3.3 The Pattern that Is Jesus

In this lesson we want to consider the Lord Jesus in Himself, existing as the pattern and design of all that is human. To consider this Jesus as the pattern of all that we are, however, we must re-iterate our list of seven things that He is.

1. Every Word God speaks, the all-speaking of God, now become flesh. 2. The all-now Sustainer in power of everything that exists in creation. 3. The shining forth of glory and the character and exact reproduction of God’s substance. 4. The becoming of all, the becoming of the entire cosmos. 5. The actual and active life force of every human being. 6. The full cleansing away of all falling short. 7. The highest and most exalted meaning inside of God’s reality.

Jesus as Pattern. First, we are not limiting Jesus by listing “seven” things; we are simply providing places to begin. BUT! – How on earth can we say that Jesus is these things AND that He is the pattern of all that we are? We say it because God says it, but it is mind-boggling beyond measure.

Now, in Chapter 6, we will consider how this Spirit Word, that is Jesus and the Holy Spirit always woven together, becomes us in all the fabric of our human lives. In this lesson, however, we want to continue in classroom thinking and consider Jesus in these things as Pattern, yet separate from His becoming us.

The In-Between. I thought for a moment that I left something out of the list of seven, and that is Jesus as the In-Between. Yet when I consider the points of the list, I see that all seven describe Jesus as that In-Between. Again, however, let’s briefly consider these qualities separate from knowing them as Jesus’ In-Between nature, yet as the Pattern of our humanity.

In placing Jesus in this manner, then, it is also appropriate to place the fear of Christ. – Submitting to one another inside of the fear of Christ (Ephesians 5:21). The fear of Christ is our fear of God, but it also shows itself in our lives in two very important ways.

The Fear of Christ. The first part of the fear of Christ is our attitude towards the Word God speaks, the words of our Bibles as well as Christ as Word upon our hearts. – Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You (Psalm 119:11). The fear of Christ is the desperation inside that would never attempt to “figure out” what the words “have to mean” with our human intellect, but rather a desperation that plants all that God speaks deep in our hearts, allowing the Word itself to mean what it is. – “Let it be to me.”

And the second part of the fear of Christ is our attitude towards our brothers and sisters in Christ, for they are as the Lord Jesus to us. It would be better for the ground to swallow us up than that we should speak evil against one another or attempt to manipulate or control one another.

Every Word God Speaks. The entire fabric of our humanity is patterned after every word God speaks. You see, this pattern, Jesus, became flesh. Every Word God speaks is personal and human. – And He calls His own by name. The meaning of “personal” is far deeper than we know.

Word is the DNA of God, the “code” by which God’s substance is arranged. Word is the “metaphor” or “communication” by which God’s meaning is conveyed. Word is a personal Man speaking to us. We do not hear a “loudspeaker.” We hear the gentle voice of our Friend. Word is the very Life of God, coming as a Seed to be planted, that it might bring forth the same Life in us.

The Sustainer of All. Word is also the fabric of all things that exist; all are carried with gentleness inside this fabric. Jesus’ taking little children into His lap was not incidental but a picture of His role in God’s universe. Jesus pherons all; Jesus brings forth, carries, and sustains all. God designed us in the same way, to be pheron charis, carrying grace, towards all (1 Peter 1:13).

“Brings forth” is the fourth point, however; here we want to know “carries” and “sustains.” – Zeal for Your house has eaten me up (John 2:17). Jesus’ heart and intentions, knowable by every created being, is the “out from God” expression of Pro-Determination.

The Character of God’s Substance. This Son is the shining forth of glory and the character and exact reproduction of God’s substance (Hebrews 1:3).

A character is a mark, a signifier; it is part of “image,” but specifically referring to moral virtue and depth of quality. But as such, it also means “exact reproduction,” a “carbon-copy.” In this sense, the word “pattern” would refer to God’s substance, with Jesus being the “copy.” Then, Jesus turns and, as the “copy” of God, becomes our pattern as well.

