Everything You Need- Week 6, Christlike Character

We are going through this passage in 2 Peter 1, and it shows us that we have been given everything we need for this journey God has us on. All the tools are on our toolbelt. All the supplies are in our backpack.

So we come to this week the tool of “Godliness” or having a Christlike character.

I think we are hesitant to say we are “Godly” because we don’t feel worthy, but he says here that it is one of the things we need to have.

When we are saved, we are forgiven, made pure in God’s sight, given eternal life, but aren’t yet perfect. So we grow… Growing in godliness is a lifelong process.

2 Corinthians 7:1 NKJV

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Sound familiar? It’s similar to what Peter says in the opening…

2 Peter 1:3 NKJV

as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

2 Peter 1:5–6 (NKJV)

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,

Notice that word, godliness God has already given you everything you need for a godly life. There's not anything we can do to get to heaven. We have no good works we can offer to God.

In other words, we don't do things so we can go to heaven. But once God gives us the gift of eternal life, and we're on our way to heaven, and we're saved, and we're believers, the Bible says we should devote our lives to good works. God cares about good works, we just got to get them in the right place. They don't come before the cross, they come after the cross. So, let's just begin here in the right place and ask ourselves the question,

What is godliness?

What is it? And I don't want to try to be too simple, but this is the best answer I know. Godliness is trying to become more like God every day, it's to become more like Christ all the time because Christ is God in the flesh. And I want to tell you that Jesus Christ is the earthly portrait of God. The Bible says it this way in John 1:18

“No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in the closest relationship with the Father, he has made God known". How do I know God? The Bible says I can't see him. The Bible simply says no man has ever seen God and lived. But God has revealed himself to us by sending his own Son, Jesus Christ, who is the second person of the Trinity, God in the flesh. And Jesus Christ came down here because of God's love for us not only to die on the cross, but to live on this earth for all those years he was here and show us how God would live if he were here, because Jesus was God and he was here.

Godliness is Christlikeness, and Christlikeness is Godliness. So, if you want to know what would God do in this situation, you got to ask yourself, what would Jesus Christ do? You study Christ and you find out how God works. Just as Jesus Christ reveals God to us, God has put the responsibility on us to reveal Jesus Christ to others.

We're to be like Christ, that's what it means to be godly, so that others will see God in our lives. Renee Zellweger (movie- Judy) worked hard to become the famed actress and singer Judy Garland. If you've ever watched, "The Wizard of Oz," you'll remember Garland's remarkable voice. And millions of people thought she was as wholesome as apple pie person, because that was the image we were given, but behind the scenes, as you remember, Garland struggled with a lot of problems. The pressure of stardom, and depression, and spiraling addiction to alcohol and drugs, she suffered financial pressures, and she became suicidal. In 1969, she was found dead in the bathroom of a rented house in London at the age of 47. She was a marvelous entertainer, and Renee Zellweger was given the role of Judy Garland. I want to tell you what she did to do that. In preparation for this role, she had to pour all of her energy into transforming herself into the image of Judy Garland. She wrote, "I immersed myself in all things Judy". She read every book she could find about Garland. She took music lessons. She learned choreography. She studied Judy's voice so she could duplicate it. She studied Judy's gestures, her posture, her walk, her speech patterns. She used prosthetics, contact lenses, wigs, costumes. And I'm told that during filming, Zellweger sat in the makeup chair every day for two hours just to transform herself into Judy Garland.

And here's the difference. She has to become Judy Garland from the outside in. The Bible tells me, I can be Jesus Christ from the inside out. Well, we have to immerse ourselves in all things Jesus, right? We have to read all we can about Jesus in the gospels. We have to keep reading his Word throughout our lives. We have to study how we walked, and how he talked, and how he spoke. So, if I want to become like God, I have to study how I can become like Christ. So, godliness literally becomes Christlikeness.

We are going to jump over to Peter’s first letter, There's one paragraph in particular in 1 Peter that has three things I want to share with you about what it means to be like Christ, and what it means to follow him, and what it means to develop this desire for godliness in your life.

I want to read this to you. Don't get lost, I'll come back and we'll unpack it.

1 Peter 2:9–10 (NKJV)

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

1 Peter 2:11–12 (NKJV)

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Now, as we unpack this paragraph, I want to first of all talk about how we examine our own identify before God, and that's where it starts.

I. Examine Your Identity

When you come to Christ, it’s a new beginning, and it changes your very identity. If you're a Christian today, don't ever forget this, God tells you that you are his possession.

A. You are God’s possession.

he starts with “but”- he was talking about those who reject Christ, but you are something else.

he was going back to the Old Testament, these concepts used for the nation of Israel,

“chosen”, and “royal”, “holy” Of all the people on earth, I chose you! my treasured possession! They didn’t feel special- poor, many slaves, suffering

He says you are his own special person. God created you as his own special person. The Bible says, you are not your own, you were bought with a price. He created you. You're unique from everybody else. You have a special purpose. God put you here for this reason. And when you find out what that purpose is, then you can start to really live. But Peter said to them, "No, you are special. You are the most special people on the earth. It isn't the imperial and the elite who are special, it's you. You are God's special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness". You are God's possession. He created you for a purpose. You belong to him. You are very important.

