Christ-Likeness

6 Jesus answered, I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the farther except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.

15 If you love me, keep my commandment.

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (TNIV)

Knowing Jesus should and can bring deep change to our character, our motivation, our personality, our relationship, our passion and our desire. In short knowing Jesus should change every aspect of our being. There is nothing about us that will be untouched by the transforming presence of the Son of God by the Holy Spirit.

Christ-likeness is about who we are becoming. Christ-likeness therefore is not a passive thing. It is not something that magically happens to us as we think about Christ, spending time around other Christians or attending church. No more than does living in a garage make us a car can doing these things make us more Christ like. It sad to say but many of us know people who have been in the church for a long time and yet they do not seem very Christ like at all.

The journey of being Christ like is a continuous process. This becoming in not a one time thing, we as Christian should actively purse to be more Christ like. But we are not left to do this own our own. God has given us a great support system which we are able to tap into. One part of this support system is our brothers and sisters in Christ, our Christian family. Congregational life and its relationship should be at the core of our journey into Christ-likeness. It is God’s intentions that other people assist us, acting as the agent of change. Exposing our need for change and supporting us in the journey of ever increasing Christ-likeness.

Another very important part of that support system for our journey to Christ-likeness is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will indwell in us guiding us in our walk on our journey to be coming more Christ like. The amazing thing is the more we listen to the Holy Spirit the easier it is for us to hear and follow his leading. When we learn to yield our will to that of the Spirit we will find our own will aligning with that of Christ and thus making us more Christ like. When we walk by the Spirit we live in Christ. When we daily seek to do the will of the Spirit we will be empowered to obey the teachings of Christ and follow in his foot steps.

Christ indwelling in you means that you are becoming more of who you were created to be in God’s image. The more Christ like you become then the more unique you become, the more distinct and more alive you will be. Christ has a plan and purpose for each of us and it is when we submit ourselves to him that he can work with us like the clay in the potter’s hands. He can create us into being the beautiful work of art that we are. Each one rare and precious in his sight.

Each person’s journey to Christ- likeness is unique and just as our physical body has many different and unique parts that play a specific role so too are we in the body of Christ. No two people’s journey will be the same yet we will all travel down the same path, the path that leads us to Christ-likeness and ultimately home. We are called to help each other to walk that path and when one of us falls then in being Christ like we are to help them up and to continue on. The journey into Christ-likeness will continue through out our lives. No we will not be perfect never failing along the way, but it is when we fail and learn that we will be more Christ like, even Christ fell while carrying the cross. When we understand that we are all seeking the same goal it is then we can love and more fully seek to help others as we go. Through our trials we are made strong and in His Grace we are made over comers and are able to press toward the goal of being more like him more Christ like.