October 19
“Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:6)
I have been doing a lot of “soul-searching” lately. Maybe it’s because, as I approach the “autumn” of my life, I find myself longing to “boil things down” to the bare essentials. The real substance. A true faith.
All this talk, lately, about belief and faith, has reminded me of some things that we ALL need to remember. And most essential is… what is God seeking in all this?
When He began all of creation, what did HE see as the end game? Since, we as humans are so central in everything He did (and has done), – what did HE want to see from us? He created us for a purpose – what IS that purpose?
The more I study Scripture, the more I realize that God’s purpose comes down to one thing… that the objects of His divine attention (US!) would fully and completely represent Him on this earth. We were originally made to perfectly reflect Him – as the exact physical representations of the spiritual God. The reason Jesus came was to restore us back to perfectly reflecting Him once again. What sin had distorted and damaged– was perfectly mended by divine work, through our Savior.
We are actually commanded to BE “imitators of God.” (Ephesians 5:1) Like God. And whatever God commands, He also provides the means to fulfill. That means that we are fully enabled to live as God intended right now. The work of Jesus has already restored and renewed us to our divine purpose. He has supplied everything we need to be and do what God wants from us. That IS the essence of true Christianity.
So when we talk about belief and faith – we need to realize that our belief and faith must lead us to where God intended for us to be… To where He has provided for us to be. By His immeasurable grace, through the work of His eternal Son.
Where He wants us to be is in the fullness of relationship with Himself – and restored back to our original purpose – as He established from “in the beginning.”
But what does that look like??
It looks like Jesus.
Jesus came not only to redeem us back from sin and death, but to show us what His redemption would bring us. He came to model (in His life and ministry) what His sacrifice came to restore IN us. Jesus came to show us exactly what we were all originally designed and created to be.
To be Christlike (oddly enough) means to be like Christ – and that means that every one of us who has professed our faith in Jesus needs to be a reflection of Him. An exact representation. As if Jesus Himself were walking in our shoes.
As I look at my own life, I have to wonder if that is what my belief and faith is actually producing. Am I a true reflection of my Savior? Or do I just suppose that I am?
The truth of Scripture is both magnificent and daunting. Jesus came to forgive us, renew us, restore us, empower us, and birth His character within us.
If Jesus came to make us just like Him – how do we honestly measure up to Him?
John wasn’t kidding… there is only one standard for each of us:
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