According to verse 18, we behold and reflect as a mirror the glory of the Lord. Beholding is to see the Lord by ourselves; reflecting is for others to see Him through us. We are like mirrors beholding and reflecting the glory of the Lord. As such, our face should be fully unveiled that we may see well and reflect accurately.
We are transformed not only by seeing the Lord but also by reflecting Him. A mirror has the capacity both to behold an object and to reflect it. In English the words beholding and reflecting like a mirror are the translation of a single word in Greek. The use of this word in verse 18 is metaphorical. On the one hand, a mirror beholds a person or an object. On the other hand, a mirror reflects what it beholds. These are the two aspects of the function of a mirror.
The glory in verse 18 is the glory of the Lord as the resurrected and ascended One, who as both God and man passed through incarnation, human living on earth, and crucifixion, entering into resurrection, accomplishing full redemption, and becoming a life-giving Spirit. As the life-giving Spirit, He dwells in us to make Himself and all that He has accomplished, obtained, and attained real to us, that we may be one with Him and be transformed into His image from glory to glory.
Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Here seeing God is a great reward in the kingdom. According to the clear view in the New Testament, to see God is to receive God into us. If seeing God is merely an objective seeing of God and nothing else, that means very little. But seeing God is to receive God, and God comes into us as our element to renew us, to transform us, because God’s coming in adds the divine element into our being. We first behold God, that is, we see God; then we reflect Him and are transformed. In our seeing God, we are being transformed into His glorious image, from one degree of glory to another. The more we look at Him, the more we receive His elements into our being as our inner supply to work on us, to discharge the old, and to make us new. This is to transform us into God’s image.
Our way of looking at God today is altogether a matter in the spirit. The God whom we may look at is the processed and consummated Spirit, the all-inclusive Spirit, and we can look at Him in our spirit. Sometimes we are too busy or too careless to take the opportunity to look at the Lord. In our morning watch we may take time to be with the Lord, time to remain in the Spirit. At such a time we may pray-read His word, talk to Him, or pray to Him with short prayers. Then we will have the sense that we are receiving something of God’s element, that we are absorbing the riches of God into our being. In this way we are under the divine transformation day by day.
If we reflect Christ, there is not always the need for us to stand up and function in the meetings. If Christ has been dispensed into us and if we with an unveiled face have been looking to Christ day by day, we will be a mirror reflecting Him in the meeting. When people look at us, they will see Christ. This is not a matter of functioning but of reflecting. Reflection is much more than function. When we come to the meetings, we need to reflect Christ. This is a matter not of gifts but of growth. As we grow in Christ, more of Him will be imparted into our being by the living Spirit. The Christ who has been imparted into us will be reflected from us. Thus, we become a mirror reflecting Christ. Today Christ needs mirrors. We need to be bright, unveiled mirrors reflecting the Christ who has been dispensed into our being. This will strengthen, uplift, and enrich the Body life.
Today the glory is the resurrected Christ, and this Christ is the Spirit. This means that the Lord as the glory is the Spirit living in us and dwelling in our spirit. Now that we have the Spirit indwelling our spirit, we need to exercise our spirit more and more by praying, reading the Word, and calling on the name of the Lord. The more we exercise our spirit with an unveiled face, the more we will behold the Lord. As we are gazing on Him, we will also reflect Him. While we are beholding and reflecting Him in this way, His element, His essence, will be added into our being. This new element will replace and discharge the element of our old, natural life.
When the Lord through His Spirit works His glory, which is Himself as the Spirit, into us and saturates us from our spirit into the three parts of our soul, then we become mature in life from glory to glory. Eventually, our mind, emotion, and will—our entire inward being—will be glory.
Every morning we must have fellowship with the Lord, even if we are very busy. Early in the morning, the first thing we need to do is to go to the Lord with an unveiled face to look at Him, behold Him, and reflect Him for a period of time. To linger in the presence of the Lord while beholding and reflecting Him affords us a real taste, a real enjoyment. During such a time in the Lord’s presence, as we behold and reflect the Lord, He transfuses Himself into us, and that transfusing brings into us the divine element. Moreover, during the day we must again find time to draw near to Him, to be face to face with Him. Then we will be like a mirror beholding Him and reflecting His glory. Thus, the Lord will transfuse into us the elements of what He is and what He has done. By the power of His life and with His life elements we will gradually be metabolically transformed to have His life shape. We begin every day with an unveiled face, looking to the Lord and calling on His name. His Spirit will then operate within us and will mingle God’s life and nature with us in order that we will be transformed into His glorious image.