As I age, I hear this comment often: “You look just like your Dad.” I really don’t, but I do share his vocation, some of his mannerisms, a similar laugh, and my voice sounds much like his. Our shared DNA and our many years of relationship impressed him into my brain and though I make no conscious attempt to be like him, apparently I am! People for whom he cared as a pastor for decades sometimes transfer their memories to me. I am glad to ‘bear his image’ and continue the work of ministry that shaped so much of his life. (It’s hard to believe that he stepped into eternity 15 years ago last Monday.)
Here is a question worthy of our reflection - do I bear the image of my Heavenly Father to friends, families, and co-workers?
We were created in His image, made to be like Him. Oh yes, that image was marred by disobedience, the intimacy with God broken by sin. However, we know that through Christ Jesus the image of God is restored in us. He gives us the privilege of knowing God, loving God, and becoming more and more like Him. The inspired Word says “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NIV) When we take time to worship (individually and together), when we allow the Word to shape our thoughts, when the Holy Spirit is invited to change us, inside out, we gain the amazing privilege of being ‘Jesus with skin on.’
Christianity is often focused on externals - certain ethical and moral choices or religious practices. Those choices are not wrong, but they are not the essence of bearing the likeness of Jesus in this world. Our faithfulness to church activities is not likely to cause others to ask the reason for our hope. But, when our daily lives are marked with love for others, by a deep peace in this chaotic world, by forgiveness and a gentle spirit, by a hope that transcends the disappointments of this present existence, we are ‘being transformed into His likeness’ and Jesus’ beauty becomes visible to people who live around us. This is my desire - that Jesus is seen in me.
There is another amazing thing that happens as we ‘become
like our Heavenly Father.’ We gain a
quiet confidence, a godly authority over evil!
Moses was sent to the court of Pharoah to state God’s desire to take the
Israelites out of Egypt, freeing them from slavery. He was fearful of this mission, for good
reason. He was going to stand before a man others considered a god, a man who
was the most powerful person in that part of the ancient world who could order
his execution without the blink of an eye.
Moses acknowledges his weakness and inability.
"Then the LORD
said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your
brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you,
and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his
country." (Exodus 7:1-2, NIV) "And the Egyptians will know
that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the
Israelites out of it.”" (Exodus 7:5, NIV) Moses
faced many difficulties and failed more than once. The divine authority
conferred on him by God did not make him super-human, nor did it exempt him
from ordinary hardships. But, God did the miraculous through him, causing him
to form a new nation even as he led them from Egypt to the Promised Land.
Spirit-filled Christians share that privilege of leading
others from darkness to light, from slavery to evil to spiritual freedom, from
death to to life. We don’t do with great personal charisma, through blinding brilliance
of intellect, or with grand strategies of human programs. The work is done by people who are filled
with Spirit of God, enjoying the quiet confidence of the godly! This is the truth- "We are confident
of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we
think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our only power and
success come from God. He is the one who has enabled us to represent his new
covenant. This is a covenant, not of written laws, but of the Spirit.” (2
Corinthians 3:4-6, NLT)
There is no
need to go about blowing trumpets of our own making. We need not act as religious
nuts, screaming at evil and rebuking the Devil, to accomplish God’s work. We just live in His goodness letting His
Presence overflow from us. And others
will begin to say - “He looks just like His Father!”
The word from the Word today is the prayer Jesus prayed for us just before He went to the Cross. May His prayer cause us to desire to reflect His goodness more and more. “My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. And all of them, since they are mine, belong to you; and you have given them back to me, so they are my glory! Now I am departing the world; I am leaving them behind and coming to you. Holy Father, keep them and care for them—all those you have given me—so that they will be united just as we are." (John 17:9-11, NLT) "Make them pure and holy by teaching them your words of truth. As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world." (John 17:17-18, NLT) Amen!
(Video of this blog at this link)
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Oh to be like Thee
Blessed Redeemer
This is my constant
Longing and prayer
Gladly I'll forfeit
All of earth's treasures
Jesus Thy perfect
Likeness to wear
Oh to be like Thee
Oh to be like Thee
Blessed Redeemer
Pure as Thou art
Come in Thy Sweetness
Come in Thy Fullness
Stamp Thine own Image
Deep on my heart
Oh to be like Thee
Full of compassion
Loving forgiving
Tender and kind
Helping the helpless
Cheering the fainting
Seeking the wandering
Sinner to find
Oh to be like Thee
While I am pleading
Pour out Thy Spirit
Fill with Thy Love
Make me a temple
Meet for Thy Dwelling
Fit me for life
And Heaven above
Oh to be like Thee
Lowly in spirit
Holy and harmless
Patient and brave
Meekly enduring
Cruel reproaches
Willing to suffer
Others to save
Oh to be like Thee
Lord I am coming
Now to receive
The anointing divine
All that I am
And have I am bringing
Lord from this moment
All shall be Thine
Thomas Obediah Chisholm
Public Domain
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