Category Archives: Religion vs. Abiding in Christ

Have We Believed INTO Christ?

by Michael

I read something the other day by T. Austin Sparks that in few words nailed what the Lord has been stirring up in me over the last year…

“This whole Bible is about bringing man back to God, bringing him into God, and restoring him to his environment. ‘In Him we live and move and have our being’ is the fundamental truth of the spiritual life… Have you got that? You look again at any seemingly ‘little’ thing that the Lord says, and if you could see you would find that you have a universe of meaning in it.”

What seems a “little thing” to the natural man is a BIG thing to God and how I have overlooked it all these years. Take the little words into and in mentioned above. Sparks nails it… the whole Bible is about bringing man INTO God. So that it may be said of us, “IN Him we live and move and have our being”!

Why is it so hard for us to see ourselves as living NOW in the kingdom of God? What environment are we really of? Could the reason be that many Christians live dual lives?  They see themselves as having their worldly lives and their Christian lives which mostly, sad to say, consists of attending church meetings. Yet, is this the “life” that Jesus died and rose again for us to walk in, lives that are neither spiritually hot nor cold, but a lukewarm mixture? Is this the powerful Spirit led ekklesia that turned the world upside down in the first century? Why is it so hard for us to believe that by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross the veil of separation between one another and between us and our Father has been torn down? Why do we live our lives as though we are separate from our Father down here on earth and from being truly “members one of another in Christ” as His living organism? Why do we compartmentalize our lives and think nothing of it?

I believe I have been shown part of the reason and it is because of many poorly translated scriptures by the not always so Spirit led translators that were ignorant of the power of God to translate His saints out of this world system and its controls into the presence of the Father and the Son and make us full citizens of their kingdom. Intellectualism blinded many of these translators to the fact that true faith places us INTO a deep and personal relationship where we abide from that point on IN the Father and the Son and where we are given the mind of Christ concerning the things of the kingdom of God.

Did you know that most verses in the Bible that have to do with our initial step of believing (salvation verses) are translated wrong? Take the Greek word εἰς, eis. Where this word is used regarding the initial act of believing, it is almost never properly translated into its rich, true meaning, the word “into,” yet that is exactly what happens when saving faith has been worked into us by the Father. We are transported out of the Old Adam who abides in the kingdoms of this world, controlled by the prince of this world, and made part of “one new man IN Christ” by being placed into Him and into the kingdom of God. It is a lack of fully realizing our new place IN Christ that keeps most of Christen-dom just that — dumb! We remain ignorant of the fact that “we NOW dwell in heavenly places IN Christ Jesus” and continue to live our lives as if they are just that, OUR LIVES (see Galatians 2:20)!

Typically when a modern Christian “comes to Christ” they “say a sinner’s prayer” and go on living like they are mere humans left here on earth to live by the power of their own energies and thoughts, yet doing them from that point on, “for God.” NOT! I remember how miserably I failed to “be a witness for Christ” when I was a baby Christian. I was told by my pastor that now that I was saved I had to witness to people about Jesus and bring them to church. So I went to the local Christian bookstore and bought a handful of tracts and started giving them to my co-workers. Their reaction was not one of acceptance. In fact we almost came to blows over it. Why? Because the arm of the flesh can not do the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. The one guy that I got to come to church with us was really there so he could get a date with the good looking daughter of the pastor. After he got his date he never came back.

Didn’t Jesus say, “Apart from me you can do nothing”? I am afraid that most of the “good works” that I did back then were just that in the eyes of God – NOTHING! Why? Because they did not come out from Him, but rather were born from a well meaning religious mind that was not yielded to the Spirit of God. Yet, I was only following the example of my church leaders. Go figure! I believe that part of the reason we have overlooked our high callings IN Christ Jesus (see Philippians 3:14 and 1 John 3:1) is due to improperly translated scriptures that fail to convey the message of true faith’s transforming work “taking us out of the kingdom of darkness into His marvelous light.”

Here are some examples where this little word “into” was mistranslated into prepositions that get us to, unto, upon, etc. Christ, but never get us to that place where we believe that salvation actually puts us INTO Jesus Christ and the Father and they IN us (see Jesus prayer in John chapter 17).

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in (Grk. εἰς eis – into) him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into (Grk. εἰς eis – into) the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on (Grk. εἰς eis – into) him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in (Grk. εἰς eis – into) the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18 KJ2000)

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on (Grk. εἰς eis – into) him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into (Grk. εἰς eis – into) condemnation; but is passed from death unto (Grk. εἰς eis – into) life. (John 5:24 KJ2000)

Labor not for the food which perishes, but for that food which endures unto (Grk. εἰς eis – into) everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for on him has God the Father set his seal. Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that you believe on (Grk. εἰς eis – into) him whom he has sent. (John 6:27-29 KJ2000)

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto (Grk. εἰς eis – into) me, and drink. He that believes on (Grk. εἰς eis – into) me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spoke he of the Spirit, whom they that believe on (Grk. εἰς eis – into) him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:37-39 KJ2000)

And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in (Grk. εἰς eis – into) Christ. (Acts 24:24 KJV)

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon (Grk. εἰς eis – into) me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10 KJ2000)

