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Into His Likeness

Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptural quotations are taken

from the New King James Version, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982,
Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers.

First Edition: October 1994

This Edition: March 1999, September 2007

Into His Likeness

ISBN: 981-04-0531-6

Published by: Jesus Ministries Pte Ltd

Bukit Timah
P.O. Box 322
Singapore 915811

Copyright 2007 by Jesus Ministries Pte Ltd. All rights reserved

under International Copyright Law. No part of this book in
whole or in part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or material, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without the prior written permission of Jesus Ministries Pte Ltd,
except in the case of brief quotations in reviews for inclusion in a
magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.

Cover Design: Johnny Lim

DTP/Typesetting: Amutha, Jesus Ministries Pte Ltd
Printing: DGS Graphics Pte Ltd

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 

This book is worshipfully dedicated

to the Heavenly Father for His grace and mercy,
to the Lord Jesus Christ for His revelation
of many truths,
to the Holy Spirit for inspiring and teaching
me to put it all together
and
To all precious and beloved brothers and sisters
who are greatly desirous of learning how to
become perfect and be transformed into Christlikeness.

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 Into His Likeness



I wish to express my gratitude and thanks to the brothers

and sisters who had worked day and night towards the
birthing of this book:

Amutha Arnasalam
Johnny Lim

and to

Bernard Lee
who has painstakingly edited
and proofread this book.

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 

Preface

Introduction

1. The Essence of Perfection 11

2. Our Identity in Christ 17

3. Fellowshiping with the Triune God 47

4. Christlike Transformation 83

5. Practising Christlikness 111

6. The Fullness of Perfection 125

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 Into His Likeness


It is impossible to be a perfect Christian because we humans
have lots of weaknesses. This is a popular perception in the
minds of Christians everywhere. When I was a newborn
Christian I attended a church which stressed perfection,
equating perfection with absolute sinlessness. Though I
deeply desired to be perfect in my Christian life, perfection
seemed to me like a huge unconquerable mountain. I soon
even lost all hope of getting to heaven because that church
taught that only those who attain perfection will go to
heaven.

As I began to mature in my Christian life, growing

in the Word and walking in the Spirit, the bondage of
legalism eventually broke loose. I came to realize that it is
impossible to please God just by trying to be good. The self
struggles constantly to keep up with different things and is
confronted by many challenges all the time. The Christian
life, admittedly, is often a life of struggle. The born-again
believer finds himself constantly having to struggle to be
holy, perfect, righteous, etc.

In July of 1994, while journeying in the wilderness of

Tibet, I sighted a very unusual bird. It would vigorously
flap its little wings, glide effortlessly through the air, then
repeat that motion over and over again. As I stood there
watching, it dawned on me that the flight behavior of

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the little bird resembled the lives of many Christians: a
period of striving after holiness and perfection is followed
by a lapse into passivity and casual living. This jostling
between excellence and mediocrity, even failure, seems
an unrelenting struggle in the lives of many believers. Yet
the Christ-life is not a life of struggle and strife but a life
of resting in Christ: For he who has entered into His rest,
has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His
(Heb. 4:10).

This book has been birthed through much prayer and

prolonged meditation on the Word of God to questions
such as, Can a believer really be perfect?, Is such an absolute
ideal ever possible? Once during a time of meditation it
pleased our Heavenly Father to open up my understanding
on this matter. Through His Holy Spirit He revealed to me
the secrets now you have in your hands. Praise and glory be
to the Heavenly Father!

This book originally appeared as Maturing Unto

Perfection in 1994. I have received a little more insight on
this subject over the last few years. When the time came to
reprint this book, I rewrote the entire book and have titled
it more aptly as Into His Likeness. After all, the Lord Jesus is
our model–isn’t He? So I invite you to read this book with
an open heart and a receptive mind. May the same Holy
Spirit who taught me these secrets also teach and instruct
you, so that these truths will come to fruition in your life,
and you will be transformed into the likeness of Christ
Jesus.

Sundar Selvaraj
September 2007

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 Into His Likeness



By looking to Jesus
Like Him thou shalt be,
Thy friends in thy conduct,
His likeness will see

Dr Charles H. Spurgeon once wrote, We may be certain that

whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to
be conspicuous in our lives. Likewise, would God ask us to be
like Him in His likeness and image–which is to be perfect
like Him–if it is impossible. While meditating John 1:1, the
Holy Spirit showed me that therein is the secret to growing
or maturing into the likeness of Christ Jesus:

JOHN 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God and the Word was God.

In this verse, the Holy Spirit revealed to me a 3-fold

principle whereby every believer could reach our highest
calling in Christ. Firstly, WAS THE WORD signifies the
importance of a personal identity rooted in our position in
Christ. Secondly, AS WITH GOD signifies the need for a
consistent and uninterrupted fellowship with God. Thirdly,
THE WORD WAS GOD signifies that only in achieving

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and practising Christlikeness is there perfection and fullness
of maturity.

Consider a child in its natural stages of maturity. The

child begins its life as a foetus inside the mother. When
the right time arrives, the child comes as a baby out of
the womb into the world and immediately receives from
its mother tender loving care. The child is then raised
and nurtured to become like the parents. The foetus, the
baby, and the growing child follow a progressive 3-stage
development. Likewise a believer can progressively mature
to become like the Lord Jesus Christ. This same thought
is beautifully expressed in Proverbs 8:22,30 as, The LORD
possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of
old. Then I was beside Him, as a master craftsman; and I was
daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him.

It is the expressed desire of the Lord God that we too,

like the Lord Jesus Christ, can daily be a delight to the
Father God by learning to mature into His likeness unto
perfection.

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Into His Likeness

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 Chapter 1



The Bible commands believers to be perfect (Jas. 1:4). In

His Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus too said, Therefore
you shall be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect
(Matt. 5:48). Such commands would be unreasonable
and thoughtlessly uttered if they were not possible to
attain. Consider this parable: There was a certain man
who had a three year old daughter. One day, he was in
his garden chopping some wood. His little daughter, who
was patiently watching him do his work, said to him,
Daddy, let me chop the wood. Her loving father told her, No,
my darling. You would not know how to do it, to which
the little girl insistently replied, Yes, daddy, I know how to
do it, since I have been watching you do it. This man then
stopped his work, put his beloved daughter on his laps, and
explained to her very tenderly why she could not help him
do his work.

If an earthly father would not allow his child to do

something he knew his child could not possibly do, how
much more our Heavenly Father. Our Heavenly Father
will not ask us to do anything that He knows we are not
able to do. He will only ask us to do those things which
He knows we can do, things accomplished by Christ Jesus,

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 Into His Likeness

who became a man like us. Thus the command for us to

be perfect is not an impossible goal thoughtlessly imposed
by the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, the provision for us to be
perfect has been made through Christ Jesus. We partake
God’s divine nature when we are born again (2 Pet. 1:4).
We only need to learn how to develop this nature to
mature unto Christlike perfection.

When believers are described as a perfect as in the

Bible, in some cases it means that they are full-grown
or matured (1 Cor. 2:6; Heb. 5:14). Certain biblical
characters were described in the Bible as perfect before God.
Among such were Noah, Job, and Asa (Gen. 6:9; Job 1:1;
1 Kg. 15:14). In such cases, they were perfect men who
lived uprightly before God. As I was writing this chapter, an
angel of God appeared before me and said, Even the angels
of God admire upright men–those who walk in integrity and
purity before God. As I was pondering over the validity of the
statement, in a moment the Holy Spirit reminded me of the
life of the prophet Daniel. From his youth up, Daniel lived
a pure life (Dan. 1:8). He lived an innocent and upright life
(Dan. 6:22). That was why when the angel Gabriel came
to him, he addressed him as O Daniel, man greatly beloved
(Dan. 10:11). Perfection is not absolute sinlessness. Let us
study further on what really does it mean to be perfect like
God.

What is Perfection?
The word perfect comes from several Hebrew and Greek
words, some of which are as follows:

1. Heb. kalal : to complete, make perfect

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 The Essence of Perfection

2. Heb. tam : complete, perfect

3. Heb. tamiym : entire, complete, perfect

4. Gk. artios : complete, perfect

5. Gk. katartizo : to complete through

6. Gk. teleios : complete, perfect, fully-grown, mature

To be perfect can be thus defined: A completeness in all

details, having grown into a complete maturity of Godliness
in mind and character. This definition is portrayed in
Colossians 2:10 as, and you are complete in Him; and
Ephesians 4:13 as, [That it might develop] until we all attain
oneness in faith and in the comprehension of the full and
accurate knowledge of the Son of God; that [we might arrive] at
really mature manhood–the completeness of personality which is
nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection–
the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ, and the
completeness found in Him (AMP).

There once lived a young prince who was a hunchback.

He was a brokenhearted man because of his physical
deformity. But he did not lose hope that one day he would
be made whole. So he made a statue of himself striking
a majestic pose without the hunchback. Everyday he
would go to his garden and gaze at his own statue, the
embodiment of his perfected physical body. Many days
passed by. His back began gradually to straighten up and
one day he finally looked like his majestic looking statue.
Likewise, when we imitate the perfect life of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we too will be perfect like Him.

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 Into His Likeness

Since the Lord Jesus Christ lived a perfect man, leaving

us an example and pattern to imitate, let’s study in the
Word the growth and development of the Lord Jesus,
which parallels the believer’s growth towards spiritual
maturity. Let’s examine two scriptures:

LUKE 2:40,52
40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit,
filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon
Him.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in
favor with God and men.

EPHESIANS 4:13
13 Till we all come to the unity of the faith, and the
knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

From these two scriptures, we can deduce the

following striking parallels between the Lord Jesus’ natural
development and the believer’s spiritual growth:

CHRIST JESUS THE BELIEVER

1. Strong in the Spirit = The Unity of the Faith

2. Grew in wisdom = The Knowledge of the Son of

God

3. Increased in stature = The Measure of the stature of

Christ’s fullness

It can thus be concluded that we can grow spiritually

and mature unto perfection just like how the Lord Jesus
perfectly grew from a child to a grown-up man.

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 The Essence of Perfection

Three Stages in Perfection

There are three stages of perfection revealed in the Bible.

1. Positional Perfection

HEBREWS 10:14
14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who
are being sanctified.

This state of perfection is already possessed by us by

virtue of our having been justified by the blood of the
Lord Jesus. In other words, our perfection here lies with
our position or identity in Christ Jesus as cleansed sinners
justified by Christ Jesus’ supreme sacrifice.

2. Progressive Perfection

PHILIPPIANS 3:12
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already
perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for
which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

This state of perfection is where we are right now in

our progress towards spiritual maturity.

3. Ultimate and Fullness of Perfection

1 CORINTHIANS 15:52,53
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
mortal must put on immortality.

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 Into His Likeness

This is the final stage of perfection–when our spirit,

soul, and body are totally transformed to resemble the Lord
Jesus Christ (1 John 3:2). God will transform our entire
body so that it will be full of glory and majesty, like the
body of Christ Jesus.

There was once a farmer who raised a young eagle with

a flock of chicken. The young eagle had never learned to
fly. One day this farmer decided to teach this eagle to fly
by throwing it up in the air. But each time the eagle would
look down and fall to the ground. The farmer pondered
deeply over how to teach the eagle to fly. Then he had
an idea. He lifted up the eagle’s head and made it look at
the sun above. As soon as the eagle saw the sun, it pushed
out its wings, lifted its head with a shriek, and began to
soar higher and higher into the sky. Likewise, when we
constantly look at the Lord Jesus and pattern after His
life, we can mature and transform into the likeness of His
perfection.

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 Chapter 2



JOHN 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.

ACTS 17:28a
28a For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.

We read in the gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ that when

He began His ministry He went about all the cities and
villages teaching in synagogues and preaching the good
news and healing all kinds of diseases and sicknesses
(Matt. 9:35; Mk. 6:6; Lk. 8:1). After a season of journeying
and preaching, He made His way to Jerusalem (Lk. 13:22).

Consider the Aaronic high priest: When he went to

offer blood sacrifices on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16),
he would begin from the outer court and move towards the
Most Holy Place carrying with him the blood of goats and
bulls into the presence of the Lord God which was resting
on the Ark of the Covenant. Spiritually, Jerusalem signifies
the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle. In Old Testament
times, the presence of God’s glory was kept in the Most
Holy Place and the tabernacle was kept in Jerusalem.

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 Into His Likeness

When the Lord Jesus was crucified as the sacrificial lamb

for the remission of sins in Jerusalem, His blood was
therefore spiritually shed on the Ark of the Covenant
(1 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 9:26).

While I was a speaker at an End-Time Handmaidens’

World Convention held at St. Louis, USA, in 1992,
I heard another preacher, Henry Gruver, share some very
interesting archaeological findings in Israel by a Christian
archaeologist, Ron Wyatt, concerning the Ark of the
Covenant. Mr Wyatt had revealed startling details of the
discovery of the Ark of Covenant, which evidently was
hidden outside the walls of Jerusalem before the city fell
and was destroyed by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar. The
cavern wherein the Ark was placed was covered up so
as to form a mound to conceal it. Over time, debris was
piled over this spot and gradually the mound became a
small hill. During the time of the Roman conquest and
occupation in Palestine, this hill became the site for
crucifixions. Permanent marble sockets were built into the
ground into which crosses were sunk and erected.

In his search for the location of the lost Ark of the

Covenant in a cliff still known today as Golgotha (Hebrew)
or Calvary (Latin), Mr Wyatt first uncovered three post-
holes hacked out of the rock. Each of these holes measured
thirteen inches square and three feet deep and came with
a sort of plug cover on top that contained finger holes for
easy removal. In the center post-hole was a cleavage on
the left side leading into the rock that probably resulted
from an earthquake (Matt. 27:51). Further investigations
with scientific instruments revealed the presence of gold
in the hill. He sought permission to bore a hole in the hill
and only obtained it from the Israeli authorities only after
much perseverance.

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 Our Identity In Christ

After over two years of digging a narrow trench into

the rock face of the cliff, in January 1982, Mr Wyatt finally
broke into a natural cavern of twenty two feet by fourteen
feet. There before him lay the sacred furniture from
Solomon’s Temple: The Altar of Burnt Offering, the Showbread
Table, the Altar of Incense, and, at the back of the chamber,
the Ark of the Covenant, with the wings of the two cherubim
stretched over the mercy seat. Mr Wyatt discovered dried
blood splattered over the Ark of the Covenant and the
other sacred furniture and had it - samples of the dried
blood, brought back to the United States for lab testing.
It was found that the blood, which was definitely human,
consisted of 23 X chromosomes and only 1 Y chromosome.
The normal human blood should comprise a minimum 46
chromosomes, 23 from each parent. If there is an additional
Y chromosome, then the blood is that of a male. This blood
was therefore from a male without a natural human father.
Mr Wyatt firmly believes (and we can concur with him) that
the blood of the Lord Jesus fell to the ground and through
the earthquake cleavage was sprinkled upon the mercy seat
for the redemption of mankind.

In the Old Testament, the high priest would sprinkle

the blood of bulls and goats on the mercy seat in
accordance to God’s command (Ex. 25; Lev. 16). Scriptures
tell us that the blood of bulls and goats cannot take
away sin, but the blood of the Lord Jesus cleanses all sins
(Heb. 10:4; 1 Jn. 1:7). The blood of animals was a temporary
measure that pointed to the blood of the perfect Lamb
that was to be slain. How amazing and appropriate that
the physical blood of Christ Jesus was actually sprinkled
over the mercy seat hidden in the hill of Calvary, thereby
validating the God-ordained ritual of sprinkling the mercy
seat once a year on the Day of Atonement!

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 Into His Likeness

At the same moment when the flesh of the Lord

Jesus was torn and blood and water flowed out from His
side, the temple veil was torn in two from the top down
(Matt. 27:51 Jn. 19:35). These two concurrent events
signify that spiritually we henceforth have full freedom and
confidence to enter into the Holy of Holies to come before
the throne of grace by virtue of the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ (Heb. 10:19). The tabernacle of Moses housed the
glory of God (Ex. 25:8; 40:34). It was a foreshadow to the
body of the Lord Jesus who housed within His body the
glory of God (Matt. 17:2; Heb. 1:3). Just as the body of
the Lord Jesus was torn or pierced and blood and water
flowed out, likewise the temple veil was torn in two and
the glory of God (which was resident in the Holy of Holies)
flowed out to reconcile and restore the world to God’s favor
(2 Cor. 5:17). This spiritual mystery is beautifully portrayed
in Hebrews 10:20: By this fresh (new) and living way which He
initiated and dedicated and opened for us through the separating
curtain [veil of the Holy of Holies], that is, through His flesh
(AMP).

Just as in the beginning, when God used to come

down and meet Adam in order to converse with him, God
had once again come out of His abode to reach out to man.
In the Lord Jesus Christ, God has reconciled us to Himself,
raised us up together with Christ Jesus, and made us sit
down with the Lord Jesus (joint-seating) in the heavenly
places–a privilege granted by virtue of our being in Christ
(Eph. 2:6). Adam in his sinless state was called the son of
God (Lk. 3:38). Man in his restored state is called the child of
God (Jn. 1:12; Gal. 3:26).

After paving the way for our restoration, the Lord God
calls us to mature unto perfection–that is, to be perfect as

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 Our Identity In Christ

He is perfect. The first principle we need to understand in

order to progressively mature unto perfection is Who we are
in Jesus Christ–our personal identity and individuality in Him.
What this calls for is knowing properly, understanding fully,
and proclaiming boldly our position in Christ Jesus.

Consider these scriptures:

1. I am the Almighty God (Gen. 17:1)

2. I am that I am (Ex. 3:14)

3. I am the Bread of Life (Jn. 6:35)

4. I am the Light of the World (Jn. 8:12, 9:5)

5. I am the Door of the Sheep (Jn. 10:7)

6. I am the Good Shepherd (Jn. 10:14)

7. I am the Resurrection and the Life (Jn. 11:25)

8. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn. 14:6)

9. I am the True Vine (Jn. 15:7)

10. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and

the End, says the Lord, who is and who was and who
is to come, the Almighty (Rev. 1:8)

It can be observed from these scriptures that the Lord

God, Who has a full knowledge of Who He Himself is,
always proclaims His Name and Who He is (cf. Ex. 34:5-7).
As children of God, we must therefore recognize our

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 Into His Likeness

position in Christ Jesus our Lord. We need to know and

comprehend what happens to us within and without in
order to fully grasp who we are in Christ Jesus.

I. BORN AGAIN

JOHN 3:3,5 (AMP)

3 Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell
you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from
above), he cannot ever see - know, be acquainted with,
[and experience] - the kingdom of God.
5 Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you,
except a man be born of water and (even) the Spirit, he
cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God.

