“Formerly in Israel, if a man went to inquire of God, he would say, ‘Come, let us go to the Seer,’ because the prophet of today used to be called a Seer” (1 Samuel 9:9).
It seemed like every time we met for Bible study—7:00 a.m., every day—the conversation would eventually circle back to those who would become that cadre, predestinated to be the manifested sons. The Seer spoke of them often, his voice rising like wind through the pines, full of faith and certainty. (Romans 8:18–19)
“I tell you,” he said one morning, “it is a worthy goal in this life to aspire to the high calling of God in Christ. But it is a paradox, for although we must study and pray to ‘make our calling and election sure,’ God chooses whomsoever He wills for this honor. No man ‘takes this honor unto himself.’ It is only by His grace that we can run the race.” (2 Peter 1:10; Hebrews 5:4; 1 Corinthians 15:10)
“I see what you mean,” I said.
“So,” the Seer continued, “knowing about the manifested sons coming on the scene in these latter days—and believing it—is just one of the puzzle pieces we need in order to see the whole picture. Christ, in chapters 14 through 17, elucidates several more and lines them out as a kind of stepping‑stone path to glorification with Him.”
“What’s the next puzzle piece?” I asked eagerly.
“Once a person learns and believes that there is spiritual growth in God’s plan for their life—growth like Peter, James, John, Paul, and yes, like the Savior Himself—then they are ready to actually walk the walk toward perfection, toward complete spiritual maturity. As Paul exhorts us, ‘Let us go on unto perfection.’” (Hebrews 6:1)
“Perfection?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said. “Have you not read where Christ commands us, ‘Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect’? If someone has enough faith to get this far, then they may begin to receive the next great teaching, found in John 14 through 17.” (Matthew 5:48).
“What is it?” I asked.
“It is to believe in the oneness of God. In order to be one of His elect manifested sons—to be just like Christ—one must get the correct concept of the Godhead. And here in John 14, Christ sets the record straight.”
The Seer leaned forward. “Christ flat‑out commands all manifested sons to believe: ‘Believe Me… believe that the Father is in Me.’” (John 14:10)
“Is that it? Just believe Him?” I asked.
“Yes,” the Seer said. “It is really very simple, and yet man’s innate unbelief hardens his heart so much that the seed‑word about God’s essence cannot get in. In John 14:1 He says, ‘Believe in Me.’ Then, in verse 6, He says, ‘I am the way to the Father; the truth about where God is and what His plans are; and the life, for very eternal life dwells inside of Christ.’ (John 14:1; John 14:6)
“Then Christ says, speaking of where the Father is, ‘He that has seen Me has seen the Father… Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me.’” (John 14:9–11).
“Precisely,” the Seer replied. “Paul said that the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in Christ. God is a Spirit. The Father is an invisible Spirit whose expressed image is His Son—Christ.” (Colossians 2:9; John 4:24; Hebrews 1:3).
I sat quietly for a moment, letting the Seer’s words settle. The morning light filtered through the trees, and his voice seemed to blend with the wind itself.
“So,” I finally said, “if the Father is the invisible Spirit inside the Son, then what does that mean for us? For ordinary believers?”
The Seer smiled. “Ahh, that is the next great mystery. Christ did not come merely to reveal who He is, but to reveal who we are meant to become. Listen carefully: the same Spirit that dwelt in Christ is the Spirit He promised to place inside of us. ‘I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.’” (John 14:18)
“You mean… Christ Himself comes to live inside us?”
“Exactly,” he said. “Paul called it ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ And John said, ‘Of His fullness have all we received.’ The very life of the Father that filled Christ is the life Christ pours into His sons and daughters.” (Colossians 1:27; John 1:16)
I leaned forward. “But how does that actually happen?”
“Through yielding,” the Seer replied. “Through surrender. Through letting the old self die so the new life can rise. Christ said, ‘Abide in Me, and I in you.’ That is not poetry—it is spiritual reality. As we abide, the divine nature begins to grow in us, little by little, like a seed becoming a tree.” (John 15:4; 2 Peter 1:4)
“So spiritual growth is not striving,” I said slowly. “It’s receiving.”
“Receiving and responding,” he corrected gently. “For the Spirit will lead you, but you must walk. The Spirit will teach you, but you must obey. And as you do, something marvelous happens: the Father who was in Christ begins to express Himself through you. That is how manifested sons are formed—not by human effort, but by divine indwelling.” (Romans 8:14; Galatians 2:20)
I sat back, overwhelmed. “It’s almost too much to take in.”
The Seer nodded. “It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. And the Kingdom begins inside you.” (Luke 12:32; Luke 17:21)
The Seer closed his eyes for a moment, as if listening to something—or Someone—beyond the room. When he opened them again, there was a quiet intensity in his gaze.
“You see,” he said, “Christ didn’t just come to reveal the Father. He came to reproduce the Father’s nature in us. That’s why He prayed, ‘That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us.’ That is the blueprint of manifested sonship.” (John 17:21)
I nodded slowly. “So the oneness Christ had with the Father… that’s the same oneness He wants for us?”
“Exactly,” the Seer said. “Not a lesser version. Not a symbolic version. The real thing. The same Spirit, the same mind, the same love. Paul said, ‘Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.’ And John said, ‘As He is, so are we in this world.’ These are not metaphors. They are invitations.” (Philippians 2:5; 1 John 4:17)
“But how does a person actually enter into that?” I asked.
The Seer leaned back, folding his hands. “By beholding. By looking at Christ until His image becomes the image in your own heart. ‘We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory.’ Transformation is not achieved—it is received.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
I felt something stir inside me. “So the more I behold Him, the more I become like Him.”
“Yes,” he said softly. “And the more you become like Him, the more the Father’s life flows through you. That is why Christ said, ‘He that believes on Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.’ Those rivers are the Father’s own Spirit, moving through His sons and daughters.” (John 7:38)
I sat quietly, letting the thought wash over me. The Seer continued, “And when that life matures—when Christ is fully formed in you—you will bear the hundredfold fruit. Not by striving, but by abiding. Not by effort, but by union.” But God uses suffering to purge us. Like a vine is pruned, so He prunes us. This increases our spiritual fruit production—from 30-fold, growing into 60-fold, and, on into 100-fold. But that is for another time” (Galatians 4:19; John 15:5).