Gregory Dickow - As He Is, So Are We
Paul writes to us. He’s writing to the church at Ephesus. He’s writing to us as believers. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins. He’s talking about what we were before Jesus came to the earth, before He died for us, before He rose from the dead. He said, «You were dead before you were born again. You were dead in your trespasses and sins. The wages of sin is death. Adam brought death into the world. Our sin brought death into the world. Adam’s sin brought death to everyone. Unless a person is born again, they cannot enter the kingdom of God.»
It’s so simple. We simply have to be born again. But once you’re born again, you’re no longer dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked. Verse two says, «according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air.» He said you formerly were dead. You formerly were lost. You formerly were dead in your trespasses. But it says in verse four, «but God.» But God! Say that out loud right where you are: But God! But God! But God! But God! You were dead. But God! You were defeated. But God! You were lost. But God! You were addicted. But God! You were an enemy. But God! You were broken into a million pieces. But God! You were forsaken. But God! You were sentenced to hell. But God! You were never going to make it. But God! You were betrayed by loved ones. But God! You fell into the deepest of pits. But God! You were on a crash course for destruction. But God!
But God! But God! Being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, He made us alive together with Christ. For by grace you have been saved. And He has raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I want you to see that again closely. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us. Why is God rich in mercy toward us? Because of His great love with which He loved us. Why are we saved by grace? Because of His great love with which He loved us. Why did He send Jesus to die for our sins? Because of His great love with which He loved us. And that even when we were dead in our transgressions, He made us alive together with Christ.
This is what I want to get across to you: Together with Christ, for by grace you have been saved. He made us alive together with Christ. Then it says He raised us up with Him. And then it says He seated us with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He made us alive. He raised us up, and He seated us with Him. He made us alive with Him, raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. What did He do? Because of His great love, He made us alive with Him. He raised us up with Him, and He has seated us with Him.
If we could get a hold of this, the power of God would flow so freely and mightily in your life, in your soul, in your mind, in your body, and in every aspect of your life. Because not only does the resurrection of Jesus give us hope, not only does the resurrection of Jesus give us salvation, not only does the resurrection of Jesus give us power, not only does the resurrection of Jesus give us proof that our story doesn’t end there, but the resurrection of Jesus elevates us to be joint heirs with Jesus Christ. You’re a joint heir! That means as He is, so are we in this world. As He is, so are we in this world. Did you know that the moment you get born again, you’re just like Jesus inside? As He is, so are we in this world. Whatever He is, you are. Whatever He has, you have. We’re joint heirs with Him. We are twin brothers and sisters of Jesus, and He has joined us with Him, and we are equal in the inheritance from the Father with Jesus.
The Bible says in 1 John 4:17, «As He is, so are we.» By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment. Whenever the enemy tries to judge us, because as He is, so are we in this world. He’s more than a conqueror. We’re more than conquerors. He’s loved by the Father. We’re loved by the Father. He’s a joint heir of the inheritance. We’re joint heirs of the inheritance. Jesus has authority over the devil. We have authority over the devil. Jesus heals the sick. We can heal the sick. Jesus has joy above all. You and I can have joy above all. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. We can have peace and be the prince over our anxieties and worries. We’re joint heirs with Jesus Christ. As He is, so are we in this world. Yes, we are in heaven. When we get to heaven, it’ll be like that. But we’re that now, in this world, in this life, right here, right now! Jesus' resurrection not only gives us hope, not only gives us salvation, not only gives us power, not only gives us proof that our story doesn’t end there, but Jesus' resurrection elevates us as joint heirs with Jesus Christ. You’re a joint heir! Wow! This is who we are now. We’re joint heirs! As He is, so are we in this life!
