The Mirror of His Word

Looking into a Mirror

The analogy we see in this verse is of a man who looks at himself in a mirror, but when he goes his way he immediately forgets what he looked like. And this has to do with looking into the word of God, because it is compared to hearing the word and not doing it, being a hearer of the word, and not a doer.

This is one of several scripture passages in which the word of God is compared to a mirror that we as believers look into. A similar passage is found in Second Corinthians.

Again, the expression ’beholding as in a glass’ conveys the idea of looking into a mirror. As we look into the mirror of God’s word, we see His glory and we see who we are supposed to be. And this verse carries the idea of being changed by the Spirit of the Lord into the same image that we behold in the mirror.

What do we look like?

Now mirrors are used primarily to view what we look like, because It’s impossible to see ourselves without a mirror or a photograph. We cannot see our own face, no matter how hard we try. We must have a mirror to see what we look like. And once we’ve looked, we trust that the image we saw in the mirror is a true image of our appearance.

This is true also of the mirror of God’s word. We cannot see who we truly are in Christ without the help of the word of God. Natural perception of the senses cannot give us that information. The world cannot tell us who we are in Christ, because the world doesn’t have a clue. Only the mirror of God’s word can show us who we are.

What did God do in our lives when we were born of God, when we were born from above? What happened to us when we were saved?

Something Changed

There is a supernatural experience that takes place when we make Jesus our Lord, when we confess our faith in Him and believe that God raised Him from the dead to save us from our sins.

Those of us who have experienced this salvation know that something changed in our life when that happened, but we are not necessarily sure what it was. Our body did not change, our mind did not seem to change very much, except that we were excited about being saved and having a relationship with the Lord.

But something did change in us. When Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, He told him that ‘ye must be born again.’

Jesus was not talking about being born in the flesh. He was talking about a person’s spirit being raised up from death in trespass and sin, being born in his spirit.

The Three Parts of Man

Paul the apostle talked about the three parts that make up a human being.

We find in this scripture verse that man is made up of spirit, soul, and body. We are not just body and mind. We are spirit, soul, and body. Paul refers to the spirit in another place as the inward man, while Peter calls the spirit the hidden man of the heart, which are both references to something other than the mind of a person.

A New Experience

Now, the relationship a believer has with the Lord in the spirit is something new and different to him, something he has little or no knowledge of without the word of God. Only the word of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit can reveal to the believer who he is in Christ and what Jesus has provided for him in the new birth through the work of the cross.

The Holy Spirit, who lives within the believer in Christ, reveals to him the truth of who he is in Christ, as he looks into and ponders the word of God. Jesus said that when He, the Holy Spirit, has come, that He will guide you into all truth. And in another place He said that the truth would make us free.

By Grace through Faith

Everything God has done for the born again believer is by His grace through the believer’s faith. We see in this verse that salvation comes this way, but we must recognize that all truth comes that way, by faith in the word of God.

The Mirror of His Word

We are still talking about the mirror of God’s word. But looking into the mirror of the word requires faith. We must believe what we see in the word and then act like it’s the truth. We must release faith in the image we see in the word. Otherwise, we are like the man who went his way and immediately forgot what he looked like.

Here are some examples of what we see concerning ourselves when we look into the mirror of God’s word, or, as it says, the perfect law of liberty.

A New Creature

If a person is born again, then he is a new creature. What does that mean? Has his physical body become new? No. Has his mind been changed? Well, maybe a little. He is probably excited about being saved. But otherwise, his mind is still the same. What about the born again believer has become a new creature? His spirit has. His spirit has become a new creature.

Born of the Spirit

The Bible tells us that in Christ we have been raised up from spiritual death the same way He was raised from the dead. Our spirit man is the part of us that we were not in touch with, the part of us that we were dead to. It’s our spirit that is born again.

How does that make the born again Christian a new creature? He is a new creature because he has become a human being in whom God dwells. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit was sent to live in us and that Christ dwells in our heart by faith. The resulting creature is a species of being that did not exist on the earth before Christ went to Calvary. He is a new creature.

But, when we go our way, will we remember that we saw a person in whom God dwells in? Will we look into the mirror of His word and forget what we looked like?

Righteousness

Many believers struggle in the area of righteousness. The Bible tells us that the righteousness of man is as filthy rags in God’s sight. Yet, as believers in Christ, we are not putting our trust in our own righteousness, but in His. It is His righteousness that has made us righteous and free from sin.

Jesus was our substitution. He paid the price for our sins. He took our place.He stood in for us in the courts of heavenly justice. This verse tells us that He was made to be sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. How could Christ, the holy one, pure, and sinless, be made to be sin? By hanging on a tree. The Bible says that cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.

In that moment of time, Christ became sin of us, He became cursed for us. Why? So that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him. He gave us His righteousness and we are righteous in Him.

Reigning in Life

Yes, the righteousness of man is as filthy rags before God, but we no longer cling to our own righteousness, but to His. We receive the free gift of His righteousness as our righteousness.

Those who receive the free gift of His righteousness reign in life by Jesus Christ. Those who have received Christ have received His righteousness and they are completely righteous before the heavenly Father.

But, when we go our way, will we remember that, or will we forget what we looked like?

The Works of Jesus

Jesus said that those who believed on Him would do greater works than the works that He did. Who is he talking about? Those who believe on Him. He said in Mark chapter sixteen that these signs would follow them that believe, in My name they shall cast out devils, they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.

Oh, but brother, didn’t all that pass away with the early apostles? Jesus didn’t say it passed away. He said that believers would do greater works than the works He did. Believers are supposed to do the same works that Jesus did.

How many sick people have you laid hands on and prayed for lately? It says that they will recover when you do. These signs follow those that believe.

That’s who the Bible reveals us to be, people who believe in Christ, people who lay our hands on the sick and they recover. That’s who we see ourselves to be, according to the mirror of His word, the perfect law of liberty.

But, when we go our way, will we forget what manner of man we were? Will we forget who we are and what we looked like in the mirror?

A Doer of the Word

How do we keep from forgetting? By being a doer of the word, by acting like what we saw in the mirror is true. We believe we are new creatures in Christ, we believe we are the righteousness of God in Him, we believe that we lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. We act like the word of God is true.

Look into the Mirror

As we approach the word of God in our pursuit of truth, let us approach it as if it’s a mirror in which we see the reflection of who we really are in Him, not the purely earthly creatures we once were, but rather the heavenly ones that we have become as new creatures in Christ.

And may we always be careful to be doers of the word, and not forgetful hearers. Let us not be those who go their way and immediately forget what they looked like and who they truly are.