Christ Walk

16Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not dimputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5: 16 - 21 NKJV

What does it mean to be more like Christ Jesus?  Is this at all possible?  For us to reach that holy summit of the sinless, perfect Christ is surely a fine goal to strive for.  However, can we ever even think of becoming like the only man who was ever sinless and perfect?  Well, suppose for arguments sake that this was possible, how would one go about doing this?  You would need to have all of your sins forgiven, for Christ Jesus Himself was sinless.  So, we who were born into sin would not only need to have our sins erased, but to have the very sin nature we were born with done away with, forever.  To even consider being more like Jesus without addressing these two issues would be a lost cause.  For Christ Jesus had neither sin nor any sin nature, but was perfect in all ways.  Even if we were to succeed in our efforts to erase our sins and eradicate our sin nature on our own, which is unlikely, we may still be missing a key element in our quest to be more like Christ Jesus, His very presence.  With our sins gone along with the sin nature which plagued us, we would certainly be remiss to not have the company of Christ Jesus Himself to teach us what it truly is to be more like...Him.  With all of these things complete, we ourselves might surely be able to finaly be more like Christ Jesus.  If it were up to ourselves and our own efforts that is.

6knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be adone away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7For he who has died has been bfreed from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11Likewise you also, creckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV

Step into any church and you've more than likely heard one pulpit pounder or another calling on their flock to "Be more like Jesus."  As I've said, it sounds like a grand proposal.  I mean, who wouldn't want to be more like the man many recognize as being one of the worlds most loving and humble men.  The call goes out that we, as christians, should strive to do just that.  So many christians knock themselves out in their attempts to be more like Jesus.  Don't get me wrong, it is a worthwhile goal.  So worthwhile, in fact, that the apostle Paul himself recognized it.  Now the bombshell.  What if someone were to tell you that, despite all conventional christian teaching, that YOU cannot be like Jesus?  No, for what Jesus is would be beyond reach for any of us, but for God.  For it is God who loved us enough even in our sin condition that He would send His Son to become sin in our place to die.  Yes, our sin had a price to pay, and Christ Jesus paid that price for us.  It is through Christ Jesus and His love for us that not only are our sins erased from memory, but that the sin nature which we were born into is also a thing of the past.  Indeed, our "Old man" was put to death on that. cross with Christ Jesus.  As Paul tells us in Romans 6, not only are we now more like Christ Jesus, but we now live each and every day AS Christ Jesus.  This has nothing to do with our own efforts but everything to do with God, who loved us despite our sin condition {Romans 5:8}.  Take heart, christian, you no longer need to strive to be more like Christ Jesus, for by accepting Him Christ Himself will live through you.

~Scott~