Free to be Christlike 3

We have stated in the first of these three blogs that one can be free from restraints but not free to do. One can be free from anyone keeping them from running a marathon, but not free to run a marathon because they lack the ability. Jesus has freed us from the control of sin, the flesh, and the world but we are not free to live like Christ without some training.

In the second installment I showed you that the believers options are not sin or don't but rather rely on our own strength which inevitably results in sin or rely on divine assistance given to us in the person of the Holy Spirit. Now Jesus lived and did what He did because He relied on the Holy Spirit. He also practiced a certain lifestyle that equipped Him to rely on the Holy Spirit.

I have stated that trying to be like Christ in the moment of conflict is about impossible as playing Beethoven on the piano without any previous practice. We must not think about what Jesus would do in the moment of conflict but what Jesus did when He wasn't in the moment that prepared Him to choose divine assistance in the moment of conflict.

Now I first must put these things in the proper context if not we end up with some perverted form of godliness like legalism or monastic (monkish) thinking. Jesus is practical. He has solutions for real life. He is not desiring us to live in a way that does not enjoy the things He has made that are good for us. However, He does intend for us to live in the divine assistance to the point where all we do is assisted by grace: the power and presence of God. He knows that the most fulfilling and pleasant life is one lived in the kingdom of God, where all things are assisted by heaven.

If you look at Jesus' life you will find in the back drop of a intensely supernatural life that there are some things routinely practiced. For example, solitude. Jesus was led into the wilderness, away from human beings, where he fasted and communicated with the Holy Spirit. Then after 40 days was tempted. Many say that the devil comes to you at your weakest moment. However, I would like to point out that solitude, fasting, and prayer was when Jesus was strongest. You see he prepared for the moment of conflict through the practice of solitude, fasting, and prayer. He routinely practiced these things often gone entire nights to be alone and pray.

He even told the disciples to "watch and pray so that they would not enter into temptation." This is amazing. He was saying there are things you can do like watching and praying that strengthens you so that sin does not even look inviting. However, we for the most part do not practice any of these things or at least in the right context and yet wonder why we do not have the "divine assistance" (power) available to us at the point of temptation. It is not the lack of availability of the Holy Spirit, but our untrained self in recognizing and relying on the divine assistance.

Now these things are not ends in themselves. You are not more spiritual because you fast more. That is a wrong view. Actually the more you mature, the more you know how to rely on divine assistance the less you will need to fast. These training tools, teach us how to recognize and rely on divine assistance.

Jesus engaged in many practices as a lifestyle: solitude, prayer, fasting, celebrating, serving others, study, simplicity of life, silence and others. Solitude clears us of the distractions that tend to come with being around others. The mind then can focus on God. Now study will assist you in thinking of God as He actually is not some perverted form you may have learned in Sunday School. Prayer teaches me how to hear his voice. Silence also helps greatly in this regard. Silence (not talking and little to no noise visual or audio) reminds us of death and death reminds us of what is just us and God. We might be amazed at how little there is of just us and God.

Now these things were lifestyles (practiced routinely) but were not the point in themselves. Jesus did not become a monk, He was actually sent to people, however, if He did not know/learn how to rely on divine assistance He would of been little help to the people He was sent. Jesus was sent to teach so He did not take a lifetime vow of silence, yet if He did not know His Fathers voice He could not have "spoke only what He heard the Father say" and His teachings would have been no different then those of His day.

Therefore, my challenge to you is this consider the way of Jesus. His teaching as well as His way of living. Applying your effort to do these things is not works but practice. It to "exercise yourself in godliness." (1 Tim. 4:7) These things done with the intent to become Christlike through relying on the Holy Spirit not for your own justification will result in the life of Christ in "your mortal bodies through His Spirit that dwells in you." (Rom. 8:11)

The world is actually waiting to see "Christ in you the hope of glory." We must take learning to rely on the Holy Spirit as serious of an undertaking as running a marathon or playing an instrument. The latter things are good, but the former brings an abundant kind of life filled with the power of Christ.

