God's Top Four Priorities for His Children: Christlikeness

I believe establishing identity is the core work being done in people, the bible says that God is involved in forming us in our mother's womb (Psalm 139:13) and He tells Jeremiah the prophet that He knew him even before He formed Jeremiah in his mother's womb and that He set Jeremiah apart for a divine purpose (Jeremiah 1:5). This means that God is active in shaping the essence of who we are. But, I would add that this is a co-laboring work between God and people.

From the day we are born our identity continues to be formed. First by our parents and by other family members, then by teachers, friends, society (through cultural expectations and customs) and government at large (through rules and laws). As we live and breathe everyone around us is working hard to shape and form us into who they think we should be. I would even extend this to what is happening in the spiritual/invisible realm of reality. Ephesians 6:12 talks about principalities, powers and other spiritual dark forces at work in the world who are actually working against us in this life. 

Adding to our identity formation is also the many life events and experiences which shape our understanding and view of the world around us. Some may call this our worldview which is true, but I would argue that our worldview is ground in our identity, in who we believe ourselves to be.

How we see ourselves is deeply connected to how we see the world and influences us in what we allow or don't allow ourselves to be and do.

This is why I believe God is so passionate about establishing our new identity in Christ after He saves us and why it's second on His list of priorities for His children. This comes after He establishes a relationship with us because God knows that identity is best formed through connection, interaction and engagement.

1. Relationship (Salvation) 

2. Christlikeness (Transformation) 

3. Faith (Maturity) 

4.Blessing/Comfort (Prosperity) 

Christlikeness includes Jesus' character which includes having Jesus' mind, heart and will formed in us as the Holy Spirit cultivates His wonderful fruit within us. As Christians, we are first and foremost on a journey of transformation where each and every moment of each and every day for the rest of our lives, God is actively calling us into deeper relationship with Him as He recreates us as new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17) into the likeness of His Son, Jesus (1 John 3:2). 

Our role in this is to simply surrender and fully submit ourselves to this work of Christlike transformation. Of course, this is much easier said than done. Surrender and submission are truly difficult because if they are to genuinely happen, there needs to be a deep level of trust established. God knows this and so He has done everything in His power to make sure the way to Him is open. I've blogged on this here. And I would add that He is very passionate about pursuing us, connecting with us and cultivating greater intimacy with us.

But, God will never coerce us into this work, but is something we need to freely choose to give ourselves to. I can't tell you how many people I've talked with who think God is this overbearing, power-exerting, heavy-handed, control freak. But, when I look at the life of Jesus, who is the exact imprint of God's nature (Hebrews 1:3), what I see is a humble, loving, self-sacrificing servant. The bible says that:

"Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him." (John 13:3-5 NIV emphasis mine)

In this moment Jesus knew all things were under his power, but rather than exercise this power over the disciples, he chose to serve them and in this way humbly cultivated deeper intimacy with them. Furthermore, if we look at the example God set in the way that He chose to exercise His omnipotent power over sin, evil and the devil what do we see? We see Him humbly and in love dying on a Cross. This is how the God of the universe flexes His almighty power. God will never force His way in our lives and overpower us. Rather, He woos us as He waits for us to invite Him into our lives.

Something that I've been pondering as of late is this revelation: "If God honors a person's freewill to the point of allowing them to choose to reject Him forever, than who am I to dishonor something God honors." What I've concluded is that for love to be real and genuine, freewill must be honored. When you take away freewill in anyway than you also take away the means for real love and genuine relationship to happen. Again, God knows this and so He honors our freewill, so that we can truly have a very real and genuine love relationship with Him. And it is through this very real and genuine love relationship that He invites us into this amazing work of Christlike transformation.