We will first begin to understand our identity–specifically

who we are in Christ–only after we are born again. Why
is it so? Does it mean that we will not understand our
identity in Christ if we are not born again? It is written in
1 Corinthians 2:14 that But the natural man does not receive
the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him;
nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
In Genesis 2:17, the Lord God told man that on the day he
disobeyed Him, he would surely die. But in Genesis 3:7 we
read that man, after he had sinned, did not die. Why? Let’s
read Genesis 2:7: And the LORD God formed man of the dust
of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living being (Job 27:3; 33:3). God created
man with a spirit, soul, and body. What are these three
aspects of man then?

1. Spirit: The dimension of man which deals with the

spiritual realm and which knows God.

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 Our Identity In Christ

2. Soul: The dimension of man which deals with the

mental realm, which comprises the intellect, the
senses, and the will. This part of man reasons and
thinks.

3. Body: The dimension of man which deals with the

natural realm. It is the house in which the physical
man lives.

Man, therefore, is a spirit who possesses a soul and who

lives in a body. Consider this: When a builder constructs
a new house, he may classify it as an apartment, a terrace
house, a maisonette, or a bungalow. When the owners
move in to occupy this new house, the house then becomes
a home because people now live in there. Likewise the Lord
God took the dust of the earth and formed a house–our
body. He then breathed into it the breath of life–our spirit.
So man became a living soul, like a home.

When man sinned, his spirit man died. He was no

longer spiritually alive, sensitive and discerning of things
in the spirit realm. That is why the Lord Jesus said that in
order to see and enter into the Kingdom of God a person
must be born again. It is like this: A living person is well
received and accepted in every society, but as soon as he
dies he is quickly removed from the society of the living
and buried among the dead in the cemetery. The dead
cannot coexist with the living. Likewise, when we are dead
in our sins, we cannot exist in the land of the living in
heaven.

Let us look into the Bible and see what it says about a
person dead in sin.

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 Into His Likeness

1. By nature all have sinned and fallen short of the glory

of God (Rom. 3:23).

2. By nature all are spiritually dead (Col. 2:13).

3. By nature all are children of the devil (1 Jn. 3:10).

4. By nature all are children of disobedience (Eph. 2:2).

5. By nature all are cursed with Adam’s sin nature

(Rom. 5:12).

6. By nature all unsaved are alienated from the life of

God (Eph. 4:18).

7. By nature an unbeliever (any unsaved individual)

walks according to the lusts of the flesh and possess a
carnal mind (Eph. 2:3).

8. By nature an unbeliever is a prisoner to the law of sin

and death (Rom. 8:2; Jn. 5:24).

Self-centeredness and pride are deeply rooted in man

after he has fallen to sin. Ever since then, these two
characteristics are part of him. If he wants to be set free
from these two characteristics, he must be born again. A
child is born of the flesh and blood of its mother. Likewise,
a person must be born of the blood of Christ Jesus.
[Consider John 3:6: That which is born of the flesh is flesh,
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. The Lord Jesus
is a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). The Spirit gives life
(2 Cor. 3:6). And there is life in the blood (Lev. 17:11).
Therefore to be born of the Spirit is to be born of the blood
of the Lord Jesus.} When the leper Naaman came to Elisha

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 Our Identity In Christ

to be healed, he was told to wash in the Jordan River seven

times. And when he did that, he was miraculously healed
of leprosy (2 Kg 5:1-14). Likewise he who washes himself
in the blood of the Lord Jesus shall experience the death
of his old man (cf. Rev 7:9-14). He dies to sin and lives in
righteousness unto a new life, (Rom. 6:4).

Washed by the blood of Christ Jesus, his born-again

spirit is like a newborn child. It is clean, pure, and holy.
When a baby comes out of the mother’s womb, it is covered
with blood. The baby is then thoroughly washed clean.
Likewise, the born-again person is washed clean by the
hearing of the Word (Eph. 5:26) and the love of God is shed
(sprinkled) upon his heart (Rom. 5:5). (This is the mystery
alluded to in Ezekiel 16:9: Then I washed you in water; yes I
thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil.)
Like a newborn baby with all its organs, a born-again spirit
man too has a new spirit and a new heart (Ezek. 36:26).
He also receives the following:

1. New eyes : To behold purity like the Lord God,

who does not behold evil (Job 11:4;
Hab. 1:13).

2. New ears : To hear the Word of God and to hear

His voice (Ex. 15:26).

3. New tongue : To sing forth the praises of God

instead of gossiping, murmuring and
backbiting (Ps. 15:3; 1 Tim. 1:4, 4:7).

4. New nose : To breathe in the Holy Spirit and not

to breathe in the filth of the world
anymore (Gen. 2:7; Jn. 20:22).

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 Into His Likeness

5. New hands : To lift up holy hands and praise the

Lord. Only he who has clean hands
can enter the holy tabernacle of God
(Ps. 24:3,4; 1 Tim. 2:8).

6. New legs : To bring the gospel of peace to all

places. Not to run towards mischief
but to walk righteously before God
(Ps. 15:2; Prov. 6:18).

He who is born of God is perfected and matures unto

perfection. Day by day he is transformed into the likeness
of Christ Jesus. Waves of holiness will come upon him to
enable him to live in perfection like God. Isn’t it glorious
to be born again of God?

The term born again in the Greek is anothen, which

means anew, or from above (as used in Jn. 3:3,5,7). In
1 Peter 1:23 the Greek word for the phrase “having been
born again” is genethenai anothen, which means regenerated.
“Born again” can therefore be defined as a spiritual rebirth
that is effected from above and that is regenerative.

May I reveal a conversation I once had with a

ministering spirit from heaven (Heb. 1:13,14)? Once I was
meditating the scriptures and was pondering deeply on the
subject of “Born Again.” A ministering spirit came from
the presence of God and revealed to me the following: To
be born again means to be born in Christ or to be begotten of
God. How is a person born in this world? Isn’t it by the union
of a male and a female? In the beginning, man sinned and lost
the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). What will come forth from sinful
man? Only sin! That is why even newborn children possess a
sinful nature. Whatever that came forth from the first man after
he had sinned was always full of sin.

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Born again is spiritual rebirth. The Lord Jesus asserted

that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit” (Jn. 3:6). This rebirth is effected
from above because only God through His Holy Spirit
is able to do that. In the new creation of the new birth,
the Lord God gives us a new spirit and a new heart. Two
scriptures in the Old Testament beautifully portray this
truth: I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within
you (Ezek. 11:19; 36:26); I will give them a heart to know Me
that I am the LORD (Jer. 24:7).

The Lord Jesus Christ specifically declared that to be

born again is to be born of water and of the Spirit (Jn. 3:5).

a. Born of the Water

The water as referred to by the Lord Jesus regarding

spiritual rebirth performs a dual action–within and without–
on the life of the person who is being born again.

i. The Operation of Water Within

Here it speaks symbolically of the Word of God. The

Lord Jesus Christ, while washing the disciples’ feet, said:
He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely
clean; and you are clean (Jn. 13:10); You are already
clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you
(John 15:3). Regarding the church, the apostle Paul writes:
That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word (Eph. 5:26). The psalmist also writes thus: How
can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according
to Your Word (Ps. 119:9). With the understanding gained
from these scriptures we can conclude thus: Being “born of
water” is a spiritual act of washing resulting from hearing and
receiving the Word of God.

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This principle of washing with water was effected

inside me during my own salvation experience. When I
answered the altar call and came forward to stand before
the speaker, I opened my mouth to confess my belief that
Jesus Christ had died for my sins and rose again from the
dead. As soon as I opened my heart and confessed with my
mouth, I believe and accept you as my Lord and Savior, I felt as
though someone started to pour oil over my head. From my
head, the oil began to flow down all over my face, hands,
body, legs, and feet (cp. Ps. 133:2). It was a very tangible
supernatural experience. As this oil was flowing down all
over my body, within me I felt that I was being cleansed
of my sin and filthiness. It was like a physical washing and
cleansing. That being born of water takes place through
the Word of God is also shown clearly in the following
scriptures: Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you
shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, and
from all your idols, will I cleanse you (Ezek. 36:25); Being born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word
of God (1 Pet. 1:23).

ii. The Operation of Water Without

This refers to water baptism. The most important

question that needs to be asked and answered is Why do we
need to be baptized in water? The standard and most popular
reason given makes reference to Romans 6:4: we were buried
with Him through baptism into death. The outward cleansing
of water baptism thus signifies an inner cleansing of the
Word and an identification with the death, burial, and
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The baptism of water actually has an in-depth

meaning. Consider the words given to John the Baptist

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when he was hesitant to baptize the Lord Jesus: Permit it to

be so now: for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness
(Matt. 3:15). What did the Lord Jesus mean when he said
“fulfil all righteousness”?

In Exodus 40:12-13 we read: Then you shall bring Aaron

and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and wash
them with water. You shall put the holy garments on Aaron, and
anoint him, and sanctify him, that he may minister to Me as
priest. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, in order to minister
as the faithful high Priest in the priest’s office, needed to be
washed by the baptism of water (Heb. 2:17; 4:15; 5:5). If the
Lord needed to do so, what then believers? In 1 Peter 2:9, it
is written, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
an holy nation, His own special people (Ex. 19:6; Rev. 1:6). The
believer, without doubt, needs to be baptized in water, so
that like the priest standing in the priest’s office he can offer
spiritual sacrifices to God (Heb. 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:5).

b. Born of the Spirit

TITUS 3:5
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to His mercy He saved us, through the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy
Spirit.

Let’s look at the two key words used in this scripture

that describe being born of the Spirit. Regeneration is
translated from the Greek word palingenesia, which means
new birth (palin, “again”; genesia, “birth”), signifying
spiritual regeneration. Renewing comes from the Greek word
anakainosis, which means to make new. We can therefore
conclude thus about “being born of the Spirit”: It is the

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state of spiritual regeneration effected by God’s power to develop

the life of a Christian through the continual operation of the
indwelling Holy Spirit.

As man’s spirit is dead because of original sin, when

he is born again of the Spirit, God puts in him a new spirit
(Ezek. 11:19; 36:26). The spirit of man is re-generated by
the quickening work of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:11). Just
as in the creation when the Holy Spirit moved across the
dark waters and brought forth life, likewise in regeneration
that same Spirit of the Living God brings forth new life,
making alive what has no life (Gen. 1:2-27.) “Spiritual
regeneration” involves the communication of new life. The
two powers that operate to produce this life are the Word
and the Spirit (Jn. 3:5,6; Jas. 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23). This is what
is meant by being born of water and of the Spirit.

Let’s examine some scriptural passages that foreshadow

this truth:

1. The Creation of Adam

God said (spoke the Word), Let us make man and the
LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath [or Spirit] of Life; and man became a
living being (Gen. 11:26; 2:7; Job 33:4). (Genesis 1:2 contains
the implication that water was used to mix with the dust
of the ground.) Observe the dynamic relationship here
between God’s creative Word and the Spirit’s impartation of
life: Man is born of water (resulting from the creative power of
God’s Word) and of the Spirit (action of hovering over the waters
and breathing in of life).

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2. The Resurrection of Dry Bones

In Ezekiel 37:1-10 we read how the prophet Ezekiel was

taken out of his body by the Spirit to a valley that was full
of bones (v. 1). God then commanded Ezekiel to prophesy
the Word to those bones (vv. 4-6). When the prophet
prophesied, the breath (the Spirit) came upon those dry
bones and they came together and received life (vv. 9-10).
Observe the same dynamic relationship between the Word
and the Spirit that brought flesh and breath back to the dry
bones: They are born of water (creative Word) and the Spirit (life
breath).

3. The Mystery of the Virgin Conception

In Luke 1:26-38 it is written that the angel Gabriel

appeared before Mary and gave her a Word. The angel told
her that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and she shall
be conceived of the Spirit (v. 35). Mary told the angel,
Let it be to me according to your Word (v. 38). We all know
that cells are living organisms in the human body. In the
female reproductive system are ovaries. These ovaries are
cells that have the potential to produce new life. The Holy
Spirit is a quickening Spirit who gives life by making things
come alive (Jn. 6:63; Rom. 8:11; 1 Pet. 3:18). When the
Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary, the young virgin’s ovaries
were quickened and they began to pulsate with new life as
the supernatural impregnation occurred. Mary conceived
and was made pregnant resulting from the same dynamic
relationship between the Word and the Spirit. The Virgin
Mary was divinely impregnated of water (Word) and the Spirit.

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II. CLEANSED FROM SIN

After we are born again, cleansing from sin begins to take

place.

EZEKIEL 36:25
25 Then I will sprinkle clean water you, and you shall
be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, and
from all your idols.

Consider a woman in her labor pains ready to give

birth anytime. When the baby comes out of her womb,
it is covered with blood and uncleanness. The umbilical
cord that links the mother and child is cut. The baby is
then cleansed by water of all the blood, the filthiness
and uncleanness, and clothed in a white cloth before
being presented to the parents. Likewise God washes and
cleanses us from all filthiness after we are born again
(Ezek. 16:4,9).

Justification
Cleansed from sin, we are justified before God. God
is a righteous and holy God. To stand before Him in
righteousness and holiness we first have to be cleansed
from all sins. The word justification in the Greek is dikaiosis,
which means the act of pronouncing righteous, justified,
acquitted. God justifies a person when he is born again of
water and of the Spirit by acquitting his guilt. Justification,
therefore, is the concrete expression of righteousness by
declaring that a person is righteous.

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Just as the surgeon severs the umbilical cord that

joins the mother and the newborn baby when it leaves
the womb, God cuts off the spiritual umbilical cord that
attaches us to the world when we are born again. Our
spiritual umbilical cord is “the cord of sin” (Prov. 5:22;
Isa. 5:18). Justified and cleansed from sin, God no longer
imputes nor reckons nor holds any sin against us, since we
have been cut loose and set free from the dominion of sin
(Rom. 6:14,18,22). Having been freed from the dominion of
sin–cleansed and declared justified and righteous by God–
we must neither (1) allow sin to rule and reign in our body
to make us yield to its cravings and subject to its lusts and
passions (Rom. 6:12) nor (2) yield our bodily members as
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin but instead yield
completely to God (Rom. 6:13,19).

In John 19:34, it is written, But one of the soldiers

pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and
water came out. This is how we are cleansed from sin and
made justified in the eyes of God–by the blood and water
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why blood and water? Blood is for
the redemption from sin (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14). Water is
used to cleanse us from all the filthiness and uncleanness
that result from our everyday life (1 Jn. 1:7,9). There is life
in the blood and it can speak (Gen. 4:10; Lev. 17:11). In
1 John 5:7,8, it is written, So there are three witnesses in
heaven, The Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these
three are One, and there are three witnesses on the earth,
the Spirit, the water and the blood; and these three agree
[are in unison, their testimony coincides] (AMP). In this
scripture water speaks of the Word, which we have also
seen in the preceding discussion. Therefore the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Word (Water) of Life, has also gone
up to heaven, and entered the Most Holy Place by His

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blood so as to redeem us from sin (Heb. 9:12,24). He

offered His eternal blood which speaks a better and nobler
gracious message of mercy before a righteous and holy God
(Heb. 12:24). Having entered heaven as the great high priest,
the Lord Jesus Christ ever lives to make intercession for us
(Heb. 4:14; 7:25).

His intercessions run like a continuous flow of water

to cleanse us from all sins. This is beautifully illustrated
in 1 John 1:7: But if we walk in the light as He is in the light,
we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. When we practice
a habitual and consistent life of prayer and fellowship
with God (1 Jn. 1:3) and obey the Word (walk in the
light) we can be assured that “the blood of Jesus Christ,
His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt–keeps
us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations”
(1 Jn. 1:7, AMP). We, then, are justified, made upright
and in right standing, with God by His grace through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus by his blood
(Rom. 3:24,25).

III. NEW CREATION

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
old things have passed away; behold, all things have
become new.

Let’s first examine the words “new” and “creation” found

in this scripture from the original language. The word
new in the Greek is kainos, which means new, as to form or
quality, of different nature from what is contrasted as old. The
word creation in the Greek is ktisis, which means the act of

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creating or the creative act in process. The term “new creation”

can thus be defined as follows: By the creative act of God,
a person becomes a new man (or creature) in Christ, with a
new manhood both spiritual and moral, after the pattern and
character of Christ Jesus.

In regeneration (born of Water and of the Spirit and

cleansed from all filthiness of sin), a person becomes a new
creature. The person is still the same person, but the old
sin-dominated nature is no more in existence. The Lord
God has declared that “all things have become new”
(2 Cor. 5:17). All the old, our entire past, has passed away.
In Isaiah 43:25 it is written, I, even I, am He who blots out
your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember
your sins (also Heb. 10:12). When we came to God as
sinners, all that we had done in the past was wiped out
(cleaned out), everything that we were was erased. We
received the full remission of sins as though they had never
been committed (Acts 2:38; 10:43).

During a season of fasting for 40 days in 1985,

I received a visitation from the Lord Jesus and beheld His
similitude. He showed me a particular member of my
church and asked for my opinion. All I could think of
to tell the Lord were her mistakes and ugly unChristlike
character and behavior. The Lord Jesus then opened my
spiritual eyes to see from God’s view how He looked at
her. All her mistakes and ugly unChristlike character and
behavior did not exist, for this person was a new creature in
Christ Jesus. Instead of the ugliness, I saw in her the beauty
and innocence from the perfection of Christlikeness. In
His great mercy and grace, the Lord Jesus taught me that
when a person is born again, he or she becomes a new
creature within and all the old has passed away. Externally

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the person may not look any different because it is only

the spirit that is born again, not the soul and the body.
A person’s thinking, certain traits, and behavior may still
seem to be like the old person. But, within, the spirit man
has become a new creature.

In 1993, I was invited to speak at a certain charismatic

church in Singapore. After the message, as I was ministering
to the people, the word of the Lord came to me saying,
There is a woman here feeling very condemned and unloved by
Me. Tell her that I love her. I gave the word and prayed for
that woman. After the meeting was over, a young woman
came to see me for prayer. Looking at me with moist eyes
she said, I am the woman whom you called out as feeling
condemned. She went on to pour out tear-filled words
regarding her sinful life and her feelings of condemnation.
As I was listening to her, the Lord Jesus, who was standing
beside me in the Spirit, said, Tell her that when I forgave
her sins, I remember them no more (Is. 38:17; Jer. 31:34).
She is not condemned before Me. Neither is she ugly before
Me. After telling her what the Lord Jesus said, I told her,
My dear sister, when the Lord Jesus Himself doesn’t remember
your sins, why are you reminding Him of your sins which He
doesn’t remember? He has buried all your sins under the ocean
of His love (Micah 7:19). Go in peace. When we become new
creatures, the old has passed away. We must now look at
ourselves the way God looks at us–as how we look in Christ
Jesus.

The Creation of a New Creature

The new birth or the born-again experience is the
birthing of a new creation from heaven through the direct

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operation of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. We are

completely spiritually changed and made righteous new
creatures in Christ Jesus. Let’s examine from the scriptures
what new things God makes in us when we are born again
and how He sees our identity in Christ Jesus.

