Our Christ-Likeness

The men in ministry who have influenced me the most were men who walked with God and whose lives made me more thirsty for Jesus. Every time I was around Adrian Rogers, I felt I was with Jesus. Every time I was with Stephen Olford, I hungered to have a deeper reality of God.

I believe the Bible speaks clearly on what is expected of us as followers of Christ Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 3 and in verse 17 we read, Now the Lord is that spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. The Lord Christ is here mentioned as the one who gives us liberty, liberty from the penalty of sin, and liberty from the power of sin.

I believe this verse can read, Now where the spirit is Lord, there is liberty. Speaking of his Lordship and our lives as we live in full surrender to him. Surrender to the Lordship of Christ is not a one-time act, but a daily occurrence.

The flesh tries to reassert itself in many areas, but we must stay in an unbroken relationship with our risen Lord. I believe the most neglected doctrine in the church today is the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Few preach it because few live it.

The reality of Christ's presence in our lives is lacking in the majority in our churches today who are merely cheating themselves out of a vital walk with the living Lord. That's the very reason why our young people today have left our churches in droves because they see no reality of God there. The reality of God is missing in the lives of their parents who merely dictate to their children a do-as-I-say mentality rather than a do-as-I-do as the teenagers can see right through it.

But when God comes in revival to a church, it is the teenagers who cannot be dragged away as they long to stay in the presence of God and soak in the reality of a living Christ who gives liberty. I believe the text in 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 18, which follows our text today, is a clear description of what God desires for each of us, and that is our Christ-likeness through the process of sanctification. I want to read us 2 Corinthians 3.18 from the Amplified Bible, which I feel gives an accurate description for our reading today, friends.

As we approach the Word of God, we must come to it with an expectation for transformation. The Word of God must be a living reality in our life. I'll never forget the story related by the saintly F.B. Meyer, who one time was rooming with C.T. Studd.

Meyer wondered why C.T. Studd was so absorbed in his Bible as he kept a dedicated quiet time each morning, and one day he asked the younger man why he pored over a passage for such a long time. Studd looked up from his Bible and replied, I have been asking the Lord Jesus to make this verse a reality in my life. We must ask ourselves, do we ask God to make His Word a reality in our life? Do we lack power and authority in our ministry because we are not seeking transformation from the God of the Word and the Word of God? The Bible is a book about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and as we approach it, we should come with anticipation that God will make the verse we are studying a reality in our life.

The black print on white paper shall soon melt away as we gaze in the face of Christ Jesus in His transforming power. Here now is our verse, And all of us, as with unveiled face, because we continue to behold in the Word of God, as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever-increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another. And this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

This passage speaks of our sanctification by the Spirit of God in making each of us more Christ-like. It is my prayer, friends, that we will earnestly search the Scripture with renewed vitality and with an expectation that God's work will be manifest through our lives by our own Christ-likeness so we can be salt that makes others more thirsty for Jesus.