In God’s organic salvation transformation is also by the Lord Spirit (the pneumatic Christ) in us, transforming us into the image of the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18b).
Here it does not say “the Spirit of God” but “the Lord Spirit.” We see the Spirit of God in God’s creation (Gen. 1:2). However, He could not transform us if He were merely the Spirit of God. The Lord Spirit is the One who has been processed and consummated; He is the pneumatic Christ in resurrection. Hence, the Lord Spirit is a compound title; He is both the Lord and the Spirit. Today this Spirit is the processed Triune God, the One who was glorified in resurrection, the Lord Spirit. This Lord Spirit, the pneumatic Christ in resurrection, is no longer the Spirit of God merely with divinity. Rather, He has been processed and has become the all-inclusive One with all the elements of His process. Since the Lord Spirit possesses divinity, humanity, and all the elements of the processes through which He has passed, He can transform us into the glorious image of Christ. The elements which we need in the process of transformation come from the Lord Spirit. God was processed to become the Lord Spirit for our transformation.
In practice we should have an unveiled face, beholding and reflecting the Lord like a mirror to express Him (2 Cor. 3:18a).
In order to have this kind of transformation, first we need to remove the veils of our old concepts. Often we have too many veils that prevent us from being transformed. However, whenever our heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Then we, with an unveiled face, can behold the Lord and consequently reflect Him like a mirror. Thus, we are being transformed into the same image from one level of glory to another level of glory for His expression.
In practice we should also live and walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16, 25) and walk according to the mingled spirit (Rom. 8:4b) that the divine life of Christ may have the way to regulate us and transform us into the image of the Lord in glory.
In God’s organic salvation the key to transformation is altogether in the mingled spirit—the Spirit with our spirit. The Triune God has been processed to become the Lord Spirit, and this Spirit in us is mingled with our regenerated spirit. Hence, we should practice walking according to the mingled spirit; then the divine life of Christ can regulate us to transform us into the same image of the Lord in glory.
Such a transformation causes us to be shaped in God’s organic salvation and conformed to the image of Christ, the firstborn Son of God, so that we manifest God in life, in nature, in inward thinking, and in outward expression; this will consummate in the New Jerusalem, in which, due to our transformation, we will be exactly the same as God, who sits on the throne in the divine glory in eternity—both He and we will be like jasper (Rev. 4:3a; 21:11, 18a, 19b).
What the Bible presents at its conclusion is jasper. This jasper comes out of the union of the processed Triune God and the transformed believers through the transforming Spirit. God’s purpose in creating the universe is to produce such jasper. Today all those who know God’s economy care to have this jasper, and this is also what we care for. Paul paid the highest price in order to gain this treasure, this jasper; moreover, he even became a part of this jasper. What a mystery this is! This is the ultimate purpose of God’s salvation, that is, to work on all those whom He chose in eternity to such an extent that they become wholly like Him in the divine glory to express the glorious image of God as jasper for His eternal enlargement and expression.