Once I saw that believing faith actually took me out of the world system (Grk. ek ho kosmos) and placed me IN Christ (Grk. en Christos), then all these other passages about abiding IN Him took on greater depth. Here are just a few verses that speak of our actual position IN Christ…

[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in (Grk. ἐν en – in) Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in (Grk. ἐν en – in) Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2 KJV)

So then they that are in (Grk. ἐν en – in) the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in (Grk. ἐν en – in) the flesh, but in (Grk. ἐν en – in) the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in (Grk. ἐν en – in) you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in (Grk. ἐν en – in) you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in (Grk. ἐν en – in) you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also bring to life your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in (Grk. ἐν en – in) you. (Romans 8:8-11 KJ2000)

Every branch in (Grk. ἐν en – in) me that bears not fruit he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in (Grk. ἐν en – in) me, and I in (Grk. ἐν en – in) you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in (Grk. ἐν en – in) the vine; no more can you, except you abide in (Grk. ἐν en – in) me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in (Grk. ἐν en – in) me, and I in (Grk. ἐν en – in) him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. If a man abides not in (Grk. ἐν en – in) me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into (Grk. εἰς eis – into) the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in (Grk. ἐν en – in) me, and my words abide in (Grk. ἐν en – in) you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. (John 15:2-7 KJ2000)

I have manifested your name unto the men that you gave me out of the world (Grk. ek kosmos – out from the world system not out from the earth) yours they were, and you gave them to me; and they have kept your word. (John 17:6 KJ2000)

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe on (Grk. εἰς eis – into) me through their word; That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in (Grk. ἐν en – in) me, and I in (Grk. ἐν en – in) you, that they also may be one in (Grk. ἐν en – in) us: that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21 KJ2000)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into (Grk. εἰς eis – into) His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10 HCSB)

For as many of you as have been baptized into (Grk. baptizo  eis – immersed into) Christ have put on (Grk. enduo – sunk into) Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in (en) Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:27-28 KJ2000).

Seeing myself totally immersed into the Father and the Son, sunk into and become ONE in them, has made all the difference. Oh, what a great salvation we have as we abide IN the Son of God and the Father by the Spirit which has been given us! All things are ours IN Christ. “I have strength for all things IN CHRIST the One strengthening me.” (Philippians 4:13 LITV – emphasis added).

Here is a list of some of the things that are ours as we abide IN Christ.

* We believe and obey by the faith of Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:16 and Philippians 3:9)

* Our life is His life within us (John 6:53-57 and Galatians 2:20)

* Our light is His light within (John 8:12)

* His Spirit is our spirit within and is our Teacher (John 14:26, 1 John 2:26-27)

* Ours is the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5, 1 John 2:6 and 1 Peter 4:1)

* His inheritance in the Father is ours as well (Romans 8:17)

* His sufferings are our sufferings (Romans 8:17, Matthew 20:23, 2 Corinthians 1:5)

* His death is our death (Romans 6:3-5, Galatians 2:20, 1 Timothy 2:11)

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given… to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages IN GOD who created all things; that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 3:8-10 RSVA- emphasis added)

Living without an Agenda of Our Own

by Michael

jesus_washing_feetYesterday my wife and I went to a gathering of saints at one of their homes. We had known these brothers and sister since about 1970. Over the years since Jesus first knit us together we have all gone different ways and have had many different experiences in churches and life as a whole. It was really good to just come together as God’s family with no one having an agenda in mind. How often in the past I have seen Christians come together not for the best, but for the worst. When we tried to come together and it seemed that somebody (even me) had an agenda to see something happen or to get our point across and it ruined the whole time. Resting in Jesus’ presence in each one of us made all the difference, yesterday, and it was from there that HE was able to speak and act according to HIS will among us. What a difference it made.

Personal agendas can be a deadly thing in the family of God. Jesus did not live by HIS own agenda. He lived by every word that proceeded from the mouth of His Father. This was His bread (see John 4:7-32). He only did the works that He saw His Father doing. He rested in the will of the Father and in so doing He was without sin. He truly walked by faith all the days of His life right up until the night He was to go to the cross. It was then He prayed, “Father, I would that this cup pass from me… never the less, not my will, but yours be done.” He would not slip into His own will or agenda even to save His own life.

All too often we get together with other Christians with a mind to “minister” to them. We have an agenda to “strut our stuff” and impress others or convince them instead of just relaxing and being members one of another in Christ’s body. I am getting where I hate that word, “ministry,” but there was a time that it was all I could think about. This word “minister” and its derivatives were used in the KJV instead of being properly translated, “to serve,” “servant” or “service” as one who waits on tables. Jesus’ disciples didn’t get it, either. Right up until the end they were arguing over who would be first in Christ’s new kingdom government. He had to finally show them by example that leadership in His kingdom is nothing more than servant-hood and laying down ones life for others. He was a Servant in all ways. Even at the last supper where He stripped Himself of his garments, wrapped Himself in a servant’s towel and washed each of their feet. After He was finished He said to them,

“You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (John 13:13-17 RSVA)

Brothers and sisters, let us love and serve one another without an agenda other than to be obedient to the Father in all humility. God is love and love seeks not its own. Only as we abide in His rest will we hear His voice. Remember God’s warning to Israel,

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning [to Me] and resting [in Me] you shall be saved; in quietness and in [trusting] confidence shall be your strength. But you would not, (Isaiah 30:15 AMP)

Let us love one another in deed and in truth, preferring and encouraging one another in all things.

