospel of glory! Amen, Lord, may our daily living be in the divine light. Keep us in the light today. May our daily life with all its activities be under the shining of the divine light. May the gospel of the glory of Christ be spontaneously preached through us so that many would be unveiled, enlightened, and impressed with the glorious Christ!

Being Unveiled and Open to have the Illumination of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ

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. 2 Cor. 4:6

One very important matter in the preaching of the gospel is the unveiling of the hearers.

This is not something we can do but only the Lord.

Whenever the gospel is preached, a spiritual battle is taking place; the god of this age with his blinding work needs to be exposed and bound, and the veils need to be removed from the face of the hearers.

Satan knows that, as long as someone sees the Lord’s glory, he is captivated, and he will fall in love with Him; therefore, he seeks to blind the eyes of the unbelievers.

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 (2 Cor. 4:6). Wow!

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in those who are perishing, In whom 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. 2 Cor. 4:3-4If we read this verse and pray over it, and then we consider our preaching of the gospel, we will realize how short we are.

But this is what the gospel really is; it is the illumination of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ, which illuminates, radiates, and shines in our hearts (2 Cor. 4:4, 6).

When we preach the gospel, we don’t preach ourselves, our spiritual knowledge, the doctrines we know, or what we think others should hear. We speak Christ.

First, we need to be unveiled and open. We need to come to the Lord and allow Him to shine on us to expose and remove any veils from our eyes.

We need His living light to scatter all our darkness and everything make bright.

When the Lord’s light shines into us, it brings in the image of Christ.

This illumination shines into our spirit through our mind.

If our mind are open, and unveiled, the Lord can shine and bring the figure of Christ, the image of God, into us.

This is a “spiritual and heavenly photography” which we need to practice in the church life today.

We first need to be unveiled and open to the Lord so that He may shine on us and bring us in a beholding of His glory.

Brothers and sisters, when we behold the Lord face to face in our spirit, we cannot but reflect Him, and our reflection will be the illumination of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ shining out into others’ hearts (2 Cor. 3:18).

By dispensing God’s life and nature in Christ into God’s chosen people, the gospel of the glory of Christ shines forth God’s glory, in which God is blessed among His people (2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 1:3, 6, 12, 14).

The gospel is a dispensing, a shining, an infusing; the element of God is infused into others.

Sadly to say, however, there are so many gifted, and educated people today who seem to be so knowledgeable but are so blind, for they have many veils covering their eyes.

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. 2 Cor. 3:18They may even criticize and persecute the genuine seekers of the Lord and speak evil of the Christians because they are so veiled, so blinded.

It’s not their fault: they have been blinded. Atheists today worship Satan and unwittingly do his work.

We need to pray for them to be unveiled and see the Lord in glory.

When the divine light shines and they have an unveiled face, they cannot resist the glorious Christ.

It is the Lord’s mercy when His light shines, but we can cooperate with Him today to turn our heart to Him.

Whenever the heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away, and we can behold the Lord with an unveiled face.

May we be unveiled and may we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ day by day, being infused with Him to have the illumination of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

And may we let Him shine through us to so many others to enlighten them and bring them to repentance, help them receive forgiveness of sins, and enjoy an inheritance with the saints that are sanctified by faith in Christ (Acts 26:19).

Lord Jesus, remove our covering so that we may see the light! Remove any veil from our eyes so that we may see You face to face. We love You, Lord Jesus, and we open to You. We simply want to be infused with You today. Shine in our hearts so that there is the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. May there be an enlightenment that causes us to know the glory of God in the gospel of Christ. Amen, dear Lord Jesus, bring our whole being fully in Your light and keep us walking in the light. Thank You for entrusting us with the gospel of the glory of Christ, the effulgence of the glory of the blessed God! Shine through us, Lord, so that Your life and nature may be dispensed into so many people, for You to be blessed among Your people! Amen, Lord Jesus, we pray that the god of this age will be bound, his blinding work exposed, and many will be unveiled to see the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ!

