You Know Who You Are When He Says “I am…”

Length: 5 minutes

If you didn’t know, Jesus became your old man at the cross (Romans 6:6) so that you could be exactly as He is today. In fact, a believer is so much like Jesus, the Bible calls Him your mirror. That means when you see Jesus, you’re seeing what you look like.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV) But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image [on the outside] from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

This verse says that we look at the glory of the Lord as in a mirror. That’s talking about Jesus, in His glorified state right now. When you look at the state Jesus is in now, you are seeing what you look like on the inside. We use mirrors to see who we are (James 1:23). That’s why it’s calling Jesus our mirror here. If you want to see your face, you don’t look at your face, you look at a mirror. You look at something else to see what you look like. And we also need to look at someone else to see what we look like! We look at Jesus and His characteristics to understand who we are and what we have! Defining Jesus is how we define ourselves, because we have everything He has (Romans 8:17)!

We know everything Jesus knows, we act the way Jesus acts, and speak the way Jesus speaks. I’m not talking about your flesh, on the outside. I’m talking about your spirit, on the inside (Hebrews 12:23). All these things are inside of you, but you can’t see them with your eyes. So, the way God reveals what you have inside is by showing you Jesus — not Jesus in His crucifixion or in His earthly ministry. Rather, as 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, Jesus in His glory – His resurrected form.

Look at this passage here, where John was having a vision of Jesus.

Revelation 1:17-18 (KJV) And when I saw him [Jesus], I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not… I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen…

When John saw Jesus, his body gave out and fell down as if he were dead. Look at the beautiful thing that Jesus did in response. When Jesus saw that John’s body had given out, to assure John that he would not die, He told him, “Fear not… I am He that lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.”

Did you catch that? If John was concerned that he would die, why would Jesus start telling John, “I am He that lives”? To most Christians, they wouldn’t even see a correlation. Why would Jesus reply, “I am He that lives” when John was the one who fell down as dead?

To assure John that he wouldn’t die, Jesus revealed something about Himself to John. Instead of telling John, “You won’t die” or “You will live,” Jesus said, “I am He that lives…” Jesus used Himself as a mirror for John to look at. Jesus knew that if He is alive forevermore and does not die, then John had that same privilege and ability, through Him. So, Jesus was assuring John that he wouldn’t die, by showing John that Jesus Himself will never die again. Jesus assured John that he would live by showing him the Jesus Himself lives forevermore!

Jesus could have said “You won’t die” or “You will live,” and perhaps John would have been assured that he would not die in that moment, yet John would not have understood the full extent to which he was free from death. But when Jesus says, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and am alive forevermore,” John’s eyes are drawn to Jesus to define his inheritance. Now John looks at how alive Jesus is. Now John looks at how free from death Jesus is! Jesus is not just alive. He’s alive forevermore! He is perfect! He will never die again! 

Instead of John looking at his own body or circumstance to find himself, Jesus was drawing John’s eyes to Himself, because it’s only in finding Him that we find ourselves.

It’s not about what you see in your body or in your life, what you do, what you say, or what you think that defines you. As a born-again believer, it’s Jesus Christ that defines you now. Once you know that, what you say, do, and experience on the outside will change into that same image also, but you need to define yourself first.

Don’t contemplate who you are. Just find out who He is and you’ll end up defining yourself altogether accurately. Whatever He has, you have. Whoever He is, you are now. Whenever Jesus says, “I am…” pay close attention to what He says after that. Because whatever He says next, you can apply to yourself as well, just like John.

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