See Yourself As God Sees You: In The Revelation Of The New Testament Gospel

The gospel gives us an idealized picture of who we are in God. So many things in the world tear us down, and make us feel less - even sometimes worthless. But Jesus talks about his unity and oneness with the Father - and our unity and oneness with both him and the Father. Paul talks about this a lot in Ephesians.


For people with a separation mentality, this is hard, if not impossible to understand. In separation thinking, we see ourselves separately, and God is 'up there somewhere.' If we are separate from God and others, then we cannot be ONE with them, or in UNITY with them. We view ourselves as isolated, not joined. The gospel sees us as joined (one) not isolated!


As I say a lot, the gospel sees us as being one with Jesus: "As Jesus is, so are we in this world" (I John 4:17). "That they all may be ONE, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be ONE in us - that the world may believe that you sent me."


SEE IT! What draws people to believe in Jesus is if we believe that we are ONE with him and the Father, and live in accordance with this belief. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."


Again, this is a real stumbling block for those of us who live in strictly human wisdom and religion. It's hard, and even impossible for us to believe and live in the divine thoughts of God. The Old Testament was totally impossible to live, but the New is almost impossible to believe - because it is so super-human.


It is when we begin seeing ourselves the way the gospel declares us to be, that everything in life changes for the better. As long as we see ourselves only through human eyes and brain-waves, we remain the same. God wants us to stretch us, so that we begin seeing through gospel eyes, and we think his thoughts (Isa 55:8).


II Corinthians 3:18 says that when we look into a mirror, we should not see our natural human face in that mirror. Instead, we should see the glory of the Lord: we should see ourselves as being ONE with God.


The passage goes on to say that when we see ourselves this way, then we are changed into that image from glory to glory. There are only two 'glories' spoken of in this chapter: (1) the glory of the Old Testament law, and (2) the glory of the New Testament gospel.


Being transformed into the glory of the Lord only when we stop using the Old Testament as a measurement for who we are in God. Verses 14-15 tell us that we are even blind if we live by this system: a veil covers our heart. So we only believe and live in the power of the gospel.


As we separate ourselves to the gospel, as Paul says he did in Romans 1:1, then the power of the process of the gospel takes over and transforms our lives. This is the only way we begin to see ourselves the way God does.


Most Christians have what I call a 1+1=2 theology. They mix the Old and the New together. It actually seems logical to do so, to our logical, western, deductive minds. But God says the Old is condemnation and death (II Cor 3:6, 9). In the New there is NO condemnation to those who are in Jesus (Rom 8:1). The New is life, liberty and Kingdom power.


You can never see yourself the way the gospel says we are, if you live in a 1+1=2 theology. You can never see yourself as the glory of the Lord on this earth, if you see yourself through guilt and condemnation. It is only in abandoning the Old that we live unto God the way he wants us to - in total trust and belief (Gal 2:19).