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 the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msg. 9 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living and Serving According to God’s Economy Concerning the Church (2023 fall ITERO), week 2, entitled, The Gospel of the Glory of the Blessed God.
  • Similar articles on this topic:
    The New Jerusalem Light Being God as the Glory and the Lamb as the Lamp— the Redeeming and Shining God, a portion via, The Application of the Interpretation of the New Jerusalem to the Seeking Believers, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
    Experience God as light, article by Ed Marks in, Affirmation and Critique.
    The Gospel of the Glory of God is for New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
    Notes on the Gospel of God, via, Conversant Faith.
    The Glory of God Becoming Our Experience, article via, Living to Him.
    My Personal Testimony – Pursuing Christ, Living the Church Life, and Enjoying the Ministry, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
    Beholding and reflecting to be transformed into the image of Christ, a portion from, General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, A – Part 2: Romans through Philemon, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee.
    2 Corinthians 3:18—Beholding and Reflecting the Lord with an Unveiled Face, article via, Bibles for America blog.
  • Hymns on this topic:
    – Remove my covering, Lord, / That I may see Thy light, / And be deceived no more, / But all things see aright. / Oh, may Thy living light, Lord, / Scatter all my night, Lord, / And everything make bright, Lord, / For this I pray to Thee. (Hymns #423 stanza 1 and chorus)
    – Myst’ry hid from ages now revealed to me, / ’Tis the Christ of God’s reality. / He embodies God, and He is life to me, / And the glory of my hope He’ll be. / Glory, glory, Christ is life in me! / Glory, glory, what a hope is He! / Now within my spirit He’s the mystery! / Then the glory He will be to me. (Hymns #948 stanza 1 and chorus)
    – Unsullied blaze of glory! / O ever-radiant Face! / Thy rich, unfathomed story / Transfigures us in grace! / Made like Thee, soon, completely, / With love-lit eyes we’ll scan / God’s face unveiled so sweetly / In Thine, Thou Son of man! (Hymns #64 stanza 3)
About aGodMan

A God-man is a normal believer in Christ; the author of this article is one who is learning to be a normal Christian, a daily enjoyer of Christ, a living and functioning member in the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, make us such ones for the building up of the Body of Christ!

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brother L.
brother L.
11 months ago

Christ as the image of God is the effulgence of His glory (Heb. 1:3). Hence, the gospel of Christ is the gospel of His glory that illuminates and shines forth. Satan, the god of this age, has blinded the thoughts and the minds of the unbelievers so that the illumination of the gospel of Christ’s glory might not shine into their hearts. This is similar to covering the lens of a camera so that the light cannot shine into the camera…When the shutter is pressed, there is a way for the light with the object, the figure, the image, to shine into the camera and be impressed on the film…However, if the lens of the camera is covered, there is no way for the light to shine into the camera. Sometimes when we preach the gospel to others, they are like a camera with the lens covered. The light cannot shine into them…By His mercy and grace, the satanic cover has been removed from our minds! The unveiled face in 2 Corinthians 3:18 is the uncovered mind in chapter 4. According to Paul’s concept, these two things are one. To have an unveiled face, therefore, is to have an uncovered mind.

Life-study of 2 Corinthians, second edition, p. 78, by Witness Lee

Stefan M.
Stefan M.
11 months ago

Our gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ, the illumination of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ being impressed into our spirit.

May we have an unveiled face today and every day so that we may behold this glorious Christ, be infused with Him, and shine Him forth into others.

And may we pray for those around us that the blinding work of the god of this age would be bound and the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ would shine on them also.

Lord, unveil us to see You today. Infuse us with Yourself. Shine in us and through us. May even our daily living be a shining out of Christ into those around us!

Moh S.
Moh S.
11 months ago

The shining of the gospel of Christ comes into us through our open mind, it reaches our spirit and brings Christ, the image of God into us!!

Lord we pray for more unveiling, to drop all our concepts that we would have an unveiled face and an uncovered mind!

Oh Lord remove all our coverings that we would receive the illumination of knowing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ! Amen!

Shine in us and shine forth from us Lord!

Jon H.
Jon H.
11 months ago

Ammmmmeeenn!!! 

Thank you for your mercy and grace for unveiling us!

Yes Lord clear the lens of the minds in those around us, that this shining may illuminate even in our lives ones through the glory of the gospel of Christ!

Pak
Pak
11 months ago

Amen. Lord unveil us today! Lord remove all the barriers and we turn to you!

We open ourselves to you today.

Lord shine in us!

Lord day by day cause Your light to shine through us!

S. A.
S. A.
11 months ago

Amen! Lord unveil our face, uncover our minds.

May we receive the light that bring us the image of the Lord Jesus today and everyday

K. P.
K. P.
11 months ago

Heb. 1:3 Who, being the effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance and upholding and bearing all things by the word of His power, having made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

2 Cor. 3:18 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.

Hallelujah! 🙋🏽😃 Amen!🙏

Amen brother!

