Galations 2: 20 NKJV
Back in the days of the "What would Jesus do" bracelets, it seemed that millions of christians all over the world were all of a sudden facinated with the idea of acting like, and being, Christ Jesus. Well, the what would Jesus do fad lasted about as long as the warehouse stock of those cool little bracelets. Back in the day I owned two of these church novelties, one red and one black. I loved wearing them around town because everywhere I went, people knew where I stood. I was a christian, and I was doing my best to be like Jesus. It was as if my bracelets were somehow channeling the power of Christ into me whenever I wore them. I had the power of Christ to change the world! Of course, after awhile the fad cooled off and I put my "be like Jesus" bracelets into storage. The funny thing is, I really didn't feel any different without them. The what would Jesus do bracelets would soon be replaced by the next christian money making fad...and we all followed along. If someone were to ask me today what would Jesus do I could give a pretty good answer. See, Jesus would do the same thing I would. Yes, my bracelets might be lost, but not the Spirit of Christ Jesus in me {Galations 2:20}. When I think about it, we all could have saved a ton of money if we simply had realized that we didn't need all that feux jewelry to remind us that Jesus was indeed still with us. I'm thinking that Adam and Eve could have used a few of those reminders, however. For we see in Genesis that they both fell hook, line and sinker for the lie of the enemy. It was satan who planted the idea in their heads that, by eating the forbidden fruit, that they would "be like God." Well, like those millions of Christians and their bracelets, Adam and Eve were already the perfect image of our heavenly Father {Genesis 1:26}. Like Adam and Eve, we also were created in our Fathers image. Why is this important? Because knowledge is power, that's why. For when we come to the realization that we are His very image and that He breathed into us the breath of life, we will know that God is a intimate part of our being {2:7}.
7“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”8Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”9Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
John 14: 7 - 9 NKJV
Thinking back, what I find interesting is that all of those jewelry wearing bible thumpers really believed in their hearts that wearing those bracelets somehow gave them that connection to Christ. I know, I was one of them. When I put on my bracelet I felt empowered, I was doing the work of Jesus! Ironically, if we all had simply realized the truth of Christ in us, that bracelet fad might not have taken off as it did. Not only that, but that we are the IMAGE of Christ who is in us {1 Corinthians 6:19-20}. If we get hung up on the teachings of Christ, we might just miss the point. Yes, I was created in my Fathers image. Yes, He lives in me today. Yes, I (Scott) am the image of Christ who is in me. For those who have never before known Christ, I am the only image of Him they will ever see. All which Jesus is, I am as well. It is Christ who lives THROUGH me. I should never have needed a bracelet to tell me that. Yet, those bracelets were just for show, to proclaim to others who it is we were. To place ourselves on that mountaintop with raised fist shouting "I have Jesus!" As I said, we could have saved all of that money if we had simply known the truth of Christ in us. I thought long and hard about titling this page "The only Jesus they will ever see," but finaly settled on the one you see. When others look upon you, they are looking upon Jesus who is in you as well. We need not, as Philip did, wonder when Jesus will show us the Father. When He created us in His image, the Father was revealed in us.
21“that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22“And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23“I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. 24“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world"
John 17: 21 - 24 NKJV
~Scott~
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