Spiritual Discipline Being Conformed to the Image of Christ 1

Transcription

1 Spiritual Discipline Being Conformed to the Image of Christ 1 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Rom 8:29 NKJV This is for you, Woman of God, saved by faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ: 2 The eternal Love relationship. God is three Persons, one Being. Father, Son, Spirit-one Being. God is love. The Persons relate to each other in a pattern of love. God loves and is well pleased with His Son; the Son loves and honors the Father; the Spirit brings glory to the Son 3. In this three-person life is mutual love, joy, power, peace, eternal life. This is Christ s life. Whoever does not love 4 does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:8 NIV When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a Voice came from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matt 3:16-17 NKJV He is the image of the invisible God For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Him, Col 1:15, 19 NIV He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, Col 1:13 NKJV Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Luke 4:1 NKJV In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Luke 10:21-22 NKJV 1 Compiled and excerpts from Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, C.H. Spurgeon sermon, Glorious Predestination, The Mind of Christ by T. W. Hunt and Claude King, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller. 2 John 1:12-13; John 14: John 16:13-14; John 3:35; Col 1:13 1

2 Being drawn into the eternal love relationship with our triune God. You, Christian woman, are being drawn into this three-person life the life of Love. The LORD is my shepherd; Ps 23:1a NKJV I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. John 10:14-16 NKJV When the simple-though sublime-statement is made by a man or woman that The Lord is my Shepherd, it immediately implies a profound yet practical working relationship between a human being and his Maker. It links a lump of common clay to divine destiny-it means a mere mortal becomes the cherished object of divine diligence. This thought alone should stir my spirit, quicken my own sense of awareness, and lend enormous dignity to myself as an individual. To think that God in Christ is deeply concerned about me as a particular person immediately gives great purpose and enormous meaning to my short sojourn upon this planet. And the greater, the wider, the more majestic my concept is of the Christ-the more vital will be my relationship to Him. David, in this Psalm, is speaking not as the shepherd, but as a sheep; one of the flock. After all, he (David) knew from firsthand experience that the lot in life of any particular sheep depended on the type of man who owned it. Some men were gentle, kind, intelligent, brave and selfless in their devotion to their stock. Under one man, sheep would struggle, starve and suffer endless hardship. In another s care they would flourish and thrive contentedly. So if the Lord is my Shepherd, I should know something of His character and understand something of His ability. 5 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6 NKJV " I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved me. John 17:20b-23 NIV However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and 5 A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller. 2

3 He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. John 16:13-15 NKJV I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledgethat you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV God wants you to develop the mind of Christ. He causes you to want it. He enables you to do it. He will do it in you as you yield to Him, praying, reading, studying, meditating on all the revealed aspects of Christ and as you willingly enter into the three-person life of mutual love, joy, power, peace, eternal life. You can, if you let God have His way, grow in sharing the life of Christ. Him in you and you in Him - seeking His Will and surrendering to Him, yielding to Him. You will grow to love the Father as Christ does and the Holy Spirit will arise in you, bearing fruit. "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. John 14:19-20 NKJV For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:21 NKJV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Gal 5:22-23 NIV But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. John 14:26-27 NKJV And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. 1 Cor 15:49 NKJV But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of Godnot by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Eph 2:4-10 NIV 3

4 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Matt 10:20 NIV For instance, when you pray, you are seeking to get in touch with our Father. How are the Son and Holy Spirit involved in your prayer? Prompting you to pray, what to pray, in whose name to pray?. All this is actually going on when you say your prayers. You are being caught up into the spiritual life. You re being pulled into a closer relationship with God, by God as you pray. This is also true of other facets of your spiritual discipline, your life. God is injecting His kind of life and thought into you to give you life more abundantly and make you fruitful. This process is called by various terms: putting on Christ; Christ being formed in us; coming to have the mind of Christ. He will do it. This process has already begun in you, as we studied earlier this year. You are begotten. When you were born again, you began to share a life which was begotten (like Christ), not made (like Adam). You share the life which always has existed and always will exist. Since you are born of the Spirit, you are a child of God the Father and a sister to God the Son. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. John 1:1-4 NKJV And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NKJV For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 NKJV Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:3NKJV Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' John 3:5-7 NIV But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 1 John 1:12-13 NKJV Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, 1 John 5:1a NKJV Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! 1 John 3:1a NKJV 4

5 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother." Mark 3:35 NKJV "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matt 25:40 KJV The image of Christ. He came to this world and became a man in order to spread to others the kind of life He has. So The Son of God became a man to enable men (women) to become sons (daughters) of God. 6 His life was one of humility, love, compassion, power, truth and grace. He honored His Father.obedient to the Father s will. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. Luke 2:52 NKJV I lay down My life for the sheep. "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father." John 10:15b-18 NKJV though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. Heb 5:8 NKJV From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:16-17 NIV Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. John 13:14-15 NIV "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34 NIV Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Phil 2:5-8 NKJV Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." John 8:28-30 NKJV And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. Matt 14:14 NKJV "At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. Mark 13:26 NIV 5

6 You are being conformed. It is God who conforms us into the image of His Son-like Him in Spirit-in an intimate, loving eternal Father-child relationship. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." Romans 8:15 NIV Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." Galatians 4:6 NIV In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Matt 6:9-10 NIV In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 NIV I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom." Matthew 26:29 NIV Willing? And God does it all, to the extent you are willing. You are allowed the choice to cooperate or not. Our natural self/life is self-centered, greedy, grumbling, rebellious, wants to be admired, wants to take advantage of others. It wants to be left to do what it wants, afraid of the light of the Spirit. Our good actions are done for the wrong motive-fear of public opinion, showing off, superiority. Your natural self/life knows that if the Spirit of Christ gets hold of it, it will be killed-not tormented-killed. So it s ready to fight to avoid that. Romans 7: The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Gal 5:19-21 NIV You know that you cannot, by sheer willpower give myself new, righteous motives. Everything which needs to be done in our souls can only be done by God! It is God who does it all. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 6

7 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Rom 7:21-8:1 NIV You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. Romans 8:9 NIV for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. Phil 2:13 NIV But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Cor 2:14, 16b NKJV God wants all of you-will you hand it over to Him-the whole nature self, all your desires, taking up your cross? He will give you a new self in the image of Christ! A new life, a more abundant life. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matt 16:25 NKJV The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10 NKJV And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Cor 3:18 NIV Therefore. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. 1 Peter 2:21 NIV Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, Heb 3:1a NIV Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Heb 12:2-3 NIV If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 7

8 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Col 3:1-4 NKJV We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Cor 10:5-6 NIV I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Rom 12:1-2 NKJV For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people." "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. "I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. 2 Cor 6:16b-17a, 18 NIV Let s begin now, okay? As you seek and submit to God s will growing in God s three-person, One-Being, life of mutual love, joy, power, peace, eternal life: In prayer, set your mind on the Lord: Ask God to give you a focused attention on things above If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. Col 3:1-3 NKJV Offer you will to God as you begin the process of developing the mind of Christ. Begin to read about Jesus life on all the revealed aspects of Christ in the Gospels-Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and in the book of Acts. As you begin to study the Word, pay particular attention to who Christ is, what He s like, His purpose, His heart, His methods, His abilities Meditate on and memorize key verses about Christ s life. You may want to choose some of those above. Sing songs of thanksgiving and praise for His sacrifice and love for us. As the Spirit provides opportunity, tell others about your experience, trusting Christ. 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. Gal 2:20-21 NKJV 8