Often an introduction to a message includes some strong statements noting contrasts to the theme of the message. As I have prayerfully sought to draw upon the Spirit of God for these messages, it is here where we will cover some points that are often touched upon in an introduction. We opened up with the passage in 1 John 4:17 (NIV) which makes this statement: “In this world we are like Jesus.” Yet, the question must be presented: Are we? Are we like Jesus? Are you like Jesus? When I pray, I am moved to explore the same question for myself. Can we, the church, truly be called Christ-ones (which is the literal for the word Christian)? We must consider our condition in light of the Spiritual position that God has designated to us: In this world, are we like Jesus? This is vital!
At the closing moment when the mystery of God is accomplished and the last trumpet sounds, we shall be like Jesus as the Scripture says in 1 John 3:2, “for we shall see Him as He is.” Still yet, in the course of this life before Jesus’ glorious return, the Father has purposed that we become like Jesus, so that “in this world we are like Jesus” (1 John 4:17b NIV emphasis mine). As we shared, it is His predetermined purpose and arrangement that we are conformed to Christ’s likeness (see Romans 8:29). The ability to bring this transformation belongs to the working of God’s Spirit. But the will to do so must be engaged by you and me; we shall be like Jesus if we will run for the prize set before us.
Here is an imagining that is not vain or needs to be cast down. Imagine your life being like Jesus in and beyond the four areas we’ve discussed. Now imagine the whole group of believers you fellowship with being more like Jesus in those areas. And finally, imagine every member of the body of Christ obtaining the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ in their lives! While this will take place in the fullness of times (see Ephesians 1:8-10), you, I, and every member of the body of Christ should be pressing toward the mark of this high call of God upon our lives. Imagine our impact on our families, neighborhoods, cities, nations, and cultures! The impact we would have is the impact we should be having all along! Imagine the joy of seeing people set free, healed from all manner of hurts, and saved through the redemptive power of the blood of Jesus and the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit! Furthermore, imagine the exhilaration you will experience in knowing God, in knowing Jesus in such a dynamic way! We can, and we shall if we will take up our cross and choose to seek and follow Him. Then we shall begin to know Him and begin to see Him as He is!
Back To Love
It is easy to say we love God when we define or see him from our own perspective. It is easy to follow a Jesus who goes where we want to go. This type of love is not the fruit of the Spirit. It is a type of love generated from our natural Adamic abilities. In John 21, Jesus asked Peter three questions concerning his love for Jesus. The first two times Jesus asks using the Greek word, agape. Peter responded with the word, phileo. Finally, Jesus asked the third time using phileo, and Peter was grieved at his question because he had been responding all along that he held phileo love for Jesus. Jesus was looking for the God kind of love, agape. Peter was only able to possess the human nature form of love, phileo, for Jesus at that time. Jesus tells Peter to feed His sheep after each answer from Peter. Jesus then went on to prophecy concerning the time when Peter would be crucified. He would be moved with agape love for Jesus at that time (see John 21:15-19). We like, Peter, through the course of our lives will possess this type of love for God, as well as for others as love (agape) has its full course and comes to maturity in our hearts (see 1 John 4:12).
We love God because He first loved us. As we receive Christ, we receive and take in the love (agape) He has for us. Through God’s mercy and grace, we can experience this exhilarating love for Jesus and experience the same love from the Father toward us that He has for Jesus! This love, agape love, becomes the bedrock for humility and submission and is the driving desire to have communion with God through prayer. It may start small, but God will bring this love to its full course in our hearts and lives. Like Peter, we must at some point shift from the human-phileo love which is based upon conditional similarities. We must love and embrace Jesus for who He truly is. Here we are not offended when we encounter His call to come out from the fallen areas of our hearts and surrender to His unchanging Holy nature as He seeks to manifest the character and virtues of Jesus in our hearts. Like Peter, we need to make the transition from a conditional love based on the qualities we like about Jesus (phileo love) to love that selflessly, and unconditionally loves (agape) Him for who He is. In this condition, we desire to see Him as He is. Through this love (agape love), we give ourselves wholly to Him. Selfless surrender and submission become the gift of this agape love within us. It begins with Him and is summed up in Him.
