On Becoming More Christlike

We can speak of becoming Christlike as the process by which believers are conformed to the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. This likeness is especially in relation to obedience to and trust in God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the beloved Son of God, who is set before us as a model of the form of the redeemed life. I believe that every Christian should have the desire to become more like Christ. I also believe that we are encouraged to strive for this because it is God’s desire for us. In the letter to the Romans, we read:

For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that He might be the firstborn within a large family (Romans 8:29).

It Is Our Security

This glorious passage reiterates our eternal security and assures us that we shall surely arrive at the pinnacle of God’s promises to us. It confirms that we did not merely stumble into this relationship that we have with God. It is St. Paul’s way of comforting us in our waiting and sufferings as we ever so yearn to be with God, and to be glorified by God. This is why he describes believers as those who are called according to God’s purpose.

St. Paul makes the claim that our calling to serve God’s purpose goes way back to before.  He states that God foreknew those who are now brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus Christ because they have become the children of God by faith in the Lord Jesus. In other words, that God knew each Christian before we knew Him. With this as the starting point, the Lord God predestined us to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. In a sense, it was determined, appointed and ordained in advance for those who believe in the Lord Jesus. How amazing it is to discover that God already decreed that the essential nature and character of every believer would be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, into the perfect qualities and distinctive beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. St. Paul says it so plainly, that:

He chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him (Ephesians 1:4).

It is this omniscient God’s ultimate purpose in every Christian that we are to be conformed into the likeness of His well-beloved Son. Our entry into the Family of God was scheduled long before any of us were ever born. This same God certainly knows about the trials and sufferings that we face, and even what lies ahead of us. This gives us great comfort as we continue waiting to be with Him forever. We have the disclosure that our old sin nature will die to self and that our new life in Christ Jesus will be changed into the very likeness of Jesus in His humanity. There is no way God would save anyone and then not turn them into the likeness of His Son in one way or another. That is why for us, to live is Christ and to die is gain ( Philippians 1:21).

It Is All God’s Work

We must take note of the fact that the process of becoming more like Christ is God’s work. And as St. Paul puts it, He promises to see it through to the end.

I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus – Philippians 1:6 (NABRE).

St. Paul expresses his confidence not only in our perseverance, but also in our sanctification through the process by which we are made like Christ. Admittedly, the final touches will be put on at the end of time ( 1 John 3: 2); but we are not to wait around unchanged until that happens. The faithful Christian must see Christ as the end-goal and seek to grow in godliness until their end comes (by death or the Parousia).

We acknowledge that God saved us by His great mercy and because of His great love for us. It is because of Him that we were born again ( 1 Peter 1:3) and made into a new creation ( 2 Corinthians 5:17). We trust that He will not leave us now on our own, but has a plan to sanctify us ( Ephesians 1:14). We understand that God will make us holy. It is He who will do in our flesh that what He has done in our spirit. This is because those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified (Romans 8: 30 – NRSVCE). Nonetheless, we cannot afford to sit back lazing around in the hope of being carried freely into heaven.

Things to Do

The Lord God refashions believers in the image of His Son through the Holy Spirit. This process demands our willing cooperation with the Holy Spirit. Becoming more Christlike requires both divine power and the fulfilment of human responsibility. We have a duty to perform and we may start with a to-do list that includes:

• Surrender to God.

According to St. Paul, our worship should involve a total self-dedication to God:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world,  but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect. ( Romans 12:1-2, NRSVCE)

Paul urges us to voluntarily present our bodies in which we have not allowed sin to reign to the extent that we obey its lusts ( Romans 6:12). The body and spirit are both important and sacred. They are both essential to human life and compatible with Christian discipleship and our relationship to God. When we choose to follow the Lord Jesus, we must do so freely. Then we must focus more on Him and allow Him to become greater in us, as we become lesser by losing ourselves in His will ( John 3:30, NIV).

• Freedom from Sin.

We know that the Lord Jesus lived a sinless life. As St. Paul teaches us, sin can no longer be our master as we are more clearly identified with Christ ( Romans 6:1-14, NRSVCE). He argues that we shall not continue in sin in order for grace to abound. The short of it is that we already died to sin, and cannot go on living in it. Furthermore, being baptized into Christ Jesus was a baptism into His death. And being buried with Him by the baptism into death guarantees us of being raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so that we too might walk in the newness of life. For it is by being united with Him in a death like His that we are made certain to be united with Him in a resurrection like His. This is why we also must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

We no longer present our body and mind to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present ourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life. We can now present our body and mind to God as instruments of righteousness because sin will have no dominion over us and we are not under law but under grace. When it comes to restraining sin in our lives, we need not worry for we have divine help. We have the Word of God which we treasure in our hearts ( Psalm 119:11). We have the constant intercession of Christ which cushions us from condemnation ( Romans 8:34 & Hebrews 7:25). We have the power of the Holy Spirit in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28a).

• Growth in Discipleship

When we first come into this relationship with God, we are immature in wisdom and knowledge and inexperienced in grace and love. But then we soon grow and in each of these things we are charged to become stronger and more Christlike. St. Peter commends that we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). St. Paul prays that the Lord may make us increase and abound in love for one another and for all people (1 Thessalonians 3:12). The Lord Jesus invites us to follow Him, and gives us His example of obedience (John 15:10), sacrificial love (John 15:12-13), and patient suffering (1 Peter 2:19-23). We are lucky to also have the example of the apostles who patterned after Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).

The Motivation

We rest in confidence that right now the Lord God works in us. This work continues in the experience of believers. The veil (of sin) between God and us is removed only when we come to Him through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Like Moses, we reflect the Lord’s glory albeit with our faces unveiled. And in each moment, we continue being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord ( 2 Corinthians 3:18). We are guaranteed that one day the process will be complete. We are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. However, in that day when He is revealed, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. We have this promise being fully Christlike in the future, which is in itself the motivation for becoming more Christlike now. And all who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure (1 John 3:2-3).

How Can We Demonstrate Being Christlike?

We must have a total commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. Taking the cue from Luke 9:57-62, following Jesus must be the most important thing in our life. The word “but” should be excluded from our response to the Call. We may demonstrate our Christlike nature in the following ways:

• In costly sacrifice that involves a self-denial (Mark 8:34-35)
• In humility and service (Matthew 20:26-28)
• In love for other believers (John 15:12)
• In a readiness to bear and forgive one another (Colossians 3:13)
• In sharing the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 20:21)
• By following godly examples that imitate Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:5-6)
• In knowing that Christlikeness is part of God’s re-creation ( Genesis 1:27 & Colossians 3:10-11)

Take Home

Throughout His life, the Lord Jesus depended entirely upon the Father so that His entire character was a perfect reflection and image of the Father. In like manner we have been predestined to become in every essential characteristic, just like Christ. We must willingly submit to the work of the Holy Spirit. Thus, we pray that He searches every aspect of our life and rids us of every trait that does not reflect the beauty of Jesus. We praise His holy name and thank Him for foreordaining this amazing transformation into His glorious likeness.

Become Christlike

Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere I go;
Flood my soul with your spirit and life;
Penetrate and possess my whole being so completely, that all my life may be only a radiance of yours;
Shine through me and be so in me, that everyone with whom I come into contact may feel your presence within me.
Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus.
Amen( John Henry Cardinal Newman).