I’m always a little caught off guard when people comment about family resemblance. They say things like, "‘you look so much you’re your brother, or dad." Or "that is so much like your mother". "You blow your nose like your dad"
In a similar way, the Bible speaks about how God, God wants his spiritual children – all those who have put their faith in Christ and have been born again –to bear the family resemblance, likeness à that family likeness is to become more and more like Christ.
God’s plan and purpose for you who have received him, is to become like Christ – in other words to have more and more have his values, his attitudes, his character.
I’ll look at v.28 a bit later. But for now, let’s look at v.29. "Foreknowledge" = the idea that God knows all things even before they happen.
Analogy: High tower: Imagine a high tower overlooking a long street parade. The one at the top of the tower can see the whole parade from beginning to end. In a similar way God is the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity. He is outside of space and time. He sees all of human history from his view. He knows those who will accept him and those who will reject him even before it happens.
The word "Predestined" is another important word. This word is misused a lot in Christian circles. It comes from the Greek word ‘prooridzo’ and is used 4 times in the NT (Rom. 8:29,30; Eph.1:5,11) Every time it is used in the NT it refers to the destiny of those who are ‘in Christ’ those who are saved. Here in v.29 the Bible says that that the destiny for those who belong to him is a destiny to become like Christ. A person is predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. Some Bible teachers say that there are some who are predestined to go to heaven and others are predestined to go to hell. But I don’t see this kind of language here or in the other passages of the bible that mention predestination.
What are we predestined for – to be adopted as his sons. And what is the Bible mean when by the idea of "adoption"? It isn’t referring to our conversion, to being saved, "adoption" is defined in
To be adopted as God’s sons is something that every Christian is still waiting for. It is the redemption of our bodies. It is the day that we receive a resurrected body, uncorrupted by sin. And so, predestination, is predestination for all that. We are predestined to become like Christ. That will ultimately be experienced only when we are given a new body at the resurrection of the righteous. Predestination, in the words of commentator Vernon McGee means that "when God saves you, He is going to see you through". He’s got a final destiny marked out for you and he will make sure it happens. So, according to Romans 8:29, those who love and belong to him, God first of all knows who they are and will be (those he foreknew), and secondly, God has pre-determined that their destiny is to become like Christ.
Becoming like Christ doesn’t mean losing our personality and becoming a mindless clone. After all God created our uniqueness, so he doesn’t want to destroy it. Christlikeness is about a change in our character, not our personality. Becoming like Christ is one of the major purposes of our lives. For all who have trusted in Christ for salvation, you were created to become like Christ.
HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?
Primarily, it is the Holy Spirit’s job to produce Christ-like character in us. That is what the Scriptures teach. Turn with me to:
This verse talks about how it is the Lord’s likeness (i.o.w = Son) that we are being transformed into, and this happens as a result of the Lord who is Spirit – i.o.w = the holy Spirit. The process of the Holy Spirit changing us to become more and more like Jesus is called sanctification. Sanctification is God’s part of the work. Our part of the work to becoming more like Christ is called discipleship. It is like the other side to the same coin. On one side there is sanctification (God’s part in the job of transforming us), and on the other side there is discipleship (our part in the process of becoming like Christ.).
These two things work together. Turn with me to:
This verse shows the two parts of spiritual growth: "work out" and "work in". The "work out" is our responsibility and the "work in" is God’s role. This verse is not about how to be saved, but how to grow. It does not say, "work for" your salvation, because you can’t add anything to what Jesus already did. It says "work out" your salvation with fear and trembling. In other words, we are to take our spiritual growth seriously, approach it reverently. We are not to be casual and blasee about discipleship. On the other hand, we are to be assured that God is working in us all the time in order that we might grow up spiritually.
Two Questions I want to ask:
1. WORD
God transforms us by his truth. Jesus prayed
Quote: Rick Warren in The Purpose Driven Life says, "The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make us like the Son of God."
By God’s Word I mean everything contained in the 66 books of the Bible. God’s Word is unlike any other word/s.
God’s word is the first tool that the Holy Spirit uses to help us grow up into spiritual maturity. We cannot become more like Christ without the Word of God. It is just as important, if not more, that our daily food we eat. "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." Job said:
God’s Word is the nourishment we must have to fulfill this third purpose of our lives. Just like a healthy diet can transform our bodies, the steady diet of God’s word can transform us and make us more like Christ. The opposite is true of course. Not feeding ourselves with God’s word is a sure way to be spiritually stagnant. Just like a bad diet can deteriorate our bodies. This concept was put to the test last year in a documentary film that hit the theatres.
Illustration: Supersize me movie – In 2004 a movie called Super Size Me hit the theatres. Director, Morgan Spurlock, plays the subject of his own documentary. He had the bright idea that he would eat at McDonalds three meals a day for a month and see what happens. The outcome is not a pretty picture. Within a few days he is vomiting. His body deteriorates and even surprises his doctors. He gains weight, his liver becomes toxic, his cholesterol skyrockets, he gets headaches, and even becomes clinically depressed.
D.L Moody once said, "The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge. It was given to change lives."
Question: Is Reading the Bible a part of your daily routine?
2. TROUBLES
A second thing God uses to transform us into the likeness of Christ is our troubles. I want to say upfront, that God does not think up ways to make us suffer by bringing troubles on us. However, because we live in a fallen and sinful world all of us will face troubles and trials. However God does have a purpose behind every problem. He wants to use the trouble and problems we face to develop our character and our faith – to mold us to become more like Jesus. Joseph, after his brothers bullied him, beat him, nearly killed him, then sold him as a slave, then after spending nearly 12 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Joseph could say to his brothers:
If you’re facing troubles right now, don’t ask, "why me? , instead ask, "What do you want me to learn?"
