January 11th 2009

A Video Recording of this Message

We Shall Be Like Him
Daniel Yordy

There are two verses in the New Testament that are particularly powerful to what God is doing with us right now.

"Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." 1 John 3:2

"But 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, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3:18

We live inside the transition between two ages. As such, we understand that the ages do not change instantaneously, as most Christians think. The present New Covenant age began with the conception of the Lord Jesus in Mary's womb. The Old Covenant age did not end in its totality until the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. In between those two events are a whole series of points at which one age began and the other age ended with the most defining moment, unseen by most, the tearing in two of the veil in the temple, signifying that what was once unseeable was now open to all.

In many ways the transition between two ages that we are excitedly in is much more dramatic than the transition 2000 years ago. Most of the drama 2000 years ago took place in the heavenlies, but now, the age of human folly is drawing to an end, thank God. I can assure you, there is nothing more needful to us now than that the age of human folly end. But it is not the ending of this age that concerns us, it is birthing of the age to come, a birthing that has already started.

The Latin word "eternal" should never have been used in the translation of the New Testament. It came in at the end of the fall into Roman darkness, replacing the New Testament Greek word "aeon," which means a period of time. So now, when most people read the words "eternal life," they think, "Oh, I get to go to heaven when I die." But we should read it this way: "Right now, I have inside of me, inside of the human me, the life of the age to come." That life is, of course, Christ Jesus, but Jesus as He is, the victorious conqueror, risen above all heavens, who reveals Himself as He is in all the messiness of our human person.

Life, kingdom, resurrected, incorruptible, age to come, life, is what is inside of us now.

The revelation of the life of Jesus inside of us is what is forcing the end of the age of human folly, not the other way around. This is true both in each one of us personally and in the world at large. Most Christians believe that if you "get rid of the flesh," then Jesus will show up. No, it is Jesus revealing Himself to us as He is in our weakness that transforms us. If you do not first see Him in your weakness, in your flesh, you will never know Him in His power.

So it was before. Jesus came in the weakness of human flesh. He was born a baby in an animal stall, utterly weak. He came to His own in the weakness of human flesh and His own did not receive Him. But those who received Him, this fleshy human, who ate and drank with sinners, who smelled and went to the bathroom, and did all the things that "superheroes" are not supposed to do, those who received Him as He was, to them gave He the power to become children of God.

We are becoming what we already are. You will become what you believe yourself to be. You see what you believe. You become what you see.

It is not possible for me to explain to you the verses I quoted at the beginning of this letter. God did not give us His words for us to explain them. Yet, these two verses are ever in front of my eyes. I believe them. And in believing what God says, with all my heart, I know that the power that is in those words will birth inside of me everything God meant when He said them.

But I do know this. "They shall see Him as He is" is not talking about when He becomes visible to all in power and great glory. Christ in us is our hope of glory, not Christ up there. When people see Him at that point, they weep, they do not become like Him.

I am becoming what I already am. And what has limited me in the past is that I did not see Jesus. When I looked at myself, I saw one big problem. And everything anyone told me confirmed what I thought I saw. I always wanted to be close to Jesus, but I never really was, so I thought.

Now, when I look at myself, I see Jesus. When I do what is wrong, as I did this week, hollering at my daughter for not listening to her mother, setting off an even worse situation, I still see no one but Jesus. He carries all of my human weakness inside of Himself. As I walk in the light of seeing Him only, His blood cleanses me from all sin. I do not carry the consciousness of sin. I see Jesus, as He is in me. That doesn't mean that I wasn't wrong, or that I shouldn't apologize. It simply means that Jesus is my life, I have no other life. Whoever did anything wrong is dead, crucified 2000 years ago. I believe that absolutely. And God says that as I see Jesus, I am being changed. I also believe that absolutely, whether I "see" the change or not.

So take the two verses at the beginning of this letter, as most of you probably already have, and hold them before your heart. Only God can reveal to you what they mean, and He does so by fulfilling them in you.

Jesus will come to us and reveal Himself to us, inside of our human weakness. We shall see Him as He is, and with that revelation will come a grace that we have never received before, a grace that enables us to be who we already are, in fullness, in weakness, in glory, in humanity.

We shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.

The time is now.

Believe it!