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Over the years I’ve heard
repeatedly something that has become a fundamental question for about
99.9% of all Christians: How can I be more like Jesus? A
little later in this article we will specially answer that question.
However, let’s explore this question and what the Bible has to say.
From the moment we make
Jesus the Lord of our life we are a newly Born Again Christian and have a
deep desire to not be a part of the world system but to be functional in
God’s system. This is the Kingdom of God system, which is His way of
doing things. We know that we have been delivered from the darkness of
this world. I use caution in sharing this testimony, as I do not want to
rely on experience. I was in an auditorium the moment I was Born Again.
I remember a few minutes later walking down a flight of stairs. As I
walked, I felt physically lighter - like walking on a cloud. I felt
“white” (pure) on the inside; something I had never felt before. I had
been Born Again and my sins were washed away. After having spoken to many
others over the years I have found my experience to be very common. After
being Born Again, we start to interact in our daily lives; we begin to
feel like we don’t belong in the world’s system any longer. We may not be
able to explain it, but we know we are very different.
Let’s take a look at what
has scripturally happened.
- Col 1:13 Who
hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath
translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
- 2 Cor 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
- 1 John 3:14 We
know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love
the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
- Matt 5:14 Ye
are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be
hid.
- Rom 6:5 For if
we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we
shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
- Rom 6:11
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Rom 6:3 Know ye
not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized
into his death?
- Rom 6:6-8
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the
body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve
sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with
Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
In real life terms what
really happens? Usually, after a person makes Jesus Lord or receives Him
as Savior, he “feels” different. But then usually he gets around people
who tell him things like, “You’ll settle down after a time.” or “Come to
our group and we will teach you to be more like Jesus.” That one really
sounds good but fails to factor in this Scripture: 1 John 4:17
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of
judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There
is the key; the instant we are Born Again, we become “as he is,
so are we in this world.” We are at that moment as He is
(now) yet we live in this world. The problem is, we don’t see ourselves
“as He is” but rather we see ourselves as someone else says we are or as
we have seen ourselves in the past. That starts the downhill spiral and
thrusts us into the “I want to be like Jesus” mold.
Wanting to be more like
Jesus sounds good; even spiritual but for the Born Again Believer is not
Scriptural. Let me explain: The instant we were Born Again (Born of the
Spirit) old things passed away and all things became New. We were
delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of
God’s dear Son - Jesus (Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Light). At that
moment, we became what He is; Glory, at the Father’s right hand, seated in
Heavenly places, His Righteousness, etc.
I remember, years ago,
sitting in the audience listening to a very powerful message. Everyone in
the house was stirred. At the end, the person who delivered this message
gave an invitation: “Everyone who wants more of Jesus, stand up and come
on down.” You could hear sounds as each person stood up and started down
to the front. As I started to stand, the Lord asked me, “Where are you
going?” I replied, “Down to the front, Lord.” He asked me why. I said,
“To get more of Jesus……. (I stopped).” Then He said, “When you were Born
Again, how much of Jesus did you get?” I had to say, “All of Him.” I
realized that I didn’t just get part of God. He fully took up residence
inside me; I had as much of Jesus, at the moment of salvation, as I was
ever going to have. I sat back down. Oh, you should have seen the stares
I got. Out of about one thousand people there were only six people, in
the entire building, still seated; five of them were pregnant and then
there was me.
My Brother and Sister, if
you have made Jesus your Lord, you have Him and all He is. You didn’t get
part of Him, you got the whole package. This is the “great exchange”
found in 2 Cor 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew
no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Jesus, who knew no sin, was made to be yours and my sin then we (who knew
no Righteousness) were made His Righteousness. Some say that we are
“being made His Righteousness”. If that part of the exchange were true,
then Jesus would still be “being made our sin”. No, not a chance! He was
made total sin so that we would be made total Righteousness. It is a
completed process.
The next logical
question: How can we experience the reality of this Truth?
Unfortunately, this is
where the most common error occurs. When the altar call is given, we run
to the front with a repentant heart; to get something that never takes or
lasts; as proven by our next run to the front when we hear the next
powerful message. We may even have had a good cry to demonstrate our
sincerity. These actions don’t make us “more like Jesus” instead they
tend to hide our Light and make the manifestation of Jesus in us more
obscure.
Because we have listened
to mentors or teachers tell us how we have failed and “fallen short of the
Glory of God”; how unworthy we are and how we need to get on a program of
studying, praying and regularly attending church (a long with all its
doctrines, rules and regulations), we feel we must put our best foot
forward and commit ourselves to a plan to “study to show ourselves
approved” (mostly approved to man not to God); we proceed in the
soul-realm (mind, will and emotions) to be more like Jesus. Not only do
we try to build up ourselves this way, that is also how we try to build
the church.
1 Cor 15:50 Now
this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. From this
Scripture, one can clearly see that he cannot function in the Kingdom of
God realm by sense-realm efforts. How then can we function in the Kingdom
of God, walk as He walked and be now in this world as He is? Or how can
we build the Church? The answer is we cannot! The Bible says in. Ps.