Will the Real Church Please Sit Down?

by Michael

pregnant-womanToday there is much activity that is generated and perpetuated by the visible “church.” But is “doing church” being the real church? Does God need OUR creativity and action to accomplish HIS plan? “The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that you build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?” says the Lord. Yes, where IS the place of His rest?

I recently have been communicating with a brother in the north-eastern U.S. about what it means to be the church and he wrote:

“there are a whole bunch of folks out there now… all  somewhere along on the journey… and He is doing the connecting… encouraging us all that this is how it will be… your life touches mine… mine touches yours… and all of it encourages  us to keep pressing into Him…. it’s real… it’s His way… He will do it… just need to keep my hands off of it”

 It is as simple as LIFE IN Christ. Those who live IN and draw their life from Him are Christians (Christ ones). This is what the Gospel of John is all about. Jesus is the True Vine and we who abide in and obtain all our sustenance from Him are the branches, members of the Vine. Once we are abiding there, the fruit bearing is automatic… not something we do, but something that HE makes happen as we rest IN Him. Does a woman make a baby in her womb grow by giving thought to it and striving? Many women are barren because they are trying too hard to have a baby! No, a woman has an intimate relationship with a man in a position of rest and a child is conceived and grows until it becomes a living manifestation of that union. The Church that abides in Christ is that woman and Jesus Christ is the man. Jesus said, “Abide in me and I will abide in you and you shall bring forth much fruit.” It is all about abiding– making Jesus our abode. He also said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” We rest IN Him. “Labor therefore to enter into that rest.” That is when God moves. What is the church? It is where two or three are gathered who abide in His name, IN His personage.

T. Austin-Sparks wrote:

When you touch these things, human language is a vain instrument for expression. “The exceeding greatness of His power” – the superlatives in this realm! Oh, for this enlargement by a new apprehension of the greatness of Christ in His Person, in His death, in His resurrection! Well, then, the supreme thing the New Testament shows is that the Church on its true, spiritual basis corresponds to Christ risen. Not “the Church” that we know here on earth, for it does not. But God’s thought about the Church is not an impossible and merely idealistic one. It is a practical thing. Two saints, simple, humble and unimportant in this world, but really meeting together in the Spirit, can be a functioning instrument of Him to whom has been committed all authority in heaven and on earth. With them all these old limitations can be dismissed and they can at one moment touch all the ends of the earth. Do you believe that? That is really the meaning of our glorying in Christ risen. It has to be something more than emotion, and more than glorious doctrine; yes, more than a truth to which we give some assent…. If it is true that we are one with a risen, enthroned Lord, it ought to have tremendous repercussions. May it be so!

Going on Without the Camp

by Michael

Crowded CampingNow Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it without the camp, afar off from the camp; and he called it, The tent of meeting. And it came to pass, that every one that sought Jehovah went out unto the tent of meeting, which was without the camp.
(Exo 33:7 ASV)

Have you ever gone out on a weekend camping trip to experience God’s undefiled creation only to end up at a camp sight that is soon crowded with other campers, their screaming kids, barking dogs, blaring boom boxes, roaring dirt bikes and ATV’s, etc., and you end up wondering what it means to “get away from it all”? Well, for may of us our first attempts at following Jesus Christ was not much different. In our pursuit of God’s created church there was soon so much noise and confusion among other Christians that we could no longer hear the voice of the One who had drawn us away from the world unto Himself.

The following is from T. Austin-Sparks and I couldn’t have said it better about what it means to go on without the camp…

Let us go out to Him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace He bore. (Hebrews 13:13 NLT)

We can organize our movements, lay our plans, and draft our schemes. We can lay it all out according to the New Testament and it can be dead, ineffective…. You see the difference between a traditional system, whether it be Judaism or Christianity, and a living thing coming all the time in a living way out from the Christ Himself by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit Himself doing it. Well, this is going to cost something. See what it meant for these people. At the end of this letter you come on this: “Wherefore, Christ also… suffered without the camp. Let us therefore go to Him without the camp, bearing His reproach.” The camp was Judaism, and He suffered without the camp because He repudiated Judaism and stood for the realization of all God’s thoughts as in Himself personally. He gathered up everything into His own person, “I am.” It is the Christ who is the full sum and embodiment of all God’s thoughts and ways, and that take s the place of Judaism, and He, therefore, repudiated Judaism and suffered without the camp. “Let us go to Him without the camp.”

What is the issue? If you are going to take this line you are going to repudiate organized Christianity, going to repudiate Christendom as a traditional system, going to repudiate that order of things which is made, and going, therefore, to suffer reproach and be outside of the camp suffering His reproach. In other words, we are immediately going to come up against that force of antagonism to stop what has come in through the death and resurrection and exaltation of the Lord Jesus, the heavenly thing. Is it not sad that these people met it through God’s historic people, the people who claimed to have the oracles, to be the elect, to be the favored of the Lord? It is always like that. “A man’s foes shall be those of his own household.” Do not narrow that down to the limits of a family where one is a Christian and all the rest are not. That is not the point at all. It is his own household, the Christian household. You will meet the antagonism to what has come in from heaven as a heavenly thing; you will meet the antagonism amongst those who are the traditional people of God in this dispensation. That is how it will be. That is going to be the cost of a walk in Life with the Lord and not with man, knowing the Lord for yourself.

