Powerful Countenance

“Powerful Countenance” | Drench Series

Heavens. Two Intersecting Realms. Earth. We are the community that aligns these realms.

Acts 6:7 “Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in 
Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.”

Excellent service advances the gospel. 
Excellent service removes distractions, solves problems, and makes room for growth.
Excellent service is a cultures highest expressed spiritual value.

Acts 6:9-15 “And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen.  
And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.  Then they secretly induced men to say, ‘We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.’  And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council.  They also set up false witnesses who said, 
‘This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.’  And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.”

Your face is your public brain. Your face speaks to creation.
Your face affirms reality. Your face accepts and heals.
Your face is contagious. Your face empowers dominion.

A Smile (real or induced)
Facial muscles activate (zygomaticus major). Brain interprets feedback (emotional circuits)
Chemical release: Dopamine (reward) Endorphins (pleasure) Serotonin (mood) Opioids (Bonding) Cortisol (stress). — Mood Boosting and Social Bonding

Edward Tronick — Still Face Experiment (Harvard, 1975) 
“When a parent’s face goes expressionless, infants rapidly become distressed — even if only for a few seconds. The child’s nervous system depends on facial attunement for emotional stability.”

“The gaze of a responsive parent literally organizes the infant’s brain.” Dr. Allan Schore 
When a father’s face lights up with delight, the child’s brain releases dopamine and oxytocin, encoding the message: “I am good, I am seen, I bring joy.”

“Facial communication is the emotional language of the brain. The father’s face teaches the child how to read others, and how to love.” Dr. Daniel Siegel (The Developing Mind)

2 Corinthians 4:6 “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

 Stephen by the Spirit and wisdom is lifting a veil from 4,000 years of human misunderstanding. 
The misunderstanding that produced a religious legalism and violence that justified persecuting believers for preaching good news. 

Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion …”

His image brings life value worth.
Image (tselem) = reflection. Likeness (demuth) = resemblance.
The image is what we are by design. The likeness is what we grow into through relationship.

Genesis 5:3 “And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.”

Adam likeness brought out thorns and thistles. It was his look!
Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” 
The sin condition was passed on to all mankind.

Christ, the true Image, came to restore and radiate that image through us.
“The glory of God is a living man, and the life of man consists in beholding God.” Irenaeus

Salvation is not behaviour modification, it’s image restoration.
Romans 5:19 “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”

You were created to mirror heaven’s realities on earth. Dominion is not domination — it’s reflection. 
When you reflect God rightly, creation responds correctly.

What you behold you worship.
If your circumstance has to change, in order for your face to change, you are in bondage —
you're not looking at the Father. 
You are worshipping your past. — Hurt /Trauma Defeat /Disappointment /Accusation /Shame
I listen to someone for a while and I know what they worship.

Numbers 6:24–26 “The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.”

Psalm 27:8 “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’”  

2 Corinthians 3:18 “We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.”

Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence (FACE) is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Joy and pleasure are linked to the FACE and right hand of God — a fixed location of divine intimacy.

The “presence” (face) is a place of intimacy and a position of authority.

In that Divine location:
You see His face — joy restored.
You stand at His right hand — partnership and purpose restored.
You manifest His likeness — creation begins to respond again to divine image-bearers.

When your countenance mirrors His, everything around you aligns with heaven’s order.
Darkness yields to light.
Chaos bows to peace. 
Brokenness bends to wholeness.
“By gazing on God, we take on God’s form.” Gregory of Nazianzus

Psalm 67:1-2 “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us, that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all nations.”

“When the soul’s eye is purified and turned toward the divine light, it becomes the means through which God’s energy is revealed to the world.” Maximus the Confessor (Ambigua 10)

Transformation happens by beholding, not striving.
His peace becomes your peace.
His joy becomes your strength.
His authority becomes your dominion.

Genesis 32:30 “So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.’”

Genesis 33:10 “For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me.”

He became like us so we can be like Him. 
Colossians 1:15 “He is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible],”

“To see God is to be changed into His likeness.” Gregory of Nyssa

2 Corinthians 3:18 “We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image.”
Will you let His countenance lift yours?

Will you let His light restore your image?

Will you let your countenance change your world?