Translucence
As we grow into our identity in Christ, our humanity becomes overshadowed by the reality of indwelling glory. Conformed into the Lord’s image from glory to glory, we become like Him, for as He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). Our truest humanity is found in Jesus Christ. He came not only to bear the sins of mankind but to restore our righteous standing before God the Father. As we become like Him, as we participate in His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), we step into our truest possible humanity.
As the heart and mind are conformed to the image of Jesus, something interesting happens: the enemy progressively loses his ability to influence us. As we grow in Christ, satan watches us disappear from his view. This spiritual maturing is a progressive movement from the influence of the realm of the flesh (humanity’s old way of being prior to Christ) into the influence of the Spirit. Paul writes that Christians “are no longer in the realm of the flesh but the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you” (Romans 8:9). Satan’s power, which operates through the desires and cravings that characterized life in the flesh, gradually loses its hold on us.
Jesus says something interest in John 14, when He is about to be betrayed into the hands of the Jewish leaders and the Romans by Judas Iscariot. After speaking with the disciples about the Holy Spirit and knowing the time for His death is imminent, He says, “I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me” (John 14:30). The enemy has nothing in Christ. Jesus lived in sinless perfection. Because He was the first human to live completely in the realm of the Spirit, His mind and heart were completely free from any influence of the flesh. There was nothing the enemy could do to get at Him. He lived in complete awareness of His union with the heavenly Father. Satan had no foothold in the heart of Jesus.
We have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). As our minds are renewed to match this reality, the doors we have left open for the enemy close permanently. It becomes harder and harder for him to affect us and tempt us to sin. The thinking patterns and identity paradigms that characterized life in the flesh become replaced with the truth of God’s word and the empowering grace of the Holy Spirit.
What ultimately happens to our past sin, our vices, our bondages, our battles, and their consequences? They are transfigured and transformed to radiate the glory of Christ. They are absorbed into our being, but what was once dark has become light. God wastes nothing. Our past, our mistakes, our worst moments become parts of a beautiful mosaic - personal testimonies of God’s faithfulness and redemptive power. Shame, power, and regret become powerless. If we do experience any kind of attack from the enemy, we now know how to leverage them toward spiritual growth because we have learned through the healing experience.
In a way, we become spiritually translucent. The energy of the enemy can come at us and pass through us, but becomes transfigured and transformed for God’s glory because there is no foothold where it can rest. Shame, guilt, fear, and regret have no landing pad because we are now fully alive and aware of our identity in Christ. We may remain conscious of past mistakes, but they no longer hold any power over us, having become part of God’s bigger picture.
