The Greek
word used here for “imitators” is ‘mimetes’ which frequently
depicts an actor playing a role. God wants us to mimic him and be filled with His
thoughts, His love, His deeds, and His character. So when we play the part, it is a matter of
God filling us with Himself to accomplish what our desire is setting out to do
which is to be more Christlike in our lives.
“Let the Lord Jesus Christ be as
near to you as the clothes you wear. Then you won’t try to satisfy your selfish
desires.” Romans 13:14 (CEV)
Paul is
saying that we imitate, or as he says in Romans 13:14 “To clothe yourself
with the Lord Jesus Christ…” or in other words put on Christ as you would put
on your clothes and let Him become as intimate to us as the clothes we wear,
that way we have a tangible grasp of the closeness of His presence. This is always the challenge, how do we portray
an invisible God? We do it by His faith,
by reckoning. We present (or
surrender) the vessel (our bodies) and ask God to use it for His
glory, which He does.
As we
surrender our daily walk with Christ back to Him, something marvelous happens,
we experience the love of God. Paul
describes this love as “extravagant”, truthfully it is more than extravagant,
it is overwhelming and without words to express. God’s love embodies all of creation down
to the tiniest molecule, in fact, it is God’s love is so "extravagant" that is the creative force behind
all things.
“God’s Son was before all else, and by him everything is held
together.” Colossians 1:17 (CEV)
The Lord has
been showing me lately that the majority of my Christian walk is about
remembering what has been done by Him in the past, both ancient history and
recent past, so that I always have Him front and center in my mind and trust
Him for my present day. I am not to live
in the past or have the past control my present day, but to utilize the past as
evidence that the Lord will intervene and see me through every situation with victory and
assurance of His presence in this present day.
The glimpse
into the future with the book of Revelation is only a primer for what is to
come and gives us all hope that a great gathering is coming with a victory feast that awaits
us. Our focus must be on the present
as God leads us into the direction He wants for us to go, and prepares us to
become even more like Him as we imitate Him.
It has been
said that in time you become like the one you love, this is evident in older
couples who have been together for many years, they tend to become very similar
in their mannerisms and lifestyle. As
we put on Christ we become like Him as we surrender our minds to Him, we pick
up the His characteristics and mannerisms as we grow in His love, and as we spend more
time with Him.
The
remembering part is knowing that Jesus sacrificed Himself as an offering to God
for us that we might live lives pleasing unto God. Jesus did what was impossible for us to do, He provided access
for us back into our heavenly family from which we originally came from. He surrendered His body to death that we
would not be lost without hope by something we couldn't do. The
sacrifice of Jesus so pleased the Father as an aroma of adoration before Him, that
the sweet savor was received as payment for our transgressions, and forgiveness was
offered to all mankind. Jesus became
our substitution, our propitiation.
Jesus also
became our healing balm or healing fragrance which heals all of our diseases, we
call upon our great physician to heal us and to restore our health when we are
weak. He is able to save us to the
uttermost no matter our condition or malady.
We call upon Jesus to become what He does best, to be our God and live
His life through us.
I would like to close this post with this thought, one verse which summarizes this sentiment:
“God's plan is to make known his
secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all
peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will
share in the glory of God.”
Colossians 1:27 (GNT)
Colossians 1:27 (GNT)
May you
partake in God’s glory in all of the ways He interacts with you moment by
moment, and may you receive His healing fragrance in any area of your life
where you are weak, God is able to demonstrate His love in ways to encourage
and inspire you to wear Christ as you wear your clothing,
And lastly
continue to walk surrendered to the love of Christ, His love will only grow and
develop in your life to make you more Christlike in all that you do.
Be Blessed;
Stephen
Barnett
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