1. New Human Spirit

EZEKIEL 36:26,27
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit
within you; I will take away the heart of stone out of
your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to
walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments
and do them.

It is the human spirit that God re-creates because it is

only the spirit that deals with the spiritual realm and which
knows God (1 Cor. 2:11). It is like the main power station
that supplies power to certain area. When there is a power
outage due to an electrical fault at the power station, every
house in that area will lose its electricity. To rectify the
problem one does not go to each house to carry out repair
but to the power station itself. When the fault is corrected,
all the houses affected by the power failure will receive a
new flow of electricity. Likewise when the spirit man (who
is the real man in us) is regenerated, eventual and effectual
change will come over the soul and the body.

The new man, with the new spirit, becomes a

partaker of the divine nature and life of God (Col. 3:3,4;
2 Pet. 1:4). The new man has, as it were, Christ formed in him
(Gal. 4:19; Col. 1:27). Our new spirit has been regenerated
to put on the image and likeness of God in righteousness

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and holiness (Eph. 4:24). That was how the first man
Adam was before he sinned. Our spirit nature has been
restored back to how it originally was in the beginning
(Gen. 1:26,27).

2. New Heart

It is impossible for us to change our heart. When we

are born again, the Lord God gives us a spiritual heart
transplant.

The word heart (as in Ezekiel 36:26) in Hebrew is leb,

which has the following definitions:

i. The seat of desire, inclination, or will (e.g. Ex. 7:14;

35:5; Ps. 86:12).

ii. The seat of emotions (e.g. Deut. 6:5; 1 Sam. 2:1;

Is. 35:4).

iii. The seat of knowledge and wisdom (Deut. 29:4;

1 Kg. 3:9).

iv. The seat of conscience and moral character

(2 Sam. 24:10; Job. 27:6).

v. The seat of rebellion and pride (Gen. 8:21; Jer. 17:1;

Ezek. 28:2).

vi. The outflow of man’s deeds (Gen. 20:5; 1 Kg. 3:6;

Is. 38:3).

vii. The inner being of man himself (Deut. 30:6; Jer. 17:9).

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Why does God need to give us a new heart (mind)?

Because,

a. The imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was evil

(Gen. 6:5).

b. The heart is deceitful and wicked (Eccl. 9:3; Jer. 17:9).

c. The heart is the source of many evils (Matt. 15:19,20;

Mk. 7:21,22).

d. The heart is unclean (Job 14:4).

e. The heart is accustomed to doing evil (Jer. 13:23).

Because of the ugliness of the heart of sinful man,

when we are reborn God gives us a new heart of flesh and
takes away the stony heart. In the parable of the sower,
the Lord Jesus said that the seed which fall upon stony
places sprout up quickly but soon wither because they do
not have deep roots (Matt. 13:20,21). Only good ground
can nurture seeds to fruitfulness. God has to replace the
stony heart with a heart of flesh so that He could “Imprint
[His] laws upon their minds, even upon their innermost
thoughts and understanding and engrave them upon their
hearts” (Heb. 8:10, AMP; Heb. 10:16). When God wrote His
laws on tablets of stone and instructed Israel to obey them,
they failed to do so (Ex. 31:18; Deut. 9:15-17). Seeds cannot
germinate on stones and produce fruits of perfection. God’s
new laws–if they are to bring man unto perfection–must
be written on “fleshy tables of the heart” (Jer. 31:33;
2 Cor. 3:3).

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3. God’s Spirit

After having recreated the human spirit and giving

man a new heart (mind), God puts His Spirit in us to
cause us to walk in his statutes and obey his ordinances
by keeping them (Ezek. 11:20; 36:27). Why does God
need to put his Spirit within us to guide us? Let’s return
to the early days of creation. Before the fall of Adam,
God’s personal presence was always in habitual fellowship
with him (Gen. 3:8). When Adam disobeyed God’s word
and sinned, God’s presence left him. Later, at the time
of Moses, God led the nation of Israel out of Egypt by
His Spirit’s manifestation through the pillar of cloud by
day and pillar of fire by night (Ex. 13:21; Num. 14:14;
Neh. 9:12). Even then the people of God continued to test,
try, vex, and disobey God (1 Cor. 10:5).

Because of man’s utter inability to walk righteously,

God then brought His presence right inside us so that
His Spirit will live in us and abide with us constantly
(Jn. 14:16,17). His Spirit in us will now lead us into all
truth, teach us all things, and bring to remembrance all the
commandments, statutes, ordinances, and ways that God
has commanded (Jn. 14:26; 16:13).

4. New Nature

EPHESIANS 4:24 (AMP)

24 And put on the new nature (the regenerate self)
created in God’s image, (Godlike) in true righteousness
and holiness.

God’s nature is that of holiness, love, and truth,

and therefore man’s new nature will reflect this. The

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regenerated person’s innermost being is now inclined

towards righteousness and holiness. When we were still
the unregenerated man, we were enslaved to sin. But now,
having been set free from sin, our new nature will feel
inclined to yield the bodily members to righteousness
and holiness as we are led by the Holy Spirit of God
(Rom. 6:17-19).

Sanctification
We feel drawn towards righteousness and holiness because
God has sanctified us through His Spirit. It is written very
beautifully in scripture thus: And such were some of you. But
you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God
(1 Cor. 6:11).

The word sanctification in Greek is hagiamos, which

means separation to God, a setting apart. The Bible
emphatically declares that every believer is sanctified in
Christ Jesus (1 Cor. 1:2). Sanctification can be thus defined:
Separated and set apart and made holy unto God by the grace of
God.

God is holy and separate from all other gods

(Ex. 15:11). He has thus separated and set apart His people
from the rest of mankind as holy and belonging solely
and uniquely to Him (1 Pet. 2:9). This then is the will of
God–that we should be separated, set apart for pure and
holy living, knowing how to possess our own body in
sanctity and honor, because God has not called us to a life
of impurity but to a life of total consecration and holiness
(1 Thes. 4:3,4,7).

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Let us take an overall view of how own life had been

while we were dead in sin and how it had been changed
after we were born again.

Our Old Life Our New Life

1. We were spiritually dead We are made alive and given
in our sins (Col. 2:13). eternal life (Eph. 2:5,6).
2. Cursed with Adam’s sin We are made to partake the
nature (Rom. 5:12). divine nature of God (2 Pet. 1:4).
3. Minds blinded and The eyes of our understanding
understanding darkened have been enlightened
(2 Cor. 4:4). (Eph. 1:18; Heb. 6:4).
4. Enemies of God Reconciled to God
(Rom. 5:10). (2 Cor. 5:18,19).
5. Prisoners to the law of Freed by the law of the Spirit
sin and death (Rom. 8:1). of life in Christ (Rom. 8:2).
6. Children of the devil Children of God
(1 Jn. 3:10). (Jn. 1:12).
7. Living in the kingdom Transferred to the kingdom
of darkness (Col. 1:13). of light (Col. 1:13).

Who We Are In Christ Jesus

The first principle we need to know after having
understood what happens to us when we are born again
is to comprehend our identity in Christ Jesus. More
specifically we must confess our knowledge of who we are

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in Christ according to what the Word says about us. The

entrance of God’s Word through our mouth into our heart
brings light - which is understanding (Ps. 119:130) and
faith (Ps. 119:130; Rom. 10:17). When our faith is built
up, we will then rise up, walk by faith, and begin to please
God because we will know that as sons or daughters of God
we are joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:17;
Gal. 4:7; Heb. 11:5,6).

If we read in the gospels the life of the Lord Jesus very

carefully, we will notice that He constantly declares Who He
is, What He is, and What His mission in life is. For instance,
He says, I and My Father are one (Jn. 10:30); The Father is in
Me, and I in Him (Jn. 10:38); For the Father loves the Son, and
shows Him all things that He Himself does and He will show
Him greater works than these, that you may marvel (Jn. 5:20).
The Lord Jesus has certainly left us an example of finding
out and establishing who we are. We are then to boldly
declare who we are and walk confidently in the light of this
declaration. God looks at the new man in Christ Jesus when
He looks at us. He does not look at us from the natural
standpoint that we look at one another but through the
perfections of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Who are we, then, in Christ Jesus? Or who am I in

Christ Jesus?

1. We are God’s workmanship created for good works

(Eph. 2:10).

2. We have been made righteous in Christ Jesus

(Rom. 3:22; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9).

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3. We are no more prisoners under condemnation; we

have been set free from the law of sin and death in
Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1,2).

4. We are more than conquerors through Him

(Rom. 8:37).

5. Christ lives in us (Gal. 2:20; Col. 1:26,27).

6. We are joint heirs seated in heavenly places in Christ

Jesus (Rom. 8:17; Eph. 2:5,6).

7. We have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in

Christ; therefore we have every good thing in us
(Eph. 1:3; Philem. 1:6).

8. We are members of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27).

9. We are made alive in Christ Jesus (Acts 17:28;

Rom. 6:11; 1 Cor. 15:22).

10. We are God’s fellow worker (Mk. 16:20; 1 Cor. 3:9).

11. We are triumphant in Christ Jesus (1 Cor. 15:57;

2 Cor. 2:14).

12. We are a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17;

Gal. 6:15).

13. We are citizens and members of the household of God

in heaven (Eph. 2:19; Phil. 3:20).

14. We are children of God in Christ Jesus (Jn. 1:12;

Gal. 3:24).

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 Our Identity In Christ

15. We are ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20).

16. We have a high calling of God in Christ Jesus

(Phil. 3:13,14; 2 Tim. 1:9).

17. We are established in the faith in Him (Col. 2:7).

18. We are complete in Him (Col. 2:10; Heb. 13:20,21).

19. We are anointed and have the Spirit of God in us

(2 Cor. 1:21; Eph. 1:13; 1 Jn. 3:24, 4:13).

20. We are made accepted in the Beloved (Eph.1:6).

21. We are the light of the world (Matt. 5:14; Eph. 5:8;
1 Thes. 5:5).

22. We have been redeemed by the forgiveness of sins

(Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14).

23. We a r e t h e s a l t o f t h e e a r t h ( M a t t . 5 : 1 3 ) .

24. We are the temple of the Living God (1 Cor. 3:16;

6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16).

25. We have boldness in Christ Jesus to come before God

(Eph. 3:12; Heb 4:16; 10:19).

26. We are justified and glorified in Christ Jesus

(Rom. 3:24; 5:9; 8:30; Gal. 2:16).

27. We have the grace of God given to us by Christ Jesus

(1 Cor. 1:4).

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 Into His Likeness

28. We are enriched in all knowledge by Christ Jesus

(1 Cor. 1:5).

29. We are perfected by Christ Jesus (Heb. 10:14).

30. We have power and authority in Christ Jesus

(Matt. 28:18; Mk. 16:17,18; Lk. 10:19).

31. We are sanctified and purified in Christ Jesus

(1 Cor. 1:2; Tit. 2:14).

32. We a r e k i n g s a n d priests unto God

(1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6).

33. We are holy, unblameable, and unreprovable before

God’s sight (Col. 1:22).

This is who and what we are in Christ Jesus. As we begin

to see ourselves the way God sees us and as we allow the
Word of God to sink into us by meditating the preceding
scriptures, our identify in Christ will become a reality in
our life.

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 Chapter 3




JOHN 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.

1 JOHN 1:3
3 That which we have seen and heard we declare unto
you, that you also may have fellowship with us: and
truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His
Son, Jesus Christ.

PHILIPPIANS 2:1a
1a Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any
comfort of love, if any fellowship of the [Holy] Spirit
....

The second principle that will help us to be transformed

into Christlikeness is our fellowship with the triune God. This
truth is exemplified by the text the Word was with God.
In Proverbs 8:30, it is written that Then I was beside Him,
as a master craftsman; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing
always before Him. Every child in a healthy home enjoys
the constant fellowship of his parents as he grows steadily

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into maturity. Likewise we must now learn to establish a

consistent, habitual, and uninterrupted fellowship with
God. This simply means maintaining a disciplined prayer
life - closely fellowshiping with God.

For a fuller understanding of this vital subject, let’s

examine several Greek words and a Hebrew word for the
word fellowship.

1. Gk. koinonia : communion, fellowship, sharing in common

2. Gk. metoche : partnership

3. Heb. chabar : to be joined

4. Gk. koinonos ginomai : to become a partaker

Fellowshiping with God can be thus defined: Joined

with God in communion and sharing a common partnership,
thereby becoming a partaker of God’s nature and attributes.

God fellowshiped with Adam in his sinless state. Adam

too fellowshiped with God in all His perfection. Let’s
consider the scriptural account of this beautiful fellowship.

1. Communion

Genesis 3:8 records, And they heard the sound of the Lord
God walking in the garden in the cool of the day (AMP). This
beautiful scene is commonly interpreted as God and Adam
having fellowship with each other. Enoch too enjoyed a
similar intimate communion with God: Enoch walked [in
habitual fellowship] with God (Gen. 5:22,24, AMP).

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 Fellowshiping with the Triune God

2. Partnership

After creating him, God conferred on Adam

complete authority and dominion over God’s creation
(Gen. 1:26,28). All too soon Adam committed high treason
by selling out his authority to the devil. After destroying
all the works of the devil, the Lord Jesus Christ took
back the authority and restored it to us in His Name
(Matt. 28:18; Mk. 16:17,18; 1 Jn. 3:8).

3. A Common Participation

God let Adam share and participate in the joy of His

creation. It is written in Genesis 2:19, And out of the ground
the Lord God formed every [wild] beast and living creature of the
field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see
what he would call them; and whatever Adam called every living
creature, that was its name (AMP). The Creator clearly viewed
the first man as His partner and put His seal of approval on
Adam’s choice. We see in the life and ministry of the Lord
Jesus and His disciples a similar partnership between God
and man: And they went out, and preached everywhere, the
Lord working with them and confirming the word through the
accompanying signs (Mk. 16:20).

When we fellowship with God as a partner and

participate in a project together, He comes to discuss things
over with us. We are His partner. He will listen to us. Let’s
examine two specific instances in the Bible:

i. Moses. Moses constantly enjoyed a deep communion

and intimate fellowship with God. He spoke with God
freely as a friend (Ex. 33:11). Because Moses was made
God’s partner, he could reason, plead, intercede with

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 Into His Likeness

God–even, on many occasions, talk Him out of completely

destroying Israel (Ex. 32:9-14).

ii. Abraham. Abraham was called a friend of God

(2 Chr. 20:7; Is. 41:8). When God wanted to destroy
Sodom and Gomorrah, He first had a talk with His friend
(Gen. 18:7). After telling of the sinful condition of the
cities slated for destruction, God was willing to listen to
Abraham’s views and hear his intercession. God was even
willing to take into consideration His partner’s concerns
(Gen. 18:23-33).

4. Partakers of God’s Nature and Attributes

If we put a piece of coal in the fire, after some time,

the coal will be glowing with fire in it. The coal now burns
with its own fire because it has partaken of the original fire
through close association. Likewise when we fellowship
with God the fire of the Holy Spirit renews, transforms, and
transfigures us into God’s image and likeness.

Although Adam was created in the image and likeness

of God, after the fall of man, it is only through habitual
fellowship with God that anyone can once more be a
partaker of God’s nature. Of Enoch, the Bible tells us that
he walked with God in habitual fellowship (Gen. 5:22,24).
Even with his inherited fallen nature, Enoch took on God’s
nature, receiving His light and His glory. After a long life of
close communion with God on earth, “Enoch was caught
up and transferred to heaven, so that he did not have a
glimpse of death; and he was not found, because God had
translated him” (Heb. 11:5, AMP). Of Moses, scriptures
say, Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai
(and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand
when he came down from the mountain) that Moses did not

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 Fellowshiping with the Triune God

know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him
(Ex. 34:29). After fellowshiping with God continuously for
forty days and nights, Moses partook the light of God’s
glory (Ex. 34:28).

Of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is written, And as He prayed,

the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became
white and glistening (Lk. 9:29). The Lord Jesus, who lived in
uninterrupted communion with God the Father, partook
of that same manifested glory of God that came upon
Enoch and Moses. Of the believer, it is written: by which
have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises,
that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature
(2 Pet. 1:4a). In Christ Jesus, we now partake the divine
nature within our spirit. By habitual fellowship with God,
we will be transfigured and transformed into His own
image and likeness in ever-increasing splendor from glory
to glory (2 Cor. 3:18).

The Different Levels

Of Fellowship With God
I have found through the study of God’s Word on this
subject that there are or have been different levels of
fellowship with God. Regarding this we can follow human
history through its different stages of change, from the first
man Adam, who enjoyed the highest level of communion
with God before his fall, through the fallen state of
mankind, through the restoration of man’s fellowship with
God by the second man Christ Jesus.

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1. The Level of Adam

Adam in his sinless state fellowshiped with God face

to face, enjoying daily the loving communion of God as a
son would with his father. Once as I was in deep prayer, my
spiritual eyes were opened to behold a scene in the Garden
of Eden. God came walking in the garden. His appearance,
though in form like a man, was shrouded with the glory
light. Adam was standing by a fruit tree and admiring it.
The whole atmosphere in the garden pulsated with the
vibrancy of life. Walking very gently, God came and stood
beside Adam, and explained to him the purpose for the
creation of that tree - its qualities and its functions. Such
was the blessed state of Adam before his fall (Gen. 1:28-30;
2:8,15-17,19,20; 3:8).

2. The Level of Moses

Since the fall of Adam, man could no longer behold

God face to face and be in His glorious holy presence.
Moses, through close habitual fellowship, found favor
in God’s eye (Ex. 33:17). God spoke with Moses face to
face, as a man would speak with his friend (Ex. 33:11;
Deut. 34:10). His spiritual eyes were opened to behold the
form of the Lord God (Num. 12:8).

3. The Level of the Prophets

As the sin and wickedness resulting from man’s

depravity increased on the face of the earth, man even
forgot his Creator (Is. 1:3; Jer. 9:3,6). It was the prophets
who continued to fellowship and stay in partnership
with God. As they communed with God, God spoke to
them through the word of prophecy (1 Pet. 1:19-21).
Thus, it is often written in the scriptures, the Word of the

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LORD came unto me. This Word came to them through

a vision, an audible voice, a word put in the mouth, or
through an angel of God. Consider the following scriptures:
Genesis 15:1; Numbers 23:5; Judges 2:4; 1 Samuel 15:10;
2 Samuel 7:4; 1 Kings 6:11; 2 Kings 20:4; 1 Chronicles 22:8;
2 Chronicles 12:7; Ezra 1:1; Isaiah 38:4; Jeremiah 1:2;
Ezekiel 1:3; Daniel 8:16,17; Hosea 1:1; Joel 1:1;
Amos 7:16; Jonah 1:1; Micah 1:1; Zephaniah 1:1;
Haggai 2:10; Zechariah 8:18.

