On Living The Christ Like Life
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church, “Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus”. That simple phrase gives a lot of food for thought and study. What exactly WAS the attitude that Christ Jesus had? How can we ourselves have that same attitude?
The passage goes on to say, ” 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. 7 Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, 8 He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-7)
Now right there is enough to meditate on for some time to come, to say the least. What exactly did Christ Jesus give up? Knowing what His state was before coming to earth as a tiny infant helps us to understand what “He emptied Himself” means. And if He emptied Himself from all that He was before coming to earth to live amongst us – what do we have to hold on to? Why is it so hard for us to empty ourselves of the filthy scraps of humanity that bind us?
All too often we want to tell God “Do things OUR way!”. Today there is a movement around the globe of folks who think they can tell God what to do. They say that it’s “faith” when they “declare” things in the name of Christ. And yet they are so full of their own preconceived ideas that too often they don’t stop to ask, “What exactly IS God’s will?” By thinking with worldly and carnal minds they believe that God is so concerned with our physical well being that our spiritual well being is of little or no importance.
Is it so hard to know the will of God? No, not really. Not if we offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice, not conforming ourselves to the world’s way of thinking but being transformed to God’s way of thinking by renewing our minds. People get so caught up on physical needs that they forget that Christ came to heal us from our spiritual sickness. Does this mean that God doesn’t care about our physical needs? OF COURSE NOT! It DOES mean, however, that He is MORE concerned with our spiritual sickness, with our sin. It is our sin, after all, that separates us from Him.
Does God heal our bodies? Yes He does. Can He provide abundantly for our physical needs? Yes He can. Does He have power over evil spirits? There is no doubt! And yet – folks get caught up chasing after these things and forgetting that the most important thing of all is to restore a right relationship with the Creator. It isn’t our ill health or poverty that separates us from God – it is our abject spiritual failure that opens a chasm between God and man.
If we would live like Christ then we must think like Christ. If we want to think like Christ we have to learn to look upon the world like Christ did. Did He heal the sick? Yes. Did He feed the hungry? Yes He did! Did He give sight to the blind? Many times! But what brought Him to tears? What caused Him to weep and lament? Two times stand out in my mind as I type this little note. One was at Lazarus’ tomb. Two words that so many kids have recited for VBS over the centuries because they are the shortest verse in the New Testament. “Jesus wept.” – and He was standing outside of the tomb of Lazarus, knowing that He was about to raise him from the dead. And yet He wept. Why? I believe it was because of the pain felt by those around Him. And perhaps it was because they did not yet know of the hope of the resurrection. At any rate, He shared their sorrow – even as He prepared to bring Lazarus back to his family for a time.
And the other time was when He lamented over Jerusalem – knowing that they would soon be calling for His blood, and knowing that they would NOT turn to God but would continue to their destruction because they refused to seek God’s paths instead of their own. Their very religiosity caused them to shun the One who had come to them. They did not recognize Emmanuel because He didn’t live up to their expectations – expectations based on THIS world that is doomed to destruction rather than on hope of new life in God and a right relationship with Him which will prepare us for the new place He is preparing for us in which we can live with justice.
Living the Christian life is not about just the physical. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but [only] the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name? ‘ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’” (Matthew 7:21-23) So we see that merely prophesying, performing miracles and casting out demons is not what the Lord is looking for. He’s looking for the those who “do the will of My Father in heaven.” The two things are not necessarily exclusive. The Scripture is clear about the power that God has in our lives by means of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. But prophecy and miracles and casting out demons are not evidence of the indwelling of the Spirit. And that is where so many go wrong. They seek miraculous manifestations rather than settling down to produce fruit – the Fruit of the Spirit. I’ve seen the Lord work in marvelous ways. I’m not confused when He heals or does things I can not explain. But neither do I rely on those things for evidence that He is with me. It is when I see His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control growing in my life I know He is with me – transforming me into the image of Christ as He renews my mind, my way of thinking.
If you would live the Christ like life – think Christ like thoughts. Allow your heart to break over the sin and depravity of mankind. Seek not just to heal the sick and provide for the needy – bring people into a right relationship with God through Jesus the Christ Who is the only Way to the Father.
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