Beloved, we are [even here and] now God’s children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be [hereafter], but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall as God’s children] resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He [really] is. (1 John 3:2 AMP)
There was a time when after reading 1 John 3:2, my response was God, what a weighty thought! I was inclined to reply the way Mary, the mother of Jesus did once she learned she had been chosen to give birth to Him; "How can this thing be?"
How is it that I am going to be like God? Is there a magic pill to swallow? Are there 12 steps and a maintenance program I should enroll in? How does this happen? After all, this verse of scripture is talking about me as a born-again child of God, right? To answer the questions... there is no magic pill or 12-step program that will enable us to become what God intends; however, there is a process that I like to call death after life.
Here is what I mean. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” According to this passage of scripture, we are made brand new once we accept Jesus as our Savior. We are heaven bound and adopted into the family of God. However, we still reside on earth in an earth suit with an earthly mindset.
God's order is not to redeem us and immediately snatch us away into His eternal presence at conversion. Instead of taking us away, He leaves us on the earth to reproduce after our kind. Have you ever reasoned in your mind, now that you’re a Christian, life should be easy-going, unencumbered, and trouble-free? I must confess I have often pondered that idea.
I thought it would be in the best interest of all Christians to be caught away to the paradise of heaven at the moment we accept Jesus in our hearts. After all, why would The Father leave us in a world filled with sin, heartache, and pain? Because we have the answer! We are left as Christ on the earth.
The truth of the matter is we are left here to reach a lost and dying humanity with the life-transforming power of God's love. We are to be a reflection of Jesus to the world. The way we walk, talk, love, and live, should resemble Him. This, my friend will require the death-after-life process.
If anyone is going to see Jesus’ reflections in us we are going to have to die to our former nature. We will have to bury that earthly mindset along with its outlooks, attitudes, and characteristics and be transformed into the image of Christ. You are probably asking... How is this accomplished? It will happen one trial, one tribulation, and one struggle at a time. To us, it may feel like dying, but to The Father, it is a process of refining.
Every time we overcome we are laying down yet another layer of our former nature which allows the light of the image of Christ to shine through. The Glory of God will radiate from within us. Before you know it, you will look in the mirror and not even recognize yourself. All you will see is the image of Christ looking back at you.
Looking like Christ may be a difficult notion to grasp because it is always easier to see our own shortcomings. However, understand that if we surrender to the working of The Holy Spirit, 1 John 3:2 WILL manifest in our lives.
Allow me to join the Apostle Paul and encourage you with these words from 2 Corinthians4:16-17 (AMP),
Therefore we do not become discouraged (utterly spiritless, exhausted, and wearied out through fear). Though our outer man is [progressively] decaying and wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day after day. For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!].
Holy Father and Lord of all, I yield to the working of Your precious Spirit. Break me, mold me and fill me with Your power and grace. May I be a vessel of honor through which Your magnificent glory will shine brightly in the dark world. In Jesus' name, amen.
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