In 1:15 and 16 Paul says that it pleased God to reveal His Son in him. This indicates that to reveal the Son of God brings pleasure to God. Nothing is more pleasing to God than the unveiling, the revelation, of the living Person of the Son of God.
Furthermore, this revelation is an inward revelation. Although I have never seen the Lord Jesus outwardly in a physical way, I have seen Him inwardly. I have received an inward revelation of this living Person. 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 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.
This inward revelation of Christ is subjective. It is not objective like the so-called visions in the Pentecostal movement. I have been in meetings where people claimed to see a bright light in a certain corner of the room. The revelation about which we are speaking in this message is nothing of such an outward nature. Rather, it is altogether subjective.
This subjective revelation is given in our spirit by the Spirit (Eph. 1:17; 3:5). Our spirit and the Spirit of God both 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 first drop our concepts. Second, we must turn our hearts to the Lord and worship nothing other than Him. Third, we must take care of the depths of our being, that is, of 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. This will enable us to see Christ and to receive a subjective revelation of this living Person.
The subjective revelation about which we are speaking here is concerned only with the living Person of the Son of God. For the sake of receiving such a revelation, may we all learn to drop our concepts, to turn our heart to the Lord, to pay attention to our spirit, and to 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.
The more revelation we receive of the Son of God, the more He will live in us. The more He lives in us, the more He will become to us the unique and central blessing of the gospel which God promised to Abraham. This means that He will be to us the all-inclusive land realized as the all-inclusive, processed, life-giving Spirit. This should not simply be a doctrine to us. If we drop our concepts, turn our heart to the Lord, pay attention to the spirit, and spend time in the Word, Christ will be revealed in us, He will live in us, and He will be formed in us. Day by day, He will become more of an enjoyment to us. As a result, this living Person will make us a new creation in a practical way. The book of Galatians eventually brings us to the new creation by way of the inward revelation of the living Person of the Son of God.
Let us daily practice receiving revelation by dropping our concepts and turning our hearts to the Lord. The way to receive an inward, subjective, spiritual revelation is always to drop our concepts, to turn our heart to the Lord, and to tell the Lord that we hold on to nothing besides Him and that our heart is wholly for Him. Then if we pay attention to our spirit and spend time in the Word, we shall receive revelation. The living Person will live in us and be formed in us. We shall enjoy Him more and more, and He will make us a new creation.
Paul’s burden in writing the book of Galatians, and our need today, is that we be brought into a state where we are full of the revelation of the Son of God and thereby become a new creation with Christ living in us, being formed in us, and being enjoyed by us continually as the all-inclusive Spirit.