Our Father has one holy, consuming passion, a passion that we find difficult to perceive.   It is the revealing of His Son. It pleases God immensely to reveal His Son. From the beginning, the ongoing revelation of His Son has been, and continues to be, God’s chief delight and primary objective (John 5:39). It fills Him with gladness like nothing else can, far beyond our human understanding.

In a recent post I made the statement: “Biblical history is about the progressive revelation of Christ. Everything God does is centered on His Son.  The entire history of mankind is about God gradually revealing His beloved Son to us.”

Both the Old and New Covenants testify to this truth. In the Genesis garden we see Christ being revealed as the Tree of Life. Tracing through Old Testament history we find Him progressively revealed as Jacob’s Ladder, the Passover Lamb, the Manna in the wilderness, the Pattern of the Temple and many other examples.  Again and again aspects of His character are revealed in the lives of individuals like Melchizadek the priest-king, Isaac, the yearning bridegroom (Gen. 24:62-67), David the worshiping king, and Boaz the kinsman redeemer. Israel’s prophets spoke of Him as the branch, the suffering servant, and a lamb being led to slaughter. There are numerous other Biblical instances, but you get the picture.

Eventually there came a point in human history when God revealed His Son in a body of mortal flesh. He was everything the prophets said He would be, and more. On more than one occasion the Father’s own voice confirmed His great personal satisfaction in this revealing of His Son to humanity. “This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear Him!” He thundered (Matt. 17:5).

The time when God’s Son was revealed in human flesh has come and gone and will not be seen again. Yet God has in no way given up His consuming passion. The ongoing revelation of His Son continues to be His undivided goal.

Our brother Paul wrote of this fervent desire within the heart of God:

But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me….” (Gal. 1:15, 16a)

God was pleased to reveal His Son in Paul. We learn from this that the Son will be revealed in each of His followers at a time of God’s choosing. Reading further in the passage, we learn too that as a result of this revelation of Christ becoming manifested in Paul, God was glorified (Gal. 1:24). When Christ is revealed, God always gets glorified!

God has a very grand plan. The prophets of Israel are long gone. Jesus Himself has come in the flesh, been crucified and has risen as a life giving Spirit. But God is still altogether intent on showing off His Son. All things are drawing towards the culmination of God’s perfect plan: the full revelation of His Son, the One who fills all in all (Eph. 1:23).

As Paul understood, the Father is now pleased to reveal His Son in US! God will not be satisfied until there is a Bridal company on the earth within whom He can behold His Beloved Son and be well pleased. We, His disciples, are earthen vessels chosen to carry this divine revelation of Jesus Christ.

Let’s forget about trying to be like Jesus. Let’s grow past the “what would Jesus do” formula. Both these mindsets miss the mark and glorify man instead of God. We are fond of declaring “it’s not about me, it’s about Him”, while we still fail to see the forest for the trees. Words originally uttered in the Spirit quickly become ‘christianese’ (a very dead language) unless infused with Holy Spirit revelation. It’s better not to speak if all we are speaking is vain repetition (Matt. 6:7).

Newsflash: it really IS about Christ. It’s not about us, never has been, never will be.

The plan is far better, far bigger, far wiser, and far simpler than anything we can conceive in our minds. The gospel is essentially the revelation of Jesus Christ, and His Father, our Father, takes profound joy in it being so! “Christ in us” means Christ revealed in us exactly as He is, not through religious interpretations of how we think we should present Him. We cannot drive this process, we can only co-operate with it, laying down our own will at every Cross-road where it diverges from our Father’s.

Christ is the Father’s Revelation. We are the living sacrifices lovingly crushed and broken in order that the Revelation may be revealed.

Father, may it please you to reveal Your Son in us!

© Cheryl McGrath, Bread for the Bride, 2014   Copyright Notice: Permission is granted to freely reproduce any Bread for the Bride articles in emails or internet blogs, unaltered, and providing this copyright notice is included.     To permanently display an article on any static website please contact me for permission.