The Expression of the Father
Jesus Christ is the Father made visible. This means that He is the expression of the Father. This means that He is the Word of God! Words are the vehicles by which we humans can express ourselves. We communicate through words (and other means). God doesn't need words to communicate, yet He does want to express to humanity so He uses the human mode of expression ... speech or word. When we say that Jesus is the image of God, we are saying that He is the word or expression of God. He is God made visible to this realm! THE IMAGE OF GOD.

The Expression of the Son
Now the Father loves the Son so much that He wants the Son to be able to express Himself as well. The Father wants an image of the Son. He wants the Son to be made visible. In other words, He wants the Son to be glorified. To glorify means to make manifest or visible. The Father wants all creatures, visible and invisible, to see how beautiful His Son is! The fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ in bodily form. Christ is the fullness of the Father's glory! He is the exact representation of His being. All treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Him. He is full of the grace and truth of the Father. If Christ bears the image of the Father, then who bears the image of the Son? There is a person who can bear His image. This person has His Life in her. This person is destined to express the very glory of God in all realms! This person is called Ecclesia: the glorious church! She is to make visible the manifest wisdom of God to the principalities and power in the heavenly places. (Eph. 3:10)
SHE IS TO EXPRESS CHRIST!
In fact, His fullness is in Her! (see Eph. 1:23) Only this woman can express Christ. You cannot express Him. I cannot express Him. Only she can! She is a person, but she is a person who has many members. A BODY! As a matter of fact, isn't that what a body is for; to express the person living inside of that body? The physical body expresses that which is not physical, the soul and the spirit.

The Expression of Man
Does man have an image? Does man express himself? Yes, man has created his own image. Whenever man attempts to express Christ with his own human effort, it creates an image. This image is called RELIGION! Religion does not express Christ, it only expresses man. Buildings cannot express Christ. Programs, salaries, agendas, and clergy cannot express Christ. Organizations and rituals can never express Christ. In short: the religious system cannot express Christ. Only she can express Christ!

How Can We See Her?
In John 12 there were some Greeks who came to Phillip and asked to see Jesus. The manner in which the Lord responded to them is fascinating.

First, He said that the time had come for the Son of Man to be glorified (made visible). Then He said: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." It is here where Christ shows us the secret of how He will become visible in the world. THE SECRET IS A SEED! Of course the seed is Him; but not only Him! Contained within the Seed are all those who were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world (eph. 1:4)! But the only way that the Seed could release the seeds was to die. When He died, we all died with Him because we were in Him. But when He rose, we all rose with Him as well! The Seed was multiplied! But . . . there is still one problem. It has to do with life.

Jesus said that the only way He would be seen would be by the love we have for one another. The problem is that we just can't seem to do that! No matter how hard we try, we always seem to fall short of God's love for the brethren. The reason is that we are attempting to love one another by the strength of our own life! Jesus said that we need to lose our life and learn to live by the life of Another! Jesus Christ Himself lived by the Life of His Father. He loved by the Life of His Father. He spoke by the Life of His Father. He ministered by the Life of His Father.

If Christ is going to be expressed, we will need to live together as His Body. If that Lady called Ecclesia is going to be seen, her members will need to learn to draw their life from their Head! She can only function by Divine Life! She is to live and breathe Christ! For She is to Him, and for Him, and in Him, and by Him, and through Him!

If you are a believer, then you have Christ Jesus living inside of you. You need to get to know Him in a deep, intimate way. You not only have Christ in you, you are also "in Christ". These are the apostle Paul's most frequently used phrases. "Christ in you" and "you in Christ". This means that you are one with Him! Absolutely inseparable! He said that just as He and the Father are one, so are you and He. Now that's oneness! These things are mysteries and secrets of God. We all need revelation to know these secrets and experience them.

written by Milt Rodriguez