The focal point of the Bible is not the practices, doctrines, or ordinances. Rather, it is the living person of the Son of God who is the embodiment of the Triune God realized as the all-inclusive Spirit in our spirit for us to enjoy Him, partake of His riches, and live Him (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17; Phil. 1:19; Gal. 6:18). The heart of God is fully occupied with the living person of His Son. God’s unique intention is to give us His Son as a living person. However, because of the fall, we are easily distracted to care for other things in place of Christ. It is crucial for us to have a vision of this all-inclusive living person. This person includes the Father, the Son, and the Spirit; He includes divinity and humanity. Although this living person is so all-inclusive, He is very practical to us, for, as the life-giving Spirit, He is in our regenerated spirit. On the one hand, He is in the heavens as the Lord, the Christ, the King, the Head, the High Priest, and the heavenly Minister (Acts 10:36; 1 Tim. 6:15; Heb. 4:14-15; 7:26; 8:2). On the other hand, He is in our spirit to be everything to us (2 Tim. 4:22). He is God, the Father, the Redeemer, the Savior, man, life, light, and the reality of every positive thing. This is the living person of the Son of God.
From the time this living person was revealed in Saul, the veil was taken away and Saul was enlightened concerning the Son of God. Henceforth, he cared for this person and no longer cared for religion or tradition. We need to pray that we may see such a vision of the living person of the Son of God and care for Him more than anything else. Without this living person as the reality and content of the church life, even the church life will become a tradition. It is vital that we see this living person.
We should not treasure anything, including our Bible knowledge or spiritual experience and attainments, in place of this living person. Daily and hourly, we need to experience this living person. The church is the Body of this person, His practical and living expression. As the embodiment of the Triune God realized as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, He is within us to be whatever we need. He is versus everything. Without Him, everything is a tradition made either by others or by ourselves.
Apart from Christ, the living person of the Son of God, whatever we have is religion. This living person is the embodiment of the processed, all-inclusive Triune God realized in our spirit as the life-giving Spirit. In our spirit we enjoy Him, experience Him, partake of His riches, and live Him. To be a Christian is to be one who is occupied with the living person, not with religion. Judaism is a religion formed by man in dead letters with vain traditions. But the Son of God is life, the uncreated, eternal life of God (John 14:6). For our experience and enjoyment, this One is the all-inclusive Spirit with the divine reality (1:14; 1 John 5:6).
As a living person, Christ is spiritual and mysterious. Apart from God’s revelation of His Son in us, no human being would be able to see this living person. Christians may read the Bible and study it carefully but see very little of Christ. From the beginning of the Bible to the end, especially in the New Testament, Christ occupies the central place. God’s revelation throughout the Scriptures is altogether focused on Christ.
Concerning the revelation of God’s Son in us, Paul covers two cases in 2 Corinthians 3 and 4—the case of the Jews in particular and the case of the unbelievers in general. When the Jews read the Old Testament, they read it with their understanding veiled. In 2 Corinthians 3:15 Paul says, “Indeed unto this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.” Here the veil refers to the religion of Judaism. In 4:4 Paul goes on to say that the god of this age has blinded the thoughts of those who do not believe. The god of this age is Satan. Those who are blinded or veiled think that they do not worship anything. Actually, their god is Satan. Atheists worship Satan without knowing what they are doing. Nearly all people today, whether primitive or highly cultured, have been blinded by the god of this age.
We need to apply this word about veils to ourselves. It is crucial that we be on the alert, for it is possible for anything that is not Christ Himself to be used as a veil by Satan, the subtle one. If we would receive the revelation of the Son of God, we need to drop our concepts. Every concept, whether spiritual or carnal, is a veil. To have revelation we need to drop our concepts.
God today is shining everywhere. This age of grace is an age of light. God is shining, and the Bible also is shining. Moreover, the all-inclusive Spirit moving on earth is full of grace. However, even while the Bible is shining and the Spirit is moving, many still do not receive revelation. The reason is that they hold to certain concepts and are veiled by these concepts.
With respect to receiving revelation, there is no problem on God’s side. On His side everything is ready. The problem is altogether on our side. We need to drop the veils; that is, we need to drop our concepts. It is important for us to pray, “Lord, help me to drop everything that is a veil.” If we hold on to our concepts while reading the Bible, we will be like the ancient Jews who had a veil on their mind whenever the Scriptures were read. But if we drop our concepts as we read the Word, we will read it with an unveiled face. Then the light will shine into us subjectively.
We also need to pray, “Lord, I trust in You to defeat the god of this age. Apart from You, I do not worship anything. Lord, I turn my heart to You, and I drop all my concepts. I don’t want to worship anyone other than You.” If we pray in this way, the light will shine, and we will receive revelation. If we drop our concepts and turn our heart to the Lord, the veils will be taken away, and the god of this age will have no ground in our being.
The revelation of the Son of God is an inward revelation. This inward revelation is in our spirit through our enlightened mind. Because the mind plays an important part, it is crucial that we drop our concepts, all of which are in the mind. If we hold on to the concepts in our mind, the revelation may be in our spirit, but it will not be able to penetrate our veiled mentality. We need to drop our concepts so that our mind may be released and become transparent. Then when the Spirit shines in our spirit, this shining will come into our transparent mind. Then we shall receive an inward revelation.
If we would see the revelation of Christ, we must also turn our hearts to the Lord. According to 2 Corinthians 3:16, when the heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. The more we turn our heart to the Lord, the less ground the god of this age will have in our life and in our being. We should tell the Lord that we hold on to nothing besides Him and that our heart is wholly for Him. Then we will be under the shining of the heavenly light, and we will receive the revelation of the living person of the Son of God.
This inward revelation of Christ is subjective, and this subjective revelation is given in our spirit by the Spirit (Eph. 1:17; 3:5). Both our spirit and the Spirit of God are realities. We cannot deny that within us we have a human spirit. Neither can we deny that the divine Spirit is in our spirit. In order to receive the revelation of the Son of God, we must take care of the depths of our being, that is, our spirit. It is in our spirit that the Spirit is shining, revealing Christ in us and speaking to us concerning Christ. It is also helpful to pray-read the word, especially verses from the Epistles of Paul (6:17-18). This will enable us to see Christ and to receive a subjective revelation of this living person.
In brief, in order to receive an inward, subjective, and spiritual revelation, we all must learn to drop our concepts, turn our heart to the Lord, pay attention to our spirit, and pray over verses from the writings of Paul. Then the Spirit will enlighten us and speak to us of Christ. As a result, we shall receive a subjective revelation of the Son of God.