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God always wants His people to know He is protecting them.
He let’s us know this in different ways in different dispensations
or times. In the Old Testament, He showed it through a theophany.
A theophany was something visible that showed that God the Son,
the invisible, was present. These showings only happened before
Jesus Christ was born, or took on a human nature. If you are
seeing theophanies, you need to get your eyes checked! The
Shekinah Glory refers to the
Lord Jesus Christ! Shekinah*
means to invisibly dwell in or live in something or someone. It
represents the invisibility of Christ, the God of Israel. In
Shekinah Glory*, glory means
the different visible manifestations or showings of Jesus Christ
as a theophany in the Old Testament. Through the
Shekinah Glory, God was
guiding and protecting His people!
*Shekinah comes from the word shakan which means to
invisibly dwell in or live in something or someone.
*Kabodh is the word for glory.
Exodus
16:10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community,
they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord
appearing in the cloud.
In the Old Testament, no one saw
God. They saw a theophany, something visible, showing that God was
present. God gave signs that He was with the Jews. These
manifestations, or signs of God’s presence, were used to teach,
guide, and direct the people of God. They were also signs of
blessing and security for Israel. God the Son was often seen as
the Angel of the Lord, though He never became an angel, Genesis
16:7. He was seen as a man, Genesis 18:1-15. He was the
Shekinah Glory in the
Tabernacle, Exodus 40:34-38, Exodus 25:21-22. His presence was
shown by a cloud above the Tabernacle by day and a pillar of fire
by night, Exodus 13:20-22. He was in the burning bush, Exodus 3:2.
These manifestations were surprising and wonderful visible forms!
This is how Christ, the Shekinah
Glory, appeared before the First Advent, before His birth.
Exodus
40:34-38 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory
of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the
tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory
of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys
whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons
of Israel would set out; but if the cloud was not taken up, then
they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. For
throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the
tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight
of all the house of Israel.
Jesus Christ, the
Shekinah Glory, did not live
inside of the Old Testament believers. He showed His presence
outside of them. In the Church-Age, the age we are in, the
Shekinah Glory lives inside
of us believers! In fact, we have all three Members of the Trinity
indwelling our bodies. We are temples of the Living God, the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! When people see our lives, they are
to see the manifestation of the
Shekinah Glory indwelling inside of us. They also see the
manifestation of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. God shows
His presence through us, fallen man! The more we learn, believe,
and apply the word and thinking of God, the more we will show the
signs of His presence in us: joy, peace, patience, love, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This is the
fruit of the Holy Spirit! God manifests or shows Himself through
us. The Shekinah Glory lives
in us!
John
14:20 In that day [Church Age] you will [come to] know that I am
in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
Colossians 1:27 To whom God willed to make known what is the
glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is
Christ in you, the confidence of the glory [the Shekinah Glory, or
the manifestation of TLJC].
When Jesus Christ was alive,
people came to know Him. They knew His character. Through Him,
they also came to know God the Father. Today, people cannot see
the humanity of Christ, but they can see the glory of God, or the
character of God, being shown through us. When people see us
living the spiritual life, they see us in a different way. They
see us having more compassion for others. They see us making loyal
commitments. They see us being more confident and serene, or
peaceful. We show an exuberance for life, full of joyful,
unrestrained high spirits! Wowa! Best of all, they see us being
more affectionate and loving! Just like the Jews could not see the
Shekinah Glory in the
Old Testament but could see a manifestation of His presence, so we
can reveal the
Shekinah Glory, or the
indwelling of Christ, to the world and to each other through our
body, the temple of the living God!
Galatians
2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who
live, but Christ [Shekinah Glory] lives in me; and the life which
I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who
loved me and gave Himself up for me.
What a great privilege we have
as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ; we have the
Shekinah Glory in us! The
same glory that God the Father gave to Jesus Christ is now in us!
God wants all believers to know this truth so that they can be
content! He doesn’t want us to drag people down, or to let people
drag us down! He doesn’t want us to worry about impressing Him!
He’s already impressed with us because of His righteousness which
we received at salvation! He loves us as much as He loves Jesus
Christ! That’s fantastic! He sees us in our new nature, not in our
old sin nature. Since our salvation, we have been in union with
Jesus Christ. God does not look at our sins; He sees Jesus Christ
in us and sees us as perfect! This impresses God! When we do sin,
if we don’t rebound and get on the right track again, He will
discipline us to get us there. We need to rest in Christ, in His
word and thinking. We need to have faith and confidence that Jesus
Christ is in us; we have the
Shekinah Glory! If God is for us, who can be against us?
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John 17:22-23 The glory which You have given Me I have given
to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I [Jesus
Christ] in them and You [God the Father] in Me, that they may
be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You
sent Me, and love them, even as You have love Me.
