July 19, 2022 GROW UP INTO HIM
Ephesians 4:15,24, 5:1 “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ-“ “and put on the new self, which is in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;”
1 John 2:6 “whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.”
1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”
Romans 8:29 “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”
Peter Parris made a statement that speaks volumes: “When we are lost, we don’t know how lost we are, and when we are saved, we don’t know how saved we are.” Our salvation is so much more than we perceive it to be; it’s much more than a ticket to heaven. There is a prevalent attitude and belief that says “I’m not perfect-I’m not God” or “I am not Jesus.” Normally these statements are made to justify their life or actions that are unlike God. True, we are not God and we are not Jesus; however, the gospel calls us to be like them; the Holy Spirit is given to us to make it possible for us as mere human beings, to be like God! Wow! Of course we are not like God in having all power and all wisdom, and we could not have spoken the universe into existence; but we can be like Him in character and we can operate out of the His love that He has poured out into our hearts, and we can do the things that are pleasing to Him. We could never be like Him in our own strength and determination; only by His working in us can we be like Him. This is why it is so critical to discover our new identity in Him as sons and daughters and to come to know that He is not ‘refurbishing’ us, but has made us NEW creations. This is the point where many believers stumble; many still view themselves as ‘sinners who continue to sin.’ (It’s another subject; when we sin, it’s because we choose to do so.) In the Ephesians verses above, we are admonished to ‘grow in all aspects into Him;’ to ‘be imitators of God,’ and in the 1 John verse, we are told to ‘walk in the same way in which He walked.’ Those are amazing commands of scriptures; to do as these verses instruct, we must first believe that we can do as they say, and we must rid ourselves of the mind-set that we are sinners who continue to sin, and begin to live as new creations who have power over sin and have the power, by the Spirit of God, to say yes to all the commands that the scriptures give. Walking and being like God is not a matter of great effort and will-power, but is a matter of knowing who we are in Him and who He is in us; and walking is His way is nothing we take pride in, but is something that humbles us because it is His work in us-allowing ordinary people like you and I do be like Him in in conduct and thought. Let us receive and embrace these scriptures as God’s desires for us.
2 Peter 1:3-4 “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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