4. The Level of the Lord Jesus

During His earthly days, the Lord Jesus Christ was

always found in prayer fellowshiping with God the Father.
Sometimes He would even spend the whole night in prayer
(Luke 6:12). He communed with God “in the bosom [in
the intimate presence] of the Father” (Jn. 1:18, AMP).
There is a very saintly man of God in South India who
walks very intimately with God and is often caught up
to the heavens as was the experience of the apostle Paul
(2 Cor. 12:2-4). In one such experience, this holy man was
taken by the Lord Jesus to see the throne of God the Father.
The dwelling place of the Father God, he beheld, was
pervaded with an air of absolute peace, tranquillity, and
stillness. A throne was there with a majestic glory cloud
resting over it. He could not see God the Father clearly and
could only make out His form overshadowed by the glory
cloud.

This man then turned to the Lord Jesus and asked Him
concerning a certain matter, to which the Lord replied
He had to go ask the Father about it. The Lord Jesus then
walked towards the throne and disappeared into the cloud.
As God the Father and God the Son were conversing,
thunders and lightning broke forth from within the cloud.

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 Into His Likeness

After some time, the Lord Jesus stepped out from what
seemed like the bosom of the Father God. This is the place
of deep and intimate fellowship between the Lord Jesus
and God the Father. It has always pleased the Father God
to speak with the Lord Jesus from a cloud because He
habitually fellowshiped with God (Matt. 17:5; Mk. 6:46;
Lk. 5:16).

5. The Level of the New Covenant Believer

The regenerated believer who is in Christ Jesus enjoys

this new reality: And you are in Him, made full and have come
to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and reach full spiritual stature]
(Col. 2:10, AMP). Having been restored to the original
sinless sate of Adam, the believer who is in Christ can now,
through the blood of Christ Jesus, fellowship freely with
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

a. Fellowshiping With the Father

We can fellowship with the Father God (1 Jn. 1:3). We

have been taught that all prayers must be addressed to the
Father in the Lord Jesus’ Name (Matt. 6:9; Jn. 15:16; 16:23)
but have hardly been taught that we should fellowship and
develop an intimate acquaintance with the Father God.
Why do we need to love and fellowship with the Father
God? Because He cares for us, is deeply interested in us,
and loves us unconditionally, as though no one else exists
in the entire universe (1 Pet. 5:7).

Once a sister told me she had difficulty picturing and

accepting God as her Father because she had an unloving
father and a neglected childhood. To this sister and others

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 Fellowshiping with the Triune God

like her, the Lord Jesus had especially taught the beautiful
parables of the loving and caring Heavenly Father. Luke
15:3-32 records three such parables of the Lord Jesus. In
the first parable, the finding of the lost sheep speaks of
God as a deeply loving and caring person (vv. 3-6). In
the second parable, the finding of the lost coin shows
how much God values, honors, and cherishes us. In the
third parable, the restoration of the lost son portrays God
as a loving father who is full of mercy and compassion
(vv. 11-32). We can confidently fellowship with God
because of His incomparable love, and He is the Heavenly
Father of all who have been born again into the family of
God (Eph. 3:14,15).

There are two ways we can fellowship with the Father

God:

i. Through the Word

Once, the Spirit of God led me to the Word to study

the relationship between the Lord Jesus as Son with God
His Father. In the Word, I discovered much about the
Father’s love, His nature, and the way He cares for us, His
children. The apostle of faith Smith Wigglesworth once
said: I can’t understand God by feelings. I understand God the
Father by what the Word says about Him. He is everything the
Word says He is. It is written in John chapter 14 that when
we walk in obedience to the Word we will be loved by the
Father and He will come to make His special dwelling place
in us (vv. 21, 23). We can have the same intimacy the Lord
Jesus had with the Father God when we fellowship with
Him (Jn. 17:23).

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ii. Experiencing His Fellowship

It is written that God created us for His pleasure

(Rev. 4:11). As such we should fellowship with God’s
Presence and Being. It is not just experiencing the presence
of God but rather waiting continually in His presence until
God manifests Himself.

I read of an experience of a man of God which

exemplifies this. He went into his prayer closet one day
and began to worship, to delight in, and to wait on God.
He then heard God say, Son, is there anything which you
want that I can do for you? He replied, Oh, no, Father. I don’t
want anything. I just came to abide in Your presence because
You are so wonderful, lovely, and full of goodness. You have
already provided me with all I need. I did not come before You
for anything. I just came to visit You and be near Your presence,
Father. God the Father then said to him: Son, you don’t know
how much that delights Me. No earthly father ever desired the
companionship and fellowship of his children any more than
Me. I desire the fellowship and companionship of My children.
I made man so I will have someone to fellowship with. I put
Adam on the earth in the garden, and in the cool of the day I
went to meet and talk with him. What a blessed privilege just
to be able to fellowship with the Father God!

b. Fellowshiping With the Son, Jesus Christ

We are called to fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ

(1 Cor. 1:9). There are five levels of relationship we can
progressively mature into as we fellowship with the Lord
Jesus Christ.

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 Fellowshiping with the Triune God

1. In the first level of relationship, we become the

children of God by accepting and receiving the Lord Jesus as
our Savior (Jn. 1:12).

2. In the second level of relationship, we become the

sons or daughters of God. Filled with the Holy Spirit, the
Spirit of adoption brings us into a deeper relationship
with God as Father through the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 14:6;
Rom. 8:14,15).

3. In the third level of relationship, we become the

servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, anointed with power and
authority, and serving the Lord in humility and obedience
(Matt. 25:21; 28:19,20; Mk. 16:15-20).

4. In the fourth level of relationship, we become the

friends of the Lord Jesus, with whom He would share and in
whom He would confide His secrets (Ps. 25:14; Jn. 15:15).

5. In the fifth level of relationship, we become the

wife of the Lord Jesus Christ, enjoying with Him an intimate
oneness of spirit, soul, and body (Jn. 17:21,23; Gal. 3:28).

When we delight to fellowship and hold sweet and

intimate converse with the Lord Jesus, opening our hearts
to Him and obeying His Word, the Lord Jesus Christ will
reveal and manifest Himself to us. He will let Himself be
clearly seen as a real person to us (Jn. 14:21). I spent the
first day of the year 1995 at the feet of the Lord Jesus in
Nairobi, Kenya. I just desired in my heart to delight in
the presence of God by worshiping Him. After half an
hour of singing love songs to the Lord Jesus, I beheld the
manifested presence of the Lord Jesus before me. The Lover
of my soul was beautiful beyond description. I then said

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to the Lord, Speak Lord, your servant shall hear. You know
what he said? No, son, I came just to sit by you and enjoy
the sweet sacrifice which you are offering unto Me. What a
wonderful Savior is Jesus our Lord!

c. Fellowshiping With the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the most neglected Person of the

Godhead. We pray and worship the Father; we sing praises
to and fellowship with the Lord Jesus. But by and large
we don’t know or have forgotten that the Holy Spirit also
needs our fellowship because He too is God (Jn. 4:24;
2 Cor. 3:17; Phil. 1:19). It is written in 2 Corinthians 13:14
that there is the presence and fellowship (the communion and
sharing together and participation) in the Holy Spirit (AMP,
also Phil. 2:1). We need to learn to cultivate a habitual
communion with the Holy Spirit.

I was in Western Tibet in July of 1994. One morning,

as my associate and I were spending some time praising
and worshiping God, I began to sing this song:

Holy Spirit, we welcome You

Holy Spirit, we welcome You
Move among us each day
Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit, we worship you ....

The more I ministered to the Holy Spirit, the more

I felt being drawn closer to Him. I began to change
the words, personalizing it by singing, Holy Spirit, I
worship You ..., Holy Spirit, I love You ..., etc. During those
moments, I perceived in my spirit that the Holy Spirit
was immensely pleased and rejoicing while receiving the

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 Fellowshiping with the Triune God

worship and adoration offered to Him. This experience

greatly convinced me that as much as we praise, worship,
and pray to the Father God and the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Holy Spirit too needs to be recognized, praised, worshiped,
and fellowshiped with, because He is with us and in us
(Jn. 14:17). The Holy Spirit will not force Himself upon
us because of His gentle nature. We need to maintain
a consciousness of being together with Him. We can
fellowship with the Holy Spirit in the following ways:

a) Adoring Him and thanking Him for Who He is.

b) Praying in the spirit in unknown tongues.

c) Welcoming His presence and showing our appreciation

for Him by worshiping, praising, and waiting on Him.

As we begin to fellowship with and establish a divine

union with the Holy Spirit, He will teach us all things,
bring to remembrance the Word, guide us into all truth,
show us things that will happen in the future, and magnify
the glory and presence of God in our lives (Jn. 14:26,
16:13,14). In learning and developing a love relationship
with the Holy Spirit, we may, for a start, begin each day by
saying, Good morning, dear Holy Spirit!

How Can We Fellowship With God

There are several ways revealed in the Word as to how we
can fellowship with God in order to help us transform into
Christlikeness. In our study we shall specifically examine
two main ways to fellowship with the Godhead.

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1. Ministering to the Lord

ACTS 13:1,2a
1 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were
certain prophets and teachers: as Barnabas, Simeon
who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who
had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2a As they ministered to the Lord....

I once read an author who described the importance

of ministering to the Lord, something largely and often
overlooked by present-day Christianity: We need to once
again dig down into the springs of God’s life and bury ourselves
in Him, the Source. We need to be caught up in the wonder of
the Person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, to know Him intimately
and deeply.

I was once in Himachal Pradesh, India, in June 1986

for about two months in the course of ministry to the
Tibetans. One morning I sat before the presence of God
and began to praise and worship. As I went on praising,
I perceived the presence of God increasing within me
and around the room. I then beheld the Lord Jesus in the
Spirit. Upon seeing the Lord, I clutched His feet and began
worshiping His majesty. I then experienced an ecstatic joy
and love flowing from the Lord Jesus towards me. At that
moment of high and deep intimate worship, I experienced
a oneness with Him. Ministering to the Lord can be such a
wonderful, rapturous experience.

The word minister in Hebrew is sarat, which means

to minister, serve. It is a special term to describe service in
worship. In the Greek, it is diakoneo, which means to serve,
wait upon, minister. Ministering to the Lord can thus be

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 Fellowshiping with the Triune God

simply defined as follows: Serving God in worship and waiting

upon Him as a servant.

I once read a story about Abraham Lincoln. An elderly

lady came to see him one afternoon. As she entered his
office, he arose, seated her, and asked how he could be of
help to her. The elderly lady said, Mr. President, I know you
are a busy man. I have not come to ask for anything. I simply
came to bring you this box of cookies for I heard that you enjoy
them so much. Tears began to roll down Lincoln’s eyes. After a
while, he turned to her and said, Madam, I thank you for your
thoughtful gift. I am greatly moved by it. Thousands of people
have come to me asking for favors. You are the first person who
came not to ask for favors but to bring a gift for me. I thank
you from the bottom of my heart. Likewise God desires us
to come to Him for not just what we want or need but for
Himself, for who He is, presenting ourselves to minister to
and for Him.

The Lord God specifically “separated the tribe of Levi to

bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before
the LORD to minister to Him and to bless in His name”
(Deut. 10:8). Likewise, God has chosen us from the world
to be a royal priesthood (like the priestly tribe of Levi),
filled with the presence of His glory (like the bearers of the
ark of the covenant - 2 Cor. 6:16; Col. 1:27), and privileged
to stand before the Lord to minister unto Him by declaring
forth His praises (1 Pet. 2:9).

How can we minister unto God? We can minister

to God by offering Him our praise and worship, and by
waiting on Him.

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a. Praise

PSALM 37:4
4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give
you the desires of your heart.

PROVERB 8:30b
30b I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before
Him.

Delighting in the Lord is rejoicing before Him and

praising Him. It is only when we rejoice in praises,
delighting ourselves in the Lord, that God will give us the
desires of our heart. Many times our desires are selfish. We
do not know what we should want or what we really need.
When we praise God, the selfish, unwanted desires will be
filtered out, and our heart will be purified and sanctified
before God.

Consider the rain. When it comes down from the

heavens, it is pure and clean. When this water falls on the
earth, it gets mixed in with the soil and dirt, and becomes
muddy and dirty. We cannot use this muddied water for
any purpose. When the sun comes up after the rain, its
heat rays draw out the water from the mud through the
process of evaporation. The evaporated water vapor rises
up in its purified state to form clouds. The water is once
again made clean and pure by the sun’s heat. Likewise,
when we delight in the presence of God through praising
Him, our carnal, selfish, impure desires become purified
and sanctified by the presence of the Sun of Righteousness
in our lives (Mal. 4:2). In such a state, we are then able
to examine our desires and motives and bring them into
conformity with God’s desires.

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To delight in the Lord is to rejoice by praising God.

Psalm 7:17 says, I will praise the Lord according to His
righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the LORD
Most High. After Solomon had completed the building of
the temple, the people of Israel witnessed the visitation
of the presence of the Lord God on the day of the temple
dedication: Indeed it came to pass when the trumpeters and
singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising
and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice
with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and
praised the LORD, saying: For He is good; for His mercy endures
for ever, that the house, the house of the LORD was filled with a
cloud (2 Chr. 5:13).

In heaven too, thousands upon thousands of angelic

beings minister to the Lord with their praises. The apostle
John writes: Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many
angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders;
and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand,
and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy
is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom, and strength and honour and glory and blessing!” And
every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under
the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I
heard saying: “Blessing and honour and glory and power be to
Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
(Rev. 5:11-13).

We can praise God by acknowledging His attributes

and commending Him for His goodness and Who He is.
We can praise by boasting of His wondrous works by the
offering of thanksgiving, and by giving Him the glory due
to Him with uplifted hands.

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b. Worship

PSALM 95:6
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel
before the LORD our Maker.

PSALM 99:5
5 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His
footstool - for He is holy.

Praise leads to worship. Worship is a love relationship

with God. The Lord Jesus said that God is seeking true
worshipers who will worship in Spirit and in truth
(Jn. 4:23). We can worship God without love but we can’t
love God without worshiping Him. God is seeking for such
true worshipers who will truly love Him enough to want
to constantly be in His presence to worship Him. Worship
is our love expressing itself in communion with God.
Worship ushers us into God’s presence and brings God’s
glory into us. In worship we love, adore, and ascribe praise
to Him for Who He is. It is only when we worship in one
spirit and mind that God’s glory would come down into
our midst (2 Chr. 5:13,14).

Worship literally means to prostrate oneself before God.

In Tibet I have often seen Tibetans prostrating themselves
before idols. When performing prostrations before the idols
of their worship, Tibetans would wear a leather apron over
their long cloaks. Their hands would be thrust through the
straps of flat wooden clogs. Standing with their arms by the
side, they then clap the clogs in front of them, raise them
above the head, fall on their knees, then stretch themselves
full length on the ground with arms straight out before

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them. After mumbling some mantras, they rise up and

repeat the whole process of worship. This ceremony is
usually performed for hours. If those who worship idols can
do this much, how much more should those who worship
the living God bow, prostrate, and kneel to worship
(cf. Rev. 4:9,10; 5:8,13,14).

I was in Israel in October of 1992 for the Feast of

Tabernacles. For seven days, Christians from about eighty
nations joined in praising and worshiping the Lord God in
the beauty of holiness. On the last day, as I was worshiping
the Lord God together with thousands of other worshipers
in one mind and one accord, the skies opened before
me and I looked into heaven. The Lord Jesus was seated
majestically on a throne. He was surrounded, first by the
redeemed saints who had been washed by His blood,
next by Old Testament saints, then by billions of angelic
beings. The entire heavenly host was dancing, praising,
and worshiping the Lord Jesus. I then saw a very glorious
multi-tiered crown descend out of heaven from the throne
of God the Father. As the Lord Jesus was being crowned
the innumerable multitude of angels and saints bowed
down to worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords
(Rev. 4:9,11; 5:11-14). (For a more thorough study on praise
and worship, please read my book “The Art of Worship”.)

c. Waiting on God

After a time of worshiping God together in one heart

and mind, we should wait on Him. Just as in a restaurant,
where the waiters wait on us to take our orders, likewise we
are to wait on God. It is written in Acts 13:2 that as they
ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said .... The

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early disciples could not have been in the midst of praising

and worshiping God when the Holy Spirit spoke to them–
because that would mean the Holy Spirit interrupting their
worship, an act contrary to His nature (Jn. 16:14). They
must have been earnestly waiting on God in silence in
order to hear Him when the Holy Spirit spoke.

In Isaiah 40:31, it is written, But those who wait on

the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up
with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they
shall walk and not faint. To wait on God means to wait in
stillness and silence before God’s holy presence (Ps. 46:10;
Hab. 2:20). When we wait on God, we are binding ourselves
in a perfect intimate bond of union with the Lord.

When we learn to wait on God, we can hear the voice

of the Lord Jesus speaking to us through the Holy Spirit
(Acts 1:2). Consider this parable. There was a certain man
who went for a walk in the park. Seeing a beautiful lake
there, he went and stood by it. As he looked into the still
and calm lake, he could see his own image reflected in
it. He then took some small stones and threw them into
the lake. The still surface of the water broke into ripples
and immediately his image was gone. After some time,
the water became calm and still again. He was once again
able to see his image reflected there. Likewise, amidst the
busyness, noise, and distractions of life, if we desire to see
the Lord Jesus or hear His voice, we must be still within us.
That is why it is written in Psalm 46:10, Be still, and know
that I am God.

When I first learned about the importance of waiting

on God in April of 1983, I began to earnestly practice this
art. I got up at 2 a.m. and spent the first hour praising

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and worshiping God. In the second hour, I meditated on

God’s word, and in the third hour I interceded for others
and for myself. Thenafter, I would say something like what
the young Samuel said: Speak Lord, for your servant waits to
hear (1 Sam. 3:9). I then waited in quiet stillness. My heart
was quiet–though it still was beating. My mind was not
wandering and thinking other thoughts. Initially I could
not wait in silence and stillness for more than five minutes.

But day by day, I was able to wait silently before the

Lord for a longer time. I waited on God in this manner for
about seven days. After yet another time of quietness before
God, as I set my head to the pillow for a short wink before
I set about the day’s work, suddenly, I heard a loud sound
like the voice of a man speaking. As I listened carefully, I
noticed that the voice was sweet and melodious. It also had
the sound of many rushing waters. I discerned it to be the
voice of the Lord Jesus (Rev. 1:10,15; 14:2). Naturally I was
fearful. But the first words of the Lord Jesus were Fear not!
The Lord Jesus spoke for about fifteen minutes about some
things concerning the ministry He had called me into.

As it is written in Isaiah 40:31, when we wait on

God our inner man is also renewed and transformed into
the likeness of Christ Jesus. The word renew in Hebrew
is chalaph, which means to change, pass on. When we
wait on God, He changes us and we are then continually
transformed from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18).

