Christlike Identity
The two hardest things that we do in life:
Communicate
h
a
n
g
e
I don’t do either of these particularly well and I imagine that you don’t either.
Jesus is the master communicator. He came to communicate to us the true nature of God. He, Jesus, is that true nature and communicated to us in word and deed. Do you see God through Jesus or do you look to see God through other ways?
It’s he that I want you to listen to when I speak.
No one likes to change. I’m not talking about changing things, i.e. the church or others, but changing yourself. We say we want to change to be like Jesus. Do we really? Do we hear him communicate change to us? What would we look like if we changed to be like him?
What would we clothe ourselves in?
How would others identify us? Is it by what we wear like some?
Does Jesus say how we would look if we changed to look like him?
Does it matter what we look like?
Does it matter what our identity is?
Can we decide for ourselves what we want to look like?
Let’s look at some of Jesus teachings about our identity. Let’s see what a Christian disciple will look like and what we will “wear” when we “put on” Jesus.
Looking at the scriptures, I see two things that are of the utmost importance in defining a disciple of Jesus. These two things go hand in hand and you can’t have one without the other. But they are identified as being separate marks of a disciple.
Do you know what they are?
LOVE & UNITY
Today, we will focus on our identity in Love.
Love: Defining the Disciple
It’s been interesting to watch churches try to define themselves over the years in various ways. I guess it’s been that way for a long time. Men decide how they will “clothe” themselves in an attempt to let others see them and know who they are. It seems like now churches are busy defining themselves in our brotherhood by many things. We see some clinging on to the rules and traditions that they grew up with, not wanting to give up the identify of themselves or their predecessors. We see others, claiming freedom from the old ways, proceed to dismantle the “look” that they had and establish their identity in new mechanisms of worship, dress or structure. They throw out the old and bring in the new in an attempt to define themselves as progressive and modern, claiming that these things will be the new attractant to the “unchurched.” Of course, this sets up the inevitable struggle between groups, pitting one against another in a battle to prove one’s identity is the true likeness of God. Looking back on history, I guess it’s always been this way. Man seems self motivated to create his own identity.
Of course, looking back at the history of man’s relationship with God, we know that man has missed the mark on many occasions. Has man missed it in how he is trying to define himself? Is our identity found in Jesus and his teaching or in the things that we invent to define ourselves?
The defining characteristics of God were finally and forever demonstrated in the life of His only Son, Jesus Christ. We see in Jesus’ life and teaching these defining characteristics and they are related to us clearly in John’s writings.
John 14:6 -13 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. " Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.
Bringing glory to his Father was the way Jesus showed the world who He, God, was and thus declared the truth of God. Jesus did as the Father had commanded him so that the world would know Him. Jesus defined himself with the commands of God. He “clothed” himself with the characteristics of God. He wanted the world to see the Father living through him and spoke the Father’s words. Jesus’ life defined God perfectly.
Jesus obeyed the Father because he loved him and wanted to do his will. That’s why he came. And now we, because we love Jesus, want to do his will. Jesus, reflecting his relationship with his Father, said in John 14:
John 14:15 ¶ "If you love me, you will obey what I command.
He now has asked the same of us and declared that our identity or defining characteristics must reflect him and thus reflect God. This is what defines us as his disciples.
John 15:8 - 17 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-- fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.
Bearing the fruit of loving each other becomes the defining characteristic of his disciples. Now, when Jesus speaks, I try to listen! He, Jesus, God incarnate, commands that we love each other. He, Jesus, says that bearing this fruit is what shows that we are his disciples. It’s not in how good we are, how good we sing, how good we pray, how good we look, our buildings, our preachers, our organization, etc. The defining characteristics of Jesus’ disciples are that we love one another. Is this something we recognize? Is this something we acknowledge? Is this something we “clothe” ourselves with? Does it define you?
John further states in 1 John 2:
1 John 2:3 - 11 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
Obedience to Jesus commands is not an option for Christian disciples. It is THE defining characteristic that they must wear. “This is how we know we are in him.” John repeats this defining characteristic in chapter 4:
1 John 4:10 - 5:3 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
Loving each other is the defining characteristic of Jesus’ disciples. He showed the disciples in John 13 how to practice love. Getting down on his knees, he washed their feet as an example of this defining love.
John 13:14 -15 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
So, what is your conclusion? Do you seek to define yourself in some traditional human form? Do you seek to claim your “freedom” to define yourself in some new mechanism? Are you inclusive in your definition or does it exclude? Jesus wants to know. Putting love in it’s proper and defining role is Jesus’ call for us. You can’t say you love God without loving each other. It’s impossible! Jesus, in Matthew 25, declared the fruit of loving each other is the defining characteristics of God’s people. Loving the unlovable. Remember, God loved us first, defining what the word means.
Love Defines Jesus’ Disciples
1 Cor. 12:31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
1 Cor. 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
1 Cor. 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
1 Cor. 13:3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, {Some early manuscripts but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 Cor. 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
1 Cor. 13:5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1 Cor. 13:6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
1 Cor. 13:7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Don Campbell
Communicate
h
a
n
g
e
I don’t do either of these particularly well and I imagine that you don’t either.
