As He Is
Have you ever wanted to be like someone else? I hope you understand what I am getting at here. Have you ever said, "tongue in cheek," I wish I could be that person?
I know that for many Christians, this is something that resonates because you hear it frequently. "I want to be more like Jesus." I understand the sentiment behind that phrase, but did you know that when someone is in Christ, they already are a lot like him in the ways that matter most?
1 John 4:17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
"As He is, so are we in this world."
That phrase has been used many ways in churches by various preachers. I hope to shed a little different light on this today. "As He is." That is a statement of current status concerning Jesus. So when I think about it in that way, I can't help but be blown away by the idea that, right now, Jesus is in the bosom of the Father. According to the Scripture, I am seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That means I am partaking of and benefiting from what Jesus is experiencing. What is He experiencing?
Jesus is greatly loved, greatly honored, greatly accepted, in full fellowship and oneness with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, enjoying their union and unity together. Jesus is full of joy, peace, rest, love, and power in the presence as He is a part of that presence Himself.
Have you ever considered that this might be what John was being moved by the Holy Spirit to say?
That this state of fellowship and unity within the godhead and the fruit it produces might be what is meant by the phrase "As He is?"
Knowing the love of the Father, of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and enjoying fellowship with them as Jesus prayed we would in John 17 produces a particular type of fruit in our lives. Just think, the verse said, " So are we in this world." It is not speaking about our experiencing, "As He is," being our reality once we get to heaven. He is referring to an experience that we have while we are on this earth.
If we continue to read, what follows we find,
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
The root of fear is doubt and unbelief. Fear is the fruit of doubting His love and commitment to have fellowship with us by having done all that was necessary to secure that reality for us. When we understand how complete a work it was that Jesus performed, we begin to walk in a confidence of relational fellowship with God at all times. This exchange also produces another fruit.
1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us.
No one has ever initiated a love for God on their own. Love for God has its starting point in our acknowledgment of His love for us. This revelation of His love can be as deep and as broad as we will permit it to be by allowing the Holy Spirit to bring such revelation to our hearts and minds concerning Jesus and what He did to secure God's love for us. "As He is," is true whether we believe it or not. However, we can miss out on the blessing of it if we fail to possess it by the revelation of the Spirit.
