Like Jesus

What is it to be a Christian?

The word Christian was first used in Antioch, probably not as a compliment

The Disciples were first called Christians there, becasue they were imitating Jesus, the Christ

So, a Christian then, is a Disciple. A Disciple is a follower. In this case a follower of Jesus

We must be “like Him”, that should be our goal and desire as Christians.

Jesus said that He is the way, and the only way

John 14:6 NKJV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Jesus is the living expression of God’s Word - God himself, manifest in the flesh

He is the example of what living the Word looks like, or what living by the Spirit is

Jesus is the standard that all Christians should be striving to resemble

we are told this repeatedly throughout the bible:

Ephesians 4:13 NKJV

13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

Romans 13:14 NKJV

14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

Galatians 3:27–28 NKJV

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

John 20:21 NKJV

21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

How Can We Be Like Jesus?

If we have the instruction, some may ask, what does it mean to be “Like Jesus”, or how do we accomplish that?

This is a good question that every one of us should ask, and seek to answer daily

How can I be more like Jesus today?

Yesterday ended last night

we must grow more like Him today.

If you are not growing more like Him, you can be sure you are growing less like Him

Unfortunately this is the fate of a good many “Christians”, who used to be more like Jesus than they are today.

In order to be Like Jesus, you may first need to stop being like someone else - Namely yourself:

Ephesians 4:22–24 NKJV

22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Put off the old man!

So many voices these days are telling us to just “be yourself”, but you may want to stop and see just who that character is.

if left to chance, or natural selection, that “self” character will be everything evil

the Bible says our own heart is desperately wicked above all things

that there is none righteous

that all have fallen short

If we are going to “put on Jesus”, first you have to put off the old person

Can you imagine me trying to put on my winter boots over my summer sandals?

Put off the old - put on the new

And to be clear, this doesn’t simply mean to be nicer — it means stop sinning

the old man grows corrupt according to “deceitful” lusts

lusts are indeed “deceitful” - it seems so good - until it conceives - then the price!

instead, be renewed by the Spirit of our mind-

Decide, who we want “self” to be

We Need to know what Jesus looks like if we are going to be like Him

If you don’t know what Jesus is truly like, you will make a very poor imitation

and this is a problem for a great many of today’s pseudo Christians

Many people have a shallow, surface idea of who Jesus is, but then fill in all the rest with their own imagination

Reminds me a of a story Zig Ziglar told...

A young man had a very shallow and narrow idea of who he was, and becasue of that, it kept him from recognizing the real person

Many people have such a narrow idea of who Jesus is, that they are completely incapable of actually recognizing Him, or His voice when He speaks to them, or acts in their lives

I have had many people refer to these narrow ideas in criticizing my preaching or other communication- saying Jesus never debated, Jesus never made people angry, Jesus was always nice to people, etc. etc.

Recognize the qualities of being like Him

If we are living like Jesus, the bible says there will be “fruit”, a result from it.

One of the ways we can measure ourselves, is if we are experiencing this result:

Galatians 5:22–23 NKJV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Do we have this love, joy and peace in our hearts?

Are we being patient with others, kind in our communications with others?

Our we “good”, faithful and gentle?

Do we exercise self Control?

all these are results of being like Jesus -

that does not mean that these results, are all there is to being like Him, there is so much more, but when we live like Him, we will tend to see these results in our lives - if not, go back and examine ourselves

Look To The Word To See Who Jesus Is

If you really want to be like Him, you must know what He is like

You find this in the bible - Especially the gospels

If every Christian would just sincerely read the bible for themselves, it absolutely would change their lives -

you may say, yes, I did that - but I mean that we must continue to do that, and continue to change - it is lifelong - and it is wonderful

We must Stop trying to find out what Jesus is like by trying to get some quick bullet points from someone else in a quick jiffy pop devotional -

Find out for your selves- get in the Word

In the Book of Matthew alone we see so many facets of Jesus’ character - and so much depth and breadth in such a wide range of interactions

In Chapter 4 we see Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness - and responding with the Word, and power

we see Him Fasting also, and being ministered to by angels

In the sermon on the mount Jesus gives an amazing synopsis of what it looks like to be a Christian - if you want an instruction manual, here it is.

