The Vision:
Some years ago, in a
mini-vision, I saw people standing all over America. I could see the
outline--the shape of the continental USA. People were standing all over the
nation, and I knew they were a mixture of believers in Christ and patriotic
people who were not Christian. Everyone was standing up, with their hands
lifted up to the sky as they reached toward another “America” which was being
lowered down on top of the one they were standing on.
This “new” America was the same shape, the same borders (at least nationally), and looked like the “old” America, but it was new. Everyone was slowly, carefully, lowering this new America down on top of themselves. However, when it got close, it crashed down quickly on top of everyone and dust came up.
At the time I had this vision, I wondered what happened to all the people. I didn’t see them after this new face of America crashed down on top of them. It bothered me. Were they killed? What happened? But, just the other day, I finally gained understanding about what this was as the Holy Spirit revealed it to me.
The New Face
What was being
lowered down onto America was a new “face.” The people lowering it down—very
carefully as they knew it was precious and valuable—were actually absorbed into
this new face, or you could say became the new face of America. The
believers in Christ Jesus and the patriots who did not know the Lord became
this new face of America.
I believe, however, that many of these patriots would come to know the Lord. The two groups had been working together to save America and had that in common. As those who didn’t know the Lord saw the witness and testimony of Christians—their peace, their confidence, assurance, and joy, as well as their ultimate trust in the one true God who rules and reigns over all; as they saw their confidence was not in a man or political party to save them, but in the Lord Jesus Christ, who keeps them from a fear of death—many of them would turn to the Lord and put their trust in Him as well. This is the new face of America!
But what exactly is this new face? This face is a facet that will reveal the glory of God.
The Facets of God
God the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit—are three faces, or facets, who reveal who God is. Together
they are like a multiplied revelation of who God is, a multi-faceted
revelation of God. A facet is a flat surface, like on a gemstone, which
has many of these flat surfaces that are cut in such a way to reflect the
brilliance of the stone.
God called His face, “Me.”
18 Then Moses
said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” 19 And He said, “I
Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of
the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” 20 But
He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and
live!” (Exodus 33:18-20).
The Four Faces
In the book of
Revelation, we read about the Four Living Creatures, the Cherubim, who each had
four faces (Revelation 4:6-8). The four faces are:
- The Lion
- The Calf (The calf was called a Bull in Ezekiel 1, and a Cherub in Ezekiel 10).
- The Man
- The Eagle
They had four
faces, four facets, through which the glory of God was revealed. The 24 elders
responded to the praise and worship of the four cherubim with worship of their
own (Revelation 4:9-11).
The Human Facet
As a human being who
believes in Christ, (the face of man/mankind), we each are a face of Christ.
We’re each a facet of Him, of His glory. The beauty—the brilliance—of all of us
together, each surrendered to His purity shining through us—clear and unblemished—is
glorious.
The Eyes of the Face
The cherubim were
full of eyes. You identify someone through their face more than anything else,
especially the eyes (Matthew 6:22). God’s eyes are perfect. He is the only
righteous judge. What God sees is exposed to Him truthfully, accurately,
precisely, and He judges righteously. He is the Light who sees all things
clearly, as they truly are (Hebrews 4:13). He is reality.
This is what He wants to bring us to—to see with His eyes, which contain His righteous judgement. God judges (appraises) whatever He sees truthfully. His eyes contain that ability. Our eyes judge too, but our goal is to judge righteously, as He does.
This is why we need His Spirit, to become like Him. To think, judge, perceive, etc. like He does is to walk in the Light as He is. On the contrary, to see, hear, think, etc. unlike Him, is to walk in the dark. When the darkness is exposed, and people accept it—it shows the level of evil in a society.
9 For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. . .” (2 Chronicles 16:9).
So, we say, “My heart is Yours completely! Look at me! I want Your righteous judgment, Your cleansing look to purify my soul!”
The Spirit in Earthen Vessels
As believers in
Christ Jesus, when we cry out for His Spirit, He gives Him to us! (Luke
11:12-13). We are added facets to reveal more of the glory of who He
is! God is doing a work in us. He is writing our story, creating our
testimony, to reveal a facet of Him. Our face, our life, our testimony, our
story, reveals a facet of the glory of God. He is in us. He is the light in us.
He shines through us in the face (facet) of Christ. And as we yield to Him,
then His light shines through us revealing another facet of His glory. Our
testimony is a facet of revelation of who God is—amazing!!
6 For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; (2 Corinthians 4:6-7).
The face of Christ reveals the revelatory knowledge of the glory of God as it shines in our hearts, it's in our earthen vessels, so the power in us is of God, not ourselves.
The glory of God is
revealed in our hearts through the face of Christ. That's the facet through
which we can access God—the face of Christ. And through the Holy Spirit—another
facet—we have fellowship with the Father and Son to reflect yet
another facet of God's glory.
We don't have to be everything to all people, just our facet--our face--shining His light, His glory, out of us as He has been revealed in our hearts, and as He is transforming our hearts into the image of Christ.
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18).
To be transformed into His image, I need an unveiled face, and to behold the glory of the Lord. Each of us in Christ has a face—a facet—through which we reveal the knowledge of the glory of God. We let our light shine in a way that glorifies Him (Matthew 5:16). Any good thing we do that others try to glorify us for, we deflect that glory to Him, while we reflect His glory to them.
Cutting the Stone
A diamond, or any precious stone,
is cut to specifications that will make the stone brilliant. For our light to
fully shine, we must be cut, molded, or fashioned to
reflect His glory.
So, when you’re weak and going through difficult times, realize that your testimony is being formed. Your stone is being cut to reflect another facet of His glory. Press into Him, and it will bring the strength and power (presence) of God you need to bring you through, to accomplish His work in you. Both your weakness and your strength are a part of your story to reveal His glory.
“My weakness becomes a portal to God’s power.” (2 Corinthians 12:10, The Passion Translation (TPT)).