In the Garden of Eden, the serpent tapped into Adam and Eve’s desire to be like God to deceive them into disobedience. He crossed his heart and promised them, “You shall not surely die. But your eyes will be opened and you shall be like God.”
The wall of Babel was built to please the longing of men who want to be like God. But today, the father’s heart is that we become like him.
Many Sundays at different churches, I have heard messages about God’s desire for us to be like him. You have heard the same.
But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these.
On a typical Sunday, as these words spew from the pulpit to the pew, they often bounce off me. Was I a bad listener? Probably not! Do I doubt these words, definitely no! But to me, becoming like God seems like a mirage set in front of me on purpose. Something God intended I chase for the rest of my Christian life. Maybe you feel the same about God’s call to be like him. An impossible task!
In today’s post, I will share 3 practical steps to becoming more like Christ Jesus.
Don’t strive to be like God, bask in His glory
But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. Psalm 3: 3
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18
One beautiful evening on my way back from work, I rode the bus through the city’s downtown core. On this fateful day, the evening derived its beauty from the setting sun. For a moment, I couldn’t figure out the real sun out of the five Sun(s) blinding my eyes. A couple of glass buildings reflected the sunlight with the same intensity as the sun itself.
We have no glory or swag of our own, but we can bask in the glory of Christ. We can reflect Christ’s glory with the same intensity as the source if we stay long enough in his presence. Isn’t that what 2 Corinthians 3: 18 is telling us? God took the veil away so we may be capable of reflecting God’s glory- becoming like God in our world. That is what becoming like Christ means!
Spending time in his presence, in prayer, in studying his words and in fellowship with him and the spirit of the Lord will do the transformation. That is how you become like Christ. Without the veil of sin, we become like mirrors, a special one that reflects the glory of God. We become the son reflectors. We walk our world as Christ.
Don’t strive to be like God, put on the righteousness of Christ
Our righteous acts are good. People see them and commend us, but they don’t make us like Christ. At best we look like the Pharisee and Sadducee. The same people Christ Jesus spent a considerable part of his ministry rebuking.
Moreover, they are like filthy rags in the sight of God. No matter how hard I try, in those filthy rags, I will never become like Christ, I will never be good enough for God. All my spiritual workouts will not muscle me up enough to stand before God by his standards.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
Galatians 2: 20 Truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12: 24
When a seed buried; it dies but receives a new body. If the new body is the righteousness of Christ, then you are the seed that died. First, we are declared righteous because it is longer you or me who lives, but Christ in us.
Secondly, the righteousness of Christ in you will begin bear fruits through the trans-formative power of the Holy Spirit. So when the enemy sows doubts of condemnation, you can resist with the breastplate of God’s righteousness.
In that same righteousness, we can stand side by side with God at his throne of mercy. This what our fathers could not do before Christ.
Don’t strive to be like God, be grafted into God
Abide in me, and I in you.As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. John 15: 4
And I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth of His love, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3: 18-19
When a weaker plant is grafted to a stronger tree, it feeds off the bigger tree. They share the same nutrients and root system. Christ wants us to abide in him so we can be rooted and grounded in his love. That is the only way we can comprehend the length, the height, the breadth and depth which equals the whole volume of God.
Staying rooted in God is one way we can be like him.
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