God bless you in the name of Jesus Christ!
Upon even a brief examination of the church epistles, it becomes crystal clear in the believer’s mind how close a unity, and how close an identification we have with Christ. As Romans proclaims, nothing shall ever separate us from his love, and a truth that parallels this is how inseparable our spiritual walks should be from Christ’s example. As believers we are not only to believe concerning his accomplishments, but we are to believe who God says we are because of those accomplishments. We are to put on the new man, which is what allows us to lead lives of bold excellence. There are many aspects to this, but at the heart of our spiritual walks is the imitation of Christ.
I Corinthians 11:1 – “Be ye followers of me (Paul), even as I also am of Christ.”
The word “follower” means to imitate, and the word imitate means “to seek to follow the example of.” This verse is an encouragement to imitate Paul, because Paul was imitating Christ. In the world, it is common to come in contact with people who are struggling, and it is often said that such people are “trying to find who they are” or are having an “identity crisis”. Every human being needs an identity, because without an understanding and belief of who you are, life becomes more of an aimless wandering than a diligent seeking. God is aware of mankind’s need for identity, and he has made a more than abundant provision to supply this prerequisite for spiritual abundance.
Colossians 1:27 – “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”
God has given believers Christ as our identity, which is the greatest possible identity, because Christ lived the Word perfectly. We have been given the perfect identity. “Christ in you” is the best there is. If we believe what the Word says about who we are, it will change our lives in every way. We can have an intellectual appreciation of who we are in Christ, but the true growth, and the truly phenomenal results come when we believe who we are, and walk like it. To grow up into Christ, we must imitate him, just like Paul did. We want to walk as Christ walked. We want to speak as he spoke. We want to think as he thought. We want to serve as he served. And we want to love as he loved. Of course, for this to really happen, our lives will require a change. Change is rarely a pleasant feeling, but when it’s a change according to the Word it is always worth the effort and the initial discomfort.
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We always want our lives to be headed towards Christ, and to be growing up into him and his example. To imitate Christ, it is first necessary to understand him, and learn about how he lived. God has made it available for us to know Christ by reading the Word. A great exercise is to start in Matthew chapter 1, and then read through all four gospels, and in a notebook write down every time Jesus Christ does something that could be imitated. There are also good questions that can be asked that can help us clarify how Jesus Christ lived in different categories of life. Questions such as: How did Jesus Christ love? How did Jesus Christ deal with criticism? How did Jesus Christ use his time? These are a few of many possible questions. The goal of these types of exercises is to learn how Jesus Christ spoke, thought, prayed, acted, and believed, and then go about the business of trying to apply that example to our lives. The more areas of our lives that we are imitating Christ in, the more areas of our lives will be a witness for him. The true goal in imitating Christ is to witness for Christ here on the earth.
Acts 1:8 – “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: And ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
We want to have spiritual fruit in each area of our lives, so that when people look at us, they see Christ. In this administration, we won’t be able to witness for Christ perfectly, and we won’t ever walk perfectly, but that also means that we will always have an abundance of opportunities to grow.
Ultimately, to see the realities of Christ living in our walks is as simple as reading what the Word says, believing it, and applying it. The transformation doesn’t always happen overnight, but it does happen, because God backs it up. Usually when we fall short of Christ’s example it is for one of two reasons 1) What we believe about God or 2) What we believe about ourselves. God has clearly told us who our identity is, and it is critically important that we believe it and apply it, because a person will never go higher than their opinion of themselves. Before we start any activity, we should remind ourselves that every activity is possible because of Christ’s work, and then refuse to think anything else through the duration of the activity. It is this type of mindset that really bears fruit. If we believe we are inadequate, then we will act inadequate. But, if we believe that everything is possible and that we are more than conquerors, then our believing WILL be a witness for Christ.
Much love,
Jon Emminizer
Tags: believing, Christ in you, follower, fruit, identification, identity, imitation, imitator, Jesus Christ, Jon Emminizer, new man, Paul, serve, spiritual, walk
Jon-this is great! I am inspired
Very well written and presented, I especailly liked the applicable exercises in the gospels you outline. Awesome job Cuz!
Jeevio Jon. This teaching was a super blessing