2. Manifestation
(John 14:21 NKJV) "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
Jesus says some very astounding statements in this passage, and we need to accept that this is from the lips of our Lord and Savior. So, we need to note, listen to, and worshipfully yield to what he says:
- "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me." Jesus is giving us his perspective on who he believes loves him—the ones who obey him.
- "He who loves Me will be loved by My Father." This is Jesus telling us about God's love for us. In saying this, he just revealed a condition for being loved by God. He says that to receive this level of love from Father, we have to demonstrate love for our Lord Jesus. Jesus said that we do this by obeying him.
- "And I will love him." Now Jesus is saying that unless we demonstrate our love for him through obedience, he will not love us at this level.
I know that we have all been thoroughly taught that God's love for us is unconditional; and we instinctively want to read this belief into what Jesus just said. However, he did state a condition; he said, "He who loves me will be loved by my Father." So, instead of letting our pre-conceived beliefs—no matter how well intentioned—make us doubt what we just read; we should let the words of our Savior be the basis for our belief. This is precisely where we need to renew our minds to what he says, not try to find a way to dismiss it so our comfortable pre-believed dogmas will remain unruffled.
On the contrary, in this case we should definitely say, "He said it; I believe it, and that settles it." "Thy word is truth." Let's grapple with this statement from Jesus and allow the Living Word of God to shape our lives; to love Jesus is to obey him. This is important if we are to move on into what he has for our future—including our protection during what's ahead.
Given the truths of Jesus—as covered in the above passage and highlighted in the bullet points—we can then read and obtain the benefit of what he says next: "And manifest Myself to him."
Putting this together shows that loving Jesus requires our obedience. Obedience demonstrates not only our love of him, but also our faith in him:
(Hebrews 3:18–19 NKJV) And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? (19) So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
These two verses strongly imply that the reason for their disobedience was unbelief. In other words, they didn't trust God enough to obey him; they died in the wilderness. Jesus says that if we love him, we will trust him enough to obey him.
(John 14:21 NLT) "Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them."
If we trustingly obey our Lord, he and his Father will love us; and Jesus will manifest himself to us. We can note several exciting facets of this:
First, when Jesus manifests himself to us, it's not just for a social chitchat. He is Lord, the ruler of the universe. He has all authority, his name is above every other name, and he rules with a rod of iron (See: Psalm 2:9, Rev. 2:27, 12:5, 19:15). When Jesus—the Living Word of God—speaks, the lion roars, the scepter of righteousness comes into play, and the rod of iron smashes clay recalcitrance.
The gospels show us what happens when the Lord Jesus is in manifestations healing, miracles, crowds, teaching with authority, enlightenment, prophecy, love, exorcisms, miracles, abundant life, and copious provision. This is what he will do for you and through you, if and when he manifests himself.
(Matthew 8:8–10 NKJV) The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. (9) For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." (10) When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"
The Roman centurion in this passage had faith that made Jesus marvel; he demonstrated the faith that pleases God. Amazingly, this Gentile man knew that he only needed to hear Jesus say something, and it was done. The believing centurion understood authority; and he understood that Jesus—God's Living Word—has all authority. He put his trust in Jesus's words; that's what he came to Jesus for, and that's what he received. He received, believed, and acted on what Jesus said to him. The Lord declared that this was "great faith."
Hearing him speak should precede the manifestation of Jesus that we too want—revelation precedes manifestation. That is when the written word comes alive to us in a revelation from the Holy Spirit. After that, we want the manifestation of what the Living Word of God can do. He is anointed of the Holy Spirit as Jesus demonstrated in the four gospels.
When the Living Word of God speaks an anointed word, all of heaven backs it—the Holy Spirit, angels, etc. This is because God watches over his word to perform it (Jer. 1:12, Isa. 55:11). This is what produces the manifestation of a miracle, answered prayer, dream fulfilment, healing, provision, conviction for the sinner, the new birth, sanctification, holiness, etc.
In previous seasons in God, we have felt and seen the results of his manifestation in church meetings or when evangelizing. We may have also experienced Jesus like this in our private times of prayer, worship, or corporate worship, etc. This is right and brilliantly good. However, Jesus wants his manifestation in and around us to be continuous; he wants God, him, and us to abide together permanently—habitation. (We will explore this in the next section.)
For now, let's focus on going from revelation to manifestation. Previously, we looked at our part in receiving revelation. In this section, we have seen that revelation can lead to manifestation under Jesus's revealed conditions:
- Get to know him in personal relationship and through God's word.
- Believe his word and revelation to you by believing in his absolute authority.
- Love him by obeying him.
Our obedience/faith in him leads to manifestation. For example:
- If his revelation is a promise, for it to be manifested we need to believe, receive, nurture, and agree with it in our words and actions—no matter how long this takes.
- If his revelation is an instruction, we need to obey it for potential blessing, provision, or protection, etc.
- If it's an encouragement, we need to receive it.
- If it's mind-renewing truth, we need to actively displace every other thought or lie from our thinking. This will transform us (Rom. 12:2).
- If it's an insight, prophetic word, prayer, or a teaching, we need to declare it, etc.
- If it's an understanding of or a drawing to praise and worship, we need to do it truthfully, authentically, and in the spirit. When we do, God will inhabit our praise and be manifested to us.
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