Christ Likeness

CHRIST LIKENESS

Ephesians 4:11-13

“It was He [Jesus] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

Hearing the back door slam, Eileen came to see muddy footprints of her eight year old twins lead to the basement. She sighed. “Benjy! Danny!” she yelled downstairs. “Where were you?”

She heard, “Nowhere, Mom.”

“I see ‘nowhere’ all over the floor, guys.” she commented. “I want you to take off your sneakers and toss them into the tub by the washing machine. Fill the tub half way with water, so they can soak. I’ll wash them before we go to Grandpa’s tomorrow.”

“Hot or cold water, Mom?”

“Both,” Eileen directed.

“Okay!” drifted upstairs, and water could be heard running. Eileen smiled. She loves her sons just as they are—but she refuses to leave them that way. She wants them perfect.

Our heavenly Father loves His kids just the way we are, too. But even He refuses to leave us that way. He wants us perfect. Perfect, like His Son Jesus. He is so proud of Jesus that He blasted His approval to the whole world at Jesus baptism (Matthew 3:17). “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”

Eileen grooms her sons to be neat and clean, then reminds them to mind their manners. But our heavenly Father has a different approach to perfection. Both Eileen and God need kids’ cooperation to see positive growth. A parent wants to see kids grow better at handling responsibility and sensitivity toward others. After accepting Jesus as Savior, our Father wants believers to grow spiritually. He won’t be satisfied until we grow into Christ likeness. That means spiritual maturity, or growing wise and holy.

Take Home Nugget

At salvation, God begins the transformation process into Christ likeness, or sanctification [sank-tif-i-KA-shon]. Sanctification isn’t a single event. Christ likeness is a process that takes a lifetime—managed by God’s indwelling Holy Spirit.

Just like Benjy and Danny cooperated with mom to soak their sneakers, believers are called to cooperate with the Holy Spirit for spiritual growth. Amount of believers cooperate is the rate. How long we cooperate is time. Rate X Time = Spiritual growth, or distance. Spiritual adulthood is seeing the world from the Spirit’s perspective—instead of from a worldly viewpoint.

One of Spirit’s jobs is transforming believers into Christ likeness.

J.D. Griffith

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