We love (agape) others through the love (agape) wherewith God loves us. God did not call us to only demonstrate love for those in the body of Christ that we are in agreement with, or who have not wronged or offended us. Again, that type of love is conditional, phileo (brotherly), love. 1 John 1:4 tells us that those who love (agape) God, also unconditionally love (agape) their brother also. As we shared, through this love we can restore those who have fallen and are struggling with sin. This love (agape) establishes us in meekness. We are agents of redemption that come to the aid of the fallen, rather than look down upon them in self-righteousness in contempt. The church would become more like Christ if we let love (agape) have its free course and come to the standard of maturity we see in Jesus. People would not be threatened to share their struggles, sins, and failures in such an environment produced by agape love. This love is the fruit of the Spirit. It begins with God and is produced by His abiding presence in our hearts. We must again, transition from the conditional love produced by our Adamic (flesh) nature to the God kind of love that comes from His abiding Spirit.
“For God so loved the world that He gave…” (John 3:16). The compassion of Jesus was often seen by the writers of the Gospels. Agape love moved God to give His only begotten Son. And that same love moved Jesus with compassion multiple times. It is this God-given compassion that flows forth from the well of His love (agape) that is connected to the power of His Spirit producing attesting miracles while ministering miraculously to others – including the lost, the unsaved. It is through such agape-based compassion that the signs Jesus said would those who believe would be manifested. This compassion is not sympathy. This compassion is given to those who deserve it because it is the expression of God’s mercy, His loving-kindness. It is through this love that we find joy in approaching the necessary sacrifices to reach and share the love of Jesus with those who have never encountered Him. This love, when it has its full course, will cause us to “go and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19 NASB). In love, we will follow Him as He seeks to save those who are lost. For He will do so through you and me.
Clothed in the Power of the Spirit
“And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49 NASB).
The power of the Holy Spirit is spectacular. But it isn’t a sideshow reduced to being a spectacle by which the masses are entertained. That perspective and appetite are produced by a demonic spirit, a religious spirit, that seeks to be entertained and pleased by the sensational, mystical, and spectacular. In the Scriptures, this spirit is associated with Herod (see Luke 23:8) and is called an adulterous spirit by Jesus (see Matthew 16:4). Yet, make no mistake about it. God’s intention for the church is that we would not be powerless – without the ability to produce powerful works and wonders, or miracles.
This power was given to the church on the day of Pentecost. This power was declared to be relevant in being dispensed to all believers until the end of the age as the Holy Spirit prophetically declared through Peter in Acts 2 (see Acts 2:14-21, 38,39). The power of the Holy Spirit produced signs and wonders that ushered in a great harvest on the day of Pentecost. Throughout the history of the church, it has always been responsible for the mighty moves of God in various communities and nations resulting in the spiritual awakening of the unsaved. But those who are clothed with the garments of His power, are only they who are the commissioned. These are those who are driven by love (agape) and moved with the compassion of Jesus for His sheep as well as those who are His sheep that are lost and unsaved. Those who are like Jesus shall be clothed in power. The power that attests to the reality of the risen, ascended, and returning Messiah communicating His love and compassion to all of those in need.
If we will be like Jesus, we shall be like Him. This is our God-given destiny in Christ. Those in whom the power and working of the Holy Spirit produce the character and virtues of Christ shall be clothed with the powerful works of Christ. As He came in the power of the Spirit, so also does He send us forth in the power of the Holy Spirit. The inner working of His Spirit produces the virtues that are crowned with the demonstration of the power of the Spirit. For we are to be like Jesus in this world. This must be our pursuit.
Those who love God, who love Jesus have what it takes to both have a desire for as well as walk in the fulfillment of what God has determined for us. If this were to be a loveless journey, there would be no joy or satisfaction in it. But be encouraged. This is a love (agape) based journey and mission. It began with Christ, and it is completed and summed up in Christ. Between its inception and completion, it is filled with Christ. Let us reach toward the measure of the fulness of Christ and be passionately determined to become full-statured Christians, Christ-ones. In this, God is well pleased. And in this, there is fullness of joy. This is His will for you and me, therefore we must meet Jesus in the garden embracing God’s will over our own as we take up our cross in following Jesus to the power of His resurrected life set before us destined to be manifested within and through us! Let us reach toward the prize set before us wherein we may say, “In this world, we are like Jesus.”
Lord, I pray that this message resonates within our minds until it makes its way to our hearts. I am confident that you are able and shall transform us so that we are conformed to the image of Christ. I ask Lord, to release the grace of desire and that you would amplify that desire in our hearts to become like Jesus. Let the reality of Your Word become a living actuality in our hearts. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Hal Garms eWord Messages 