By T. Austin-Sparks from: The Kingdom That Cannot be Shaken – Chapter 2 

What Is the New Covenant and Are We Living In it?

by Michael

ImageMy wife grew up in a very similar church experience as many of us have. She sinned every week and constantly, like so many in the church, had to go down to the altar and “recommit” her life to Jesus each Sunday or take a chance on dying and going to hell. She said that it seemed that Christ had the power to save her, but no power to keep her saved. She had to do it all from that point on by living a pure life and doing good works according to church doctrine and rules that must be kept.

I had a very similar church upbringing as she did, except I was raised a Catholic and had the same sin issue and the same striving against sin with the same necessity of confessing my sins and going down to the altar every Sunday to take “holy communion” that I might get right with God again and then the cycle started all over again the following week. What bondage!

Things became very clear to me that my salvation was not a result of my works, but God’s when I read chapter eight of Hebrews. There I read the difference between the Old Covenant of works and the New Covenant which Jeremiah prophesied of God’s wonderful grace. The writer of Hebrews wrote:

“For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he says, Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” (Heb 8:7-12 KJ2000)

The first covenant (the old covenant) was doomed to failure because it hinged on the obedience of seemingly endless list of commandments that the Hebrews had to keep.by their own strength and as we read her they failed and broke the covenant that they made with God. So God knowing this had a further plan that WOULD work and in this plan it was not dependent on the righteous of the first Adam (fallen man), but the righteousness of the Last Adam, Jesus Christ. The first covenant was filled with “thou shalt’s and thow shalt not’s” but the second and more perfect covenant is pronounce with a short list of “I WILL’s” and it is all fulfilled by the working of the will of God in us:

I will make a new covenant
I will put my laws into their minds
I will write my laws in their hearts
I will be to them a God and they shall be my people
They shall not teach every man his neighbor…for all shall know me
I will be merciful to their unrighteousness
I will remember their sins no more

In Ezekiel we read a bit more about this covenant saying,

“And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.” (Eze 36:23-27 KJ2000)

I will sanctify my great name
I will be sanctified in you
I will take you from among the nations
I will sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean
I will cleanse you
I will give you a new heart
I will put a new spirit within you
I will take away your stoney hearts
I will cause you to walk in my statues and do them

Nope, not a single “thou shalt” or “thou shalt not,” but fifteen “I will…” statements by God. The New Covenant is “good news” because Jesus and the Spirit of God gives those who surrender to Christ the power to obey Him and live upright lives IN Him. We live by God’s power and heart and not our own inability to please Him by our works.  So what are all these statutes and commandments He puts on our hearts? In Hebrews again we read,

In that he says, A new covenant, he has made the first old. Now that which decays and grows old is ready to vanish away.
(Heb 8:13 KJ2000)

If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
(Heb 7:11-12 KJ2000)

Jesus Christ is our great High Priest and with Him and His covenant came in a New and changed law. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.” (Joh 13:34-35 KJ2000)

Paul wrote, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, self-control: against such there is no law.” (Gal 5:22-23 KJ2000)

And in Romans we read, “Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loves another has fulfilled the law. For this, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, You shall not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Rom 13:8-9 KJ2000)

So, as we abide IN Christ we now find that we have a new heart, a new mind (the mind of Christ), a new Spirit, the Spirit of God, and are able to walk in His New Commandment, the law of love that sums up the whole old covenant law and it is all by the power of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the sending forth of His Holy Spirit to abide in us. THIS is the Good News of the gospel, not a new list of rules and regulations we have to keep by our own strength… a list that we can not keep any more that the Hebrew people could keep the laws of the first covenant. The New Covenant is not about us, but it is all about Him and we who abide IN Him as members of HIS body. Amen, Lord. So be it!

Transparency and Freedom

by Michael

woman_at_the_well

However, their minds were hardened, for to this day the same veil is still there when they read the old covenant. Only in union with Christ is that veil removed. Yet even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom. As all of us reflect the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, we are being transformed into the same image with ever-increasing glory by the Lord’s Spirit. (2Co 3:14-18 ISV)

Recently I had an exchange with a sister with whom I was in high school. We didn’t know one another back then other than by sight. In fact I find that I really knew very few people back then because of the veil we all projected for fear that we would not be loved for being simply who we were. There was always someone looking for a way to get a leg up and over another person so that they would look good and appear above the rest at their expense.

There is the spiritual man and then there is the carnal or worldly man. The world has been all about hiding and intrigue ever since Adam and Even sinned and covered themselves with fig leaves and hid from God. Men prefer darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.

Anyway, my exchange by email with this sister (who I really met for the first time at recent at a high school reunion) has been going very well, because we can now communicate spirit to spirit with transparency because we both have the Holy Spirit within us and have been maturing in Christ.

