Perfectpeace

In the last blog, we saw that God wants to conform us to the image of his Son.

Just like our parents rear us from infancy to reach the measure of the stature of Adam, our heavenly Father will rear us to grow unto the measure of fullness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-13
” And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; [12] for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: [13] till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:”

We ought to look more like Jesus in the way we obey the Father, love and  forgive others, in not seeking revenge..the list goes on.

We also saw that it is possible to look like Jesus by grace and work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Just as the Lord promised the Israelites, that he would give them Canaan and fulfilled his promise. He is the one that conforms us to the image of his Son.

During the process of being conformed to Jesus, God will lead us through different scenarios. Some through water, some through fire, some through desert , some through loss, or pain, to some through all, molding us, shaping us and changing us.

The process might not be pleasant, but knowing the end goal should help us increase our confidence in him.

Romans 8:28-29 tells us
”  We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. [29] For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

God uses all the pain, sweat, tears, and suffering to make us look like Jesus.

.A.w Tozer summarized it this way ” If we understand that everything happening to us is to make us more Christ like, it will solve a great deal of anxiety in our lives.”

The God who loves us, who cares for us like the apple of His eye, who is aware when a single hair strand falls from our scalp because he precisely knows the hair count, is our shepherd.

He will only allow events or happenings that help us conform to his Son. So we should take heart in what we are going through, let us keep  to the Word and obey it.

Physical growth is a function of time, but spiritual growth is a function of obedience.

Given the right food, a child grow as time goes by. But spiritual growth does not happen because you have been in the church long enough.

A Christian becomes Christ-like by obeying the Word of God.

Shalom.