Friday, July 3, 2020

Imitation Without Realization



Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we known that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
1 John 3: 2 NKJV

Have you ever tried to "be like" someone?  Suppose that you met someone you admired so much that you made it your mission to be like him in all that you did.  However, despite all of your efforts, did it make you the same as he was?  Probably not.  In my young adult years, one of my main desires was that I would never be the man that my own father was.  For my fathers own alcoholism and infidelity had left me with too many bad memories.  For all of my efforts so far, I will never succeed in removing my dads influence from me.  I may not have turned out the way that he did, but part of my father still lives in me.  I am not simply just like him...I am him in a matter of speaking.  See, heredity does not simply go away because we don't like the results.  Now, think about someone else who was also convinced that he could be like someone if he tried hard enough.  Adam and Eve were convinced by the lie of Satan that taking of the forbidden fruit would ensure that they would indeed "Be like God" {Genesis 3:5}.  To understand this and frame it as another lie of Satan we need to look at Adam and Eves condition before they ate of the fruit.  Was Adam somehow separate from God before that fateful day?  No.  When we look into Gods creation of man, we see His fingerprints all over our being.  It is God who formed Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed into Him the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  It is God who, realizing that His creation should not be alone, created from Adam a helper "comparable" to him {Genesis 2:21-22}.  We see that Adam, having the Lords presence in Him, was also instrumental in Eves creation.  She is called woman as she was "Taken out of man" {Genesis 2:23}.  The point is, Adam and Eve were living their best life before giving in to the lie of the enemy.  We're told that they communed with the Lord daily in the garden.  At this point, Adam had no need to be like God...Adam WAS all which God is.  Just as I have my own father in me, so it was with Adam.  Now, did Adam know that He was already like God?  I don't believe that he did, as this life he was living was all he had ever known.  He knew nothing else but living in union with God.

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me"
Galatians 2: 20 NKJV

Knowing the truth of our Lords creation in relation to the garden, we can see for ourselves the crippling lie of Satan that we can somehow "Be like God."  Folks, we will never simply be like God...we ARE Him.  One of the clearest examples of this are the words of the apostle Paul in Galatians.  Paul tells us that it is not we ourselves who live, but Christ Jesus who lives in us {Galatians 2:20}.  If Jesus lives in us, then God lives in us {John 14:9}.  The trouble through most of the history of the Christian church is that simply being like God has become a goal to shoot for in our life with Him.  If we act right, if we do things in a Christian way, if we are humble...then we can be like God.  Does God desire us to simply "be like" Him?  Or, does He desire a deeper connection with His children.  I believe that we find that answer in the prayer of Jesus in the garden.  It is here where Jesus speaks of our union with He and the Father.  That we may be one "Just as We are one" {John 17:22}.  It is the desire of Christ that we would share in the union which He and the Father share.  This is not simply being like God, this is living in the realization that Christ is in us.  This is living in the knowledge that we live as Jesus (God).  I do not claim to be an expert as to why the institutional church speaks to lie of our separation with the Lord.  However, I know that I do not agree with what they've been selling for thousands of years.  To promote that all we can ever hope for is to imitate God promotes a false relationship with the Lord.  God has never desired that we perform to win His approval.  It was never God who instilled in us the thought that we are separate from Him.  However, is has always been Gods desire for us to live in union with Himself.

"And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  "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.  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: 22 - 24 NKJV

~Scott~

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