It is interesting to read the gospels and Jesus’ encounter with the people of Israel in light of transparency or the lack thereof. Most didn’t have a clue where He was coming from or what He was saying. His greatest appeal to most of them was the fact that He could heal or give them a free meal when hungry. But there were a small handful that He could speak to who had an unveiled face and nothing to hide. Take the Samaritan woman at the well, for instance. What a contrast this “sinner” was with the learned Jews who constantly sough to trap Him from behind their veiled faces… the very meaning of the word hypocrite! To her He revealed great spiritual truths that the learned Pharisee, Nicodemus, couldn’t begin to understand and she was a “sinner” and a “dog” in their eyes. Her unveiled face and honesty made all the difference.

The root of the word hypocrite according to Merrium-Webster:

Middle English ypocrite, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin hypocrita, from Greek hypokritēs actor, hypocrite, from hypokrinesthai

These Greek actors wore masks to deceive and play the part of the person they portrayed. Their faces were “veiled.” So we see Jesus calling these sanctimonious, learned Jews who sought to trap him, hypocrites. He never once called a sinner, harlot, or a publican or even a hated Roman by that name. They all knew that they needed help and came to Jesus, the Great Physician, for that help and he turned none of them away. When criticized by the religious Jews for having contact with the sinners Jesus said, “Those who are whole need not a physician, but those who are sick.”

Have you, as one of His saints, every had a religious person come up to you and fain that they really liked you and wanted to be taken into their confidence, only to find that once you revealed to them what you really felt or believed,  they then turned on you and tried to capture or attack you in their vein philosophies and self-righteousness? Have you ever been wounded by such people simply because you laid open your heart to them and then were trampled into the ground? I have.

Jesus warned us to “be wise as serpents, but harmless as doves.” He warned us not to spill our pearls before swine because first they will stomp your pearls in the mud and then turn and tare you apart! Transparency is something that makes us vulnerable, but you will see in the Gospels that Jesus was cautious with the Pharisees and Scribes, but open with those who the Father gave Him. In fact He prayed regarding this contrast saying,

“’O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.’ My Father has given me authority over everything. No one really knows the Son except the Father, and no one really knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Luk 10:21-22 NLT)

Dear saints, we should be able to be “open faced” with one another, because the love of God compels us to reach out to one another in the bond of Christ as members of His body. If we find that we are being betrayed by a person we confided in or that they never reveal what is in their hearts to us and heart to heart communication is a one way street, chances are that we are dealing with either a wounded person that has not been healed or a hypocrite. Remember, our enemy has sown tares in among the wheat in the Father’s field.

But, oh, what a joy it is when we can communicate in loving safety with another in the Spirit and go away knowing we have found a true member of our Spiritual family and just been edified by the experience. This experience keeps us searching and hoping for a broader manifestation of the kingdom of God where unveiled faces abound. Remember, “Only in union with Christ is that veil removed.”

What a promise there is connected if we live with an unveiled face! “As all of us reflect the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, we are being transformed into the same image with ever-increasing glory by the Lord’s Spirit.” Transparency leads to transformation! We are not being conformed to this world, but transformed into the same image of Jesus Christ by the mind of Christ within whom we behold with open faces and are changed from glory to glory. Remember it is for freedom that Christ has set us free and with that freedom comes transparency and a release from all fear. This transparency affords the revelation of Christ’s true beauty deep from within, the beauty of the Lamb abiding there.

Forever Pilgrims

by Michael

PioneersTherefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works… And this we will do if God permits.
(Heb 6:1-3 RSVA) [emphasis added]

How often we have seen ourselves clinging to something as though we have arrived in our Christian walk? As I look around Christendom this seems to be the norm more than the exception. We find ourselves in a nice comfortable meeting, church building or denomination where there are no threats and where there is no one to challenge us or stretch us or even push us out of the nest and we settle in and vegetate. Funny how God does not allow these things to continue in our lives if we are fully committed unto His Son and abide IN Him.

Many of us think we have got God, His kingdom and what it means to do “church” all in a neat theological bag. But even Paul was not so foolish. He wrote,

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if indeed I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Phi 3:12-14 KJ2000)

Let us go on… I follow after, if I might apprehend… the very reason that Christ apprehended me for! To not go on is to be caught-up and entangled in dead works at best! You see, God is Spirit and they who would worship Him must do so in Spirit and in Truth (verity). When we cease to follow on after the Lord in our lives is when we start living a lie.

“Forgetting those things which are behind…” Wow! How many of us have done that? How many are doing what we are doing because of past events in our lives, past comforts or past woundings? We have become cogs in a wheel that goes endlessly around in circles. My daughter, Dinah, when she was in a church youth group was asked by the leader with the other kids, what they thought of Sunday services. The good church kids all had a nice, warm, churchy things to say about church services, but not Dinah. They finally got around to asking her and she said, “I think going the Sunday service is like going to the circus… if you seen one you have seen them all.” I call this trap, “the tyranny of the comfortable.” We humans are quite adaptable and love our comfort.

No, if we are intent on following Jesus we will find ourselves “outside the camp, bearing His reproach” and eventually find that here on this earth we have no continuing city…. BUT do we throw in the towel and settle down and become wilderness dwellers for the sake of being “in the wilderness”? No, that can be a trap as well. Even that can become too comfortable. If we are called to follow Jesus we will follow Him wherever He goes (Rev. 14:4).