Jesus is the master communicator. He came to communicate to us the true nature of God. He, Jesus, is that true nature and communicated to us in word and deed. Do you see God through Jesus or do you look to see God through other ways?
It’s he that I want you to listen to when I speak.
No one likes to change. I’m not talking about changing things, i.e. the church or others, but changing yourself. We say we want to change to be like Jesus. Do we really? Do we hear him communicate change to us? What would we look like if we changed to be like him?
What would we clothe ourselves in?
How would others identify us? Is it by what we wear like some?
Does Jesus say how we would look if we changed to look like him?
Does it matter what we look like?
Does it matter what our identity is?
Can we decide for ourselves what we want to look like?
Let’s look at some of Jesus teachings about our identity. Let’s see what a Christian disciple will look like and what we will “wear” when we “put on” Jesus.
Looking at the scriptures, I see two things that are of the utmost importance in defining a disciple of Jesus. These two things go hand in hand and you can’t have one without the other. But they are identified as being separate marks of a disciple.
Do you know what they are?
LOVE & UNITY
Today, we will focus on our identity in Love.
Love: Defining the Disciple
It’s been interesting to watch churches try to define themselves over the years in various ways. I guess it’s been that way for a long time. Men decide how they will “clothe” themselves in an attempt to let others see them and know who they are. It seems like now churches are busy defining themselves in our brotherhood by many things. We see some clinging on to the rules and traditions that they grew up with, not wanting to give up the identify of themselves or their predecessors. We see others, claiming freedom from the old ways, proceed to dismantle the “look” that they had and establish their identity in new mechanisms of worship, dress or structure. They throw out the old and bring in the new in an attempt to define themselves as progressive and modern, claiming that these things will be the new attractant to the “unchurched.” Of course, this sets up the inevitable struggle between groups, pitting one against another in a battle to prove one’s identity is the true likeness of God. Looking back on history, I guess it’s always been this way. Man seems self motivated to create his own identity.
Of course, looking back at the history of man’s relationship with God, we know that man has missed the mark on many occasions. Has man missed it in how he is trying to define himself? Is our identity found in Jesus and his teaching or in the things that we invent to define ourselves?
The defining characteristics of God were finally and forever demonstrated in the life of His only Son, Jesus Christ. We see in Jesus’ life and teaching these defining characteristics and they are related to us clearly in John’s writings.
John 14:6 -13 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. " Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.
Bringing glory to his Father was the way Jesus showed the world who He, God, was and thus declared the truth of God. Jesus did as the Father had commanded him so that the world would know Him. Jesus defined himself with the commands of God. He “clothed” himself with the characteristics of God. He wanted the world to see the Father living through him and spoke the Father’s words. Jesus’ life defined God perfectly.
Jesus obeyed the Father because he loved him and wanted to do his will. That’s why he came. And now we, because we love Jesus, want to do his will. Jesus, reflecting his relationship with his Father, said in John 14:
John 14:15 ¶ "If you love me, you will obey what I command.
He now has asked the same of us and declared that our identity or defining characteristics must reflect him and thus reflect God. This is what defines us as his disciples.
John 15:8 - 17 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-- fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.
Bearing the fruit of loving each other becomes the defining characteristic of his disciples. Now, when Jesus speaks, I try to listen! He, Jesus, God incarnate, commands that we love each other. He, Jesus, says that bearing this fruit is what shows that we are his disciples. It’s not in how good we are, how good we sing, how good we pray, how good we look, our buildings, our preachers, our organization, etc. The defining characteristics of Jesus’ disciples are that we love one another. Is this something we recognize? Is this something we acknowledge? Is this something we “clothe” ourselves with? Does it define you?
John further states in 1 John 2:
1 John 2:3 - 11 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
Obedience to Jesus commands is not an option for Christian disciples. It is THE defining characteristic that they must wear. “This is how we know we are in him.” John repeats this defining characteristic in chapter 4:
1 John 4:10 - 5:3 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
Loving each other is the defining characteristic of Jesus’ disciples. He showed the disciples in John 13 how to practice love. Getting down on his knees, he washed their feet as an example of this defining love.
John 13:14 -15 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
So, what is your conclusion? Do you seek to define yourself in some traditional human form? Do you seek to claim your “freedom” to define yourself in some new mechanism? Are you inclusive in your definition or does it exclude? Jesus wants to know. Putting love in it’s proper and defining role is Jesus’ call for us. You can’t say you love God without loving each other. It’s impossible! Jesus, in Matthew 25, declared the fruit of loving each other is the defining characteristics of God’s people. Loving the unlovable. Remember, God loved us first, defining what the word means.
Love Defines Jesus’ Disciples
1 Cor. 12:31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
1 Cor. 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
1 Cor. 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
1 Cor. 13:3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, {Some early manuscripts but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 Cor. 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
1 Cor. 13:5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1 Cor. 13:6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
1 Cor. 13:7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Don Campbell
posted by Don Campbell at
11:43 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home