So let me mention these six gifts of the resurrection. I’ll call them. It’s in John chapter 13. In John chapter 13, Jesus is sitting with His disciples at the Last Supper. And in John chapter 13, I want you to see what He says in verse one. It says, «Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come, that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in this world, He loved them to the end.» He loved them to the end! I want you to see what’s happening: Jesus is about to go to the cross here in John chapter 13, but He’s sitting with His disciples, and He loved them to the end. It says, «to the end of His life, to the end of the age, to the ends of the earth, to the end of the world.» Jesus doesn’t love us up to a point; He loves us to the end. He loves you to the end. He doesn’t love you up until the point you really blow it; He loves you to the end. He loves you to the end. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the demonstration of God loving you until the end.
The first thing that the resurrection gives us is it shows us how to love well. Jesus loves well. In John chapter 13, Jesus loves well. How well does He love? He loves them to the end. He loves us completely. He loves us entirely. He loves us eternally. He loves us without end. He loves well. And as He is, so are we in this world. Since He loves us well, this is what empowers us to love others well. God wants us to love well, just as Jesus loves well. And God empowers us to love well because I want you to remember this verse that we already went over: «As He is, so are we in this world.» Now think about this: Jesus loved well. Jesus shows us how to love well. He’s about to go to the cross, and He’s loving His disciples. He’s about to go to the cross, and He’s having supper with His disciples. He’s about to go to the cross, but He’s spending time with the people that matter most to Him, His disciples, in that moment.
You see, Jesus shows us how to love well. When you’re going through a trial, you can love well. When someone’s mistreating you, you can love well. When things aren’t going the way you would hope, you can still love well. Why? Because as He is, so are we in this world. We have to get this identity figured out. We have to get this identity embraced. We have to embrace our true identity in Christ. As He is, so are we! As He is, so am I! As He is, so are you! I want you to say that: «As He is, so am I!» Jesus shows us how to love well. Jesus loves well; therefore, I love well. Because as He is, so am I. Jesus loves well! That’s the first thing we see in this passage of Scripture: How well He loves us to the end! He doesn’t love halfway through. He doesn’t love for a couple of years. He doesn’t love for certain seasons. He doesn’t love when you love Him. He loves you to the end. And this is what He has empowered us to be able to do. We can love people till the end. We can love people no matter how they treat us. We can love people because of the resurrection. Now we’re like Christ. We’re joint heirs with Him. As He is, so are we.
As He loved well, we can now love well. Number two: the second thing Jesus shows us and demonstrates to us is He shows us how to live well. First, He shows us how to love well; then He shows us how to live well. I want you to see in verse two of John 13, the first two words are amazing: «During supper, the devil…» During supper, the devil! I want you to think about this for a moment. I want you to see that as He is, as Jesus is, so are we. So when we understand how Jesus lived, then we will be able to embrace that we can live that way too. Because we’re joint heirs with Him. We’re born again; we’re made in His image. And as He is, so are we in this life. So because He loved well, we can love well. And because He lived well, we can live well.
And how does Jesus live well? How does He show us how to live well? He sits down with His disciples at dinner, and He says, «During supper, the devil…» You know what? During this church service, the devil tried to hurt you. During this past weekend, the devil tried to stop you. Tomorrow, the devil will try to stop you. He has no power over you unless you give your power to him. But he has no power over you! You have authority over the devil! And this is what I love about Jesus. He lived well. In other words, even though He knew that He was about to be betrayed, even though the devil was at the table in Judas or through Judas, the devil was at the table, but Jesus still had supper with His disciples. This is the perfect example of Psalm 23: «He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies.» Jesus lived well; we can live well. In other words, we don’t have to freak out when the devil’s trying to do something in our life. We don’t have to freak out when people turn against us. We don’t have to freak out when the devil seems to be working in our family members. We don’t have to freak out because the devil was trying to enter into the heart of Judas or actually had already put into the heart of Judas what he wanted to do to betray Jesus. And yet Jesus is still having supper. Jesus is still having a meal. Jesus is still reclining. Jesus is still celebrating with His loved ones. Jesus is still enjoying the company of His disciples.