Free to be Christlike 2

Jesus speaking of Himself said, "I can do nothing." That means that Jesus could not heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, or resist sin or walk in the holiness of God. What He did was rely upon the Father. He said it was the Father in Him who did the works. Jesus was rightly connected to the Father by fully relying on the Holy Spirit.

Now we have many things in our contemporary western Christian worldview that make it difficult for us to take serious the claims of Christ. One is our view of salvation. We are taught in western Christianity that salvation is a prayer to be prayed that moves your final destination from hell to heaven. However, Jesus proclaimed that He came to give a certain kind of life and that life was to be in abundance. This new life involved a new order, one ordered after or by the kingdom of the heavens. This life was abundant because it came from above.

Now Jesus intended for this life to be experienced now. We are living in eternity now therefore, the eternal life is for now. Now Jesus modeled this life for us while He was here. It was a life that was ultimately concerned with the Father and His kingdom. Jesus practiced a certain lifestyle that enabled Him to live relying on the divine assistance of the Holy Spirit. This included solitude, prayer, fasting, simplicity of life, celebrating, etc.

Now Paul argues in the book of Romans 5,6 that we who have given the rulership of our lives away to Christ, who have put our faith (confidence) in His rule over us have "died with Christ." He says we should "walk in the newness of life." He states that those who receive "grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign (rule) in life." (Rom 5:17). Now are tendency is to think of grace as a one time gift of get-out-of-jail-free. However, anyone who will take a in-depth look at grace will see immediately that is more than that. It is God in action. Grace is the empowering presence of God that enables you to do what God has called you to do and be what He has called you to be.

Therefore, let's read Romans 5:17 in my paraphrase: "those who yield to divine assistance will be given the free gift of being able to act righteously and this will result in a life of overcoming victory. Paul moves on to say therefore, (in light of the divine assistance made available) do not yield your members to acts of unrighteousness but of righteousness. This language is very clear we have a choice to make.

Those who have given rulership of their lives to Christ have Christ living in them through the Holy Spirit. Those in the grip of grace have a choice that people still ruling themselves do not have, the availability of divine assistance. It is now up the the person to choose not to give themselves to unrighteousness but to Christ and His Spirit in them. The option is not sin or don't sin it is rely on your own strength which will result in sin or rely on divine assistance given you through the Holy Spirit which results in righteousness and life!

Therefore the greatest of saints among us are not those who need less grace but those who consume the most grace, who live and rely on the power and presence of God as our model Jesus did. Now we are free from sin, however, we are not free to live righteously until we train and prepare ourselves to rely on the Holy Spirit

Now the question must be asked, is there a way of life that will assist us in relying on divine assistance? The answer is of course found in the life and practice of Jesus. We will discuss more in following blogs.

Free to be Christlike

Freedom from and freedom to are very different. You are free to fly in the fact that nothing is holding you down, however, you are not free to fly because you lack the ability to fly. A person is free to get married in the fact that once they are of age no one can stop them, but a person is not free to have a great, happy, satisfying marriage if he/she lacks the relational abilities to do so. I am free from any restraints to run a marathon, however, I am not free to run it because I am not in shape. Therefore, if I have the vision to run a marathon, then I intend on running the marathon, I will then employ the means to prepare me to run the marathon. This would include training over a period of time. Training is the the intentional, direct effort over a period of time that prepares me to do what I could not do by trying. Now this is true of many things: playing an instrument, singing, the arts, speaking, etc. I cannot try harder (exert more energy) and play Beethoven, but I can practice and in time play Beethoven.

Now why is it when it comes to being like Christ we lose such common sense? No where else in life would I desire to have the same results as certain person and go about getting those results by practicing nothing they did. You see we have been taught that grace means you cannot apply effort or it's works. This is not true. Grace is not opposed to effort but opposed to earning. Effort is action, earning is attitude. I did not earn a marathon by training for it.