Then we see Him reach out and touch the leper and heal him - showing compassion and love, and power to heal

We see Him respond to the faith of the Centurion, and Jairus, and the woman with the issue of blood

we see Him healing multitude of sick people, and feeding thousands of hungry people

We see Him resting in the middle of a storm, and then criticizing His disciples because they were afraid - calling on them to have faith instead

In Chapter 8 we also see Him rebuking people for making excuses to postpone following him, saying follow me, and let the dead bury their dead - (vs. 23)

We see Him casting demons out of a maniac and then calling him to be a preacher -

We see Him forgiving people of their sins and healing them, even when it made some people angry

And then we see Jesus debating and disputing with the Pharisees and other religious leaders - those who criticize him for eating with the sinners

special note here, Jesus was eating with the sinners, he was not sinning with the sinners

We see Jesus teaching his disciples, and expounding all things to them - sending them to preach the gospel and heal the sick

are we reproducing

Are we preparing people for the truth - persecutions, hardships, disappointments also?

In chapter 11 we also see Jesus criticizing, and sharply rebuking the people that He did great miracles for - saying they were exalted up to heaven but would be thrust down to hell — because they did not repent -

And then we see Him inviting all who are tired and heavy laden to come to him and receive rest and learn from Him. Saying his yoke is easy, and His burden is light

We see Him teaching with many parables and example,s and endless patience -

We see Him commend and encourage his disciples, like Peter, telling him he would build his church upon this rock

and then, almost immediately we see Him sharply rebuke his disciple, Peter, saying get behind me satan, you are an offence to me!

If you want to be like Jesus, you need to know when to encourage people and when to rebuke them

Whichever one you must do - it must always be in love

but if you only encouraging and never criticize, you will cause people to be comfortable in their sins - and you will yourself become comfortable there - and hell awaits eagerly those who choose that path

we see Jesus reminding people, especially His closest disciples, to deny self - and follow Him

Matthew 16:23–27 NKJV

23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

So, we see Him challenging people, to take up their cross - this is so much different from the narrow idea that so many have of Him

And we see Him persecuted, arrested, and crucified for our sins

Before Pilate, we see Him remain silent, and yet He was not silent when he disputed with the Pharisees, and Scribes

Want to be like Jesus? read the Word and learn which times He would have argued, and when He would have stayed silent - and do likewise

We see Him on the cross - praying Father forgive them, they do not know what they do

And we see Him Rise from the dead - proving His Word and His Power, and calling us to believe, and follow - and teach all nations!

All this is just the surface of Matthew - and there is so much more-

There are so many examples of the depth of Jesus’ Character -

We want to discern - which times would He encourage the crowd, and when would He rebuke them?

If all you ever do is tell people what they want to hear - they may love you very much - but they may love you straight into hell

If all you do is rebuke them, you may very well reject them into hell

And if you hope to get it right, you must do both in a spirit of genuine love - even loving your enemies - be you therefor perfect ---

The Sermon on The Mount - a Handbook for Disciples

Three chapters in Matthew are like a brief handbook for Christian discipleship -

If you must have those quick bullet points on what it looks like to follow Him- you don’t need a selfian devotion version - we have Jesus’ own

This short section is like a brief guide that we can use to help keep us on track as we seek to mimic Him

Here we have his instructions on living this victorious Christian life!

The beatitudes - our state - and outlook

Being salt and light - evangelism- leading others to salvation - making a difference int he world for good

How to behave concerning forgiveness, strife, judgement

concerning adultery, divorce, sin, self control

if you can’t control your hand, cut it off

Concerning communication and oaths, disagreements

Concerning love, and prayer, and our attitude toward those who hate us

Giving and prayer and fasting

Laying up treasures in heaven

worry about this life - or not - treasures in heaven seek first the kingdom

Judging, and hypocrisy,

remaining faithful - ask, seek, knock - perseverance

staying on the straight path - the wide and narrow gate - the many who will perish - I never knew you

the wise and foolish builders

Study The Person You Want To Be Like

When and actor is going to play a part, they study that person as much as they possible can -

That is how we must go about being like Jesus -

If you know Him for yourself, then you will know whether or not you are like Him

You yourself know whether Christ is in you- or if you have become reprobate

You yourself know whether or not you are like Him - If you know Him

I can know Him, but I cannot know Him for you.

Do you know Him?

Will you be like Him?