You know, we have to learn to enjoy each other’s company no matter what comes against us. We have to learn how to enjoy a meal even when things aren’t going well. This is how Jesus lived. He lived well. He shows us how to live. He’s about to go to the cross. He’s being betrayed. He’s going to be denied. All of the disciples except John are going to run away from Jesus. And yet Jesus is having supper with His disciples. Jesus is having a meal with His disciples. He’s not afraid of what the devil’s going to do. And so you don’t need to be afraid of what the devil’s going to do. Jesus isn’t afraid of what Judas might do. And so you don’t need to be afraid of what some Judas might try to do to you. Jesus isn’t afraid to take bread and to eat a meal. He’s not even afraid to eat it with Judas! And yet He is going to go to the cross. Jesus is about to die. He’s carrying the weight of the world upon His shoulders, and He’s having a meal! This is how to live! He’s carrying the weight of the world upon His shoulders, but He’s having a meal! He’s carrying the weight of the world upon His shoulders, but He’s sitting and relaxing with His disciples.
And you know what He calls us to do? You know what He made us alive to do? He made us alive to rise with Him. He made us alive to be seated with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The resurrection makes you just like Jesus! Just as He loved well, you can love well. Just as He lived well, you can live well! Now let me show you something. The next thing: Jesus shows us how to deal with people well. He shows us how to deal with people well. It says that Judas is going to betray Him. That even in times of darkness, Jesus gets up. Verse three: «Knowing that the Father has given all things into His hands and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God.» This is power He’s talking about here! Jesus has all the power! Now knowing that the Father has given all things into His hands, and as He is, so are we in this life.
So God the Father has given all things into our hands as well! He had come from God. He’s going back to God. You came from God! You were God’s idea! You came from God! You’re going back to God! Jesus got up from supper. He didn’t get up from supper and ask His disciples to serve Him. He got up from supper and laid His garments down and took the towel of a servant and girded Himself. And verse five says, «And He began to pour water into the basin, and He began to wash the disciples' feet and wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.» This is an incredible demonstration of how to treat people. Jesus loved well. We can now love well because as He is, so are we in this life.
Jesus lived well. Now we can live well! We can have joy! We can have a meal! We can have peace in the midst of a storm, in the midst of our enemies. Jesus treated people well. Jesus deals with people well. He treats people well. What does He do? He comes, and He’s about to go to the cross. And what do we find Him doing? Washing the disciples' feet! And Simon Peter said to Him, «Lord, You wash my feet?» Jesus answered and said, «You’re going to wash my feet.» Peter said, «Never shall You wash my feet!» Jesus said, «If I don’t wash your feet, if I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.» If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me. Thank God Jesus washed you in His own blood! With His own blood, He washed you, and you are a partner with Him now! But Simon Peter didn’t understand that, and that’s why he said, «Lord, then You can’t wash my feet!» He said, «If I don’t wash your feet, you can’t have any part in me.» Then Peter said, «Uh, then just don’t wash my feet only! Don’t wash my feet only, but also my hands and my head!» And Jesus said, «He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.» For He knew the one who was going to betray Him when He said, «Not all are clean.»
And when He washed their feet and had taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, «Do you know what I’ve done to you? You call me Teacher and you call me Lord, and you’re right, for so I am. If then the Lord and the Teacher washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.» Not only does He show us how to treat people well, how to serve people well, but He becomes the servant of all. This really shows us something, because it’s not about having a foot-washing service. It’s about covering one another. It’s about love covering a multitude of sins. That Jesus didn’t cover our sins-He washed away all of our sins! But our responsibility towards each other is to cover each other. It’s to have each other’s backs-not to bite each other’s backs, but to have and protect each other’s backs. And Jesus shows this. This is not about, «Okay, go get a towel and go wash somebody’s feet!» This is about constantly being a servant to others. The greatest among us is the servant of all! We can serve well because, as He is, so are we. Jesus loved well. Now we can love well, too. Jesus lived well. Now we can live well, too. Jesus treated people well and dealt with people well. Now we can treat people well and deal with people well, too. Jesus served well. We can serve well, too.