Being like Christ seems difficult to us because we try to be like Him in the moment of conflict. In the moment of my enemy's hate I try to love him and find it as difficult as trying to play Beethoven without any prior knowledge of the piano. Therefore, we read that His yoke is easy but experience it as impossible. We read His commands are not burdensome but our experience tells something different. So, we decide not to try and reduce grace down to the willingness of God to overlook my failures but do not expect grace to empower me to change. We end up with a church culture where it is actually a common practice and expectation to be a Christian and not be Christlike.

There must be a restoration of the way of Christ to the church. A way of living not legalistic and religious but empowering and precise. A way in which produces people who act like Christ by nature because they have been transformed. The fact that many think becoming Christlike is impossible gives evidence to how far our thinking has come from the apostle Paul who actually and literally meant "to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Now most people think of Jesus as nice, polite, good but very few would say intelligent. In our list of the smartest people of all time we do not place Jesus on the list. We tend to still view Him through the Sunday school flannel board image. The long blond haired, limp wristed, candy bar after class, nice guy but not a genius who actually brought with Him the total answer to mans total need. I actually think Jesus and the apostle Paul were/are greater thinkers then Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle and I'll give you reasons.

Plato's Republic written 380 b.c. tells of a system that can govern free people. He speaks of just men and labors to define what that means. He concludes that a man who rules a city that prospers must be a man of virtue and justice. His conversations help us understand that righteous rule is when a man can govern not for his own interest but the interest of the people.

Now Plato's conclusions are historically pivotal and have been used for centuries. Plato concludes that righteous, good, just men in leadership is what is needed for a city-state to prosper. He is simply stating what Solomon told us a thousand years prior to him: when the righteous rule the people rejoice. Herein lies the problem: what do you do when there are no righteous men? Or insufficient number of them to rule? How does one become righteous and good?; not men who are able to do a good act but men who's dominating character of their life is good.

You see Jesus actually brought with Him a way that can actually produces righteous people. Not positionally righteous people but literally and practically righteous people. People who do good because it is who they are. The Apostle Paul proved that after Jesus' ascension a person could still become a new kind of person, living a new kind of life through Jesus and His way. A life not from this world but a life from above. A life that could actually bring the rule of heaven practically to the earth.

Jesus and Paul actually brought answers to some of the most profound questions of their day and all of human history. This is why philosophers and intellectuals came to the way of Jesus and the kingdom of God in droves because He alone answered the questions that wisdom demands answered. We have lost this way of life and it must be regained. I'll speak more on this matter in following posts

Oneness

In coming to Jesus at salvation we have decided something that will eternally change our lives starting at the moment we believe. We have unashamedly announced we are forfeiting our rights to rule of our own lives and have used our freedom to choose Jesus to be our Lord. Lord means sovereign one. We, by our own confession, have announced Jesus as our Lord and in His first act as our soveriegn, He saves us from the fruit of our own "ruling." He saves us from our sin and consequentially death.

However, as lifestyle goes and church function there is little to be seen that would give evidence to a change in sovereign administration. There is a mindset that each man rules himself and tries his best to do what pleases God in his own strength. This mindset accompanied with a inadequate ability to hear and respond to the Holy Spirit has created a culture of everyone doing what is right in their own eyes.

We are in a very important season as a local church and universal church. We are in a season where God is arranging His body with clarity to function at an unprecedented rate resulting in the coporate body of Christ putting on display a clearer representation of the fulness of Christ. This starts with the understanding that the individual christian has given the authority to rule their lives to Christ. Seeking first His rule over all areas of our lives is seeking first the kingdom of God.

The epicenter of this conflict is located in our soul. Will we be ruled by our soul or by the Spirit of Christ? Will we live as an orphan or a son? Will we submit to each other in the reality of God or will we push for our individuality to the point of division? These thoughts frigthen our souls. We have all seen orphans abuse authority, however, God's answer is not to abolish authority but to give us a model of righteous authority in Christ. There is still authority and always will be, the question is: will it be administered in soulishness or in a spirit of righteousness.

