In the reconciliation stage the King, the Lord Jesus, comes to us and begins to receive us to Himself. He being what He is, and we being what we are, a reconciliation process is necessary. We are reconciled to Him, and He to us, by a change in what we are. Christ does not change. He is perfect, having been made so through suffering (Hebrews 2:10). Now we must be made perfect through suffering.

As the transformation from dead soul to life-giving spirit takes place in us, the Lord Jesus Himself comes to us through the Spirit in the union stage. This is not a change in what we ourselves are, as is true of the formation stage, but a coming to us of the Person of Christ. He comes to be with us, to dwell in us, to prepare a dwelling place for God. We are being created as the eternal Temple of God.

It is true that the Lord Jesus is in Heaven at the right hand of God and is making intercession for us. It is true also that Jesus comes to the saint, through the Spirit, and personally supervises the completing and perfecting of the Temple of God, the Wife of the Lamb, the new Jerusalem.

When the Scripture teaches that the Lord comes to us through the Spirit it does not mean the Spirit comes as a substitute for the Lord; it means that Jesus Himself comes through the Presence of the Spirit, rather than in Person as a separate Being as will be true at His coming to the earth.

The Persons of the Godhead are never confused as to identity.

None of Them is an individual for the Three are One. We ourselves are learning to forsake our individuality in favor of being made an eternal, integral part of that Oneness. However, neither we nor They ever lose our identity. The Father is the Father. The Son is the Son. The Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit. There are three Persons who are One in Divine Being, Substance, and Nature.

Yet they are distinct as to identity. The Father did not cry out to the Son, "Not My will but Yours be done." The Holy Spirit was not slain for our sins. The Father did not learn obedience to the Son. The Father is greater than the Son. When the creation has been made subject to the Son, the Son will be subject to the Father so God may be All in all (I Corinthians 15:28).

The reason we are emphasizing the distinctness of the Persons of the Godhead is that it is impossible for us to understand the marriage of the Lamb, particularly the union stage, unless we perceive that the Godhead consists of three distinct Persons who are One in Being, Substance, and Nature but who are distinct as to identity.

If we view the Godhead as one Person in three manifestations such that distinctness of personality is impossible, the marriage of the Lamb cannot be comprehended fully. If it is true that the Father and the Son are the same Person, much of the New Testament is incoherent. If Jesus is the Father and not the Son of the Father, the Scriptures may be a theologian's delight but they are a jumble of confusion to the average believer.

To be continued.