Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries |
The Shekinah glory or the manifestation of Christ within us, alone with God.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
The glory refers to the Shekinah Glory or the presence and manifestation of TLJC.
“Shekinah” - Shakan = to dwell; Jesus Christ indwelt certain sacred buildings in Israel.
We will use it for God “dwelling among His people.”
It was used to express the “invisible presence” of God with Israel.
“Glory” - Kabodh = the visible manifestations of Jesus Christ as a theophany.
“Come to know” -
fut-mid-ind - ginosko = “You shall come to know”
In His humanity, TLJC is seated at the right hand of the Father, but His deity is omnipresent, and His omnipresence is the reason why He can be in one or more places at once.
To be aware of the fact that you are indwelt by the Shekinah Glory or the manifestation of TLJC should make some dynamic changes in your life.
I am in my Father refers to the deity of TLJC.
TLJC in His hypostatic union = undiminished deity and true humanity is in one person forever.
His deity was invisible to the crowd who heard this prophecy but His humanity was very visible.
ROM 9:4 who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory
In the Old Testament, they saw the visible manifestation of TLJC on the outside in the realm of such things like the tabernacle; however, invisible to the outside was TLJC who dwelt in the holy of holies.
They could see the cloud, that was visible to all.
They could see the walls of the tent and later on the temple.
In like manner, the people who heard this magnificent prophecy could see the man, the humanity of Christ, but they could not see the glory, His deity.
Jesus Christ as God dwelt with His people Israel in a unique way, invisible, they did not see Him.
However, they saw the sign of His presence.
GAL 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.”
COL 1:27 to whom God willed to make known what is the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the confidence of the glory [the Shekinah Glory or the manifestation of TLJC].
When these passages are true about you, the Shekinah glory within your body, your temple, is being manifested and shining through.
MAT 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
MAT 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
In the Old Testament, they saw a theophany, and an inanimate theophany, the cloud said He was there, the pillar of fire said He was there.
Today, people cannot see the humanity of Christ in you, but they can see the glory of God being revealed through you. Such glory like confidence, courage, strength, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; etc.
Today TLJC is at the right hand of the Father where we cannot see Him until we go to heaven, but in the meantime He also indwells our bodies, invisibly.
Just like the Jews could not see the Shekinah glory in the O.T. but could see a manifestation of His presence, so we can reveal the Shekinah glory or the indwelling of Christ to the world and to each other through our body, the temple of the living God.
1CO 3:16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and {that} the Spirit of God dwells in you?
1CO 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
2CO 6:16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
God has one main way of revealing Himself today, it is “Christ in you.”
Not by the Shekinah glory in the temple built with hands of men, but in lives redeemed and freed and cleansed as they walk about in this dark world with Christ living in them.
Today, people cannot see the Shekinah glory in you, but they can see the glory of God being revealed through you.
JOH 2:11 This beginning of {His} signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
They did not see the Shekinah glory but they saw the manifestation of His glory.
JOH 11:40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
She did not see the Shekinah glory, but she saw the manifestation of His glory.
Today TLJC is at the right hand of the Father where we cannot see Him until we go to heaven, but in the meantime He also indwells our bodies, invisibly.
Just like the Jews could not see the Shekinah glory in the Old Testament but could see a manifestation of His presence, so we can reveal the Shekinah glory or the indwelling of Christ to the world and to each other through our body, the temple of the living God.
The first part of this sentence is the first key to the change which is about to take place in Jacob’s life through contact with the Shekinah Glory or the manifestation of TLJC.
It’s not until Jacob is left alone with the Lord that his name is changed to Israel, a prince with God.
PSA 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil;
In 2CH 32:31, God left Hezekiah “alone to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.”
In JOH 8:9, it was not until the woman caught in adultery was left alone with the Lord that she was set free.
JOH 16:32 “Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.”
To be left alone with God is the only true way of arriving at an accurate knowledge of ourselves and our ways.
2CO 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!
When a believer objectively examines his own life according to doctrine, he is alone with God.
He must be stripped from his own strength, lamed and made to limp.
1. Jacob needed to have his “human-strength” beaten out of him.
2. Jacob has been relying on human strength, human power, human viewpoint, human gimmicks, to try to get blessings in life as well as to solve his problems.
3. Jacob needed to be made conscious of his standing with God so that he would stop conniving, plotting, scheming, and using human solutions to try to solve his problems.
4. God initiates this wrestling match which ends in the defeat of the old Jacob.
5. It is God who will “touch the socket of his hip” and Jacob’s hip will be dislocated while he wrestled with him.
6. It is God who breaks the stubborn, willful, self-reliant Jacob and brings him to his senses.
This means that Yahweh, Jehovah, the God of Israel, is dealing directly and personally with Jacob to change his life and to give him a new name.
These are times when you are going through affliction, adversity, and when the soul feeds on Christ [the Shekinah Glory or the manifestation of TLJC], not on teachings about Him. This is when you have questions such as the dogmatic point of view, like David and Job, who were wrong to question God.
From the dogmatic point of view, the author of book of Esther was wrong not to write one word of praise for God who had just wrought such a great deliverance for His people.
John the Baptist was wrong when in prison he questioned whether Jesus was the Messiah.
HEB 13:3 Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.
You can have moments of knowing the victory of faith in a prison situation if you understand that you have the glory. These situations show us our limitations and teach us not to rely on our own victories, nor our faith, but on the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.
New causes always produce new effects.
There is a benefit for those Christians who do not wish to lead selfish lives but to have fellowship with those who are passing through not only physical tortures but also extreme spiritual tension.
Accept your thoughts of despair and of faith, your doubts and their solution, your moments of madness and their passing away.
Be determined only to cling to God, even if He slays you, even if He slays your faith.
If you lose your faith, then remain faithlessly His.
So this morning I have brought you to the door of your very own cell.
Very soon, you will look like me. And perhaps you will be able to say to Jesus, "I am dark, but lovely"
(Song of Solomon 1:5).
This is when the soul feeds on Christ, not on teachings about Him.
Accept your thoughts of despair and of faith, your doubts and their solution, your moments of madness and their passing away.
For God said, “It is not good that man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18).
GAL 6:5 For each one shall bear his own load.
I can now understand the words of Isaiah: “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord (Isaiah 1:18).
Jesus said, “[The Father] makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good” (Matthew 5:45).
“I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live” (Ezekiel 20:25).
“You shall not make for yourself any carved image” is a law given equally to the man brought up in a strict puritan religion and the man with a long Catholic heritage.