In 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul says, “But we all, with unveiled face beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit” (lit.). In order to behold the Lord and be transformed, we need an unveiled face. There should not be a veil between us and the Lord. Experientially speaking, a veil refers to some kind of insulation. No matter how close we may be to the Lord, if we are insulated by a veil, He cannot infuse Himself into us. Insulation is a term often used with respect to electricity. To insulate something is to cover it so that it cannot receive an electrical charge. Even a thin piece of paper can be an insulator. An electrical appliance may be in working order, and electricity may be installed in the room, but electrical power cannot be transfused into the appliance if there is insulation blocking a direct connection.
This illustrates what takes place in the lives of many Christians today. Believers may think that if they love the Lord, are close to the Lord, and walk with the Lord, then everything is all right. They may not realize, however, that they are still under certain veils, and that these veils insulate them from the Lord’s transfusion.
According to Paul’s word, we need to behold the Lord with an unveiled face. There should not be any veils between us and the Lord. If we are unveiled we shall be a mirror beholding and reflecting the glorious image of the Lord. Whenever we behold Him in a direct way without any veil, without any insulation, we experience His transfusion. We are infused with the divine electricity.
Eating the Lord has much to do with being transfused with Him. Actually, to eat the Lord Jesus is to allow Him to get into us by the way of transfusion. This is clearly revealed in the New Testament. According to the New Testament, our relationship with the Lord is altogether a matter of spiritual life. Because it is a spiritual thing, human language cannot describe it adequately. For this reason, Paul uses metaphors. In 1 Corinthians 3 the words feeding, milk, drinking, and solid food are metaphors. The Lord Jesus also used metaphors and parables in His teaching, for example, when He said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). The Lord went on to say that the bread which He gives is His flesh. The Jews “contended with one another, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (v. 52). To eat the Lord Jesus is to receive Him into us and allow Him to add Himself to us.
Eating is not once for all; it must be repeated day by day. We have been eating various foodstuffs for years, but we still need to eat today. Each time we take food into us, transfusion occurs within us. By eating and by transfusion Christ is added into our being.
Eating is related to transformation. When food is eaten, digested, and assimilated, a new substance is added into our being to replace and discharge the old substance. This is the metabolic process of transformation. The significance of eating is that a new substance is added into us to discharge the old substance in order to produce a metabolic transformation. This crucial matter is very much neglected by Christians today.
Suppose a person’s face is very pale. There is a great difference between applying makeup to change the color of his complexion and having his complexion changed as a result of proper nourishment and metabolism. To apply makeup is to do the work of a mortician. A mortician adds makeup to the face of a dead person because there cannot be any metabolic change in life. In our Christian life, we should not try to color ourselves with spiritual makeup. Instead, we should eat the Lord. Paul’s work was not the work of a mortician. He did not apply makeup to the Corinthians. Instead, he fed them. He knew that if they would eat and drink properly, they would be transformed and have a healthy spiritual complexion.
Paul’s work was very different from that of many Christian workers today. Whereas many carry on the work of “morticians,” Paul fed the saints with Christ. Likewise, the church should not be a place where people buy cosmetics; on the contrary, it must be the Lord’s restaurant where His people can eat. The more we eat of Christ, the more we shall be transformed. Transformation will make us glorious. It will cause us to bear the Lord’s image, His appearance, His glorious expression.
The transfusion of the Lord into us can also be illustrated by the transmission of electricity into a child’s toy. Certain toys move, jump, and even dance when they are powered by electricity. We can be compared to such an electrically powered toy. When Christ is transfused into us, we begin to move. We may even feel as if we could jump or soar in the air. Our Christian life is a life of transfusion; it is a life of continually having the Lord infuse Himself into us.
Transformation and transfusion make us living materials for God’s building. As living materials, we are growing and changing. I can observe a change, a transformation, in the lives of many saints, especially in the lives of those whom I have not seen for a period of time. Praise the Lord that we are being transformed! We are becoming gold, silver, and precious stones for God’s building.
The church is not an organization or society; the church is an organic entity—the Body of Christ. Only transformed persons can be constituted into the Body. Because the Body of Christ is organic, the more we grow and are transformed, the more we are built up as the Body. This building of an organic Body is what the Lord is seeking today.