Created to Become Like Christ

Purpose Driven Life Pt. 4- Discipleship

May 23, 2004

 

Today we look at the third purpose that God put you on this planet for, and we find it in Romans 8:29.  Look there on your outline, “For from the very beginning God decided that those who came to Him – and He knew who would – should become like His Son”.  Now God’s plan has always been to make you like Jesus Christ, to make human beings like Himself.  Now, don’t get me wrong, let me be clear, He’s not saying you’re going to be a god.  You will never be a god.  I mean your wife may think you’re a god, but you’ll never be a god.  But God wants you to develop His character, the way He thinks, the way He acts, the way He feels, His values, His moral character.  He wants you to become godly.

 

Look at the next verse, Eph. 4:15, read it with me aloud, “God wants us to grow up…like Christ in everything”.  You know, babies are cute, but if babies stay babies, it’s tragic.  God wants us to mature and develop.  So would you write this down, my third purpose in life is to become like Christ. 

This doesn’t happen overnight.  It’s not like one day all the sudden – ZAP – you’re just like Jesus, even if you change your name to his.  It’s a process.  It’s going to take the rest of your life for God to build the qualities of Jesus Christ in you. 

 

How does God make me like Jesus Christ?  Well, there’s a couple ways we know right-off-the-bat.  We know He uses the Bible.  If you really want to grow up spiritually, you need to read it and study it and memorize it and meditate on it and apply it in your life.  Now the other thing God uses is He uses people, and that’s why last week we talked about fellowship. And the more you get with other Christians, the more spiritually mature you’re going to become as you grow. 

 

But, God uses more than just those two things.  He uses more than the Bible and fellowship.  Look at this next verse, Romans 8:28, “In all things God works for the good for those who love Him, who have been called according to His purposes”.  God works all things for good to make us like Jesus.  Does that include bad things?  Painful things?  Yes, it does.  In all things God works for the good of those who love Him.  It doesn’t say all things are good because there’s a lot of bad in the world, but in all things God uses it to make me like Christ. 

 

Write this down, God uses trouble to teach us to trust Him.  Now in the Bible this word “trouble” is often called “trials”, and “trials” are situations designed by God to draw us closer to Him.  They’re not designed to hurt us; they’re designed to help us.  If things always go great in your life, it doesn’t take any faith, it doesn’t take any character.  Some things in our life stretch us, cause us to grow, and these are called troubles or trials.  God wants to build character in you.  Look at the first verse, Romans 5:3-4 “…trouble produces patience, and patience produces character, and character produces hope”. 

But hear me out: God does not cause situations of grief and pain—these are just part of life in a fallen world.  But God brings us other situations in order to help us to grow.

Would you write this down in your outline…every problem has a purpose.  And what is that purpose?  It’s to make me like Jesus Christ, to build character in my life. 

 

Now let me give you a couple of helpful things that will help you along when you go through troubles.  Number one, keep a spiritual journal.  God told Moses to do this when they spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness.  In Numbers 33:2 it says, “At the Lord’s direction, Moses kept a written record of their progress”.  Now when I say keep a spiritual journal, I’m not talking about a diary.   The difference between a diary and a journal is that a diary is a recording of the events in your life.  A journal is a recording of the lessons and insights learned in your life.  That’s the difference.  “What did I learn today?”  What you learn today is something worth looking back on and passing on. 

You can pass on the lessons that you’ve learned and others can learn from your experiences.  Keep a journal when you’re going through troubles.  I highly recommend it. 

 

And number two - remember the reward.  In eternity God is going to reward your character development.  The Bible says this “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2Cor. 4:17).  Paul says, “You know what, what we’re going through isn’t going to last, and even if it lasted a lifetime, that’s nothing compared to eternity.”  I love this verse in the Message paraphrased.  It says this, “These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times and the lavish celebration prepared for us.” 

 

There is a second surprising way that God works in our lives to make us look more like Jesus.  He uses our temptations.  God uses our temptations to teach us to obey Him.  Now, temptations are situations designed by Satan and they’re intended to harm us.  That’s what temptations are.  God never tempts us to do evil.  The Bible is very clear about that.  But God is able to use Satan’s temptations for good in our lives because temptation always provides a choice.  And when I choose for God rather than choosing for Satan, Satan’s plan is ruined and I start to grow in my life.  Choices are needed to develop character in our lives. 

