"You Were Created to Become Like Christ"
Week 4, 40 Days of Purpose Rom.8:16-30
God-fashioned Life
When we trust in Christ, our Heavenly Father begins our transformation into creatures fit for heaven. But He doesn't take an "outside-in" approach that changes only the surface. He does a thorough job, reaching deep down inside us to our unconscious habits and hidden character. God's plan is that we come to be like Jesus Christ His uniquely-begotten Son, He's the model. For Jesus' characteristics are exactly those of the Father. The Bible says Jesus is "the exact likeness of God", "the visible image of the invisible God," and "the exact representation of His being" (2Cor.4:4; Col.1:15; Heb.1:3). God wants us to take on His values, attitudes, and character; Eph.4(22,13) says, "Take on an entirely new way of life -- a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you." "This will continue until we are...mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like Him." The Father loves the Son and is delighted to be reproducing Jesus in so many of us. The tools God uses to fashion us are His Word, problems, and temptations. That's why the Christian life is not easy: we have so much that needs to change, pain may be necessary for growth. Rick Warren in The Purpose-Driven Life (PDL) says, "...many believers have abandoned living for God's great purposes and settled for personal fulfillment and emotional stability. That is narcissism, not discipleship. Jesus did not die on the cross just so we could live comfortable, well-adjusted lives. His purpose is far deeper: He wants to make us like Himself before He takes us to heaven."
Truth that's Trashed or Transforms
The Bible is an all-time best-seller, it has been for centuries. But in too many homes it's more an ornament or a good-luck charm than the daily manual it's intended to be; "the book we dust and trust". But if we're to change our nature and behaviour to be like Christ, to really become His followers or disciples, we need something outside ourselves to guide and help us in that process.
Rick Warren compares trying to live a moral life without God's Word to travelling in a speedboat with an autopilot. If it's set to head east, we can grab the steering wheel and physically force it to head in the opposite direction, but eventually the constant resistance would tire us out. We'd let go of the steering wheel and the boat would head east again as it was internally programmed. God's Word, the Bible, is what we need to "re-program" our human nature's autopilot. Rom.12(2b) says, "Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." In Eph.4(23) Paul adds, "There must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes." Where's this got to come from? The "manufacturer's handbook".
Sanctification - this process by which we are transformed to share Christ's holy character - requires revelation, God showing us His way. 2Tim.3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." Another translation puts that last verse this way: "Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us."
Sadly, in too many homes and churches the Bible is not viewed as authoritative, the infallible rule of faith and life. Clark Pinnock, a Canadian theologian, writes: "The distinctive mark of theology today is its dreadful ambiguity. The chaos of American theology today can be traced back to its roots in the rejection of Biblical infallibility. Preaching is not the act of unfolding our personal convictions. It is the duty of informing [people] of all that God has spoken. To move off from the pages of Scripture is to enter into the wastelands of our own subjectivity. Scripture plays an important role in the salvation of [people]. The Bible is a divinely provided map of the spiritual order. It contains the directions and markings to guide a person into reconciliation with God."
Repeatedly, Scripture attests to its power to change people's lives. Heb.4(12) says "the word of God is living and active...piercing...able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." God's Word is fundamentally different from your speech or mine, it's alive and powerful in itself. Genesis records that God spoke and the universe came into being - nuclear furnaces of suns, delicately balanced planets, invisible black holes: His Word brought it all forth. And His Word is what gives us spiritual birth, freedom from the darkness of sin. James (1:18; 21b; 25) says, "God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things He made...Receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted in your hearts contains the POWER to save your souls...Truly happy people are those who carefully study God's perfect law that makes people free..." God's Word can make us wise: Col.3(16a) says, "Remember what Christ taught and let His words enrich your lives and make you wise." Not head-smart but heart-whole. DL Moody said, "The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives."
What's programming YOUR autopilot? What forms and informs your thoughts day after day? Do we give priority to the radio or the TV or the internet, how the world wants us to think? PDL says, "...many believers are more faithful to reading the daily newspaper than their Bibles. It's no wonder we don't grow. We can't watch television for three hours, then read the Bible for three minutes and expect to grow...If you will read the Bible just 15 minutes a day, you will read completely through it once a year. If you cut out one 30-minute television program a day and read your Bible instead, you will read through the entire Bible twice a year." And just think, no commercials! Instead of "a word from our sponsor", better "a word from our Creator"! God instructed the kings of Israel to read His word daily: Dt.17(19a) says, "He should keep it with him all the time and read from it every day of his life." If kings need to, how much more do we!
Memorize Scripture verses; you can do it anywhere - while working or exercising or driving or waiting or at bedtime. Journal and jot down what you learn, ask questions of the passage. Join a Bible study discussion group that will help you understand and apply it.