I would like to share this bit of revelation from T. A. Sparks on this theme…

To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. (Revelation 2:17)

God always keeps the revelation of Himself in Christ bound up with practical situations. You and I can never get revelation other than in connection with some necessity. We cannot get it simply as a matter of information. That is information, that is not revelation. We cannot get it by studying. When the Lord gave the manna in the wilderness (a type of Christ as the Bread from heaven), He stipulated very strongly that not one fragment more than the day’s need was to be gathered, and that if they went beyond the measure of immediate need, disease and death would break out and overtake them. The principle, the law, of the manna, is that God keeps revelation of Himself in Christ bound up with practical situations of necessity, and we are not going to have revelation as mere teaching, doctrine, interpretation, theory, or anything as a thing, which means that God is going to put you and me into situations where only the revelation of Christ can help us and save us….

Now then, that is why the Lord would keep us in situations which are acute, real. The Lord is against our getting out on theoretical lines with truth, out on technical lines. Oh, let us shun technique as a thing in itself and recognize this, that, although the New Testament has in it a technique, we cannot merely extract the technique and apply it. We have to come into New Testament situations to get a revelation of Christ to meet that situation. So that the Holy Spirit’s way with us is to bring us into living, actual conditions and situations, and needs, in which only some fresh knowledge of the Lord Jesus can be our deliverance, our salvation, our life, and then to give us, not a revelation of truth, but a revelation of the Person, new knowledge of the Person, that we come to see Christ in some way that just meets our need. We are not drawing upon an “it,” but upon a “Him.” [emphasis added] (By T. Austin-Sparks from: The School of Christ – Chapter 3)

Where Is the Love?

by Michael

Archie BunkerIt seems that most of us have had less than perfect fathers and as a result dysfunctional families that gave us our definition of what words like father, brother, sister, mother and family mean.
In 1970 after spending the first 25 years of my life in churches and with an alcoholic father in a dysfunctional family, I had still not seen a group of people that really loved one another… one that functioned in the love of God for its members. Then God heard my heart’s cry. He put me in touch with some young Jesus people and the gospel for them was all about the love of Jesus and they lived it. I soon could not live without being around them and I became a member of their family and ministry.

I didn’t know that that kind of love was possible and that Jesus had anything like that for me! After all, I never saw it working in the churches, neither Protestant or Catholic and in my mind that reflected directly on God whom they represented. You filed in on Sunday, got lectured by the “father figure” and then were shown the door. You were “loved” as long as you didn’t ask any hard questions or make any waves. It fit my “family” expectations.

All that said, I have been thinking a lot along this line, lately. If the saints of God can’t show what it means to be ONE in Christ and love one another as the family of God, whose fault is it that people cannot feel the love of God? Is it the fault of the broken and unloved in this world and the church? Are we not Christ’s body here on earth? Are we not His face and hands who live to manifest His heart for this sick world?

Just before He was crucified Jesus prayed,

“And the glory which you gave me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and THAT THE WORLD MAY KNOW THAT YOU HAVE SENT ME, AND HAVE LOVED THEM, AS YOU HAVE LOVED ME.” (Joh 17:22-23 KJ2000).

What will we say as members of His body if we neglect so great a salvation?

“Dear children, how brief are these moments before I must go away and leave you… So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (Joh 13:33-35 NLT)

If the body of Christ is functioning as it should people will know that they are loved by Him.

From our Fig Tree to The Vine

by Michael

Nathanial_undr_fig_tree

Philip found Nathanael, and said unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael said unto him, Where do you know me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Nathanael answered and said unto him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these. And he said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter you shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. (John 1:45-51)

The story of the calling of Nathanael as a disciple by Jesus is filled with meaning if you are familiar with the story of Jacob. Nathanael was told by his friend Philip that Jesus was from Nazareth, and was the son of Joseph and was believed to be the promised Messiah. Nathanael was not impressed, and being familiar with the law and prophets, he knew the Messiah was to come out of Bethlehem, not Nazareth. Thus he replied to Philip, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip answered Nathanael’s objection by saying, “Come and see.”

We know from the words of Jesus that the fig tree is a symbol of Israel (see Luke 13:5-9 and Mark 11:13-21).  Like the Jewish leaders who ruled over the temple, Nathanael was blind in his knowledge of the law and the prophets. Tradition had narrowed their understanding of what was recorded concerning the words of God. Nathanael was “under the Fig Tree,” the traditions of the teachers of the law and could not receive Jesus as Messiah because He was from Galilee, although He was born in Bethlehem and fulfilled the very prophecy they used to reject Him (see Matthew 2:1-6, Micah 5:2 and John 7:42). Because of the persecution of Harod the king that came upon Bethlehem, Jesus’ parents moved Him to Nazareth where He grew up from His infancy as a carpenters son.

Israel was the name that God gave Jacob after he was broken by twenty years of trials under his father-in-law Laban. While returning to his homeland, he had a divine encounter with God which finished the breaking process at the river Jabbok. God blessed him as only God could. He touched him in his thigh and made him a cripple the rest of his life. Jacob–a Hebrew name meaning a supplanter— had been a conniver and a cheat all his life, but after this encounter with God he was so weakened that he was a changed man who put his trust in God and no longer in himself. God renamed him Israel, in Hebrew meaning “a prince with God.” Oh, that we who name Christ would all receive such a touch from God.

