Modeling Christ Week 2
- Jul 15, 2024
- 7 min read
INTRODUCTION :
We have been focusing on Christ’s exhortation for His disciples to “imitate” or “model” how He lived as He accomplished the work the Father had for Him to do on earth.
A model is more than something simply to stare at, but is to be an example to emulate and see duplicated, specifically, in those people who are to be called His disciples.
Thought - We all model something, and our modeling is always duplicated in some form. The question is: What (or who) are you modeling?
Exercising a positive and lasting influence on followers is the credibility of his/her walk with God speaks something especially what people see.
What one says, does, and thinks reflects not only who one is (character) but also to whom or what one is committed to. Personalizing Christlikeness in our character and commitment does not mean binding ourselves to a set of religious rules, but rather presenting an authentic model of life-change to emulate and reproduce in the lives of those we serve and lead.
In the Old Testament law, God gave the imperative to “be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2) Nevertheless, we have a clear, historical record of man’s inability to “be holy” through laws and rules. The same call to holiness is repeated in the New Testament when Jesus told those who wanted to follow Him, “You are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) Even then, the ability to reflect holiness was a constant struggle as seen in the experience of the disciples.
If you write anything down. Anything at all today…take this away with you and live it. Walk in Love. Let’s see how this statement plays out…Let me set the context of our Scripture today.
Passage Context: This passage is a part of a letter from Paul, written to the Ephesians, who were in Ephesus. In this section Paul is describing what the new life in Christ looks like and in the beginning of Chapter 4:17-24 he writes what the old self looks like. Let me read that to you..
Eph 4:17-24
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
OLD SELF - These verses talk about worldly understanding, futility of minds and alienation from God because of ignorance and hard hearts - this is the OLD SELF, the you or me, before we knew Jesus and believed.
NEW SELF - Now if you have learned and know Christ we have the ability to put off that old self and put on the new self - our new image in which we are “renewed in the spirit of our minds, created in the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. “ This IS our new identity. We just need to learn how to live in it - welcome back to the sanctification process, again.
The next section of scripture gets more specific about what this looks like.
Ephesians 4:25-5:7
Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Walk in Love
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them;
Check out some of the truths in here and let’s dig into a few of them further.
Be kind, tender hearted, forgiving…
In other words… be humble, courteous, considerate towards one another. Have a sensitivity to distress, move quickly to compassion.
There will be disagreements and differences, so have a naturally forgiving mindset, don’t hold grudges.
Be Truthful
Lying is deceitful, hurtful and harms others, so we are to be tellers of truth – in words and in actions,
All things you guys have heard a few times. Here are some more…
Be self-controlled in anger
Be angry AND do not sin. We have and will experience anger – and we should be angry AT SIN. It is important that we do not let that anger linger, but deal with it according to God’s commands and do it quickly so that the anger does not fester and turn into resentment, hatred, bitterness, etc.… This would give the devil an opportunity to gain a grip that can grow into a stronghold which is like “spiritual imprisonment”
Labor responsibly and honestly
Do honest work and labor so you may be enabled to share with others in need. Simply put, we should work honestly and diligently so that we can help others.
Speak words that build up and give grace
No corrupting talk, or worthless talk, but speak only words that are good for building up/edifying.
Imitate God because you are a loved child, a part of God’s family.
Love like Christ loved us- gave himself up- sacrificed himself for us
As we walk in love and make sacrifices like Jesus, it is a pleasing offering and sacrifice to God.
Because I have a knowledge of God’s love it moves me make sacrifices
This is unconditional love.
To love is to sacrifice, it's an action! Agape Love (verb)
Agape love is unselfish, patient and kind, not jealous or boastful, or proud, not irritable, or rude.
Does not demand your own way, or give up, or lose faith
Always hopeful and endures through every circumstance
Those are all the things that describe the new self. We then get a reminder of the things we are to avoid (the ways of the old self)
There is no place for: lying, uncontrolled anger, stealing, corrupting talk, bitterness, wrath, malice, sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, filthiness nor foolish talk and crude joking.
Do not be partners with the disobedient because God’s wrath will come upon them. In other words, don't practice shady shenanigans with people who do not follow the Lord.
I know this New Self sounds a bit challenging, and it’s honestly kind of impossible to do without the Holy Spirit working inside you…so let’s see what we can find.
John 14:15-26 quotes Jesus as telling us that if we love Him we will keep His commandments and in return He will ask the Father and a Helper, aka Holy Spirit, will be given to us, forever. He goes onto to remind us that he will not leave us as orphans indicating believers are part of His family then in verse 26 Jesus says, 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 that I have said to you.
When we believe in Jesus, we are given a gift, the Holy Spirit is sent to us as a Helper.
We have to receive it, be receptive to its teaching and leading and allow it to sanctify us from the inside out until we fully display our newly created identities as beloved Children of God, whom we should imitate (Eph 5:1). We cannot accomplish all these character changes by any power of our own - it requires the supernatural power of God’s grace to overcome our weak, selfish, willful selves.
CONCLUSION:
As we wrap up today, let’s take a look at two short proverbs to get to the “heart” of the matter.
Prov 4:23 says Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. And
Prov 27:19 says As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.
It is important for us to guard our heart, or to keep our heart with ALL VIGILANCE. Things that tempt us, creep in and plant seeds of anger, bitterness, resentment, fear, complacency, anything that is not of God, these will take root in our heart if we are not careful.
Be aware of what you say and do. Our thoughts and actions shape our heart, and our outward behavior will reveal our heart. If we desire to authentically model Christ, He will need to rule our hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Thoughts/Questions to Consider:
We are called to imitate God based on the example Jesus set for us. When you think about that, what do you find to be the most challenging component of that?
How does the Holy Spirit practically help us walk in love?
Today’s Scriptures:
Ephesians 4:25-5:7
John 14:15-26
Prov 4:23
Prov 27:19