If you look at the early church, of which Luke said to be in one heart and one mind, you see something supernatural. This church of jews and gentiles, slaves and free, male and females all major differences and huge obstacles to overcome to be one in heart and mind, yet they did it. How? First, was the clear message they received on Penticost. The message from Peter was simple Jesus Christ of Nazereth is both LORD and CHRIST. The yielding to the Lordship of Christ was the frist and major reason for the unison.

Our bodies made up of many members, that are very different in shape and function yet work together in unison because each part is unconditionally submitted to the head. Therefore, it is clear to say that the division in the church is clearly a result of parts not being submitted to the head. We live in a day where it is not politically correct to render such a judgment, yet the scriptures are clear in there meaning. We must decide political correctness or truth? We, as a local church and the universal church, will only reach her God determined destination by speaking the truth in love not by sacrificing truth to appease the immature.

In this season, God is making one out of many. A oneness deeper than agreed upon doctrine, a oneness that is deeper than being a part of the same instituion. A oneness deeper than being in the same room during a service. We are in a day where God is making a body that will be as one as your physical body, functioning in complete harmony with each other, complementing each other by all parts submitting to the head. He is making us to be of one heart and one mind as we pursue displaying Christ in the earth.

The foundation for these things to come about is the Father-son relationship. God breathed into Adam and he became a living being. Adam is made in the image of God not by the forming of dirt but by the spirit that came out of God and into the dirt. Therefore, Adam came 'out of God.' Now God provided and protected Adam, and Adam was to trust God. This fellowship (joint participation) was how Adam was to rule the earth, bringing heavens order to a the chaos outside of the garden. After the fall Jesus came to model for us the life of a son, by trusting the Father with His life. The father loves the son the son trust the father.

Another place you see this principle is when God created Eve. God created a "helper suitable" for Adam by taking her from his side. This is simple: suitable helpers must be 'out of another.' Jesus the second son had a bride taken from His side on the cross. We are "suitable helpers" for him having been taken from his side. Adam calls Eve 'bone of my bone' and 'flesh of my flesh.' He saw his oneness with her because she was 'from him.' We are to see our oneness with Christ the same way, 'bone of His bone and flesh of his flesh.' We are one with Christ as His bride. Now are submission to our bridegroom and His love for us creates another context for us to see love for one and trust for the other.

The husband-bride and father-son relationship both teach us the same resounding lesson: that two become one through love. The one from which the other comes loves the new one as an extension of themselves. This is Paul's deep revelation in Ephesians 5 of Christ and the church. The one who has come from the other displays their love by trusting their lives to the one they have come 'out of.' Another place this 'out of one' kind-of-love is displayed is in the trinity itself. God who is one became many to display love. Jesus, the word that became flesh, actually came out of God. God actually separated himself to display love. He chose the Father-son relationship. God acting as Father and God acting as son gave us a context of how 'out of the other' love works. The pregenator loves the one that has come out of him as his own and the son-bride loves by trusting himself to the plans and intentions of the other. This is a oneness that no man can separate.

We have entered a season where the Holy Spirit is intertwining our lives together with purposeful intent under the headship of Christ. The Holy Spirit will be assembling the body of Christ, by arranging relationships within the body, to produce a joint participation between parts that will display a greater and clearer representation of Christ and His rule. This arrangement by the Holy Spirit will give a clear distinction and alternative to the orphan way of life. A sign unto you will be this, the Lord will turn the hearts of fathers towards the sons. In the chaos of the orphan culture of the world God is building a group of people so deeply connected through the arrangement of Holy Spirit, built in love and under the Lordship of Christ, that would bring the rule of heaven to earth. The coming of which will call many orphan's to the love of the Father! Your destiny is inseparable from the body of Christ. This then is the fulfillment of the body of Christ and each saint who has believed upon Christ.