Society proposes other "authorities" that would be our tyrants - culture ("everyone is doing it"), tradition ("we've always done it that way"), reason ("it seemed logical"), or emotion ("if it feels right, do it!"). These other authorities are flawed by the Fall and so are fallible, unreliable. One denomination promoted Wesley's quadrilateral years ago - scripture, tradition, reason, and experience - but placed scripture on a level with the others, whereas Wesley would have viewed it as the supreme yardstick. Demoting Scripture or doubting its trustworthiness reduces people's desire to read it. By contrast, Jesus said, "If you continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (Jn.8:31f)
Familiarity with and trust in the Bible is essential for personal power and effectiveness in God's service. PDL notes that "In the early years of his ministry, Billy Graham went through a time when he struggled with doubts about the accuracy and authority of the Bible. One moonlit night he dropped to his knees in tears and told God that, in spite of confusing passages he didn't understand, from that point on he would completely trust the Bible as the sole authority for his life and ministry. From that day forward, Billy's life was blessed with unusual power and effectiveness."
Problems that Provoke or Prove
Another thing God uses to shape us in a way that resembles Jesus is trouble. Problems, painful circumstances. PDL comments that God "depends more on circumstances to make us like Jesus than He depends on our reading the Bible. The reason is obvious: You face circumstances 24 hours a day." Accidents and mishaps occur. Collisions, cancers, collapses - but through them all, God is teaching us to rely on Him; so doing we discover real peace despite the pain, the PROOF that our faith is genuine, He's really there. Joni Eareckson Tada was paralyzed by a diving accident. She observes, "When life is rosy, we may slide by with knowing about Jesus, with imitating Him and quoting Him and speaking of Him. But only in suffering will we know Jesus."
Chuck Swindoll likens God's Word to a log sitting on top of the ice on a frozen lake. When the ice thaws and melts, the log penetrates into the water and becomes a part of the lake. The trials that come along in life, he says, are like that thawing process. Problems and hardship melt the heart and allow God's Word to penetrate and become a part of us.
Even Jesus - perhaps especially Jesus - was exposed to problems and pain to complete His character curriculum. Heb.5(8f) says He "learned obedience through suffering" and "was made perfect through suffering." Similarly, God uses problems and difficulties to perfect or mature us. 1Pet.1(7a) says, "These troubles come to PROVE that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold." A silversmith was carrying out the refining process, adding flux and heating the metal to remove the impurities. Someone asked "How do you know when the silver is pure?" He replied, "When I see my reflection in it." God's refining us, the problems apply heat to make us pure and resemble Jesus. James (1:3) wrote, "Under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colours."
How can we bear up under difficulties? Look ahead and look alongside. Look ahead - to the reward that awaits you. Your pain is temporary but your reward is eternal. Moses endured a life of problems, Heb.11(26) says, "because he was looking ahead to his reward." Jesus said when we're poor or hungry or weeping or hated and insulted and ostracized, "Be full of joy at that time, because you have a great reward waiting for you in heaven." (Lk.6:23) Paul's attitude was, "Our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever!" (2Cor.4:17)
Also, we can look alongside to the Lord who accompanies us through our problem. The Holy Spirit comes alongside as a Paraclete, a Helper. Heb.12(2a) says, "Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor.He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy He knew would be His afterwards." Paul urged believers to "Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS" and "Give thanks in ALL circumstances" (Php.4:4; 1Thess.5:18) - not rejoice in the pain itself, but rejoice in the Lord whose presence bears us up. Rick Warren notes that we can "rejoice in knowing that God is going through the pain with us. We do not serve a distant and detached God who spouts encouraging cliches from the sideline. Instead, he enters into our suffering. Jesus did it in the Incarnation, and His Spirit does it in us now."
I like the quote from death camp survivor Corrie Ten Boom: "If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you'll be at rest!"
Marg Buchanan, Quebec correspondent for ChristianWeek, writes in an article titled "Suffering Sucks" about her tears at hearing of people's broken marriages, a man's depression, another man's constant physical pain due to a shoulder injury, and an article about children selling themselves for sex to tourists in the Dominican Republic. But she finds comfort in Christ, and power to counteract the evil. She says suffering "is contrary to God's nature, and contrary to our own. That is why we moan and groan with all of creation under the pain of it...Paradise was lost when people sinned and broke their relationship with God. So Jesus came to set things right again -- to provide a way for reconciliation to God and, interestingly, relief from suffering. As I read the gospels, I see a man who hit His thumb more than once with a hammer, who mourned the loss of His father, who had been taunted and mocked because He was different. And as Jesus talks about the eternal kingdom, He heals the sick, encourages the downcast, frees the oppressed. In fact, I have not yet found a time when Jesus says to someone in pain, "Put up with it.It's food for you." Ultimately, Jesus took on the role of man of sorrows, acquainted with grief -- the one who we see tortured mercilessly in Mel Gibson's disturbingly realistic portrayal -- not to perpetuate suffering, but to eliminate it. The tears I cry today [for those others suffering], and for me, are real.And someday, those nail-scarred hands, reminiscent of the bleed and tear-streaked face and the broken heart, will wipe my tears away."
Desires that Deceive or Develop
The third and final tool we'll cover today that God uses to shape us is temptation. Martin Luther said, "My temptations have been my masters in divinity." It's in combatting these wrong desires that we develop Christlikeness.
