LIVING THE LIFE YOU WERE DESTINED TO LIVE
A couple of years ago, on our way to lead a men’s camp in Gobabis, a couple shared their bad experience when they were hosting a missionary family in their home for a few months. “As I sit here, I don’t even know if I was ever saved!” the woman said tearfully. The man was smoking a pipe… he was condemned from the start because, “true children of God don’t smoke!” Nothing they did was “right” – from the way they raised their children to how they prepared food.
While I listened to their story, I searched for answers in my mind… and began to pray softly: Lord, how do we make right what happened here? Surely, these missionaries tried their best and believed they were helping.
“Some people try to impose their version of Jesus onto others instead of allowing the Jesus who already exists within that person to come forth,” I had never read or heard this sentence before! This perspective has changed my life and ministry!
Made in God’s Image, Not the Devil’s
“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:3).
“All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” (Colossians 1:17).
If we were “born this way” why should we repent and change? Listed sins like stealing, lying, and sexual immorality now have become psychological illnesses that can be treated by medicine (“Pharmacia” = Witchcraft). Hey! you need to be BORN AGAIN INTO YOUR ORIGINAL IDENTITY – JESUS, THE CHRIST!
What Is This Hidden Mystery?
I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end, I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. (Colossians 1:27).
To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. (Eph 3:9-13)
The words “Christ within you: the hope of glory” encapsulates a message of redemption, transformation, and hope that springs from the depths of the Gospel. As we delve into this topic, let us open our hearts and minds to the Word of God and its transformative power.
The Problem of SIN
The Human Dilemma: Why do some ministers preach you guilty, and others preach you righteous? This woman’s statement, “I don’t even know if I was ever saved!” echoes the guilt-struggle many of us have felt in our spiritual journey. No matter what we do, we never quite feel we are making it!
A life centered on ‘self’ leads to struggle, either doing too much or too little. We are trying, striving, and fighting to be better, yet dreadfully failing, over and over, again and again! We never seem to get it right while seeking comfort and peace, accomplishment and meaning in all the wrong places to end up empty again. We exhaust our intellect, drive our will, force our habits to end up with more questions than answers; more failures than solutions.
The ‘Imago Dei’ vs. Our Mistaken Identity
“Imago Dei” (“image of God”): A theological term, applied uniquely to humans, which denotes the symbolical relation between God and humanity. Scripture states we are “made in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27). Our basic humanity is a reflection of God’s divine craftsmanship.
However, the story doesn’t end there. The world’s brokenness and personal failures remind us that something went wrong. How could beings crafted in God’s image become so marred by sin? Sin is identity theft! You were made in God’s image (Gen 1:27 / Rom 8:29).
Sin or “Hamartia” means “to miss the mark”. Synonyms for “mark”: impression; blueprint; signature; identity; consciousness; stain; imprint.
What ‘mark’ have we missed? The Jesus-mark – He is our identity.
– Michael Wood
Jesus is our core, our root from which we exist and grow. SIN is thus a mistaken identity. Those who received His righteousness, bear His ‘mark’ on our foreheads: (Ezek. 9:4; Rev. 7:3; 14:2; 22:4). People are so obsessed with their fear of the mark of the beast, the number 666, that they do not realize the importance to live in His “RIGHT-WISENESS” every day!
The marks of righteousness:
- the unmistakable characteristics that emanate from a life rooted in God’s divine eternal truth principles.
- the tell-tale signs of a heart aligned with love, integrity, and justice.
- encompass humility, compassion, and a commitment to truth.
- treat others with kindness and empathy and upholding fairness and honor in their actions.
- is a life characterized by selflessness, where personal ambitions give way to service for the greater good.
- are not merely outward displays but stem from an inner transformation, reflecting a deep relationship with the Creator.
The Righteous seek to live every day in everything they do to think, speak and act righteously before our God and Father!
Ibid
Doctrine of Duality
Upholding this doctrine is total depravity (original sin), the deception that we are able to “fix” ourselves.
Furthermore, it is believing that humans are born fundamentally evil due to the fall of Adam. This is, of course, is the truth, for the Bible states this emphatically! But it is only half of the antinomy of balanced truth!
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Romans 5:12 (NKJV).
This verse emphasizes the concept of original sin, explaining that sin entered the world through Adam, and as a result, death and sin spread to all of humanity.
“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5 (NKJV). This verse underscores the idea that even from birth, humans have a sinful nature. It states that sin is inherent from the very beginning of life.
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” Ephesians 2:1-3 (NKJV).
The Redeemer of Sin & Death
Christ Jesus is both Creator and Redeemer (Colossians 1:16-17). He is also the “second Adam” who restored all that what was lost. We are transformed and reinstated with Father God from condemnation to justification.
“The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.” (1 Cor. 15:44-50).
How is His Image Restored?
We need to get out of the way!
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24).
“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:11-14).
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died.” (Ephesians 2:20).
“And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:24-25).
How We Build a Christlike Culture
Being Christ-like is impossible without being part of a family and body of believers. Those who have tried to achieve Christlikeness by themselves deceive themselves and misrepresent Him. He is God – no single person can ever be CHRIST alone again!
Society and culture are formed as we mirror (mimic) one another – a JESUS CULTURE which comprises of diverse people aiming to model and live their lives under His Lordship!
As adults embrace the responsibility of the worship of a laid-down life for Christ, children learn, discover and mature in this adulthood as a part of a transformed family. A Christ-centered family of parents, grandparents and siblings collectively cultivate and nurture the Christ within one another into Jesus’ full stature. No one person has the fullness of Christ but together, Christ is revealed through and among a body of followers who have made Jesus Christ Lord of their lives.
The benefits of Christlikeness are best exemplified when a whole community of people lives according to His standard of “rightness”.
“None of us have it all together, but together we have it all”.
– Michael Wood
Together we discover and grow up in Him. Embracing all the variety of gifts and functions in the body of Christ, we grow and mature together into people who are filled with the Spirit and Life of Christ!
