Not sure where I start this conversation this morning. For the last few years I've been part of a body of believers that has been very heavily focused on the life of Jesus. This is a good thing. What has transpired is this massive call by church leadership to live a life like Jesus lived. We are to, in the words of the Message Bible, be like Jesus and "move into the neighborhood". Outstanding concept, instead of asking people to come be like us (at church) we need to go and be with them where they are and take Jesus to them. An awesome and completely biblical approach. It makes sense because Jesus moved and lived and mingled with the outcasts, the poor, the sick, the riff raff. He loved people where they were, he healed the sick, fed thousands, gave sight to the blind and showed how much He values children. He got in with the people, got his hands dirty and showed people they were valuable and didn't condemn them the way the Pharisees did. The church has done a much better job in recent years of compelling people to live a life that mimics Christ's.
"So where's the disconnect that my title suggests", you may ask? It is a recognition of a disconnect between what Jesus did during his years of ministry and what he did at Calvary when He died on the cross for you and me. I believe that the church has, unintentionally, made His death and resurrection a separate thing from the way He lived his life.
In fact I'd say that His death and resurrection were a continuation of his ministry on earth and are not separate things. What I'm not saying, is that we are to die and be resurrected, but we are to obedient as Christ was even to suffer unto death. He was modeling obedience to His Father.
But another important thing is going on with Jesus' life on earth. He's showing us a new way to be human. He's literally demonstrating how and what we are to be like and what we will be like in the age to come. When he hung on the cross it was customary for the accused to call down the wrath of God on their torturers. But Jesus didn't do that. He said, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do". You didn't find him teaching that in a sermon, but demonstrating to us a new way to be human.
If a Christ-like life is what we are to attain to then we cannot separate His earthy ministry from His obedience to the point of death. Jesus was teaching us, as I said above, a new way to be human. It is a more perfect way, a holy way, the way he intended us to be from the beginning. It is right for us to strive for this new "human" way that Jesus showed us. His obedience unto death is a key for us to understand. Paul grabbed that cue and ran with it. Paul figured out what Jesus meant when he said "follow me". Paul was present, he watched how Jesus functioned and moved and interacted. He also had some special divine revelation as well. But if you read about Paul and the letters that he wrote to the churches you'll see a guy who is saying "If you want your life to look like Christ's this is what it's going to take and this is what it's going to look like if you want it to happen." His letter to the Romans highlights what we seriously need to remember about how to become Christ-like.
Romans 5:3-5
"So where's the disconnect that my title suggests", you may ask? It is a recognition of a disconnect between what Jesus did during his years of ministry and what he did at Calvary when He died on the cross for you and me. I believe that the church has, unintentionally, made His death and resurrection a separate thing from the way He lived his life.
In fact I'd say that His death and resurrection were a continuation of his ministry on earth and are not separate things. What I'm not saying, is that we are to die and be resurrected, but we are to obedient as Christ was even to suffer unto death. He was modeling obedience to His Father.
But another important thing is going on with Jesus' life on earth. He's showing us a new way to be human. He's literally demonstrating how and what we are to be like and what we will be like in the age to come. When he hung on the cross it was customary for the accused to call down the wrath of God on their torturers. But Jesus didn't do that. He said, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do". You didn't find him teaching that in a sermon, but demonstrating to us a new way to be human.
If a Christ-like life is what we are to attain to then we cannot separate His earthy ministry from His obedience to the point of death. Jesus was teaching us, as I said above, a new way to be human. It is a more perfect way, a holy way, the way he intended us to be from the beginning. It is right for us to strive for this new "human" way that Jesus showed us. His obedience unto death is a key for us to understand. Paul grabbed that cue and ran with it. Paul figured out what Jesus meant when he said "follow me". Paul was present, he watched how Jesus functioned and moved and interacted. He also had some special divine revelation as well. But if you read about Paul and the letters that he wrote to the churches you'll see a guy who is saying "If you want your life to look like Christ's this is what it's going to take and this is what it's going to look like if you want it to happen." His letter to the Romans highlights what we seriously need to remember about how to become Christ-like.
Romans 5:3-5
3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Just like Jesus, who suffered and died, Paul is saying that we must suffer in order to persevere and from that perseverance we gain character and from that character, hope. Paul gets it. In fact he's pretty much saying this is the way it must be done in order for us to become like Christ. We'd all love a step program for becoming like Christ, and Paul gives us one. Paul's life actually takes this path, in fact is probably because of this path that he says, "this is the way". Take a look at what he went through in his life to make his claims. 2 Corinthians 11:16 - 33
What is all this pointing to, suffering. Jesus suffered because of his obedience. Paul suffered because of his obedience. Jesus was showing us a new way to be human. Paul took up his own cross and followed Jesus and his Christ-like character was formed via his suffering. The fully "new human" way of living produces good fruit, or as the bible calls them, the Fruit of the Spirit. Paul speaks of this fruit in Galatians 5, they are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. These are the attributes of a fully formed Christian character. This is what a new "human" looks like, and it cannot be fully formed without us suffering. We can't fully become who Jesus created us to be and who he is changing us into without suffering.
Maybe I'm a little off track with the title of "Be Like Jesus Disconnect", but I titled it this way because it's important that we don't disconnect the Jesus who valued the outcast and served people from the Jesus who suffered unto death for our sins. His actions are all the same act for him, they aren't separate things. It's all part of his obedience to his father. It's imperative for us to be like Jesus, not just when our neighbor needs help, but when we must stand in opposition to our culture. So when the church says to be like Jesus, it doesn't just mean that we care for the poor, it also means we are to suffer for His sake and it's from this suffering that makes us like Jesus.