We are like mirrors beholding and reflecting the glory of the Lord. This being the case, our face should be fully unveiled that we may see well and reflect properly.

O Lord remove the veil completely daily so we may always reflect your glory!

Hallelujah!😃

Alex
Alex
11 months ago

God’s shining in our hearts results in the illumination of knowing the glory of God in the face of Christ, that is, in the enlightenment that causes us to know the glory of the gospel of Christ.

This illumination, this enlightenment, that makes the glory of Christ’s gospel known to us issues from the shining of God in our hearts.

Christian A.
Christian A.
11 months ago

It’s only by God’s mercy & grace that the satanic cover has been removed from our minds.

The glory and illumination of Christ shines into our spirit through our mind. The apostles did not preach/exalt themselves.

They preached Christ Jesus as Lord, and they conducted themselves as the believers’ slaves for Jesus’s sake.

So, the gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ which illuminates, radiates & shines in the heart of man.

Christ’s shining in our hearts makes us a new creation. Hallelujah for the glory of Christ!

Richard C.
Richard C.
11 months ago

What mercy and grace that the Satanic “lens” cover was removed from our minds that the gospel of the glory of Christ could shine in our hearts!

We have an uncovered, unveiled mind that we may behold and reflect like a mirror the glory of the Lord to be transformed from glory to glory!

O Lord! Thank You for uncovering us and shining into our hearts but what about those who remain blinded by the god of this age that the gospel of the glory of Christ might not shine into them?

O Lord Jesus be merciful and gracious to more of such ones that You would be glorified in them!

Rob M.
Rob M.
11 months ago

Been enjoying this morning how the love of Christ constraints us !!! That One died for all and we all died.

We are now new in Him. Everything outside no longer matters but we know Him Christ.

Enjoyed the footnote that we are a new creation … and no person or matter can separate us from the Love of Christ .

Oh Lord Jesus !!!!

agodman youtube
agodman youtube
11 months ago

Listen to the audio version of this article via, 

https://youtu.be/0JAqxxeIxpY

RcV Bible
RcV Bible
11 months ago

The illumination here, which refers to the shining of God’s light on others out from those whose hearts have been enlightened by God, corresponds with the manifestation in v. 2 and is the same as the shining in Matt. 5:16 and Phil. 2:15. God shines in our hearts that we may shine on others so that they may have the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that is, the knowledge of Christ, who expresses and declares God (John 1:18).

2 Cor. 4:6, footnote 4 on, “illuminate”, Recovery Version Bible

M. M.
M. M.
11 months ago

Yes brother,

The Gospel of glory is all about Jesus Christ. We are not called to preach about ourselves or anything else other than Him.

The Life giving Spirit, The Triune God, mingled with our spirit (Divinity mingled with humanity) to express Himself to others so that He can multiply Him self into many sons.

Jesus came down to express God or He was the embodiment of God. After His Spirit came into us, regeneratiom, we need to live Jesus, not ourself. 

Therefore, it is not only by preaching that we could express Him, but also by living Him every time and everywhere we go.  

Praise Him for this wonderful opportunity He gave us. Amen.

Endless Treasure
Endless Treasure
11 months ago

Amen! The God who said light shall shine out of darkness is the One that shined in our hearts…

Sister Gail
Sister Gail
11 months ago

Did you know that we are His glory? It may be hard to accept, to realize. We appear such a motley crew. But yes, we are. Because when He looks upon us He sees why He did it. He sees His beloved children, even His future bride. He looks upon us and we are transformed within His gaze to beautiful beings of light. I am not making this up. He has shown me.

So, if we are His glory, and the gospel is for His glory, then we must see that each one of us, once we’ve become true believers with portions of the living Christ within us, are the gospel. This is a huge responsibility. Thus, every step, every utterance, every gesture and expression must be matched to Him, His life, His message, His purpose.

Speaking for myself, I am very short. But I am so glad for this latest post to remind me that Jesus is counting on me. He is counting on us all, to be His gospel, His glory, His light in a darkened and shrouded world. When we live in this way, walk in this understanding, the Gospel is no longer a burden, a “should”, but rather a flowing song bursting forth at the slightest provocation, bringing us, our Lord Jesus, and many others great joy.

Amen dear brother and saints. You are all glorious!