Being Like Jesus
This morning I used Romans 8:29 and 12:2 to challenge the North Henry Academy students to be like Jesus. The Lord laid it on my heart to speak on that, because many times children are told to be good, but no one explains why it is important. Hopefully, it helped them to think about what happens when we do the right thing, and we are like Jesus.
The truth is that it is God's plan for every Christian to be like Jesus. That is what He is going to accomplish in our lives after we get saved. He decided that before we were saved. He knew we would accept Christ without Him forcing us. He decided that it was His will for us to be "conformed" to the image of Christ. That means we would become like Jesus. The Holy Spirit will accomplish that in us, if we will cooperate with Him.
However, most people, even believers, "conform" to the world. They do what everyone else does. That is just what Satan wants us to do. When we do that it hurts us. It has terrible consequences, because it is sin, but that is not the only reason. It is God's will for us to be like Jesus, so others will see Jesus in us and believe in Him. If they see things in us that only God could do, it will show them that God is real. Therefore, to be good is not just for the sake of being good, and it is not just for us. To be like Jesus helps us, because we don't sin, and it helps others come to Christ. If they don't see Him in us, they may never get saved. In other words, it really does matter how we live. It can make an eternal difference in another life.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Samuel 21-22 and Luke 18:24-43.
The truth is that it is God's plan for every Christian to be like Jesus. That is what He is going to accomplish in our lives after we get saved. He decided that before we were saved. He knew we would accept Christ without Him forcing us. He decided that it was His will for us to be "conformed" to the image of Christ. That means we would become like Jesus. The Holy Spirit will accomplish that in us, if we will cooperate with Him.
However, most people, even believers, "conform" to the world. They do what everyone else does. That is just what Satan wants us to do. When we do that it hurts us. It has terrible consequences, because it is sin, but that is not the only reason. It is God's will for us to be like Jesus, so others will see Jesus in us and believe in Him. If they see things in us that only God could do, it will show them that God is real. Therefore, to be good is not just for the sake of being good, and it is not just for us. To be like Jesus helps us, because we don't sin, and it helps others come to Christ. If they don't see Him in us, they may never get saved. In other words, it really does matter how we live. It can make an eternal difference in another life.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Samuel 21-22 and Luke 18:24-43.