From then on, God identified Himself as “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” But as time went on, their descendants lost their divine connection with Him and they broke the covenant He made with them through Abraham and Moses as His own special people (see Jer. 11:10 and Lev. 15-17). Israel became blind to the promises of God and the meaning of the scriptures that pointed to His Son.  These scriptures were given so they would recognize Him when He came, but they were blinded by their own self-righteousness and threatened by the authority of the Father that abode in His Son. To Jesus called these Jewish leaders blind guides. To them He said, “You search the scriptures and in them you think you will find life. It is they that speak of me, but you will not come to me that you might have life.” His final words to them were, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets, and stone them which are sent unto you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, you shall not see me again, till you shall say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Mat 23:37-39)

How many of us who spend our lives studying the Bible, blindly sit under the fig tree of tradition instead of having eyes that can see Jesus for who He really is? God’s call to us is the same as it was to Nathanael, “Come and see.” How many of us settle for the “light” of Bible teachers who are blind guides instead of a divine encounter with Jesus who makes blind eyes see?

And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they who see not might see; and that they who see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If you were blind, you should have no sin: but now you say, We see; therefore your sin remains. (John 9:39-41)

Christ has had to spend many years in my life un-teaching me. He has had to strip me of the traditions of men about the Bible and Jesus that I sat under so He could open my eyes to see the truth that is only found IN Him. The problem is that we go at learning scriptures like we do about every other curriculum of learning… a compilation of teachings about things instead of a love letter from God pointing only to Jesus. We learn about eschatology, hermeneutics, oratory, sacramentalism, the rapture, church government, how to do church, etc. instead of learning Christ.

The scribes (the Bible scholars of that day) and Pharisees (the law keepers and enforcers) were filled with guile. Jesus called them a “brood of vipers” and said they were of their father the devil, who was a liar and a murder from the beginning. But Jesus saw Nathanael as an Israelite in whom there was no guile. In effect Jesus was saying to him, “Before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree, but now you are called to Me, Nathanael.”  To this Nathanael answered, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” What a response to a simple statement that Jesus made to him–a statement that exposed everything about Nathanael in a moment. The Jews all knew that Messiah was to come and be the new King of Israel, but how many knew that He was the Son of God? When Peter got this same revelation, Jesus told him it came from the Father. Upon his first encounter with the living Christ, Nathanael received divine revelation.  He saw the Life of the Father in the Son and received divine Light. Of Jesus John said, “In Him was life and the life was the light of men.”

Because I said unto you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these. And he said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter you shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. (Joh 1:50-51)

Here again Jesus refers to Jacob (Israel) and his divine encounter with the living Christ. Jacob had a dream of the angels ascending and descending a ladder into the heavens and called that place Bethel, the house of God. Jesus is that ladder that extends from the earth to heaven. He is the one Mediator between God and man. Angels are only messengers. In fact the Greek word angelos is often translated “messenger” in the New Testament. A mediator is one who carries messages from and to two conflicting parties. God’s messengers, the prophets and priests in the Old Covenant ascended and descended with the words of God for man and from man to God. They saw an open heaven. Nathanael was told by Jesus that he would see an open heaven and that Jesus would be that ladder on whom the messages of God would come.

Nevertheless when it [Israel] shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty. But 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, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2Co 3:16-18)

The blessing of the New Covenant is that as we truly turn to the Lord we may all with open face behold the Lord. There is no longer a privileged few who can behold Him. All who believe are given the unction of the Holy Spirit by which we can communicate with and learn from God (see 1 John 2:26-27). Jesus promised before he was crucified that He would not leave us alone after He died, but would come to us again in the form of the Holy Spirit. He added that this same Spirit would lead us into all truth. We who have been given the Spirit of Christ when we first believed in and into Him, all have the Spirit of Christ and revelation abiding in us. Is it ours to do with whatever we will? No. It is only ours as we abide in Christ and it is He who directs the Spirit in us to do as He wills. We just abide in Jesus and He brings forth the fruit of the Spirit and revelation according to His will. Of Jesus the prophet said, “I have come to do thy will, oh Lord.” If we abide in Christ our wills are crucified with Him and we are given the Spirit to do HIS will alone.

And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon. (1Ki 4:25)

The healthy fig tree and grape vine were signs of safety and prosperity in the Old Testament. And when they turned from God the opposite was true.

For a nation has come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a lioness. He has laid my vine waste, and splintered my fig tree: he has stripped it bare, and cast it away; its branches are made white. Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. The grain offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’S ministers, mourn. (Joe 1:6-9)

Jesus taught His disciples that He is the True Vine and that we who believe are its branches and that as we abide IN Him we would produce good fruit (see John 15). Israel, the fig tree, was splintered and stripped bare and cast away because they rejected Jesus as their Messiah. They refused to come to Him that they might have life. Will we who go by the name of Christ, “Christians,” suffer the same fate? Jesus said, “When the Son of Man returns, shall he find faith on the earth?” We must abide IN Him, not just read about Him in the Bible and talk about Him at church. Our whole life must be HIS life. Our light must be HIS light. Every branch of the Vine that does not have its whole life flowing to and through it from the Vine will wither and be cast out into the fire. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” Apart from Him we can know no Light and have no Life. For too long the church has tried to live by its own light and life. What makes us think that our fig tree won’t fall under the same judgment that the fig tree of Israel did? A severe warning is given to us all in the following story about Jesus and a fig tree.

