He said that Jesus is not a model for us, but a model of us. He is a model of the kind of person that I am - the first of a new people. He destroyed the curse that was upon us through the first Adam, by becoming the second Adam.
This is powerful because it speaks to our identity, not our actions. We don’t have to copy the works of Jesus, we simply live from the new nature of Christ within us. That’s the hope of glory! That Christ is in me, not around me.
I was studying recently, and like I said, God began to develop this in me. In John 17:6, Jesus makes a powerful state- ment: “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.” (NKJV) Jesus is the manifestation of God. If Jesus is the manifestation of God, then through Holy Spirit we are the manifestation of Jesus.
The implications are limitless because God is limitless. Think about it - Jesus was not a copy of God. He was the manifestation of God. He didn’t mimic the Father, He revealed and displayed the Father, as the firstborn among many (Romans 8:29).
We are the many. Holy Spirit stirs within us the manifestation of Jesus who is the manifestation of God. Jesus manifested the name of God “Jehovah Rapha” when He healed. We manifest Jesus when we heal in His name. Jesus manifested the name “Jehovah Shalom” when He spoke peace over the storm, and peace over His disciples. We manifest Jesus when we speak peace over every situation we encounter.
Jesus manifested the name “Jehovah Jireh” when He provided for the disciples the riches of heaven - healing, financ- es, food, etc. I believe in a prosperity gospel in the sense that I am eternally prosperous through Christ, and I mani- fest Jesus through the generous release of heaven’s resources. We have a tendency to adamantly oppose a prosperity Gospel because we see it as Christians (especially pastors) trying to become prosperous! But perhaps a correct inter- pretation of a prosperity gospel is the understanding that we are already living it! It’s not about getting, it’s about giving. We are eternally prosperous! 2 Peter 1:3 tells us: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”
We could go on for hours discussing the nature of God, and how that Jesus revealed that nature, and how that Holy Spirit empowers us to reveal the nature of Jesus. The point is that it is fluid and organic. No one can copy God and hope to do God as good as God! That is what makes legalism so powerful. You can gain power and authority by being the one who “does” the most.
Jesus told His disciples that anyone who believes in Him will do the things that He is doing and greater (John 14:12). There is no way that we can copy Him. But with Christ in us, the hope of glory, we continue to manifest the limitless nature of God.
Manifestation is a constant flow, accessible at any moment and in every situation. When I manifest Jesus, I respond the way He responds, I love the way He loves, and my life overflows with the reality of who He is. And as I abide in Christ, it’s natural, not forced. I can’t help but live like Jesus who is not a model FOR me, but a model OF me.