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding
as in a mirror [word of God]
the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same
image from glory [Jesus Christ] to glory [His glory in us],
just as from the Lord, the Spirit. |
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We are to know
no man because of his flesh, or his old sin nature. This means
that we are not to concentrate on peoples’ old sin natures and the
wrong things that they do. We are not to bring up other peoples
faults! Jesus Christ showed us how to live in the predesigned plan
of God. He continually used impersonal love. He did not judge
others. He did not gossip or malign others. We are to try to do
the same through the power of God! If it were up to us using our
power, we’d always fail! Even duct tape over our mouths wouldn’t
work. It takes supernatural power. God doesn’t judge us. So, who
are we to judge others? RELAX! Back off!! Live and let live!
Matthew
7:1 Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way
you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it
will be measured to you.
JIn
Genesis 32:24, “Then Jacob was left
alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.” This
man was a theophany, he was manifesting or showing the presence of
the Son of God. God “wrestled with Jacob” because Jacob needed to
have his human strength beaten out of him.
Jacob, whose name means liar and
cheater, had been relying on human strength, human power,
human viewpoint, and human gimmicks to try to get blessings in
life as well as to solve his problems. He needed to be made aware
of his relationship with God so that he could stop his conniving,
plotting, scheming, and using human solutions to try to solve his
problems. Therefore, God started the wrestling match with Jacob,
who was the greatest wrestler of his day, and dislocated Jacob’s
hip. Ouch!! God broke the stubborn, willful, self-reliant Jacob
and brought him to his senses. God was dealing directly and
personally with Jacob to change his life. He even gave him a
new name, Israel, a prince with God!
Genesis
32:25-28 When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he
touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh
was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me
go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go
unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And
he said, “Jacob.” He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob,
but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have
prevailed.”
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To be left
alone with God is the only true way of getting to know ourselves
and our ways. It is a very special time with God, sometimes to
wake us up and sometimes just to talk to God. It was not until
Jacob was left alone with the Lord that he saw himself as a liar,
etc…. God smashed him and woke him up spiritually. Then He changed
his name to Israel, a prince with God. God has a way to smash each
of us, to wake us up to what is important. Even the Lord Jesus
Christ was left alone with God before His crucifixion in the
Garden of Gethsemane. He certainly didn’t have any bad ways to
change; He just needed alone time with God. He was praying, having
conversation with God the Father. Once again, Jesus Christ showed
us the way. He showed us the way to be alone with God.
Matthew
15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life
for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command.
Jesus is perfect in His humanity;
we are imperfect. God accepts us the way we are. He made us the
way we are. He always treats us in grace and wants us to treat
ourselves graciously. He wants us to accept the fact that
sometimes we will have thoughts of despair and sometimes of faith.
Sometimes we’ll have doubts, and sometimes we’ll focus on the
solutions to our problems. Sometimes we’ll be very emotional!
Boohoo!!!! Other times we’ll be calm, again focusing on Jesus
Christ! The problem is not having
problems; it is letting the problem keep us down! We have to go
through problems so we will grow spiritually. However, when we
body slam our problems on God, we are focusing on the Lord Jesus
Christ and letting God handle our problems. We are letting God do
it His way in His time! God always does the best for us!
1 Peter
5:7 Cast [throw] all your cares on Him, for He cares for you.
Galatians 2:20 I’ve been crucified with Christ; and it is no
longer I who live, but Christ [the Shekinah Glory] lives in me;
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the
Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
We have the Shekinah Glory
inside of us! We have the Light of God in us. We need to let the
world see that Light. This can take place after we grow in the
knowledge, grace, and love of God. This happens gradually with God
the Holy Spirit changing us through our learning, believing, and
using Bible doctrine. After we grow spiritually, we increase in
the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We can look
forward to sharing in God’s glory! So, let’s let the Light of God
in us shine!! Let’s let the world see the
Shekinah Glory in us! Let’s
stick with God’s plan and introduce Him to the world! Let’s focus
on the Shekinah Glory!
Matthew
5:16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may
see your good works, and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.
Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I
fear?
Points To Remember for The Shekinah Glory, Part 1
1.
Shekinah Glory refers to the Lord Jesus Christ as a theophany.
What is a theophany? ____________________________________
_____________________________________________________
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What were some of the forms that God used to show the presence
of Jesus Christ?
_______________,
_______________ _______,
__________ ___ _____________,
__
______, ___ ________.
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2.
In the Church Age, the Shekinah Glory lives inside of every
believer! We show the signs of His presence as we grow in the
fruit of the Holy Spirit.
List the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
___________ , ________, ____________
______________, ______________,
______________, ______________,
______________,
______ - ___________
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3. By seeing the signs of the presence of the Shekinah
Glory in us, people also learn about God the Father. How
could you describe God the Father?
_______________________________________
_______________________________________ |
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4.
We need to rest in Christ, in His word and thinking. We need
to have faith and confidence that Jesus Christ is in us; we
have the Shekinah Glory! |
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5.
We are not to concentrate on peoples’ old sin natures and the
wrong things that they do. What are some ways we should treat
others?
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
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6.
Jacob wrestled with God because Jacob needed to have his human
strength beaten out of him. What did Jacob’s name mean?
__________,_____________ What was his new name? ___________
What does it mean? ____________________ |
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7.
To be left alone with God is the only true way of getting to
know ourselves and our ways. |
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8.
When we body slam our problems on God, we are focusing on the
Lord Jesus Christ and letting God handle our problems. |
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