Book 3 of Musings Not An Imitation

Our adamic nature cannot imitate Christ successfully.

The newness of life we are seeking results from the Life of Christ continually being expressed in us.

I think most of us would like to be just like Jesus. We would like to think like Jesus; to speak like Jesus; to act like Jesus. I know I would. Wouldn't you?

Well, the good news is that we can be just like Jesus. Furthermore, it is to this kind of personality that we have been chosen by the Lord.

It is a good idea when we are a young Christian to try to act like Jesus. When we come to a situation, it is helpful to ask ourselves: "What would Jesus do?"

It is amazing how that simple query brings perspective.

We may wonder if God accepts profanity. But when we think about Jesus, we know He did not talk like that.

We may wonder what God thinks about our smoking cigarettes. But when we think about Jesus, picturing in our mind how He behaved, we know He would never smoke cigarettes or even a pipe. Jesus is holy and He does not do things that are not holy. Yet He was a perfect human. A human being really does not need to fill his or her lungs with toxic smoke, and that is why Jesus would not smoke; not because He was trying to be something more than human.

God wants us to be just like His Son. God knows in our adamic frailties we are not going to come to maturity as measured by the stature of the fullness of Christ. So God has provided two means for our transformation into the moral image of Jesus Christ.

The first means is by forming Christ in us. The Seed of God, which comes to us through Christ, is planted in our personality when we first receive the Lord. Then, as we submit to the crucifying experiences through which the Spirit brings us, our adamic nature is slain and in its place is inserted the body and blood of Christ. The body and blood of Christ are His Divine Substance, His resurrection Life, given to us in the spirit realm.

Every time we deny ourselves and choose to obey Christ, we are nourished with the body and blood of Christ. In this manner Christ is formed in us.

The second means of transforming us into the moral image of Jesus Christ is by placing in our personality the Holy Spirit, the Father, and the Son until we are filled with all the fullness of God. When we are filled with all the fullness of God, then our thoughts, words, and actions will be Christ-like because they actually are of God.

Having Christ formed in us, and then being filled with the fullness of God, does not take place overnight. It is a process that continues as we choose to obey God rather than our sinful nature. A considerable amount of suffering is involved as God removes our idols from us and places them under our feet.

The program is true and scriptural, and the individual who chooses to follow God completely through the process of redemption will finally be in the full image of Christ.

Recently I purchased one of the newer clocks, that really is not a clock but a radio receiver. The clock keeps perfect time because it is receiving a signal from a master clock that is operated by the United States Government.

First the clock must be constructed so it will respond to the signal that continually is being transmitted.

After the clock has been constructed properly, it must be placed in the room in a location where it can receive the signal.

So it is with us. First we have to have Christ formed in us. Then we have to keep ourselves in the place where we can hear and obey God. Since God's "signal" is perfectly accurate as far as righteousness is concerned, our behavior becomes perfectly accurate as far as righteousness is concerned.

We understand, therefore, that our main task in life is to follow the Holy Spirit as He takes of the Divine Substance and forms Christ in us. Also we have to keep open to God as He fills us with His Person until we live by His Life.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20)