Consider the chicken. The mother hen lays eggs that

do not resemble it in any way, for the egg white and yellow
yoke within the shells are formless and imageless. She then
has to sit on the eggs for about twenty eight days for them
to hatch. She sits on the eggs by spreading her wings over

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them. Her warmth transforms the formless, shapeless, and

imageless egg white and yoke into the image and likeness
of a chicken, like herself. Likewise, when we wait on
God, the Lord God stretches His wings to overshadow us
(Ps. 91:1,4). Beneath the wings of God, His presence
becomes like a wall of fire (Zech. 2:5). Like the egg that
becomes a chick under the incubating wings of its mother,
our spirit man will be renewed and changed from glory to
glory into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ by the fires of
the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Jn. 3:2).

The word renew in Greek is anakainos, which means

to make new again. It is a renewal brought about by an
effectual power of change, resulting in a transformation.
The word transform in Greek is metamorphoo, which means
to change into another form. Interestingly, this same word
metamorphoo is used for the word transfigure in describing
the glorified altered appearance of the Lord Jesus on the
Mount of Transfiguration (Mk. 9:2).

Mystery of Jesus’ Transfiguration

LUKE 9:28b,29a
28b He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the
mountain to pray.
29a And as He prayed, the appearance of His face was
altered ....

MATTHEW. 17:2
2 And He was transfigured before them. His face
shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as
the light.

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The Lord Jesus said in John 8:12 and 9:5: I am the

light of the world. The Lord Jesus is “the sole expression of
the glory of God - the Light-being, the out-raying of the
divine and He is the perfect imprint and very image of
[God’s] nature” (Heb. 1:3, AMP). God the Father prepared
a physical body for the Lord Jesus Christ and within
this body is contained the brightness of God’s glory
(Heb. 10:5).

As the Lord Jesus was praying on the mount of

transfiguration, God, who is light and is covered by light
like a garment because light dwells with Him, came down
in His presence and enveloped and penetrated the Lord
Jesus with this light (Ps. 104:2; Dan. 2:22; 1 Jn. 1:5). The
spirit of the Lord Jesus began to receive and absorb the
light of God. As His spirit man was flooded over with this
light, its brightness manifested in His flesh, shining forth
through His human skin. The entire body of the Lord Jesus
and His clothes began to shine exceedingly white, like the
purest snow (Mk. 9:3).

Light penetrating through the skin? Let me illustrate the

possibility of this phenomenon with a personal experience.
In June of 1986 I went to Ladakh, Kashmir (India), to
evangelize the Tibetans. The average altitude of this place
is 12000 feet. This place has the reputation of being as hot
as the Sahara Desert and as cold as the Siberian winter.
I walked all over this place for twelve days preaching
the Lord Jesus Christ. When the midday sun came up, I
experienced the painful sensation of the sun’s rays literally
piercing through my body deep into and underneath my
skin. I keenly felt the sun’s heat on the inside of my whole
body. After the sun set, the chilly evening winds picked up,
penetrating through my skin to cause me much pain. If

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created light can pierce through the skin, how much more
the Creator’s light.

This phenomenon can also be scientifically explained.

Biologists tell us that the human body contains seventy-
five percentage of water. During warm, sunny days, when
the internal body temperature increases, our perspiration
cools the skin. Perspiration comes out from within the
body through the sweat pores. Likewise, the light that was
within the Lord Jesus flowed out as it increased in intensity
while he was praying on the mount of transfiguration.

Can a believer too have a transfiguration-type

experience? Absolutely. When we minister to God and
abide and dwell with Him in close communion, we too can
be transfigured. During a season of fasting and prayer in
1991 while I was in the United States of America, the Lord
Jesus taught me specifically on this matter: Anyone who
seeks to delight himself with God in prayer and in the Word can
participate in this transfiguration.

In a vision, the Lord Jesus showed me a dark room. A

Hand brought one lighted candle into the room and placed
it on a table. There was just a little bit of brightness and
the room was dim. Candle after candle was then brought
into this room, and each time a candle was brought in,
the brightness in the room increased. Soon the room was
well lit. As more candles were added, the brightness in the
room increased even more. Eventually the light from this
growing brightness inside the room began to seep under
the door to the outside. Looking from outside the room, I
could see light pouring out from under the door. The Lord
Jesus then told me that what I saw in the vision was like
the transfiguration experience that He had.

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The Bible says that man’s spirit is the candle of the

Lord (Prov. 20:27). This light went out when man sinned
(Eph. 4:18; 5:8). But through the redemption brought
about by the blood of the Lord Jesus (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14),
man’s spirit was born again, and his candle relighted by
the light of God (Ps. 18:28; 2 Cor. 4:6). The Word is light
(Ps. 119:105; Prov. 6:23). When we meditate and allow
the Word to dwell in our heart (spirit) richly, we will allow
the entrance of God’s light into us through His Word
(Ps. 119:130; Col. 3:16).

Like in the dark room, which got brighter as the light

of more candles was added, the more we soak ourselves
in the Word the more the light in our spirit will increase.
When this happens, the presence and glory of God within
us will also increase. As we dwell in the presence of God
by waiting on Him, our spirit man is absorbing the glory
light. Here, then, is a double portion of God’s light: God’s
light received through meditation of His Word and God’s light
received through worship and fellowship in the Spirit. The Spirit
of God will then begin to transform us from glory to glory,
and our flesh and skin will shine forth with light, exactly
like what happened to the Lord Jesus, who now lives
within us (2 Cor. 3:18).

I was still puzzled at this revelation and asked the Lord

Jesus to show me in the Word where this supernatural
phenomenon has happened to another person. The Lord
Jesus replied, Haven’t you read of how the face of Moses
shone, when he was in the presence of God? Indeed we read
in Exodus 34:28,29, So he was there with the LORD forty
days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water.
And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the
Ten Commandments. Now it was so, when Moses came down

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from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were
in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that
Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he
talked with Him. In fact, here, the Amplified Bible is even more
visual in its description: the skin of his face shone and sent
forth beams [of light] by reason of his speaking with the Lord
(Ex. 34:29). In fellowshiping, abiding, dwelling with and
waiting on God, Moses’ spirit was so full and filled with
God’s glory that beams of light radiated forth his skin. Of
Stephen too, it is written that his face shone like an angel
(Acts 6:15).

As we learn to wait on God, fellowshiping with Him

in prayer and in the Word, His light will increasingly
enter our spirit, preparing our body for a transfiguration
like the one the Lord Jesus experienced. The key for such
an experience is prayer and waiting on God (Ex. 34:28;
Lk. 9:29). (For a thorough and in-depth study on the subject of
prayer and waiting on God, please read my book “Prayer Secrets
In the Tabernacle”.)

2. Praying in the Spirit

JUDE 1:20
20 But you, beloved, building up yourselves up on your
most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.

The second main way to fellowship with God is

by praying in the Spirit, which is praying in unknown
tongues. When we cultivate a habit of praying in tongues,
we can become conscious of God’s indwelling presence.
This consciousness of God’s indwelling presence will
become more real and more personal, and will not be a
mere addition of knowledge.

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Why Pray In the Spirit

The things of God are in the Spirit realm. It is difficult for
us to know and comprehend the thoughts of God except
with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit “searches
diligently, exploring and examining everything, even
sounding the profound and bottomless things of God -
the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s
scrutiny“ (1 Cor. 2:10, AMP). It is only by praying in the
Spirit that the Holy Spirit can reveal and unveil the deep
things of God.

The Lord Jesus says in John 7:38,39, He who believes in

Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers
of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom
those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not
yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. The Holy Spirit
is described as rivers of living water. Symbolized as “rivers of
water,” the Holy Spirit is spoken of in the Bible as being
poured out. The Hebrew and the Greek have several words
that are commonly translated “pour out”:

1. Heb. yatsaq : pour out (Is. 44:3).

2. Heb. naba : to cause to flow out (Prov. 1:23).

3. Heb. shaphak : to pour out or shed (Ezek. 39:29,

Joel 2:28, Zech. 12:10).

4. Gk. ekchuno : to pour out (Acts 10:45).

From these verses, we can conclude that, like rivers of

flowing, living water, the Holy Spirit can be poured out.

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In trying to understand why we need to pray in the

Spirit, we should first know the manner in which the Holy
Spirit connects the believer to the spirit realm and how
God channels the communicable things in heaven to the
believer through the Holy Spirit.

Let’s examine three scriptural passages that allude to

and foreshadow this work of the Holy Spirit:

1. The River in the Garden of Eden

GENESIS 2:9b,10
9b The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden,
and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden,
and from there it parted, and became four riverheads.

We find that the tree of life was in the center of the

garden, and a river went out from it. The Hebrew word
yasa is translated went out, meaning came forth, flowed out.
This river came forth from the midst of the garden of Eden.
Before we proceed any further, let’s find out something
more about this river. Psalm 104:30 says, You send forth
Your Spirit, they are created: and You renew the face of the
earth. Genesis 2:10 tells of the river flowing forth to water the
garden, and Psalm 104:30 describes the Spirit of God being
sent forth to renew or replenish the face of the ground. From
these two scriptures, we can reasonably conclude that the
river in Genesis 2:10 speaks symbolically of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s consider the garden of Eden. The word Eden in

the Hebrew language literally means delight. God put man
there in the garden of delight to fellowship with him. In
Proverbs 8:30a,31a, it is written, Then I was beside Him,

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as a master craftsman; rejoicing in His inhabited world. We

can reasonably conclude from these scriptures that the
habitable part of God’s earth is a place of delight and of
rejoicing, and it spiritually symbolizes the throne of God.
It is quite possible that this river was flowing out from the
tree of life in Eden. It is therefore possible to conclude that
the Holy Spirit flowed like a river from the throne of God
out of the tree of life in Eden.

2. The Blood and Water from Jesus’ Side

JOHN 19:34 (AMP)

34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear,
and immediately blood and water came (flowed) out.

In His sermons delivered during His earthly ministry,

the Lord Jesus often said, The kingdom of God is within you
(Matt. 12:28; Lk. 17:21). Within you - in the depths of your
heart, in your spirit, is the Kingdom of God, which is also
the throne of God. In Luke 23:31, the Lord Jesus said, For if
they do these things in the green wood (tree), what will be done
in the dry? Here, the Lord was speaking of Himself as the
green tree. In John 14:6, the Lord Jesus spoke of Himself
as the Life. From these verses it is possible to conclude that
the Lord Jesus is foreshadowed in the tree of life.

When the side of the Lord Jesus was pierced, blood

and water flowed out. Blood and water speak of the
greater abundant life in the Spirit (Jn. 10:10). We see this
symbolism in another key scripture: the Spirit, the water,
and the blood; and these three agree - are in unison, their
testimony coincides” (1 Jn 5:8, AMP). We can thus conclude
that the blood and water speak of the Holy Spirit. We can
then reasonably conclude that the Holy Spirit, God’s Blood

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and Water, flows out from the throne of God (the heart of
Jesus), and is also poured out through the torn side of the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is the tree of life.

3. The River in the Heavenly City

REV. 22:1,2a
1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear
as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the
Lamb.
2a In the middle of its street, and on either side of the
river, was the tree of life.

We see in these verses the beautiful picture of the

Person of the Holy Spirit as was also earlier observed
with the river of Eden and the blood and water from the
Lord Jesus’ side. The pure river of water of life speaks of
the Holy Spirit proceeding out of the throne of God, and
flowing through the midst of the tree of life (Jn. 7:38.39;
2 Cor. 3:17).

So why do we need to pray in the Spirit? Just as the

foetus in the womb receives life from its mother through
the umbilical cord, the person born of God receives
through the Holy Spirit the life and essence of God’s
being. Praying in the Spirit connects the believer to
God, opening a channel through which an ever growing
intimate knowledge of God would flow into the believer.

Why Tongues?
There are thousands of languages and dialects in this
world. In India alone, there are 14 official languages and

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thousands of dialects among the more than twenty five

states. The countries in the European, African, and South
American continents also have their multiple languages.
People from one country may not understand the language
spoken in another country. Many people learn a foreign
language for pleasure or for business. Many American
businessmen, I understand, make the effort to learn the
Japanese language for their business dealings with Japan.
Australian businessmen are encouraged to learn Asian
languages so as to do business in Asia. Missionaries in
cross-cultural ministries would initially spend a year or two
studying local languages.

Tongues is the language of heaven. When the apostle

Paul was caught up into the third heaven, “he heard
utterances beyond the power of man to put into words,
which man is not permitted to utter” (2 Cor. 12:4, AMP).
In heaven, which is the Spirit realm, a different language
is spoken, a language different from the language of man
and unknown to man on earth. The word tongues in
Greek is glossa, meaning a tongue, language. The Amplified
Bible renders glossa as different, foreign languages (tongues).
Praying in tongues can therefore be more accurately
described as praying in a different and foreign language.

What, indeed, is the tongue? Is it not an organ that

utters a language, the knowledge of which is supplied
by the brain? Since flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of heaven, the Lord Jesus states that a person
must be born again in order to enter or see it (Jn. 3:3,5;
1 Cor. 15:50). A born-again person receives a new heart
(mind) and a new spirit, which allows him to enter into
heaven (Ezek. 36:26). Likewise, he also receives a new
tongue, which allows him to speak the language which is
spoken in heaven (Mk. 16:17).

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To conclude, why then we should speak in tongues

is because God is Spirit, and the Lord Jesus speaks to His
people through the Spirit, and the Spirit gives utterances
in tongues (Jn. 4:24; Acts 1:2; 2:4). The word utterances
in Greek is apophthengomai, which means to speak forth.
Tongues, therefore, is the utterance which the Holy Spirit gives
the born-again person to speak forth a new language. When
the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples gathered in Jerusalem
on the Day of Pentecost, we read in the Amplified Bible, the
Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression (Acts 2:4).
A certain minister once said that speaking in tongues is like
a flowing stream that should never dry up because it will
enrich our life spiritually.

The Bond Of Perfection

COLOSSIANS 3:14
14 But above all these things put on love, which is the
bond of perfection.

This scripture is beautifully rendered in the Amplified Bible

as, And above all these [put on] love and enfold yourselves
with the bond of perfectness [which binds everything together
completely in ideal harmony]. Let us also look at another
rendering from the Weymouth translation of the New
Testament: And over all these put on love, which is the perfect
bond of union.

In these three translations, we find the word bond

mentioned. What does the word “bond” mean? The
Concise Oxford Dictionary defines the word “bond” as
a thing that ties another down or together; a uniting force;
bind together. With this understanding let us ask another
question: What is that thing or force that can unite or bind

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us together with someone or something that can make us

perfect? The answer very simply is love. Let us meditate on
this a little deeper.

Let us read the scriptures found in the first epistle of

St. John.

1 JOHN 4:12-16
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one
another, God abides in us, and His love has been
perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in
us, because He has given us of his Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has
sent the Son as Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God
abides in him, and he in God.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God
has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love
abides in God, and God in him.

In Colossians we are told to put on love, which is

the bond of perfection. How can love be a binding force
bringing about Christlike perfection in us? Through abiding
in God! When we abide in God, He abides in us. The word
abide in Greek is meno, which means the relation in which
one person or thing stands with another; thus to remain in or
with someone, i.e., to be and remain united with him, one with
him in heart, mind, and will. This technical Greek definition
can be simplified to mean thus: To consistently sit at the feet
of the Lord Jesus and continually depend on Him by listening
to His Words with a heart and mind to obey. J Oswald Sanders
defines “abiding” as “keeping an unbroken contact with
Christ Jesus in a union of intimate love.”

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How can we abide in God? In three ways: firstly, by

loving one another (Jn. 13:34; 1 Jn. 4:12); secondly, by
confessing (by declaring openly and publicly) that Jesus
is Lord (1 Jn. 4:15); thirdly, by abiding in love (1 Jn. 4:15).
To abide in God is to abide in Christ Jesus (Jn. 17:21).
How can we abide in Christ Jesus? By meditating the
Word of God (Jn. 14:21,23; 15:7) and by walking in love
(Jn. 15:9-12; Eph. 5:2). When we walk in love, God abides
in us and binds us to Himself with cords or the bond of
love (Hos. 11:4). An excellent example of abiding in Christ
is exhibited by Mary of Bethany when she just simply sat at
the feet of the Lord Jesus loving Him and listening to Him
(Lk. 10:38-42).

When God abides in us and binds Himself to us when

we walk in love, how does that perfect us? Consider a
parable: A man sat down at his flower shop to make a
garland of jasmine flowers. He first took a long naaru (strips
of thread stripped from the banana tree) and wetted it.
Tying one end of the naaru to his right toe and holding
the other end with his left hand, he carefully picked each
jasmine flower and placed it on top of the naaru. Then
he brought the naaru end on his left hand towards the
other end and tied the jasmine flowers together in a knot.
The whole process was repeated until an entire garland of
fragrant jasmine flowers was completed.

The naaru by nature does not have any scent. But

when in union with the jasmine flowers, it gains the
aromatic scent of the jasmine. Likewise when we walk in
love, we abide and dwell in, and bind ourselves to the love
of God, which enables us to inherit all the Christlike image
and likeness of perfection (Jn. 17:23). So, let us walk in
love and enfold ourselves with the likeness of Christ Jesus’
perfection.

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Let me unveil another mystery of abiding with God.

This is the pattern found in the life of the Lord Jesus. In my
walk with God, the Lord Jesus has shared many times that
the reason He was able to live holy, perfect, sinless, and in
obedience and submission to God during His earthly life
was not just because He was the Son of God but chiefly
because He always abided in God the Father. Consider John
1:18: No one has seen God at anytime. The only begotten Son,
who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. The
“bosom of the Father” is the Lord Jesus’ “secret place of the
Most High” and the place where He constantly abided to
draw on all the fullness of the Godhead. As we too learn
to abide in Christ Jesus, He will then bind us to Him and
Himself to us and make us drink from His bosom the milk
of His perfection.

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 Chapter 4



JOHN 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.

2 CORINTHIANS 3:18
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a
mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into
the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit
of the Lord.

It is written in Luke 6:40 that A disciple is not above

his teacher, but every one who is perfectly trained will be
like his teacher. The Lord Jesus Christ, as our Master,
was manifested in the flesh and was tempted of the
devil in all areas as we are (Jn. 1:14; Mk. 1:13; Heb.
4:15). He lived like us–so that we could live like
Him. We are to grow continually and progressively
into the likeness of Christ–“the express image of
the Father” –so that we may bear the likeness of the
Father and eventually become perfect like the Father
(Matt. 5:48; Heb. 1:3).

The final principle relating to maturing unto perfection

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is expressed well by the apostle John: to walk and conduct

[oneself] in the same way in which He walked and conducted
Himself (1 Jn. 2:6, AMP). Taking heed of this saintly advice
will develop the Christlike perfection in us, whereby we are
transformed into His likeness.

