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.

Hillsong United: search my heart

Everyday I am confronted with the reality of a fallen world that is constantly trying to distract me from walking with Jesus. Each and everyday I come to mini-crossroads where I can either choose to follow Jesus and submit to God's ways or I can choose to follow my own understanding that has been largely influenced by the world's ways. I believe that at all times, there lies before a person two kinds of paths: 1) paths which have been set in place by the world and its standards and 2) paths that have been established by God. The bible verse that comes to mind is one of the very first scriptures that I ever memorized and says: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5, 6 NIV 2011).

The longer I walk with Jesus, the more I am confronted with the reality that the ways of the world are consistently in opposition to the ways of God. When I read about Jesus' life in the Gospels, what I see is a life lived in passionate reverence and faith towards God. A life birthed out of a love relationship with God that was founded on respect and intimacy. Jesus knew of and experienced the Father's unconditional love and responded with His own unconditional love in return. I long to walk with God as Jesus did when He lived among us on earth, but this means continually submitting myself to the spiritual surgery of the Holy Spirit in purifying my heart of its desire to walk in the ways of the world, rather than in God's ways.

So this is my heart's cry and prayer: Father in Heaven, "search my heart and search my soul. There is nothing else that I want more. Shine Your light and show Your face. In my life, Lord have Your way. Hear my cry and hear my prayer. Draw me close, so I know You're near. Give me strength and give me grace to walk with You Lord, all my days" In Jesus Name, Amen.

Jesus, the Morning Star

Darrell Johnson, formerly the Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Regent College, is currently the Senior Minister at First Baptist in Vancouver, BC Canada. In this short video clip, he talks about Jesus as the image of the Morning Star in the book of Revelation. In many ways, his voice is a prophetic one to the American Church to return to Her first love, Jesus. From my perspective (and I know I'm not alone in this), the American Church has gotten away from actively submitting to Jesus' Headship over His Church. As Darrell Johnson puts it, "having Jesus in the middle of the Church." Now, I know that every pastor will agree that Jesus is the Head of the Church. But, I wonder sometimes how many pastors actively practice submitting to Jesus' Headship?

Please hear me on this, my desire is to see Jesus exalted to His rightful place because He alone is worthy of all worship. His sacrifice on the Cross earned Him that place of honor where every knee will be bent to Him. My intent is not to criticize the Church, after all She is my Savior's Bride. My passion is to see Jesus' Kingdom break forth in greater measure and power in this world with His pure and spotless Bride leading the way. But, in order for that to happen, the Church needs to be actively submitting to Jesus' Headship where it becomes more about listening to what the Spirit has to say to the Church, rather than programs and schedules. These have there place, but sometimes it seems like programming and scheduling can very easily remove the need for faith.

The Church today needs to allow Jesus to break forth as the Morning Star by trusting in His Headship and allowing Him to invade earth with His Kingdom. We are living in some pretty dark and perilous times. All the more reason for the Body of Christ to be actively listening for direction and guidance from Jesus, who is the Head. He has never stopped His mission of bringing glory to the Father by seeking and saving that which was lost, us. So, let's actively partner with Jesus on His mission and put Him in the middle of not only our lives, but also the Church.