Question: Are you asking God what he wants you to learn from your troubles?
Story: Joni Eareckson Tada – paralyzed diving into a lake – instant quadrapalegic. She said, (Quote): "When life is rosy, we may slide by with knowing about Jesus, with Imitating him and quoting him and speaking of him. But only in suffering will we know Jesus."
3. TEMPTATION
A third way that God can transform us is through the process of facing temptation. God does not tempt us.
But every temptation is an opportunity to go good. On the path to growing spiritually, even temptation becomes a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block when you realize that temptation is just as much an occasion to do the right thing as it is to do the wrong thing. Temptation simply provides the choice. While temptation is Satan’s primary weapon to destroy you, God wants to use it to grow and develop you. Every time we chose to do good instead of to sin, we grow and become more Christ-like.
Moses saw his temptations as opportunities to identify with the Lord and show his love and loyalty for God. He was looking ahead to his eternal reward not getting caught up in the momentary pleasures that sin offered him.
Question: Do you see temptation as opportunities to choose Christ?
Remember, there is always a way out.
4. PEOPLE
A fourth tool that the Holy Spirit uses to sanctify us is people. Many Christians think that all that is needed for spiritual growth is Bible study and prayer. But some issues in our life will never be changed by Bible study and prayer alone. God uses people. In many religions, the people considered to be the most spiritually mature and holy are those who isolate themselves from others in the dessert, or in monasteries. But this is a misunderstanding of what it means to be spiritual. According to the Bible, growing spiritually happens as we rub shoulders with other people. We need to be around people, to serve along side other people, to reach out to other people. Why? Because spiritual maturity involves learning to be like Jesus and learning to love others like Jesus commanded. And we can’t practice loving others unless we have relationships and friendships with other people.
God uses our relationships with people in the body of Christ to grow in us the qualities of Christ
Next time you find yourself losing patience with someone in the church, or finding it hard to deal with someone, ask the Lord:
Question: "What do you want to teach me through this person?"
Cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s work inside of you.
Please turn with me to:
Verse 18 compares drunkenness with being spirit-filled. What is the main idea here? It is the idea of control. What do a drunken person and a Spirit-filled person have in common? Both are controlled people. The drunk is controlled by alcohol in that moment, and the Spirit filled person is controlled by the Spirit. Under the influence of alcohol a person thinks and acts in ways that are unnatural to him. Similarly, a Christian who is controlled by the Spirit thinks and acts in ways that are unnatural to him. This doesn’t mean his life will be erratic and abnormal, but it means instead that he will not be living a life which is controlled by his natural old sinful nature, but will instead be controlled by the Holy Spirit.
Aside: Difference b/w Baptism of Holy Spirit vs. Filling of the Holy Spirit
|
BAPTISM (1 Cor. 12:13) |
FILLING (Eph. 5:18; Acts 4:31) |
|
Occurs once in each believer’s life |
A repeated experience |
|
True of all believers |
Not necessarily experienced by all believers |
|
Cannot be undone |
Can be lost |
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Results in a position |
Results in power |
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No prerequisite except faith in Christ |
Depends on yieldedness |
So, how is someone filled with the Holy Spirit?
The way to be filled with the holy Spirit is to yield to the holy spirit.
Illustration: yield traffic sign– means to let traffic have the right of way before you.
Yielding is the key to spiritual growth. Since the holy Spirit doesn’t force his control on our lives, we must yield to his control and that will result in being filled with or controlled by the spirit. So, to be spirit-filled is to be spirit-controlled. All Christians are baptized by the Holy Spirit, but not all Christians are automatically filled with the Holy Spirit. If they were Paul wouldn’t have needed to give the command to "Be filled with the Holy Spirit". But because he give that command, it implies that there is something we must do to cooperate with God’s work in us. We must yield, we must refuse to let our sinful nature control us. When we obey the Lord, then the fruit of the spirit will be displayed in our life – which leads to Christ-likeness.
What we see in the Bible is that the Holy Spirit often releases his power in us at the moment that we take a step of faith. In the OT, when Joshua and the Israelites were faced with the impassible barrier of the Jordan river, the river only parted in the middle after the leaders stepped into the rushing current in obedience and faith. (Joshua 3:13). Or, in the NT (Acts 4:8), the power of the holy Spirit’s filling was only released as Peter opened his mouth to speak and share the gospel. We are not to wait until we feel the spirit or until we feel strong. We are to step out in faith despite our fears and weakness, doing the right thing, obeying. This is how we cooperate with the holy Spirit. We don’t sit around waiting for ourselves to be suddenly filled with the Holy Spirit. As we act in obedience to God, we will become filled with the Holy Spirit – becoming more like Christ.
God’s plan for you as a believer is to become like Christ – to grow up spiritually. Everyone throughout the course of life grows, but not everyone grows up. Maybe you’ve met someone like this who is an adult but never really grown up. God wants us to grow up spiritually – to become like his son Jesus Christ.
What things does God use to help us grow to become like Christ?
What things must we do to grow spiritually to become like Christ?
* Cooperate with the Holy Spirit.
Bible Gateway which has several translations and many languages from which you can choose
or Crosswalk's Bible Study Tools which has many English translations, including the NKJV.
Peoples Church of Montreal
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