How We Can Attain

Christlike Perfection
Adam’s being, while still in its perfect state, was like God’s,
for he was created in the image and likeness of God, and
was delegated with dominion over the creation of God on
earth (Gen. 1:26). The Lord Jesus Christ, in living a perfect
life while on earth, constantly abided with the Father and
was always pleasing to Him (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; Jn. 8:29).
How was the Lord Jesus able to live a life well pleasing
to God? The answer lies in a confession the Lord Jesus
frequently made. He testified that I do nothing of Myself; but
as the Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent
Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always
do those things that please Him (Jn. 8:28,29). So the Father
was always pleased with His Son, because the Son always
obeyed the Father. Likewise, a believer can attain Christlike
perfection by following Christ’s example of hearing and
doing the Word.

Meditation
Whenever the word meditation is mentioned, most people
would think of Hindu holy men, sitting half-naked in
caves, and spending a lifetime in meditation. Or they

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think of Tibetan lamas who lock themselves in a small dark

room, just big enough to sit in a lotus position, spending
three to twelve years in meditation. Yet others think of
New Age practices when they hear the word “meditation.”
But meditation, from its earliest beginnings, is actually
a biblical art that is by and large lost to Christianity.
The concepts enshrined in the meditative practices of
Christianity and Eastern religions are, however, worlds
apart. In Eastern meditation practice, the practitioner
empties his mind, whereas in Christian meditation, the
practitioner fills his mind with the knowledge of God as the
waters cover the seas (Hab. 2:14).

Meditation is one of the spiritual laws in the spirit

realm. New Agers, having discovered this spiritual law,
began to tap into it. Meditation, they know, is able to make
a person godlike. Misinformed, uninformed, and ignorant
believers–those who understand not this truth from
the Word of God–totally brush aside this God-ordained
principle by saying, Oh, it’s so New Agey! Meditation, for
certain, is not something out-of-this-world or New Age
but rather a very powerful and creative biblical art which
needs to be cultivated by Christians. When cultivated, it
will transform our inner being to a complete wholeness as
Christ Jesus’ (Eph. 4:13).

The earliest record of meditation found in the Bible

points to its eternal timelessness. It is written that we
existed in God’s mind even before the foundation of the
world (Eph. 1:4,5; 1 Pet. 1:2). God is always thinking about
us (Jer. 29:11; Is. 49:16). Thinking is an aspect of meditation.
It is written of Isaac that he practised meditation
(Gen. 24:63). Meditation is a genuine God-ordained and
God-commanded biblical practice. Meditation is very
powerful and it is an art that needs habitual cultivation.

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Most Christians study and memorize portions of

scriptures in their quiet time. That is good. But the Bible
commands us not just to study the Word but to meditate
on it (Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2). The study of scriptures centers on
exegesis, analysis, and gathering of material to share with
others, to teach and to preach. Whereas the meditation of
scriptures centers on internalizing and personalizing the
scriptures. When we practice as such, the written Word
then becomes a living word spoken just for us. The German
martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Just as you do not analyze
the words of someone you love, but accept them as they
are said to you, accept the Word of scripture and ponder it
in your heart as Mary did. That is all. That is meditation.”

The Art of Meditation

There was once an 18-year old student who was very
interested in astronomy. So, for his birthday, his father
bought him a telescope. Since he had studied something
about optics, he found the instrument very intriguing. He
took the telescope apart, examined its lenses, and made a
detailed study of its mechanism. He became so absorbed
in gaining a technical knowledge of the telescope that he
never got to looking at the stars. Likewise, we can analyze,
organize, and classify scriptures into dispensations, time-
frames, and cultures, yet miss the primary purpose for
which they were given to us. We should not neglect
nor am I downplaying the importance of the study of
scriptures. Because it is written, All Scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16). What

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I am also emphasizing is that, as much as we study the

Word, we must not neglect the God-commanded principle
of meditating the Word of God.

What is meditation? There are two Hebrew words and a

Greek word used in the Bible for this concept.

1) Heb. hagah : to murmur, mutter, speak, study, talk,

utter, muse

2) Heb. siyach : to ponder–converse with oneself aloud–a

contemplation, a reflection

3) Gk. meletao : to take care of, i.e., to resolve in the mind,

imagine

Let us study a little deeper into the Hebrew word hagah.

1. Its root is closely related to the word thought

(e.g. Ps. 19:15; Is. 33:18). Hence hagah can be
precisely defined as contemplation.

2. Its root also refers to speech (eg. Ps. 35:28; 37:30;

71:24). In this respect hagah has the connotation of
both speech and thought.

3. It also connotes inarticulate and repetitive animal

sounds.

i. The coo of a dove (Is. 38:14).

ii. The growl of a lion (Is. 31:4).
iii. Inarticulate sound made with the throat (Ps. 115:7).
iv. A sigh or gasp (Ps. 90:9).

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This definitions indicate a sound or thought that is

repeated over and over, like the cooing of a dove or the
growling of a lion. It is the constant repetition of the Word
of God either verbally or mentally until it becomes part of
our being (cp. Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2).

4. Another closely related base-root to hagah is the

word chag, which refers to anything that is cyclic or repeated.
It is from this base-root that we get the word circle. In
this sense hagah means to repeat something over and over,
periodically and cyclically.

Meditation can therefore be thus defined: A

contemplative reflection of something by pondering and resolving
in the mind and by conversing with oneself in a murmur and/or
loud manner. In this definition, we find the “two-in-one”
method of meditation: Firstly, by conversing with oneself
in a murmur and/or loud manner; secondly, a contemplative
reflection of something by pondering and resolving in the mind.
Put simply, to meditate is to deeply ponder and reflect in the
mind that something of which you are speaking to yourself.

The meditation of the Word of God will effect a change

in our behavior as we encounter the living God in His
Word. Meditation will enable us to hear God’s voice in His
Word, thereby leading us to obey it. When we meditate the
Word, we develop a familiar friendship with God. In that
instant, the Lord God and the Lord Jesus will become a
living reality to us rather than just theological dogma.

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How to Meditate
The art of meditation is very simple but it requires
discipline. Let us consider a few illustrations.

1. In India, the cow is revered as something very

holy. Idling cows can be seen everywhere in India. I have
often noticed the cow’s eating habits. The cow first fills its
stomach with grass. Then it settles down for a good long
chew. It will be chewing the grass in its mouth for a long
time by bringing the food back up from its stomach and
rechewing what it already has eaten, and at the same time
wearing a look on its face as if it is thinking deeply about
some very serious United Nations’ world problems. While
wondering about the cow’s manner of eating, once the Holy
Spirit revealed to me that this is how meditation should be–
an act of mental chewing, speaking to oneself, thinking and
reflecting deeply some thought.

2. In some countries, the government conducts “legal

gambling” in the form of lottery. There is this huge iron
cage into which numbered balls are put. The cage is then
rolled over and over many times before it is brought to
a stop, allowing one lucky numbered ball to fall out into
a small slot. Symbolically, the cage speaks of our mind,
the balls of the Word, and the rolling of meditation. In
meditation, we ponder something over deeply, rolling, as it
were, that thought in our mind over and over again, until
understanding breaks forth.

3. Murmuring or muttering the Word to oneself is

another way of meditation. When we speak the Word to
ourselves, the mind better imagines or sees it, because
the ears also hear the Word. By hearing the Word, faith is
activated and it impregnates our spirit (Rom. 10:17).

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4. A fourth way is to contemplatively reflect a thought

by pondering in the mind. I went to see the Sistine Chapel
in the Vatican City in 1992. Among the many sculptures
by the renown Michelangelo was one called The Thinker.
This sculpture depicted a man with his chin rested on one
hand and apparently deep in thought. We should likewise
contemplate deeply, focusing all thoughts on the Word
of God. We should be mindful and deeply reflective of
spiritual things: the Word, the acts of God, and the things of
God.

To meditate can also very simply mean to take a

portion of scripture or a single verse and read it several
times to mentally understand it at first. Then keep on
“chewing,” thinking and pondering over and over the
scripture. Do not speed read the Bible in order to boast
that we had read through the whole Bible. Speed reading
can be used for other books, but not for the divine and
living Word of God. In eating physical food we receive no
nourishment until we chew and swallow the food. The
food may taste good in our mouth, but if we gulp it down
without proper chewing it is disastrous to our body. So is
speed reading to just know about the Bible. But unless the
food is thoroughly chewed, swallowed, and digested, it is
of no benefit to the body. So it is with the Word of God.
Meditation opens the way to bringing great spiritual benefit
to our spirit, soul, and body.

Consider the bees. Bees gather nectar from different

varieties of flowers and make honey. When a bee visits
a flower, it does not just land on one flower, take a little
nectar, and then hop on another flower. No it does not do
that. The bee will sit idly on a flower and dip its proboscis
deep into the flower. It will thoroughly suck out all the

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nectar it can get. Then it proceeds to another flower.

Likewise, we should wait on God’s Word and thoroughly
“suck” it until the nectar of spiritual truth of sweetness
from the Word is received into our spirit (Ps. 104:34).

What to Meditate On
1. The Word of God

JOSHUA 1:8
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your
mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that
you may observe to do according to all that is written
in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and
then you will have good success.

The written Word of God is the expressiveness of the

immortal God, Who dwells in unapproachable light
(Dan. 2:22; 1 Tim. 6:16; Jas. 1:17). In meditating the Word
of God, we meditate on Him who spoke the Word. Because
God’s Word is Spirit and is Life, when we meditate the
Word, we are being transformed into the image and likeness
of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometime in February of 1993, I saw a vision during a

season of fasting and prayer in the Himalayan mountains.
I saw the heavens opened before me (Ezek. 1:1). In the
vision I saw the Lord Jesus leaning against a huge rock in
a beautiful garden. I saw myself standing in the garden
too. As I was standing a little distance away, the Lord
Jesus beckoned me to come near Him. I saw the Lord Jesus
looking at Himself in a hand-held mirror. In it I saw the
reflection of the face of the Lord Jesus. He then held the

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mirror before my face. To my surprise, I saw that instead

of reflecting my image, the mirror showed the face of the
Lord Jesus. I was bewildered. This mirror, the Lord Jesus
turned to me and explained, represents My Word. Anyone
who continually meditates on My Word will be transformed to
conform to My image and likeness. Furthermore, their faith will
be as solid and immovable as this huge rock. Does not the Bible
say that, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of
God (Rom. 10:17)?

2. On God

PSALM 63:6
6 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You
in the night watches.

PSALM 104:34
34 May my meditation be sweet to Him: I will be glad
in the LORD.

Once when I was waiting on God, I heard the voice

of the Lord Jesus speaking after this manner: There is no
greater joy in My heart as when My children make mention of
My Name and think about Me. I surround them with My love
and am a wall of fire all around them to protect them. I am
ever so near them (Mal. 3:16; Hos. 11:4; Zech. 2:5). What a
blessed privilege! How do we, meditate on God? We could
think about and ponder over His nature, His goodness,
or His Name. When the Lord God caused His goodness to
pass before Moses, He declared His own Name: The LORD!
the LORD! a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger,
abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to
the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression and
sin; yet does not remit all punishment, but visits the iniquity of

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parents upon children and children’s children, upon the third and
fourth generations (Ex. 34:6, Tanakh, The Jewish Bible).

Here are some other Names of God that are worthy of

meditation:

1. Jehovah Elohim : The Eternal Creator (Gen. 1:1)

2. Jehovah Elohay : The Lord my God (Zech. 14:5)

3. El Elyon : The Most High God (Gen. 14:18)

4. Adonai Jehovah : The Lord God (Gen. 15:2)

5. El Shaddai : The Almighty God (Gen. 17:1)

6. El Olam : The Everlasting God (Gen. 21:33)

7. Jehovah-Jireh : The Lord-Will-Provide (Gen. 22:13,14)

8. Jehovah-Rapha : The-Lord-Who-Heals (Ex. 15:26)

9. Jehovah-Nissi : The-Lord-Is-My-Banner (Ex. 17:8-15)

10. Jehovah-Shalom : The-Lord-Is-Peace (Judges 6:24)

11. Jehovah-Tsidkenu : The-Lord-Our-Righteousness (Jer. 23:6)

12. Jehovah-Shammah : The-Lord-Is-There (Ezek. 48:35)

13. Jehovah-Sabaoth : The Lord of Hosts (1 Sam. 1:3)

14. El Gibbor : The Mighty God (Is. 9:6,7)

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15. Jehovah-Eloheka : The Lord Your God (Ex. 20:2)

16. Jehovah-Hosenu : The Lord Our Maker (Ps. 95:6)

17. Jehovah-Mekaddish : The Lord Our Sanctifier (Lev. 20:8)

18. Jehovah-Rohi : The Lord My Shepherd (Ps. 23:1)

19. Immanuel : God With Us (Matt. 1:23)

20. The Lord Jesus : He-Will-Save-From-Sins (Matt. 1:21)

When we meditate on the Name of God, the

revelation given will bring us high into the Spirit realm
(Ps. 9:10; 91:14).

I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in February 1993 for

some meetings. During one of the days when I was fasting,
I decided to do a spiritual research to find out what would
happen if I meditated on the name Jesus. With singleness
of mind, I began to meditate on the Name which is above
all names. As I was deeply meditating, in a vision I saw the
heavens opened and the word “JESUS” there (Jn. 1:1). As
I continued meditating, the word “JESUS” became flesh
and I saw the Lord Jesus (Jn. 1:14). I meditated on and
saw the Lord Jesus being transfigured into a ball of light
(Matt. 17:2; Heb. 12:29). As I continued meditating, this
ball of light began to expand and expand. I then perceive
in my spirit that this light would transfigure into the Father
of Lights (Jas. 1:17). Then followed a blinding explosion of
light in my spirit, soul, and body, like how stars explode in
the universe, and I was physically knocked out and shaken.
That’s how powerful meditating the Name of God was, for
He is the one who created and formed the whole universe.

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3. Works of God

PSALM 77:12
12 I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of
Your deeds.

PSALM 143:5
5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your
works; I muse on the work of Your hands.

When we meditate and ponder on the works of God,

the faith to believe that all things are possible with God will
arise in our heart. From deep within we will believe Him for
the impossible (Matt. 17:20; 19:26).

By exhorting on the meditation of the works of God,

I am not advocating a worship of creation or pantheism.
When we meditate on the works of God, we see His glory in
His creation. Do not the scriptures attest, The heavens declare
the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork
(Ps. 19:1)? The Lord Jesus often speaks to me when I would
be contemplating the works of God’s hand. Out of that
reflection was born the book Jewels Of Wisdom.

The heavens, the creation of God, declare His

wondrous glory. By reflecting and meditating on creation,
the works of God, we see and understand the goodness
and graciousness of God. Consider the phalarope. The
phalarope is a wading shorebird which has a peculiar
way of eating sea creatures too deep for it to reach at.
It will spin in the water at an incredible speed–a full
spin per second–thereby creating a vortex that sucks
up shrimps from the depth of three feet. According
to a certain biologist, the phalarope is also a speedy

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eater. It can detect prey, thrust, seize, transport, and

swallow its prey in less than half a second. Imagine the
wonders of this bird. The Psalmist reflected on nature
and the works of God and in turn saw the majesty of God
(Ps. 104). The Lord Jesus too pointed out the works
of God’s hand to demonstrate His caring nature
(Matt. 6:25-32). Creation is a signpost pointing to God.

When to Meditate
The Lord God has given us instructions for all areas of our
life, both spiritual and natural, for our pleasure, as much as
it is His to give. Let us now examine in the Word when we
should meditate.

1. Day and Night

PSALM 1:2
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His
law he meditates day and night.

Some people are busy during the day time so they

prefer to pray and meditate at night. Others feel tired and
sleepy when night approaches that they prefer to do their
quiet time in the morning. But why is it we should in fact
meditate the Word day and night?

Let us consider the day first. Consider the millwright

working in a factory. While it is still dark, he goes to the
factory. He turns on the lights one by one. Large machines
are then fired up, the temperature control equipment is
engaged, and soon, before the clock strikes seven, the
millwright has the plant all powered up and ready for a

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new day’s production. Likewise, when we meditate God’s

word in the morning before we start the day’s business,
we will be empowered to meet the challenges that lie
before us. The meditation of the Word of God will warm
us up. The Lord God often met with the patriarchs early
in the morning (Gen. 28:18; Ex. 34:4; Job 1:5). Even the
Lord Jesus always spent the early morning waiting on God
(Ps. 119:147, Mk. 1:35).

2. The Whole Day

PSALM 119:97
97 Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the
day.

We are also exhorted to meditate the Word of God the

whole day. Why should we do that? Isn’t just meditating
the Word in the morning and night sufficient? In order to
answer that question, let us read Proverb 6:20-22: My son,
keep your father’s command, and do not forsake the law of your
mother. Bind them continually upon your heart; tie them around
your neck. When you roam, they will lead you; when you sleep,
they will keep you; and when you awake, they will speak with
you.

When we meditate the Word of God the whole day, the

Word becomes a blessing to us in three ways.

i. Whenever we go, it will lead us (Prov. 6:22).

ISAIAH 30:21
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the
right hand or whenever you turn to the left.

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The Word of God blessed me in this manner in a

marvelous way when I went to minister to the Tibetans
living in Ladakh, India in June 1986. We had been walking
for six days preaching the gospel to the Tibetans living
in that mountainous region. On a certain morning, after
spending some considerable time in prayer and on the
meditation of the Word, my associate and I started our
journey. We had to climb a very high mountain at 14000
feet to cross a pass to get to the next village. When we
reached the mountain top, a heavy snow storm broke out.

We could hardly see where we were going, and neither

did any villager on the mountaintop open his home to
give us shelter from the storm. Our only alternative was to
proceed down the steep mountain pass. But we couldn’t
even see the trail. I prayed very much asking the Holy
Spirit to lead us. Every now and then, I would hear a voice
behind me saying, Now turn right... now turn left. I kept
on hearing that guiding voice until we safely reached the
bottom of the mountain. Likewise, the Word of God will
lead us wherever we go in our daily business for that day.

ii. When we are sleeping, it will protect us (Prov. 6:22).

PSALM 91: 4b,5a

4b His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5a You shall not be afraid of the terror by night.

This is the work of protection the Word does when we

meditate it in the night before going to bed. Many people
suffer from bad, lustful, evil dreams and nightmares in
the night. How do they occur? Among the many parables
which the Lord Jesus taught during His earthly ministry,
one is called The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

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(Matt. 13:24-30). In that parable, a man sowed some good

seed in his field. When he went to sleep in the night, his
enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. This is
the work of the devil and evil spirits. When we are asleep,
he will come to sow his seeds of lust, fear, terror, and
confusion.

