5.2 Covenant Core
© 2015 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
Here are the five verses that I am convinced are the core of the Covenant God and we have entered into together. First, from Paul:
- For whom He foreknew, He also determined beforehand to conform them to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29).
- 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 Corinthians 3:18).
We Shall Be Like Him
- 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).
- He who has seen Me has seen the Father . . . Believe Me that I am in the Father AND the Father in Me (John 14:9-11).
- That where I am, there you may be also (John 14:3).
God’s Intent
Conformed to the image of His Son.
Being transformed into the same image.
We shall be like Him.
Being transformed into the same image.
We shall be like Him.
God’s intentions are clear, to make us just like Jesus – if we so agree. What remains for us is to know the how and the extent. 2 Corinthians 3:18 and 1 John 3:2 should always be placed together, for they are companion verses saying the same thing.
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. – We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
Many want to force 1 John 3:2 to mean “far in the future only,” but Paul shows us that this transformation is right now.
The Mirror
Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord. May I suggest that the mirror is 100% literal in the physical, 100% figurative in the allegorical, and 100% literal in the spiritual. All three.
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. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:6-7a).
What do you see when you look in the mirror in your bathroom when you get up in the middle of the night? You see what you first believe. Do you see the glory of Jesus or do you see only the earthen vessel?
Phaneroó
I am amazed, now that I look at the Greek words John chose to use. What John actually says is much closer to Paul’s statement than the other way around. Let me give my own personalized rendition from the Greek.
IF Jesus becomes clear and known to me, I will become exactly like Him, for I will perceive and see literally, metaphorically, and spiritually [with inward spiritual perception] (all three) exactly what He is.
- Phaneroó: (from phṓs, "light") – properly, illumine, make manifest (visible); (figuratively) make plain, in open view; to become apparent ("graspable").
IF
John does not say “when” Jesus appears, he says IF. “IF” is conditional, a portion of the Covenant, the part we bring to the union. We must know what IF means and what IF does not mean. IF does NOT mean, “Oh, God might exclude me.” IF God is determined, how would He exclude us?
John tells us exactly what IF means. We do NOT know what we are. We know that we are children of God, but we do NOT know what that means. We are ignorant! – We are blind!
Ignorant and Blind
In the lesson on Engaging with God, I spoke of barriers to the truth, blinders that can prevent us from seeing and knowing God. Here are the words of someone who cannot become like Jesus. “I know what I see.” Here are the words of someone at the threshold of becoming like Jesus. “I am ignorant and blind. All that I think I see is not reality as it is; all that I think I know cannot be true.” – We do not know what we are!
Becoming What We See
Two principles of absolute reality govern our becoming. We see only what we first believe; we become only what we first see. I believe that Jesus fills me with His glory; therefore I see Christ alone when I look in the mirror; therefore I am being transformed into that same image of glory. But it does not “look like” any of this is real. Our spirit eyes are a literal part of our spirit body, the form God created as part of our makeup through which we function right now inside of heaven. There is a New Testament word that is our spirit eyes: FAITH!
By Faith, not by “Sight”
For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). The word “sight” here refers to outward appearance only. This “sight” is not restricted to the physical only, but is, rather, seeing according to the flesh. Faith sees what God says. “Sight” sees by human judgment, human feelings, human sense, human shortcomings and downfallings. We become what we see, either way.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God (2 Corinthians 5:17-18a).
Transformed
Transformed, metamorphosis, refers to outward appearance in an holistic sense, as the image of God, God revealing Himself through us. Conformed, symmorphos, refers to inner substance, being formed together with Jesus in the fabric of our core essence. Paul uses both words in reference to our bodies, transformed in outward appearance after first being conformed in substance (Philippians 3:21). But we do NOT transform ourselves, something both men and angels try to do (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). Our job is to see Jesus AS HE IS, to behold His glory in the mirror – by faith.
As He IS
Dear believer in Jesus, are you just like Jesus right now? If you live by seeing Jesus as He is, then you must be like Him now. So if you are not like Him right now, it is clear that you do not see Him as He is. And if you do not see Him as He is, then how do you think you know what Jesus IS?
Seeing Jesus as He IS lies beyond the parameters of this lesson, thus we will develop this thought no further here. Except this. When we consider 1 John 3:2, we also bring in another line, always together. He that has seen Me has seen the Father – We shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.
What Does God Look Like?
When Jesus told His disciples, “He that has seen Me has seen the Father,” He provided a proof, a rationale, to them of His claim. But first – what were they looking at? The only thing they saw was a man just like themselves, a man who had grown up among them from a child, a man who ate and drank and went to the bathroom and made funny noises and smelled bad, just like you in the middle of the night. The disciples saw a man without beauty or attractiveness of any kind – except a kindness and respect for each one of them like nothing they had ever known.
The disciples saw God.
Where I AM
This man could sit there among a group of other men and claim that He was the appearance of God to creation, just as He was, just as they saw Him right then, on the basis of one foundational premise of reality.
I am in the Father AND the Father in Me.
Understand that Jesus is committing the crime of blasphemy, a crime for which He was indicted, found guilty, and executed. God’s actual appearance is rejected by most everyone. “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?” But Jesus was NOT speaking of Himself alone.
There You May Be Also
That where I am, there you may be also (John 14:3). And thus we come to the ONLY “place” where we live, now and forever. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me and I in you (John 14:20).
You can see, now, why I have placed John 14:20 as the “tenth” most important verse in the Bible. It is so that when we arrive at the end of this study, we will have returned to the beginning. My hope is that, in returning back to the Core of the Covenant at the end of this study, the “place” where we live now and forever, we will know more clearly the One who IS our Salvation and our only Life.