And seeing a fig tree afar off  having leaves, he came, if perhaps he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of you hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it… And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance said unto him, Teacher, behold, the fig tree which you cursed is withered away. And Jesus answering said unto them, Have faith in God. (Mar 11:13-22)

Today we put our faith in unending church programs generated by men which we hope God will bless, various teachings of  men and even our own “righteousness.” But where and what is the fruit that He longs for? Jesus said, “Every plant that my Father has not planted will be rooted up.” When it comes to our fruit, the only fruit He promised that the Father wants to see is that fruit that comes from abiding in His Son, Jesus the Vine.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me. (Joh 15:4)

Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls.  (Mat 11:28-29)

Becoming What We Behold

by Michael

Image

And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: The same came therefore to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired of him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. (John 12:20-21 KJ2000)

There is a lizard down in Louisiana and Texas that turns the color of what it sits on. They have proven that it actually turns the color of what it beholds. I have seen them turn gray to match the gray wood they were climbing on, green to match plant life and even red to match a brick wall. They take on the color of what they gaze upon.

Paul wrote, “Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1John 3:2 KJ2000).

We who belong to Christ that as we continue to behold Jesus that we should become like Him. “Like” is the key word here. In Genesis God said, “Let us make man in our image and in our likeness.” The image part was almost instant, but the likeness part was an ongoing work. It required walking with God in the cool of the day and doing the works that Adam saw the Father doing and beholding Him.

There are many things that seem “godly” that capture the attention of the church today. One of the most common near misses is focusing on the church instead of Christ. We are like a woman that sits at her vanity for hours on end putting on her face and making sure every hair is in place. We tweak this and that to make sure we look the way we want to look that we might please church leadership, conform to their teachings and expectations and are pleasant to the world around us that we might convince some of “the lost” to join our religious sect and come under our influence. It is a near miss because the true church of Christ is not all about itself, but rather she is all about her Bridegroom!

A brother once told me a story about meeting a young lady at a church conference and all she could do was talk about how great her pastor was. It was “my pastor” this and “my pastor” that. Well, she finally took a breath and he asked her a couple of questions. My friend said, “I assume that you are not married, yet.” She affirmed that this was the case. He then said, “When you get married and you go down to the altar and stand by your husband and make your vows… when it is all said and done, are you going to turn around, grab the arm of the best man and head off on your honeymoon with him?” She said with great shock, “No! I will want to spend my life with and love my husband, not the best man!” To this he replied, “That is what you are doing right now by being infatuated with the pastor instead of Jesus.” We become what we behold and worship. Church leadership was never meant to take the place of Christ as our All in all, yet all too often in the lives of Christians that is exactly what happens.

I was born in the image of my father and I grew up to look like him; tall, brown hair and eyes, and even many of the same facial features. I admired him and wanted so much to be “like” him as I grew up. Soon I was smiling out of the corner of my mouth like he did, laughed like he did and even walked with a slight limp like he did (he had a wooden leg) as I beheld him. Then I discovered after coming to Christ that God had another likeness he wanted me to behold, another likeness that was far superior to that of my earthly father. It was the One he had in mind for me from the beginning that was pure and who walked in the Light of the Father from the beginning of creation. Beholding Jesus with my whole heart has brought about many changes, but it is still an ongoing process. He keeps revealing areas in my “likeness” that have not yet been conformed into the image of Christ and each time He does, I have a decision to make. Will I yield that up to Him, too? Finally at one point a few years ago, He showed me how HE saw me with all my pride that was still in tack as I was trying to be His “man of the hour” with my “spiritual gifts.” It was ugly what I saw. I cried out, “Lord if all that pride is who I still am, just kill it. Show me no mercy.” Well, that was the beginning of a deep stripping of everything I was and even things that I had. That time in the wilderness lasted for 14 years with no since of His presence in any form. It was heart-breaking and I fought being in depression continuously, but at the end of it I has come to the place where I could pray and mean it, “Father, if this state that I am in is what you have for me for the rest of my life, so be it. Not my will but yours be done.” When I quit kicking against His will, He knew that it was time to take me into a new phase where He could work with me and not constantly having me “adjust” the image of what He desired to bring forth in me. Paul said,

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. (Romans 12:1-3, KJ2000)

He does not desire to fix up our old minds but rather replace them with the mind of Christ! The word “transformed” is metamorpho in the Greek. Like the life cycle of a butterfly, God puts us through a metamorphosis that we might become NEW creatures in Christ and the old one is done away with and discarded as useless, but what springs forth form that chrysalis is far more glorious than what went into it. First we must experience death to that old worm called Adam and then go dormant for a season (see https://awildernessvoice.wordpress.com/2013/01/18/metamorphosis/) while HE does a deep work within us so that when we come forth, there is on resemblance to that old worm, but something glorious that can take flight into the heavens with Him and see things as HE does and see HIM as HE is. Praise His name for making every provision that is needed to bring to pass in us, “when He appears we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.”

For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:3-4, KJ2000)