Several years ago, a saintly prophet of God from India,

Vincent Selvakumar, shared with me an incident which he
witnessed in the Spirit which attested to the enemy sowing
tares in our mind. He and his associates were lodging one
night at a certain place after a convention. When nightfall
came, they retired to bed. The associate was soon snoring
himself to a delightful slumber. But Brother Selvakumar
was waiting on God in prayer in the night watches.
Sometime in the night, Brother Selvakumar was in the Spirit
(Rev. 1:10) and saw the spirit of lust appearing as a beautiful
seductive woman coming near and standing beside his
associate. The spirit of lust then began speaking into his
mind. Brother Selvakumar was surprised to see this. In the
morning, he asked his associate whether he had any bad
dreams in the night. His associate then told him, Yes, I
had very lustful and unclean dreams. When our mind is not
guarded by the Word, the enemy will come to sow evil in
our mind. But when we meditate the Word, it will be like a
wall of defense and fire to keep us from all evil.

iii. When we wake up, it will talk with us (Prov. 6:22)

ISAIAH 50:4
4 The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned,
that I should know how to speak a word in season
to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by
morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned.

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When we get up in the morning, His Word will come

to us, giving a word in season. About two years ago, I went
to Eastern Tibet to evangelize. When we reached a certain
town, we went around the huge monastery sharing the
eternal Word with the monks. The next morning, as I was
waiting on God upon getting up, the Word of the Lord
came to me, The enemy will come in one way but he will flee
in seven ways. Fear not, I am with you (cp. Deut. 28:7). That
whole day, I was pondering over the Word of the Lord that
was spoken to me that morning.

That evening, two plainclothes policemen came to

our room and said that the chief of police wanted to see
us. When we went to the police station, the chief of police
told me that the senior monk of the monastery had filed
a complaint that we had been preaching about Christ
in the monastery. We were severely interrogated for two
hours. At the station it then dawned on me how the enemy
had come in one way. A great peace then flooded me on
account of the Word that came that morning. I then saw an
angel of the Lord standing beside me with a drawn sword.
A greater peace surged through me. Eventually, we were let
off with a warning. When we meditate the Word, the Word
of the Lord will come to talk to us to prepare us for the day.

3. Night Watches

PSALM 119:148
148 My eyes are awake through the night watches, that
I may meditate on Your word.

Night watches for the Jews begin at sunset and end at

sunrise: The first watch is from sunset to 10:00 p.m., the
second watch from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., and the third

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watch from 2:00 a.m. to sunrise. I was once meditating the

scriptures on Luke 20:17,18. In that incident, the Lord Jesus
quoted scriptures to refute the priests and scribes. I then
asked the Lord how He knew all the Word. He replied, For
Me to know the scriptures, I meditated on them day and night.
That was how I was able to quote the irrefutable Word. To a
certain woman of God, the Lord Jesus revealed thus: I went to
bed every night with My head on the pillow, meditating the
scriptures and Who I was in them. When we meditate the
Word at night, the Lord God will minister to and speak to
our spirit in the night watches through visions and dreams
(Job 33:15-18).

What Takes Place During

Meditation
Consider the eating process. When a person begins to eat,
firstly he chews the food; secondly he tastes it, delicious or
otherwise; thirdly, he swallows it; and, finally, his digestive
system works the food over so that it is absorbed into
the body. Likewise, a similar process takes place when we
meditate the Word.

i. Chewing = Meditating

ii. Tasting = Realizing/knowing the goodness of

God (Ps. 34:8; 104:34)

iii. Swallowing = Entrance of the Word into the

spirit (Ps. 119:130)

iv. Digestion/ = The Word received into and

Absorption dwelling richly in the spirit man.

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Let’s examine in greater detail the spiritual benefits of

meditation.

1. Spiritual Nourishment for Growth

1 PETER 2:2
2 As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word,
that you may grow thereby.

As milk is needful for a baby’s growth, and meat is
needful for an adult’s sustenance, likewise the Word is
necessary for spiritual development. A mother’s breast
milk is made from her own blood. So, when a baby drinks
its mother’s milk, in a sense, the baby is actually drinking
the mother’s blood. There is life in the blood (Lev. 17:11).
That is the reason why just by drinking milk a baby grows
because it is receiving life from the mother.

Likewise, a similar spiritual work is being effected in us

when we meditate the Word. The Word of God is compared
to milk in 1 Peter 2:2. The Lord Jesus Christ is also called
The Word of God (Jn. 1:1,14; Rev. 19:13). The written Word
is a fragment of the living Word which is Christ Jesus.
When we meditate the Word, we are actually meditating
the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus said that He was the living
bread which came from heaven and anyone partaking
that bread eats His flesh (Jn. 6:32-35). Therefore, when we
meditate the Word, it transforms into the flesh of the Lord
Jesus in our spirit and becomes a spiritual nourishment
for us. This is the mystery of Matthew 4:4: But He answered
and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
(also Deut. 8:3).

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Let us meditate on this subject a little deeper by

considering Psalm 1:2,3: But His delight is in the law of the
Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be
like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit
in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he
does shall prosper. The person who meditates the Word, the
psalmist says, is like a tree planted by the rivers of water.

How is it possible? The Word of God is compared to a

seed (Lk. 8:11; 1 Pet. 1:23). When we meditate the Word,
it is like a seed deposited into the ground of our heart. As
we continue to meditate the Word day and night, the seed
germinates and eventually grows into a tree. Not just any
tree, but like after the manner of the tree of life (Gen. 2:9).
Consider the similarity between the simile of the healthy,
fruitful tree in Psalm 1 and the tree of life in Genesis 2:

i. He who meditates the Word will be like unto a tree

planted by the rivers of water (Ps. 1:2,3).

ii. In the Book of Genesis, it is mentioned that rivers

proceeded forth from Eden where the tree of life was
(Gen. 2:10).

In one of His sermons, the Lord Jesus also said that

His words were spirit and life (Jn. 6:63). The Word of God,
therefore, is a seed of life. When we meditate it day and
night, it germinates into the tree of life. And through the
Word, the Holy Spirit flows like rivers of water to nourish
us (Jn. 7:38,39). Our life will then be fruitful and our works
will remain. The Lord God will then prosper the works of
our hand.

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2. The Energizing of Faith

ROMANS 10:17
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God.

After the apostle Pete r had declared the divinity and

Sonship of the Lord Jesus, he was told, You are Peter, and on
this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall
not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18). Peter’s name means rock.
Two different Greek words signifying rock are used in this
scripture. The name Peter is from the Greek word petros,
meaning a piece of rock, a stone. The word rock is from petra,
meaning a massive rock. The words of the Lord Jesus “on
this rock”–referring to the receiving of the revelation by
Peter from God –can be likened to the meditation of the
Word. Our spirit, like the small stone that is signified in
Peter’s name, changes into a massive rock, unshakeable and
unremovable, when the Word of God is received with faith.

When we are born again, we receive a measure of

faith that is like a small stone or like a small mustard seed
(Mk. 4:31; Rom. 12:3). During meditation, our spirit
man receives the Word, which is the Word of faith
(Rom 10:8). Strengthened by the Word, the inner man
grows progressively until it becomes solid, like a massive
rock, and great, like a blooming tree (Mk. 4:32).

We are asked in Ephesians 6:10 to be strong in the Lord

and in the power of His might. We can only be strong in the
Lord by having our heart filled with the Word because, as
we have seen earlier, the Word provides nourishment for
spiritual growth (Col. 3:16). When the Word is meditated

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and received into our spirit, it energizes our spirit man with
the power of God’s might, which is strong like the massive
unshakeable rock.

There are two different Greek words for word: (1) Logos,
meaning the living, written - the source; (2) rhema, meaning
the spoken word. Logos is the entirety of the wisdom of God
that is revealed in the Bible, the written word. Rhema, the
spoken word, is given or manifested for a specific purpose
or to a person. Rhema comes out of logos. Hence the word,
logos, was manifested in the flesh as Jesus, rhema (Jn. 1:14;
Heb. 1:1,2)

When we meditate the written Word (logos), it is

manifested in the flesh spiritually as rhema in the spirit
man. The Lord Jesus said, Upon this rock I will build My
church (Matt. 16:18). Are we not the temple, the church of
the living God (1 Cor. 3:16)? The Lord Jesus will by the Holy
Spirit strengthen and reinforce our inner man with mighty
power (Eph. 3:16). This strengthening through the mighty
power of the Holy Spirit will cause us to speak forth words
of faith that can cause creative power. This is the power-in
all its glory, majesty, and strength, of the Almighty God.

3. Success and Prosperity

JOSHUA 1:8
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your
mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that
you may observe to do according to all that is written
in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and
then you will have good success.

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Look at this scripture carefully. One of the benefits

of meditating and practising the Word of God is that it
will give us success and make us prosperous. The word
prosperous in Hebrew is tsalach, which means profitable
advancement, prosperity, promotion. The word success in
Hebrew is sakal, which means wisdom, intelligence, prudence.

The prosperity that comes as a result of meditation is

not financial prosperity but rather a profitable advancement
and/or promotion. And the success that comes as a result
of meditation will make us wise in all the affairs of life
(Josh. 1:8, AMP). It will yield insights that are deeply
practical, like how to deal with a certain problem or a
business situation. It is of this kind of wisdom that King
Solomon possessed (2 Chr. 1:10). That which King Solomon
received in “one lump sum” can be received by us daily,
measure upon measure, when we meditate the Word.

4. Prepares Us to Pray

PSALM 19:14
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation
of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my
strength and my redeemer.

Many believers have written me or come to me

personally asking for prayer saying that whenever they
pray, their mind wanders around or thinks of other
things. One of the ways to prevent that is to meditate the
Word before praying. The meditation of the Word of God
prepares us to pray with an undivided mind.

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We have seen at the beginning of this chapter that one

of the Hebrew words for meditation is hagah. A leading
Israeli etymologist Rabbi Solomon Pappenheim discovered
that the root hagah comes from a two-letter base hag. Hag
is closely related to another word derived from the word
nahag. Nahag means to lead, direct, or steer, and carries the
connotation of having many motions directed toward one
goal. Meditation, simply restated, is the process of directing
the thoughts towards God. The act of meditation also purifies
and clears the mind of any impurities, so that the heart
and mind are blended in oneness and thoughts of prayer
directed toward God.

5. Christ Makes His Abode In Us

JOHN 14:21,23
21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it
is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved
by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself
to him.”
23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me,
he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and
We will come to him and make Our home with him.”

The meditation of the Word of God will prepare our

hearts to see the Lord Jesus. It is written, Blessed are the pure
in heart, for they shall see God (Matt. 5:8). It is also written
that the words of God are pure (Ps. 119:140; Prov. 30:5).
Therefore, meditating the Word of God purifies our heart,
making it purified to see the manifestation of the Lord
Jesus.

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Behold, I reveal a deep mystery concerning this

now. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Word of God (Jn. 1:1,
Rev. 19:13). He is also the living Word, which means that
every written word is a fragmentary manifestation of the
Lord Jesus. This fact is alluded to by what the Lord Jesus
spoke in John chapter six. In that chapter, He told the Jews
that their forefathers ate manna which came down from
heaven (Jn. 6:32, 49). He then asserted that He is the living
bread that came down from heaven (Jn. 6:51). A manna
is a small piece of food, whereas the bread is a whole loaf.
Likewise, the written Word is like the manna. The more
we store the Word of God in our hearts, piece by piece
of the Word will soon form the complete Whole Word.
Eventually, the living bread, Christ Jesus, is formed in our
heart, which will be a manifestation before us in a living
form as how He was manifested like a Person to the Jews
two thousand years ago.

The meditation of the Word of God also allows the

manifested Lord Jesus to come into our heart and construct
a sanctuary in it. Of this is written thus: Behold, I stand at
the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the
door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with
Me (Rev. 3:20). When the Lord God commanded Moses
to build the tabernacle, He said, And let them make Me a
sanctuary, that I may dwell among them (Ex. 25:8). When all
the fittings and furniture were ready according to the Word
of the Lord, the visible glory cloud of God came to abide
in the Holy of Holies (Ex. 40). Likewise, when we meditate
the word and fill our heart with the Word, it is like the
tabernacle being constructed. All the furniture, except for
the brazen altar and the laver of washing, were made of
gold, which signifies holiness and purity. The Word of God
purifies and sanctifies our heart (John 17:17).

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Consider a bird making a nest. Day after day, the bird

flies here and there to gather twigs, leaves, and ferns to
construct a nest. When the nest is constructed and ready,
the bird will then lay its eggs and hatch its chicks there.
The gathering of sticks or twigs by the bird to build its
nest can be likened to meditating the Word of God and
storing it in our heart. When the nest is ready, little birds
are born and make their home in the nest. Likewise, when
the heart becomes a sanctuary made holy, pure, and ready
by the Word of God, the Lord Jesus and the Lord God will
come into it to make Their residence there. In our heart,
They will dine with us and we with Them, which signifies
the communion between us and God (Ex. 25:22). As God
fed the Israelites with manna in the wilderness, in the
sanctuary of our heart, He will feed us with His own flesh
and blood, which is the living Word (Jn. 6:51-58). Oh, it is a
wonderful experience which very few enjoy!

The meditation of the Word of God will transform us

into the likeness of Christ Jesus and transform our heart
into like the garden of Eden where we could enjoy the
fellowship and oneness with the Lord God.

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JAMES 1:22-24
22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer,
he is like unto a man observing his natural face in the
mirror,
24 for he observes himself, and goes away, and
immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

In the journey towards Christlike perfection, we have

discussed how the spirit and the mind can be transformed
and begin to bear Christlikeness. Now we shall examine
how by learning to walk like Christ the soul and the body
can also be transformed into Christlikeness.

On a certain occasion, while a British statesman was

serving as a military attaché in Paris, France, he met with
and started talking to a distinguished French statesman.
In these days said the French statesman, there are only two
things a soldier needs to know. He must know how to march,
and he must know how to shout! The Englishman quickly

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responded. I beg your pardon, your Excellency, but you have

forgotten the most important thing of all! What’s that? the
Frenchman asked. The Englishman replied, He must learn
how to obey!

After having meditated the Word, scriptures learned

must be put into practice. It is not good enough just to
meditate. The flesh and the mind too need to be born
again. It is of the redemption of the soul and the body
that the apostle Paul writes, Therefore, my beloved, as you
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling (Phil. 2:12). The command to “work out your own
salvation” is for the redemption of the flesh and the mind.
And it can only be so done by our obeying the Word,
practising what it teaches.

A certain church had a new pastor who preached the

same sermon every Sunday. Soon the people got bored and
tired of hearing the same sermon and began to complain.
The pastor then told the congregation, I’ll preach a new
sermon when you act on this one. Practising and obeying the
Word of God is a very difficult thing for most Christians
to do. For example, the Word says in 1 Peter 5:7 that we
are to cast all our cares and worries upon the Lord. Even
after doing so in prayer, most Christians still sit and worry
over their problems. This act defeats the necessary faith
mechanism in prayer and so their needs are not answered.
Such a course of action is certainly not practising the Word.
To practice the Word in this situation is not to worry since
we no longer have a problem, having already given it to
the Lord. It is now His problem and not ours.

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In order for us to mature and be transformed into the

likeness of Christ Jesus, we must practice what the Word of
God says. Let us consider a few scriptures.

JAMES 1:21
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of
wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted
word, which is able to save your souls.

1 PETER 2:1,2,11
1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisy,
envy, and all evil speaking,
2 as new born babes, desire the pure milk of the word,
that you may grow thereby,
11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain
from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.

In these scriptures, please note the words lay aside,

laying aside, and abstain. These words call for action. These
scriptures identify the sins that prevent our growth or
maturity to Christlikeness. Consider the bonsai plant. The
Chinese have perfected a method of creating real trees but
in miniature form. How did they do that? It is achieved
through stumping the roots. As a result, the tree does not
attain its full stature. Likewise is our Christian life. The
traits of our fallen state (listed in 1 Peter 2:1,11) will stump
our growth. When we act upon the Word by putting away
these traits, we will then attain full manhood like the Lord
Jesus Christ (Eph. 4:13).

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Mind Renewed And

Transformed
ROMANS 12:2
2 And do not be conformed to this world but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you
may prove what is that good, and acceptable and
perfect will of God.

In our previous study we looked at the two scriptures:

Philippians 2:12 and James 1:21. In these two scriptures,
we find two very important phrases: work out your own
salvation and save your souls. Both these phrases refer to the
renewal and transformation of the mind that results from
obeying and practising the Word of God. When we are
born again, it is our spirit that is born again, not the mind
and the flesh. The salvation of our flesh is brought about
by our practising and obeying the Word. The old sinful
mind is renewed by meditating the Word and transformed
by obeying the Word.

Let us examine the two effects of meditating and

obeying the Word of God that are mentioned in the key
text of this subject: Renewal of the mind and transformation
of the mind.

A. Renewal of the Mind

The word renew comes from the Greek word

anakainosis, meaning renewal. The word mind comes
from two Greek words:

i. Dialogismos : imagination, reasonings, thoughts

ii. Dianoia : thinking over, the faculty of thinking

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The renewal of the mind can be thus defined: Making

anew the imaginations and thinking of the mind, resulting in a
transformed state of mind that is like the mind of Christ.

Why must the mind be renewed? It is because of

the depraved state of the mind fallen into sin. Some
aspects of the fallen mind include the following: reprobate
(Rom. 1:28-32), vain (Eph. 4:17), doubtful (Lk. 12:29),
carnal (Rom. 8:7), lustful (Eph. 2:3), defiled (Titus 1:15), and
evil (Gen. 6:5). Such is the pitiable state of our sinful mind.
That is why it is bent on sinning and rebelling against God.
This is the reason why the scriptures admonish us: and be
renewed in the spirit of your mind (Eph. 4:23).

Five-Fold Effects Of the Word Of God

The mind can only be renewed through the meditation

of the Word of God. When we meditate the Word of God,
the living Word which is Spirit and Life performs five
different functions to effect a renewal of the mind.

The five functions are:

1. Cuts

HEBREWS 4:12
12 For the Word of God is living and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart.

The first work that the Word of God does in renewing

the mind is cutting. The Word of God is like an axe or
sword that cuts deep into the roots of sin in our mind

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(Lk. 3:9; Eph. 6:17). I recently read about the Leksell Gamma
Knife, a state-of-the-art surgical equipment for treating
tumors and growths in the brain.

First, a frame is screwed on to the patient’s head.

A local anaesthetic is then given. The patient’s head is
scanned to determine the location of the target and the
images are put into a computer. Using a three-dimensional
graphic of the brain, the operating team plans surgical
route and the intensity of the gamma ray, which is a form
of electromagnetic radiation of higher energy than X-rays.
Like the focusing of sun’s rays with a microscope thereby
forming a sunbeam that can burn a hole in a piece of paper,
likewise, without any incision on the head, the gamma ray
penetrates the head and burns the tumor growth. This is
how the Word of God also cuts and renews the mind. This
process is beautifully described in the Amplified translation
of Hebrews 4:12: For the Word that God speaks is alive and full
of power - making it active, operative, energizing and effective; it
is sharper than any two-edged sword, and is able to penetrate to
the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal]
spirit, and of joints and marrow [that is, the deepest parts of our
nature] exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very
thoughts and purposes of the heart.

