Becoming In The Image of Jesus Christ

Let this mind be in you 

which was in Christ Jesus,

who, being in the form of God,

did not consider it robbery 

to be equal with God,

but made Himself of no reputation,

taking the form of a bondservant,

and coming in the likeness of men.

And being found in appearance

as a man, He humbled Himself

and became obedient to the point

of death, even the death of the cross. 

Philippians 2:5-8

      Before I begin this blog and return to writing this blog to aid others to grow in grace and love, to convert to the Lord Jesus Christ and expand their relationship with and to Him, I will relate how sorry I am for the delay in writing this blog, albeit, my previous internet provider no longer serves this area and it took much time to get another one up and running which finally took place yesterday. So, I am back and pleased to write some thoughts on Scripture to help us all to live as an Authentic Christian with Authentic Christian Faith. 

     Paul in writing to the Philippian Church sent to them instructions in regards to Christian unity. The word, ecumenism, or ecumenical is often misused or in the least misunderstood. This term, in general applies to promoting or fostering Christian unity. This unity has as its foundation the Gospel and not just simply acceptance, especially when other practices and beliefs are in contradiction to the plain word of God. The unity Paul is referring to is a person's unity with Jesus Christ and to have that unity is to become an image of Jesus Christ. In the previous verses Paul instructs as to what it means to be a Christian and the final and important point is: "Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others" (vs. 4). Now, Paul continues to expand this thought: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (vs. 5). Question: What did Paul mean: the mind of Jesus Christ? This first must be understood: Jesus Christ has always, before time, existed for He is God, yes, the Second Person of the Godhead, the Trinity, and is called the Wisdom of God, "...Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1Corinthians 1:24b), not a separate god as some teach, or believe, rather God Himself. God determined to have His justice satisfied and the only way this was to be possible is for Him to pay the debt owed to Him that no creation could pay by paying to Himself what was needed to satisfy this debt. Therefore, God who created from nothing all things that exist simply could also send His Wisdom to earth to become a man, to live as a man, to die as a man, only to live and die sinless, as was Adam before He sinned but fell into sin corrupted in his desire and not to deny himself of the pleasure he found in Eve. Satan attempted to cause him to fail and this he did, but not Jesus. Satan tempted Him, this life threw at Him all the circumstances that we all face, and this He did by not falling into sin: therefore He as the Son of God, the only other being ever to be made by God met all the requirement to pay this debt. Jesus Christ pre-incarnate without reservation who was in the form of God, this was due to Him being God, did not "esteemed," that is, did not consider His becoming man not worthy to be done, rather He "esteemed" this act as a great thing to be done, therefore God, the Father, as He is now to be for He sent forth His Wisdom to become a Son, and from His spiritual essence or form Jesus Christ took on the form of a man. Not in some abstract way, rather in actuality. To become a man would be in some sense a lowering of Himself as all creation is lower than the Creator to be avoided, no, He did not take this lowering into account as something bad. Without God sending forth His Son, His Only Begotten Son to earth to become a man then His justice could never be satisfied. Jesus Christ came to serve, and this is by being a bondservant, and this is to do this work He came to do without any wages paid to Him, freely He became a surety for others. This coming to earth to be man was a humbling thing for God to do and this He did even to die on the cross. By His death, resurrection and ascension into heaven that surety is eternal, never to be repeated, always accepted by the Father and His justice satisfied. With the justice of God satisfied then He is free to give to whomever He so wills to give it, salvation. So great a thing that God has done! 

     How does this apply to us now, in the present age? As Authentic Christians we not only look out for others, as did Jesus Christ, but we take on the mind of Jesus Christ and become a bondservant of God, to do His will, to serve His cause. We are to put aside our right to ourselves and to grow in the image of the One who has come to save man and to restore the will of God for His reason to create. The question that must be answered by anyone so desiring to be an Authentic Christian is: "Will I place in the highest priority of my life to live for and as Jesus Christ?" This question and its answer will determine the actuality of your Christian Faith, is it Authentic, or is it simply self-aggrandizement? 

 People shall be brought down,

     each man shall be humbled,

and the eyes of hte lofty shall be humbled.

     But the LORD of hosts shall be 

exalted in judgment, and God who is holy

     shall be hallowed in righteousness.

               Isaiah 5:15-16

Serve the Lord in gladness

Richard L. Crumb