Look in the mirror, what do you see? You see what you really look like, which often surprises us, because we thought we looked different. You know, you thought you looked great when you left the house...you felt good...then you pass a mirror and are brought back to reality...not so much!
Who are we, really? The person we think we are, with the limitations we’ve come to live with over the years, or the strengths we think we have? You know...”I’m a good writer, but not so good with math” or “I could never be/do [fill in the blank]...it’s just not me. But I am really good with [fill in the blank].”
The physical person? Beautiful or plain, fat or slim...is that who we are?
We forget that we were crucified with Christ, buried with Him in baptism, raised up together with Him and seated with Him in heavenly places. [Colossians 2:11,12, Ephesians 2:4-6]
We forget that were One Spirit with the Lord...that He gave us His glory, the glory the Father gave Him! [John 17] Now we’ve all heard sermons about how the glory is not for us, and based in the Old Covenant, that is true. God’s glory is not for unregenerate man...but in the New Covenant, we are reborn—we receive God’s own Spirit and His glory! As the temple of old was filled with His glory, so we are in the earth...His temple, filled with His glory.
Jesus put it like this: “THE GLORY WHICH YOU HAVE GIVEN ME I HAVE GIVEN TO THEM, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, EVEN AS YOU HAVE LOVED ME.” [John 17:22,23]
Yes, those words are in red, my friend.
Transformed
Okay, let’s talk about transformation.
‘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 from the Lord, the Spirit.’ [2 Corinthians 3:18]
A mirror reflects back the image of the one looking into it...in this case, we are looking not at a natural reflection but a spiritual one. Instead of seeing our natural, familiar visage, we see the glory of the Lord! But IT’S A REFLECTION!! A reflection of the One within, and the more we take time to behold it, the more we are transformed outwardly into His image!
Remember, we've been crucified with Christ—we died and Jesus was born within! So our spirit is really One with Him!
‘For those whom He foreknew, He [God] also predestined to become CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren...’ [Romans 8:29]
At first, it will be like looking in the mirror and seeing someone else. But keep looking at the glory of the Lord within—meditate on it—and soon it will begin the process of transformation.
Prove it…
Romans 12 tells us not to be conformed to this world, but to ‘be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may PROVE what the will of God is, that which is GOOD and ACCEPTABLE and PERFECT.’ [Please note that your children dying early of some satanic disease is none of those things...]
So we must be transformed to prove the good will of God in our lives.
How do we do that? We look in the mirror at the glory of God within and we renew our minds to that fact. We are one Spirit with the Lord and we are full of His glory. We stare at the truth of God’s perfect law of liberty and don’t look away [James 1:25].
How does that work, exactly? I’m glad you asked.
When faced with an impossible situation, pick up the mirror—the perfect law of liberty, the reality of rebirth, the truth of being made the righteousness of God in Him, the fact of being one Spirit with Him—and see who you really are. Colossians 2:9,10 says ‘For in Him ALL the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and IN HIM you have BEEN MADE COMPLETE…’
The phrase ‘made complete’ in this verse is the Greek word pleroo—the fill up to the full, to fill to the top so nothing shall be wanting, to full measure, to cause to abound, to supply liberally, to make complete IN EVERY PARTICULAR, TO RENDER PERFECT!
Are you limited in any way or are all thing possible for you? Are you lacking in anything or do all things belong to you? Are you insufficient for any task or does the Greater One live in you? Are you separate from God or are you one Spirit with the Lord? These are ALL verses, people…spoken by the Holy Spirit to us.
PICK UP THE MIRROR—the Word of God, and particularly the epistles—and see who you really are! Victorious, triumphant, healed, delivered, rich—the righteousness of God in Christ, blessed with Abraham the Believer—redeemed from the curse of the Law! Partaker of the Divine nature, filled up to all the fullness of God! Yes, those are ALL verses!
Here’s the trick...NOT forgetting who you are when you lay the mirror down. Jesus is the Firstborn of Many Brethren and you are one of those brethren...a member of a new race, the redeemed of the Lord, one Spirit with Him! AS HE IS SO ALSO ARE YOU IN THIS WORLD!!! Look at Jesus…that’s what the Father sees when He looks at you.
Hallelujah!