 

Jesus faced temptations, but He never sinned.  Right after He was baptized at the very beginning of his public ministry, He went through an intense 40-day period of temptation out in the desert.  Look at what the Bible has to say in Mat. 4:1, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil”.  Now, if Jesus faced temptations, guess what?  You and I are going to face temptations, too. 

 

The Bible says we’re all tempted in the same common ways.  One of the ways that Satan tricks us is he makes us feel like our temptation is worse than anyone else’s.  We’re sort of like the toddler who thinks they’re the first one to come up with the idea of sticking a green bean up their nose.  The truth is, every one of us faces the same temptation.  And God helps us through them. 

 

Two helps with temptation.  Number one, if you want to make it through the temptations of life we all face, keep focused on good thoughts.  The Bible talks about this in Phil. 4:8 when it says, “Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right”.  Temptation always starts with getting your attention, and when it gets your attention, it gets you. 

You cannot keep the thought of succumbing to a temptation and the thought of obeying God at the same time in your mind.  Once you turn your thoughts and focus on those things that God would have us think about, then all of a sudden you’ve pushed out the temptation. 

 

The second tip is get a spiritual partner.  I know none of us like to talk about our temptations, but one of the ways to defeat them is to be open about them, to bring them out into the light.  Get a spiritual partner, someone who can help you.  The Bible tells us in Eccl. 4:9-10, “You’re better off to have a friend than to be all alone…If you fall, your friend can help you up”.  They’ve faced the same kind of temptation as you.  The best place to look for this spiritual partner is in your group.  

 

Number three - God uses trespasses to teach us to forgive.  Now what in the world are trespasses?  Trespasses are situations caused by other people to hurt us. 

Yes, there are people in life who want to hurt you intentionally, and that’s why the Bible says in the Lord’s Prayer, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”.  Now this is the tough one.  It’s one thing to handle trouble and temptation.  But bearing the hurt of other people is, without a doubt, the most important and the most difficult step in becoming like Jesus Christ because it often involves being criticized, judged, and being hurt physically or emotionally. 

 

Even God’s own Son was hurt and abused.  You see, on the cross Jesus Christ not only carried our sins, He also endured enormous abuse from the people who were right there.  Notice Mat. 27:39-44, it says “The people passing by (looking at Jesus on the cross) shook their heads and hurled insults at Jesus…and the elders made fun of Him…Even the bandits who had been crucified with Him insulted him in the same way”.    And what was His response?  Look at the next verse, “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive these people, because they don’t know what they are doing’”.  In 1 Pet. 2:23 it says this “They called Him every name in the book and He said nothing back.  He suffered in silence, intent to let God set things right”.   What did Jesus do?  He yielded His right to get even.  He responded to evil with good. 

 

We hurt each other intentionally and unintentionally.  You’re going to be hurt often in life.  And if you’re going to become like Christ, you have to learn to forgive. 

 

Here are two little helps for when people harm you intentionally or unintentionally.  Number one, remember that God has forgiven me.  The Bible says “Forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ” (Eph. 4:32).  Number two, remember God is in control.  When you’re being hurt by somebody else, God will use it for good in your life. 

Joseph says in Gen. 50:20, “You meant to hurt me, but God turned your evil into good to save the lives of many people, which is being done”.   

 

God’s third purpose for your life is to make you like Jesus Christ.  And if that’s true, then He’s going to take you through everything Jesus went through. 

That means He’s going to take you through a Gethsemane, an experience of trouble, where you learn to trust His love.  He’s going to take you through a desert, an experience of temptation, where you learn to obey Him and do the right thing.  And He’s going to take you to the cross, a time of trespass, where you learn to forgive.  But there is a promise.  Look at these last verses on your outline.  “We go through exactly what Christ goes through”. Here’s the good news, “But if we go through the hard times with Him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with Him” (Rom. 8:17).

 

Now, I don’t know what you’re going through these days. But I do know how God wants you to respond to it, regardless of what you’re going through.  It’s the last verse on your outline.  This is this week’s memory verse.  Read it with me.  “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus”  (Phil. 2:5).