127:1 … Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that
build it:
How does the Lord build
the house? This could this be referring to a structure, but we are
addressing what Jesus said about the Kingdom of God; it’s within you, that
most assuredly refers to us as the temple of the Holy Ghost, the Church?
Matt 16:17-18 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art
thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it. The Rock to which Jesus
referred is not Peter; it is the Rock of Revelation. And Church-building,
Miracle-producing, life-changing Revelation does not come by flesh and
blood (the sense realm) but through the Holy Spirit by FAITH. The Bible
says, “…as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him”.
How did we receive Him? We received Him by grace through FAITH. So what
is FAITH? It is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence or
title deed of things not seen; activated the same way our Heavenly Father
did; calling those things that be not (revealed to the sense realm) as
though they have been (revealed to the sense realm). Rom 4:17 (As
it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom
he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those
things which be not as though they were.
About this moment, you
are asking, “So what’s the big deal?” Let me share with you something the
Lord shared with me recently in the form of an illustration: The instant
we are Born Again we become “the Light of the world” (as Jesus put it).
We are now a beacon of light that is evidenced by the “JOY” of our
salvation. We are joyful, fulfilled and completely satisfied. Then the
religious system kicks in and suddenly the bright light that was in the
beginning of our Salvation seems dimmer. In the illustration the Lord
gave I saw a bright light but as time continued, I saw that light covered
with a hole-punched perforated paper bag. Then, as words were spoken by
naysayers and received by the newly Born Again person, another brown paper
bag with holes in it covered the light. Pretty soon there were several
bags over the light. By this time the light was not as bright as it had
been. When the Light becomes extremely dim, one tends to take notice and
proceed to change their condition, usually through the sense-realm
methods. Each sense-realm effort adds yet another bag thus covering the
Light. Before long there are so many bags covering the Light that it can
just barely be seen. The Light eventually appears to be completely off.
There is the key, the Light appears off; it’s not off but just so
covered and cluttered it cannot be seen or even perceived. Now we’re in a
mess. With seemingly no way out or remedy, we keep chipping away without
success. This is the embarrassing condition of the Body of Christ of what
we call the church of today. No matter how sincere one is and or how hard
one tries to change things, nothing changes. Why? Think about what the
Lord is telling us. It’s not through flesh and blood but by Revelation by
FAITH. This is where we find the answer!
Think back to the
illustration. The Light is still shinning as bright as it ever has. Only
now it is covered with so many paper bags that it cannot be seen. Maybe
that is where you are today. The answer is to get rid of those bags;
uncover the Light and let it shine, not through soul-realm means but
through the spirit. You must use your faith to remove the bags. Ask your
Heavenly Father to Reveal to you what the bags are and what you must do to
get them off. Don’t ask God to do that for you because He won’t. The
Bible does not say to pray and ask God to humble you but you are to humble
yourself.
James 4:10 Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
1 Pet 5:6 Humble
yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you
in due time:
Now the answer to the
question: How can I be Jesus-like? Answer: Believe that God raised Jesus
from the dead and confess Him therefore making Him your Lord. Now that
Light, which formerly was dark (with the absence of light), is turned on.
Don’t put bags of religion, teaching, and circumstances, etc. over the
Light; let it shine.
If you have been Born
Again and have those bags over the Light, remove them, one by one until
they are all gone. This must be done in the spiritual realm for flesh and
blood (the sense realm) cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. You’ve got to
do it in the spirit. Remember, one by one is the key. Praying a blanket
prayer trying to cover them all, will not work. We died with Him and we
are raised with Him. We passed from death to life. Being like Jesus is
not to be our goal nor are we to make Jesus our icon. We have already
been made like Him when we made Jesus our Lord. He is the One with whom
we identify; for as He is, so are we are in this world; right now. He
owns it all and we have been made joint heirs with Him. A joint heir
makes us a joint owner; just like with a checking account; a joint account
means there is more than one owner; an equal owner. He is fully
Righteous, we are too as we are joint heirs of that as well.
Brethren, doing all the
superficial things we have done is like placing a band-aid on an ulcerated
wound; you have to get to the root problem. In this case, the root
problem is hiding Jesus. God is a Spirit and we are created like Him. In
order to function in the Kingdom of God (Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God
is within you.) YOU MUST get violent. Matt. 11:12 tell us that the
Kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by FORCE. We
forcefully do this by casting down imaginations and every high thing
(spiritual thing; including thoughts) that exalts itself above the
knowledge of God. 2 Cor 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every
high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
What is the knowledge of
God? We are the Body of Christ on this earth. Our job is just like
Jesus’ - to bring healing to the nations. The Spirit of the Lord has (not
going to) Anointed you to …do the same as Jesus; and even greater (as He
said).
The knowledge of God is
that YOU have been made His Righteousness. If you get a thought against
that Truth, cast it down; take the Kingdom of God by force; tear off
another bag and let the Light shine.
Amen.
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