Temptation happens when the Enemy zeroes in on a desire that's already within us. James 4(1) says there is "a whole army of evil desires within you." Temptation starts in our mind, not our circumstances. Jesus observed, "From within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within." (Mk.7:21ff)
The Enemy combines a lie or half-truth with this desire to deceive us, to trick us into thinking this is what we really want or will really satisfy. Jesus called Satan "the father of lies" (Jn.8:44). So we dabble in the dark, trying to keep it a secret, lest everybody know the shameful facts. But sin destroys, even a little sin has its negative effect eventually. PDL notes, "A little sin is like being a little pregnant: it will eventually show itself." All sin leads to death, spiritual and physical separation from God. Rom.6:23 says "the wages of sin is death" - that's the payback you get on your investment. Sin swallows you up and bars you from intimacy with Holy God. Its outworking, disease and shame and guilt and fear, destroy us. James 1(14ff) says, "We are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires. Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." Rick Warren puts it this way: "The moment you became God's child, Satan, like a mobster hit man, put out a "contract" on you. You are his enemy, and he's plotting your downfall."
How can we deal with these deadly desires? The Bible tells us to "resist the Devil", "Don't give the Devil a chance" (or, foothold); don't present as available to his icy clawnail a single inch! (Jas.4:7; Eph.4:27)
Oscar Wilde, Irish author and playwright, told the story about the day the devil was traveling across the Libyan Desert and happened upon a pack of his imps who were in the midst of tempting a rather holy hermit, but without much success. The saintly man shook off all their suggestions. Lucifer stood back only so long. Finally, after rubbing his chin and coming to certain conclusions about their approach, he said to them, "What you do is too crude. Step back." Then he whispered in the man of God's ear, "Your brother has just been made Bishop of Alexandria." All of a sudden the hermit's face changed and was clouded by a malignant look of jealousy. "I mean, the very idea that my brother would be chosen over me." The devil looked at his demons and said, "Now that is the sort of thing I'd recommend."
Planning helps us avoid sin. Prov.16(17) says, "God's people avoid evil ways, and they protect themselves by watching where they go." Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Lead us not into temptation" - point your feet elsewhere! We can call out for God's help, as He promises in Ps.50(15): "Call on Me in times of trouble. I will rescue you, and you will honour Me." Look for the way out, the escape hatch God promises in 1Cor.10:13: "God is faithful.He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it."
Refocus your thoughts on something else. Warren advises, "When temptation calls you on the phone, don't argue with it, just hang up!" Job (31:1) said, "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman." Paul counselled, "Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable." And, "We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ." (Php.4:8; 2Cor.10:5)
Gordon MacDonald tells of a man who was travelling in a foreign city and was alone on a street that had an X-rated theatre. No one was there who knew him. Silently he stood in front of the marquee and read the words and he looked at a few of the pictures and he was tempted to go in. As he backed away toward the curb, he remembered the words of a song: "I would be true for there are those who trust me; I would be true for there are those who care." The old hymn that they sang in the church back home came to his rescue. He turned and went on.
Another thing that helps is revealing your temptations to a godly friend or confidential support group. James 5(16) tells us to "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." PDL says, "You are only as sick as your secrets...The reason we hide our faults is pride. We want others to think we have everything 'under control'. The truth is, whatever you can't talk about is already out of control in your life: problems with your finances, marriage, kids, thoughts, sexuality, secret habits, or anything else. If you could handle it on your own, you would have already done so."
Last, recall God's promises. Use the Word of God as your weapon against Satan. Eph.6(17) says, "Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He didn't argue with the Enemy, but quoted Scripture verses He had memorized. Word power. Rick Warren adds, "If you don't have any Bible verses memorized, you've got no bullets in your gun!" Even memorizing just one verse a week soon adds up, and gives you something to focus on in emergency.
Ill but Interceding
Claude Ryan died February 9; he was a devout Catholic, as well as Quebec Liberal leader, journalist, and academic. In the 1980 referendum vote, as leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, he defeated the sovereigntist forces. He was a Christian intellectual whose appreciation for God's truth motivated him to take an active role in society, for good. He defended the role of church in society, saying: "Religion cannot be confined indefinitely to the private sphere. Churches should be more present in public debates...A valueless society is unthinkable." He also affirmed his convictions about the importance of personal faith, saying, "Freedom of conscience and religion are beyond the reach of public authority...True believers share their faith with others."
Prime Minister Paul Martin commented on Ryan's "commitment toward those less fortunate". Cardinal Turcotte said Ryan "had given a great deal of thought to what it meant to be baptized and to be a disciple of Christ." But the depth of Claude Ryan's faith, his Christian character proven in the face of suffering, is seen in the remarks by Quebec Premier Jean Charest. In a newspaper interview he tells of visiting Claude Ryan when he was sick in his home in January. Charest recalls, "It was a very solemn moment for me.You could sense that there was a great deal of spirituality in what he was experiencing, and when I left his apartment and he walked me to the elevator, he offered prayers for my wife and children, whom he'd met a few times." The terminally ill man was thinking not of himself, but offering to pray for Mr.Charest. Jesus seeks such troopers, trained and shaped in His likeness, to carry on the project of God's Kingdom. Let's pray.