"Sanctifying Grace" Series

"It is God’s will that you should be sanctified." - 1 Thessalonians 4:3a (NIV)

In the Bible, to sanctify something means to set it apart for special use by God. Likewise, to sanctify a person means the same thing - to make them set apart for special use by God. The fact is that God has a plan for each of our lives. We have been saved to serve God's purpose.

The secret to our seeing God's purpose for our lives fulfilled is our willingness to be sanctified, set apart for His use. The process of sanctification has to do with our becoming more and more like Jesus in our daily lives, as Paul makes clear in our text. (READ TEXT)

There are two thoughts that Paul shares with us about how God's grace works in our lives to make us more like Jesus, and thus set apart to be used for His purpose.

1. Being like Christ is our eternal destiny - vs. 29-30

From the beginning, God's plan has been to make us like Jesus. This is our destiny. God announced this intention at creation.

"Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.'" - Genesis 1:26a (NIV)

In all of creation, only human beings, are made "in God's image." This is a great privilege and gives us dignity. Being made in God's image means that man is a spiritual being. Like God, man thinks, feels, and chooses. When man was walking with God before the entrance of sin into this world, he was spiritually alive, and instructed by God as to how to think clearly, feel appropriately, and choose correctly. But with the entrance of sin into this world, the image of God in man became corrupted. Man became spiritually dead, which meant that without God's guidance in his life, his thoughts became inappropriate, as did his feelings and choices. The image of God in man was corrupted.

Which is why God came to rescue us in Christ. He came on a mission to restore the full image we have lost. What does the full "image and likeness" of God look like? It looks like Jesus Christ! The Bible says Jesus is "the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4); "the visible image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15); & "the exact representation of his being"(Hebrews 1:3). Paul says being like Jesus is the eternal destiny of everyone who has placed their faith in Christ.

When we are saved by the grace of God, we are brought to spiritual life and God begins the work of making us like Jesus in our spirit. And that work of making us like Jesus will be completed the day Christ returns, when we will receive our glorified, resurrection body. Before that, every believer who dies, upon entering the Lord's presence, is made to be like Christ in our thinking, our affections and our choices.

"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." - 1 John 3:2 (NIV)

Everyone in heaven thinks, loves, and chooses like Jesus. They are like Jesus intellectually, emotionally, and volitionally. Now they're waiting for the day of His return, when they'll receive a resurrection body and will be like Jesus physically. Christ is the first to receive a glorified, resurrection body. That's why Paul says He's "the firstborn among many brothers" (v. 29). When Jesus returns and eternity is ushered in, every believer will be like Him in their spirit, soul, and body.

"But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed." - 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (NLT)

"Better days are coming, child of God. Let this thought encourage you in your long journey home. God has determined to make you like Jesus. Because you are his child, you will one day be like his Son. That family resemblance, which is today so faint as to sometimes be almost invisible, will in that happy day be so clear that no one in the universe could miss it. Think of it! All the sin and evil and inner turmoil, all the memories that keep us chained to the past, in one shining moment the burden is lifted, the chains are broken, and we are set free. Lust gone forever. Anger and bitterness finally banished. Pride removed. Greed replaced by love. Sorrow gives way to joy. Addictions gone, their place taken by a fervent love for God. Hurtful memories healed. The fires of worldly ambition replaced with holy zeal for righteousness. Foul speech gives way to praise. Evil habits extinguished. Violent temper replaced with a gentle spirit. Lying lips now speak the truth. All that we wanted, all that we dreamed but could never attain, the people we knew we could be and should be, in one shining moment when we see Jesus, it all comes true for us." - Ray Pritchard, Keep Believing Ministries