But what is “God’s substance?” This is the Greek hypostasis, that which undergirds or stands under, that is, the fabric of God’s Being. Because God Himself is transcendent, we know what that might mean only by looking at a personal Jesus, God’s signifier.

The Becoming of All. God designs us to be callers, to call forth that which does not appear into the knowledge of all. As such, Jesus is our pattern in three directions. The first direction is the ekenosis, calling an invisible God to be seen and known through us.

The second direction is our ministry, calling each created being into the knowledge of God – you are reconciled with God. But the third is something we have never considered before. God’s intention for mankind is far greater than any human has known. The very fabric of the kingdom of God in its living reality comes only out from one place – the hearts and mouths of believers in Jesus. The kingdom (John 17) is waiting on us.

The Life Force Inside. Jesus is the “out from God” expression of God’s Energeia by the Spirit out from God. In Him was actively life, and the life was actively the light of men (John 1:4). – You are the light of the cosmos (Matthew 5). Then, in Philemon, Paul describes our fellowship together as “energeoing.” Fellowship is an expression of that active life force. As the Father has life in Himself, so He has given to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5). – He who has the Son has the life (1 John 5).

What I mean to say is that I have no idea how Jesus is “Pattern” to us of being the life force inside creation. This is a fellowship, a sharing, that we hardly yet know.

All Cleansing Away. Jesus told a sick man, “Your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees responded with “Only God can forgive sins.” It is clear that they were not speaking of “overlooking” sins, but rather, of a full cleansing away and removal, that is, the non-existence of any disconnection from God.

Having crafted through Himself the full cleansing away of all falling short (Hebrews 1:3). When Jesus looks at us, He does not know sin, but only you and me as the full expression of God’s intentions. It is easy to see how this quality of Jesus becomes our pattern, yet I suspect that it is directly related to that not-easy-to-understand pattern of being the life force, the Energeia of God in all created things.

The Name above Every Name. He humbled Himself. And this one who humbles Himself, God places as the highest expression of who and what He is.

Learn of Me for I am meek and lowly of heart (Matthew 11:29). – I will write upon him the name of My God… and My new name (Revelation 3). Jesus’ exalted name is written upon us. This is something, then, that gets very personal. Jesus is continuously humbling Himself as the revelation of the Father; God is continuously exalting this NAME above all other names in creation. – This is Me!

The Son of Man is come to seek and to save what is lost (Luke 19:10). – This is our Pattern.

What Is a Pattern? See that you make all things according to the pattern shown to you (Hebrews 8:5).

Pattern (from Websters 1926): 1. Anything proposed for imitation; an archetype; that which is to be copied. 2. Anything formed or designed as a guide or model for making things. – a dressmaker’s pattern, a cast for forming metal objects. 3. Form, style, or type of decoration; design. 4. A part showing the figure or quality of the whole; a sample, also an example, an instance; a typical or representative one; a model example. 5. Something made after a model; a copy; likeness. 6. A length of cloth sufficient for a garment; something especially woven for that purpose.

Look at that last point. – PUT ON the Lord Jesus Christ!

How Is Jesus a Pattern of Us? We are seeing through these descriptions of Jesus, that Jesus is the “out from God” expression of everything that God is. Yet Jesus is a Man, the first of our kind and our pattern.

John said that we are just like Jesus as we see Him as He is; Paul said that we are being transformed, metamorphosed, into the same image by the Spirit. We become what we see; we see what is already true. – As He is, so are you (already) in this world (1 John 4:17). We are already like Jesus, what is changing is the perception of our minds, as Paul said. Yet that change of perception places us into levels of life and reality we have never before known, things that are already true.

Our In-Between. Out from God – into us. Everything inside of God, everything that God is, is found inside of – Christ lives inside of your hearts through faith.

Now, Jesus as “In-Between” is also our pattern – for God has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5). Yet it is as the In-Between in every one of these patterns and in every other pattern we might consider, that Jesus is most precious to us. Jesus puts Father together with me in all conceivable ways; Jesus puts me together with Father in all conceivable ways. That they might be with Me where I am – this is beyond all.