2. Washes

EPHESIANS 5:26
26 that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing of water by the Word. (also Ezek. 36:25;
Jn. 15:3)

Consider a car that sits idly in the carwash. Just by

being there, the car is washed clean by soap and water.

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Likewise, when we meditate the Word, it washes us clean.

How is it possible? Did not the Lord God say, Then I will
sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will
cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols
(Ezek. 36:25)? Such a cleansing takes place in our spirit.
The Lord God who was manifested as a man is now present
in the living Word. That is why the Word of God has the
same cleansing and washing power to cleanse our minds
of all filthiness. That is why the Psalmist said with great
confidence, How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking
heed according to Your Word (Ps. 119:9).

3. Purifies

1 PETER 1:22
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the
truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren,
love one another fervently with a pure heart.

After having washed us, the Word will begin to purify

us. How can the Word of God purify us? The Lord God
Himself is pure (Hab. 1:13). The Word of God which
came forth from Him is also pure (Prov. 30:5). There is an
important point to take note of here: It is fire that purifies
(cp. Mal. 3:2,3). The scriptures declare very clearly that
our God is a consuming and devouring fire (Deut. 4:24;
Ps. 50:3; Heb. 12:29). Like God, His Word too is fire
(Jer. 20:9; 23:29). Like the acetylene torch of a refiner that
removes gold of its dross, so will the fire of the Word of God
purify our mind of all evils and filthiness.

This has been my regular experience. When I spend

many hours meditating the Word of God, I would feel a
glowing fire burning in my right hand. Each time I come

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into the presence of God to meditate His Word, the fire

would burn and increase in intensity until I experience it
all over my body (Ps. 39:3). The Word of God will purify us
“from everything that contaminates and defiles the body
and spirit, and bring [our] consecration to completeness in
the (reverential) fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1, AMP).

4. Illuminates

PSALM 119:130
130 The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives
understanding to the simple.

The Word of God is like light (Ps. 119:105). Let us

examine the primary Hebrew word for meditation–hagah–
more closely. A base root closely related to hagah is gah,
which denotes brightness. From the word gah is derived
a word like gayah, meaning flame or light. The most
important derivative of hagah is the word nogah, which
refers to a glow or shine. This word is especially significant,
as it refers to a glow shining in the dark, as the glow of dawn
or twilight.

What makes the word nogah important is its occurrence

in the prophet Ezekiel’s vision: Then I looked, and behold, a
whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with
raging fire engulfing itself, and brightness (nogah) was all
around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber,
out of the midst of the fire (Ezek. 1:4). The relationship
between hagah (meditation) and such concepts as light and
fire is mentioned clearly in the Bible. The Psalmist says, My
heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned
(Ps. 39:3). The vision of light (brightness) which Ezekiel
saw as a result of meditation is clearly established.

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Light speaks of wisdom, understanding, illumination,

or revelation. When the Word is meditated, it enters as light
into the inner man and comes into contact with the spirit,
which is the candle of the Lord (Prov. 20:27). When the
Word, as light, comes into contact with the spirit it results
in a fusion, thereby releasing a light that shoots up to the
Father of lights (Jas. 1:17). From the Father then comes
illumination for the spirit man (Jas. 3:17).

It is like a firework that is shot into the sky. After

reaching a certain height, it comes back down in a
multiplex of lights. This picture is illustrated in James 3:17
in the multi-fold wisdom that comes down from the Father
of Lights: But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits,
without partiality and without hypocrisy. It is also like the flow
of blood in the human body. The heart pumps blood to all
parts of the body through veins, capillaries, and arteries.
When the flow reaches the feet by the force of gravity, the
heartbeat there causes the blood to flow up back to the
heart. Likewise, during meditation the Word sinks deep into
our spirit, causing the inner man to spring back in response
and reach out for the illumination that comes from God.

5. Sanctifies

JOHN 17:17
17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

A few years ago, as I was waiting on God, the Word of

the Lord came unto me in the form of a conversation. The
Lord Jesus said, When you meditate My Word, My blood will
ooze out from it to sanctify and cleanse your mind that it may
be renewed. Surprised, I asked, Lord, how can Your blood come

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from Your Word? To this Lord Jesus answered, When I was

crucified, didn’t blood and water come out of Me (John 19:34)?
I am the Word (John 1:1,14; Rev. 19:13). When you take My
Word and meditate upon it, My Word is broken into you. When
it is broken, the sanctifying power in My Word (through My
blood) and the cleansing power in My Word (through My water–
the Spirit) will renew and transform your mind as like a well-
tended and well-watered garden.

So–cutting, washing, purifying, illuminating, and

sanctifying–these are the ways by which the Word of God
when meditated upon renews our mind. Let us summarize
this five-fold work to see the complete picture.

Let us consider the fact, for example, that before we

were born again, we had been taught “An eye for an eye,
a tooth for a tooth”–an attitude of revenge. When we
become Christians, we want the mind with its old attitudes
changed because the Lord Jesus taught us to love our
enemies (Matt. 5:38-44). So, meditate the Word love your
enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate
you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you
(Matt. 5:44). When we begin to meditate this scripture, the
Word, like a sword, will begin to cut down the thought of
An eye for an eye lodged till now in the mind. Like an axe,
the Word will also begin to chop off the branches, even the
very tree of vengeful thinking itself.

Once the cutting is done, blood will ooze out. The

sin in the old man will cry out: Oh, you heartless new man.
Why did you cut me off from your life? I’ve been your mind’s
companion for years. The Word then, like water, is sprinkled
on the bleeding area. All the blood–the old thoughts–are
washed away. The mind is now clean. But the cut is still an

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open wound. The Word then, like fire, will begin to work.
Like an acetylene torch, it will begin to burn and burn
until the wound is cauterized and closed up. The Word like
fire purifies the mind. The roots of unrenewed thoughts
are burned to ashes. The Word then like light will begin to
shine and illuminate our mind. The new Word–Love your
enemies–will shine like a laser beam into our mind. As it is
shining upon our mind, the Word will enter into our spirit.
It enters deep into our spirit and a light will then shoot
upwards–heavenwards–to the Father of the spirits. The truth
Love your enemies is then firmly planted in the area formerly
occupied by the old thought An eye for an eye. Finally, the
Word then sanctifies and makes our mind new, renewing
and transforming it into the mind of Christ.

B. Transformation Of the Mind

The work of transformation of the mind works

simultaneously with the renewal of the mind. The word
transform in Greek is metamorphoo, meaning to change into
another form. This is the same meaning applied to the word
transfiguration (Matt. 17:2). Therefore, to have the mind
transformed is to have it transfigured–completely and
totally changed into the mind of Christ Jesus.

Consider the insects. The higher insects such as beetles,

flies, butterflies, and wasps undergo a complicated series
of metamorphoses in their development from egg to
adulthood. The larva that hatches from the egg of the
butterfly or the moth is called a caterpillar. The caterpillar
is vermiform and feeds voraciously on plant matter. After
four molting cycles, the larva grows greatly in size and
undergoes a metamorphosis to enter the pupal (chrysalis)
stage. In its final act of metamorphosis, the caterpillar

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secretes a substance over itself which becomes its cocoon,

attaching itself firmly to a branch or twig. Inside the
cocoon all the tissues of the pupa are reorganized. The
composition of the larva is reconstituted as wings begin to
differentiate themselves out of little groups of cells called
imaginal disks. When this metamorphosis is complete, the
winged adult capable of sexual reproduction emerges from
the cocoon.

Notice the sentence “Inside the cocoon all the tissues

of the pupa are reorganized.” Notice again three words:
cocoon, pupa, and reorganized. The “cocoon” speaks of the
mind, the “pupa” speaks of the spirit of the mind, and the
“reorganized” speaks of renewal. This picture is clearly
portrayed in the scriptures: that you put off, concerning your
former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
and that you put on the new man which was created according
to God, in true righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:22-24).

Just as the Lord Jesus was transfigured and His

countenance flooded with the light of God’s glory,
likewise the mind will be transformed–transfigured with
God’s glory to possess the mind of Christ Jesus as we
meditate constantly on His Word (Lk. 9:29; 1 Cor. 2:16).
Let me illustrate this with a uniquely beautiful experience
I received one day. When meditating the scriptures I
began to realize that a great change was coming over
my mind. The Lord God’s glory was hovering over it. It
was like the top half of my head from the eyes up was
not there anymore. Instead that entire area was covered
with a canopy of God’s glory. It was as if heaven filled my
mind. In that state of glory, I was made to comprehend
a certain biblical truth which stretches from Genesis to

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Revelation. This experience was truly astounding. What a

transfiguration of the mind!

One evening several years ago, as I was meditating the

Word of God, my spiritual eyes were opened to constantly
and continually behold the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus said,
When you search My Word, you will only find Me. The Lord
then showed me a vision. In the vision, I saw a young
girl sitting before a big mirror. She was beautifying herself
before the mirror. On the mirror, instead of the girl’s image,
what I saw reflected was the image of the Lord Jesus. It even
appeared as if the image was infinitely reflected, just like
when one’s image is reflected infinitely before two barber’s
mirrors placed opposite each other. The Lord Jesus then
explained, The mirror is the Word. When you look into the
mirror of the Word, which starts to beautify and transform your
life, My image will be reflected in you throughout eternity.

As we meditate the Word of God, the Holy Spirit

residing within us will do the work of changing us into the
image of Christ Jesus. The measure therefore by which the
Holy Spirit is able to make us like Christ Jesus is dependent
on how earnestly we meditate the Word of God. The Holy
Spirit has only one goal–to transform us and make us look
like the Lord Jesus when He comes again: But we all, with
unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are
being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just
as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:18); Beloved, now we are
children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall
be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is (1 Jn. 3:2).

The Lord Jesus concluded His Sermon on the Mount

by saying that if anyone hears Him but does not put His

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teaching into practice is like a man who foolishly builds a

house on sand, which is soon washed away. But if anyone
hears the Word and obeys it, he is wise and builds his
house on a rock that can never be removed (Matt. 7:24-27).
Meditating the Word of God will build up the spirit, renew
and transform the mind, and cause the body to be obedient
to the ways of God. We can then be fully conformed and
transformed into the image and likeness of the Lord Jesus
Christ.

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 CHAPTER 6



MATTHEW 5:48
48 Therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in
heaven is perfect.

MATTHEW 5:48 (AMP)

48 You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete
maturity of godliness in mind and character, having
reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as
your heavenly Father is perfect.

The renown renaissance painter Michelangelo spent many,

many hours on his back on high scaffolding carefully
perfecting the details of each figure in the frescoes on the
high ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City. A
friend once asked him why he took such pains with figures
which could be seen only at a close distance by viewers.
After all, said the friend, who will know whether it is perfect or
not? Gently but resolutely, Michelangelo replied: I will.

God is a perfect person who designed His creation

in perfection. It was only after the entrance of sin that
creation’s perfection was marred. In the creation account
as found in the Book of Genesis chapters 1 and 2, each

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time God had created something, these words follow:

and God saw that it was good (Gen. 1:4,10,12,18,21,25,31).
Creation–God’s masterful handiwork–was perfect in every
way–suitable, pleasant, fitting, admirable. In the creation of
man, Genesis 1:26,27 tells us how God created man in His
own image and likeness, endowing him with the attributes
and the character of God. After the fall, when sin entered
the world, man’s perfect divine image was marred. When
I was in Rome in 1992 I went to see the Sistine Chapel in
the Vatican City because I had always admired the works
of Michelangelo. During my visit I noticed that some of
Michelangelo’s paintings and works were being restored as
they had been damaged by adverse atmospheric conditions
and had also suffered from lack of proper care. Likewise the
Lord Jesus came and restored us to the image and likeness
of God by His own blood. He now commands us to be
perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.

Let us consider man a little deeper. The Bible says that

the Lord God made him in God’s own image and likeness.
What is “the image and likeness of God”? Image is physical
resemblance. When we look at a child, we may exclaim, Oh,
she looks like her mother! Why do we say that?–because
we see a certain resemblance to the image of the parent.
What then is God’s image? The scriptures declare that
the Lord God is a Spirit (Jn. 4:24). Man too is a spirit
(Prov. 20:27; 1 Cor. 2:11). God is immortal (1 Tim. 1:17;
6:15,16). Man too was originally created immortal. Death
came into existence only after sin (Gen. 2:16,17). God is
Three in One (Eph. 4:4-6). So is Man–spirit, soul, and body
(Gen. 2:7; 1 Thes. 5:23).

Let us now look at God’s likeness. Likeness refers to

His characteristics–His attributes and personalities. When
the Lord God appeared to the prophet Moses, He revealed

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His name by proclaiming His attributes: And the Lord

passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God,
merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin’ (Ex. 34:6,7). Does not man too exhibit
these attributes and personalities in some small measure?
Man was originally created perfect without a taint or a flaw.
We were originally made as sons and daughters of the King
to rule and reign (Gen. 1:26; Lk. 3:38). But sadly, sin marred
the perfect image and likeness of God in us.

A question can be asked: If God created man in His

own image and likeness to reign as sons and daughters of the
King, why then did God make man till the ground in a garden
in Eden instead of having him seated at the right hand of God
(Gen. 2:18,15)? Let’s begin our quest to unravel this enigma
by recalling a very sad event that happened a long time ago
to one of God’s highest creation. Lucifer, who was “the full
measure and pattern of exactness–giving the finishing touch
to all that constitutes completeness–full of wisdom and
perfect in beauty”, allowed sin–seen in God’s creation for
the first time–to enter into him (Ezek. 28:12, AMP). As the
anointed cherub who trod freely among the fiery stones on
God’s holy mount and who enjoyed an intimate knowledge
of God, Lucifer fell into sin because of pride (Ezek. 28:14).
Instead of uninterrupted intimacy with God, Lucifer found
himself cast out from God’s holy presence (Is. 14:15).

In Lucifer’s downfall we might perhaps see that

spiritual perfection is better realized through active
obedience. Thus when man was created, he was made
a little lower than the angels and put to till and tend a
garden (Gen. 2:15, Ps. 8:5). The process of nature teaches
that perfection involves different stages of growth. The
Lord God intentionally set Adam to the task of tilling

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the garden so that as he watched a seed germinate and

give birth to “first the blade, then the ear, then the full
grain in the ear” (Mk. 4:28, AMP), he would learn from
his observation the necessity of tending (feeding his spirit
man), guarding (girding the loins of his mind, Eph. 6:14),
and maintaining an uninterrupted fellowship with God.
The goal of the Christian life is to be perfect like our
Father in heaven (Gen. 17:1; Deut. 18:13; Matt. 5:8). It is
the absolute will and desire of God that we be like Him
because God, who is the embodiment of love, wants
affection and devotion from one who is an exact likeness
to Him, and with whom He could fully relate (Jn. 17:23;
2 Cor. 13:11).

Consider this: When people are in deep sorrow over

some problems, they pour out their hearts in prayer,
making their needs known to God. They may receive
comfort through the Word or through the still small voice
of the Holy Spirit, yet they would yearn to receive some
loving words of comfort and consolation from a fellow
human being. Why do we do that? Simply because God
is a Spirit and we could not relate to Him tangibly as
with to another human. Likewise God, who created us
to fellowship with Him, wants us to rise up to the full
potential of our sonship in order that we may relate freely
with Him as our Heavenly Father.

Consider an oyster. When a stone falls into the

mouth of an oyster, pain and irritation would cause it to
secrete a fluid to cover over the stone. The oyster would
continue to secrete this fluid on the stone. In due process,
through the oyster’s secretion, the stone is transformed
into an invaluable pearl. Likewise, our spiritual journey
to perfection involves a process of transformation. When
we come to the Lord Jesus Christ, through His blood

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He begins to perfect us in Him just as the stone coming

into the oyster begins to be perfected (Heb. 10:14). As
the oyster would continually secrete to perfect the stone
into a pearl, likewise we are continually being perfected
and transformed into Christlikeness through the Word
(Col. 1:28), through fellowship with God the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit (1 Jn. 1:3; 2 Cor. 13:14), and
through the action of His Spirit (Tit. 3:5). Finally, just as
the perfected pearl in the oyster is collected and becomes
an object of adornment, we become a diadem in His Hand
after we have transformed unto perfection (Ps. 102:18;
Is. 62:3; Zech. 9:16; Mal. 3:17). We are, after all, created–and
perfected–for His pleasure and glory (Is. 43:7; Rev. 4:11).

Perfection, therefore, is the progressive growth into complete

maturity of Godliness in spirit, soul, and body, which are
being molded to become the image of the Lord Jesus Christ,
bearing inwardly His likeness. This is beautifully described
in scriptures as follows: But all of us, as with unveiled faces
we mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same
likeness, from glory to glory, even as derived from the Lord the
Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18, Weymouth).

It is not impossible to be perfect as our Father in

heaven is perfect. If no loving earthly father would demand
from their children something which in all aspects he
knows would be impossible for the children to accomplish,
then surely not our Heavenly Father. He would never
demand that we be perfect if it is unattainable. It is not
impossible because God has made it possible for us to be
transformed into Christlikeness by the Holy Spirit. God,
Who Himself is perfect, has put in us the essence and life-
seed that can germinate and transform us unto Christlike
perfection. It is written in 1 Peter 1:23 that we are having
been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible,

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through the word of God which lives and abides forever.

2 Peter 1:4 furthers this truth: by which have been given to
us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these
you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world through lust.

Just as God placed Adam in the garden of Eden to till

and tend it, we must and should learn how to carefully
tend, guard, and keep the life-seed–the divine nature
of God in us–so as to cause it to germinate by stages
from blade to ear to full grain. To this we are called: For
those whom He foreknew [of whom He was aware and loved
beforehand], He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining
them] to be molded into the image of His Son [and share
inwardly His likeness], that He might become the firstborn
among the many brethren (Rom. 8:29, AMP).

I know of a dear saintly man of God in South

India. Once he was caught up into the third heaven
(2 Cor. 12:2-4). He witnessed what appeared to be the
great white throne judgement of God (Rev. 20:11-15).
A great multitude of people were standing before the Lord
God. After those whose names were not found in the Book
of Life were cast into the lake of fire, with great love and
compassion, the Lord God turned His gaze upon those
who have kept the Name of Christ Jesus without blemish.
A powerful beam of light shot forth from the eyes of God
(Rev. 19:12). The beam of light fell upon all the redeemed.
In an instant, everyone looked exactly like the Lord Jesus.
This is the ultimate and fullness of perfection–transformed
into His Likeness.

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