B. You are God’s pilgrim.

Number two, not only are you God's possession, but you're God's pilgrim. Here's what it says in 1 Peter 2:11, "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims". One of Peter's greatest concepts was this idea of being a traveler down here. This wasn't original to him. I mean, this is in the Old Testament several times, where people are called pilgrims. It's not a John Wayne expression. But this means that you and I, we don't really belong here. This is not our home. Our home is in heaven. We're sojourners, that's what it says, we're strangers.

When you realize that, it changes things. Your house isn’t really your home, it’ll be sold one day and remodeled, or torn down. Your beautiful clothes will be in a yard sale one day for a quarter, or at Goodwill. Your prized possessions will be gone.

John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” tells of the character named Christian, who on his journey, is always looking forward to the Celestial City, heaven, and that should be us… A good sign of godliness is increasingly wanting to be where Jesus is.

C. You are God’s platform.

Here's the third thing that will help you as you journey toward godliness, you are God's platform. It says here that what God gives us so that we may proclaim the praises of him who called us out of darkness into marvelous light. While we're going through this world as we are, while we're pilgrimaging our way to heaven, our purpose is that we're to be testimonies to God. We're to be witnesses to him. In missions, there are places in the world where you can’t officially live as a “missionary.” So missions groups have to find ways for their missionaries to live there, like being a teacher or a business man, or a doctor, that is called their “platform.” It’s a good picture of this- God gives us ways to stand on the platform and proclaim his love for the world. God has given us that platform, to use for his glory.

It means that our whole life is to be a testimony to who the Lord Jesus Christ is. we can pray, "Lord Jesus, help me to bring your influence into every situation where I go today. May there be something of Jesus in this situation". 1 Peter, he says, "Have your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God". Our hands and our feet become the platform or the pulpit by which God is able to speak to our world. When we grow in godliness, people begin to see Jesus in us. And that's the purpose of this character building quality that we're given in 2 Peter chapter 1. "Add to your faith virtue. Add to your virtue knowledge. Add to your knowledge self-control. Add to your self-control perseverance. And add to your perseverance godliness, Christlikeness".

Now, that's who we are, that's why we should be this way. So, let's take the final step in this little package. Let's go from examining our identity to expressing it.

II. Expressing Your Identity

How do we use this identity? It’s not enough to just examine and know who we are. We have to express it. Here are three ways:

A. Godliness is about ownership- live like you belong.

First of all, godliness is about ownership. Live like you belong. You belong to Jesus, you belong to God. It makes you think twice about things you do when you recognize that.

Have you ever as a child remember your parents saying, "Now remember when you go out, whose children you are," you know? Poor preacher’s kids! When you realize that you're God's special possession, you want to do the right thing. You want to be the right person. It's a great motivation to Christlikeness. I belong to God. I want to live in such a way that brings honor to his name. I don't want to soil the name of God, because I'm one of his children, and I'm acting like I don't know who is. So, the Bible constantly reminds us of that.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 NKJV

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Romans 14:8 NKJV

For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

B. Godliness is about citizenship- keep your eyes on heaven.

Number two, godliness is about citizenship.

Keep your eyes on heaven. Keep your watch on heaven's time.

(my watch has two times- where I am, and home time.) Don’t lose track of home. Our citizenship is in heaven.

Keep your eyes on heaven. Don't always be looking at the things of the earth. As you diligently add godliness to your life by remembering who you are, you have to keep heaven in mind, God's special place. The closer we get to heaven, the more we should reflect its character. Here's the essence of the principle again. You become like the place you most want to go, and you became like the person you most want to see.

In the last chapter we have from Peter’s pen, he says

2 Peter 3:10–11 NKJV

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

Someone asked a missionary named J. Robertson McQuilken, “why does God let us get old and weak?”

He said- “I think God planned the strength and beauty of youth to be physical. But the strength and beauty of old age is spiritual. We gradually lose the strength and beauty that is temporary so we will concentrate on the strength and beauty that is forever. So we will be eager to leave the temporary, deteriorating part of us, and be truly homesick for our eternal home. If we stayed young and strong and beautiful, we might never want to leave.”

C. Godliness is about stewardship, carry out your assignment.

And here's the third one, And godliness is about stewardship. That's not money, it means carry out your assignment.

A steward represents the owner. He carries out the wishes of the owner, or the assignment. What assignment did your owner give you?

Peter said again, "Have your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, so that when they speak against you, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation". So, what I'm saying to you is this. The Bible says if we live our lives in the culture where God has called us, if we live our lives in such a way that we are uniquely different than anybody around us because we love people, we care about them, we reach out to them, we call them by their name when they're hurting, we go when nobody else will, when we do those kind of things, when we live our lives like that with that kind of conduct, the Bible says when they come after us, or they want to say bad things about us, they can't really do it because you've done so many good things to help them that they just... there's no way they can climb over it. If people are going to criticize us, let them climb over our love for them, and our love and good works for them. So ADD godliness, that Christlike Character…

What does it mean to be godly? It means first of all to know who you are. You belong to God, you are his special person. Number two, it means that you're a pilgrim, you're not here forever. You're here only for the short time God has let you be on this planet. While you're here as a pilgrim, honor him and be his platform to sing praises to his name, and by your good works to honor him in your life.