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Bible Bite: Love and Serve Like Jesus
It seems as though the significance of the moniker we wear as the body of Christ is lost on many in the church today. When we tell someone we are a Christian, we are not informing them of our religious affiliation nor are we identifying ourselves with an organization. When we say we are a Christian we are saying we are “like Christ”, for this is the very definition of the term.
Now before we wander into despair as we think about what we are like and what Christ is like, or before we lapse into the unbiblical thinking that Christians can and should arrive at a state of moral perfection in this life, we need to remember this:
Philippians 1:6
Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
This gives us the duration of the task of making us “like Christ” which will last until we meet Jesus.
1 John 3:2
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
There is an old saying that; “If you aim at nothing, you are sure to hit it.” As a Christian, our aim is to be like Christ, and Christ has committed himself to the task of working on us until we see Him. But we also need to remember that John said, “Beloved, now we are children of God” not we will be children of God when we are like Christ. John, as Paul did in Philippians, said this aim to be like Christ is going to be our goal the whole of our lives on earth, and only when we see Him will we finally be fully like Him.
So what was He like? His self-description in Matthew gives us a portion of our target to aim at in a Christ-like life:
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
The first aspect we note of the Lord’s self-description is He offered rest to the weary and heavy laden.
Galatians 6:2-3
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
As Christians we should be known as burden-bearers, people who can be counted on when others fall apart, people who are a support to others in their distresses. After all, the One we claim to be “like” endured the cross though He despised the shame. (Hebrews 12:2) He also prayed that if possible that this “cup” would pass from Him.
However, He also prayed that the Father’s will would be done. (Matthew 26:39) We too will encounter and endure unpleasant and unwanted things. Yet, the presence of a Christian in any situation should be a calming one to others, not a source of agitation. People should sense something in us that puts them at rest or ease.
We also see that Jesus sought to yoke Himself with others, so they could learn from Him. This, too, should be our aim when interacting with others. Our relationship and identification as a Christ follower should infiltrate every encounter and relationship we have. In other words, people should see and hear in us something that is distinct, calming, assuring, like Jesus was to those around Him.
We also see that Jesus was gentle and lowly in heart.
Philippians 2:3-4
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
The heart, being the source of thoughts, feelings, and emotions paired with gentleness of the words that come from the heart, gives us an even clearer picture of what we are saying when we say that we are a Christian. We are saying we are like Jesus in that we lighten the burdens of life in those around us, and others learn of the attributes of Jesus by watching us and hearing us.
Some years ago it was not uncommon to hear a pastor say if they came to your work to arrest all the Christians, would you confess to being one? The weakness of this quip is simple; if they came to arrest the Christians at your work, everyone should already know you are one.
Saying you are a Christian is the most significant claim that anyone will ever make in life, let’s live so our lives look like that of Jesus. Amen!
Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.
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