Bearing His Image
Romans 8:24-34
On a wall near the main entrance to the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, is a portrait with the following inscription: "James Butler Bonham--no picture of him exists. This portrait is of his nephew, Major James Bonham, deceased, who greatly resembled his uncle. It is placed here by the family that people may know the appearance of the man who died for freedom."
While no literal portrait of Jesus exists either. Romans tells us that God has redeemed us and predestined us to bear the likeness of Christ reflecting His holiness, His Heart, and His glory. The likeness of the Son of God who has set us free from the slavery and penalty of sin is to be borne in the lives of His true followers.
I. Bearing His Image by reflecting His holiness
A. Thomas Watson in the Body of Divinity wrote, “A Christian should be both a magnet and a diamond! A magnet—in drawing others to Christ; a diamond—in casting a sparkling luster of holiness, in his life”
B. Realize that Christlikeness requires living holy. Living a life that is patterned after the kind of life Jesus taught and modeled.
C. We were not saved just to be freed from the penalty of our sins and have a ticket to heaven. We were saved to bring honor and exalt the God by living holy lives that bring glory to the Lord's name.
D. Ephesians 1:4 tells us, "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight."
E. God is holy; and we, as children of God, must reflect His holiness more and more in our lives. Only a clean mirror with no streaks can perfectly reflect an object. Our lives must be clean without the streaks of sin and the world to properly reflect His holiness.
F. 1 Peter 1:14-16 “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. But as He who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
– J B Phillips translated verse 15 with these words: “be holy in every department of your lives, for the one who has called you is himself holy.”
G. John 17:17-19 (NLT) “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.”
H. The marvelous grace of God in our hearts ought to compel us to reflect His holiness in the part of our being that other people see. When a person becomes a Christian, his or her experience changes every facet of his or her life - not just the inward person but the outward person as well. – copied
I. A true Christian must always be known by his fruits; and those fruits should and must be plainly manifest and unmistakable in every area of their lives.
J. To be Holy does not mean sinlessly perfect. This is impossible in this life.
K. 1 John 1:8-10 “If we say, "We have no sin," we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, "We have not sinned," we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
L. Positionally we are holy in Christ, having His righteousness imputed to us by the Holy Spirit as taught in Romans 4 and Philippians 3. But as long as we are robed in this flesh the struggle will continue.
M. As God’s people, we need to live holy lives that will bring honor to the name of our God and to his eternal purpose.
N. To be holy is not a matter of meticulously following the rules and regulations of some external code; it is instead allowing the Holy Spirit to fill you by emptying yourself of all that would hinder His producing His fruit in your life and yielding to His leadership.
O. It is living a life above reproach so that others will see the change Christ has brought in our lives.
P. Salvation is manifested in a changed life. A changed heart will result in a changed life.
II. Bearing His Image by reflecting His heart
A. Jesus Christ's heart was spiritual and maintained an intimate relationship with the Father.
B. John 17:23-26 “I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
C. Christ’s heart was to obediently do the will of the God, the Father. His heart’s desire was to please Him.
D. John 8:29 “And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.”
E. Subtract love from holiness. What do you get? You get self-righteousness, the kind of virtue that characterized the Pharisees of Christ's day. - James Montgomery Boice
F. Many people talk about loving God and doing right but fail to reflect Christ by failing to be filled with love for the family of God and a deep compassion for the lost not to mention lacking a spirit of forgiveness.
G. John 14:34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
H. Someone has said that you can tell who Christ's disciples are because they have love for each other. However, many people have not been taught how to love - not by their parents, their friends, those who they grew up with, the media, and sadly not by the Church. One of the leading reasons people leave Church is a lack of love in the Church. Charges of hypocrisy, callousness, and lack of compassion are often cited.
I. If the Body of Christ is to reflect Christ we need to change that perception. We must demonstrate to others that we love one another and that means forgiving one another.
J. Ephesians 4:32 “And be ye kind one to another , tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you
K. Jesus also had a great heart filled with compassion towards the lost.
L. Matthew 9:36 “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd.”
M. Charles Haddon Spurgeon describing this passage wrote, “those who watched him closely perceived that his internal agitation was very great, his emotions were very deep, and then his face betrayed it, his eyes gushed like founts with tears, and you saw that his big heart was ready to burst with pity for the sorrow upon which his eyes were gazing. He was moved with compassion.”
N. Christ had a heart for the lost. Do we?
O. Andrew Murray wrote, “Every Christian ought therefore by prayer and practice to cultivate a compassionate heart, as one of the most precious marks of likeness to the blessed Master” – Andrew Murray, Like Christ
P. Christ’s heart is pounding with a passion for lost and dying souls.
Q. Do we have a heart for the Lost that reflects God’s heart? If we do, then God can use us to go after those who are lost and without God.
R. Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
S. Biographers of Fenelon tell us that he lived in such intimate fellowship with God that his very face shone. Lord Peterborough, a skeptic, was obliged to spend a night with him at an inn. In the morning he rushed away, saying, 'If I stay another night with that man, I shall be a Christian in spite of myself.' Someone else said of him, 'His manners were full of grace, his voice full of love, and his face full of glory.'
III. Bearing His Image by reflecting His glory
A. 2 Corinthians 3:18 “We all, with unveiled faces, are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
B. The more we are committed to a life of discipleship, the more we reflect Him. We increasingly reflect Christ’s glory as our lives are being molded by His Holy Spirit.
C. Proverbs 4:18 “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”
D. Even though we grow into the image of Jesus now, we still have a long way to go. None of us will be finished until we see Jesus, and only then truly we shall be like Him.
E. 1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
F. When a great big piece of marble was brought in to (the great artist Michelangelo), Michelangelo walked around it, looking at it, and then said, “My, isn’t it beautiful!” One of his helpers who was standing there said, “Well, all I see is a great big piece of marble—that’s all.” Michelangelo exclaimed, “Oh, I forgot. You don’t see what I see. I see a statue of David there.” The helper looked again and replied, “Well, I don’t see it.” Michelangelo said, “That is because it is now in my own mind, but I am going to translate it into this piece of marble.” And that is what he did. God says, “It doth not yet appear what you shall be.” He sees what He is going to make out of us someday. We are discouraged when we look at each other as we are now, but God sees us as we shall be when He shall appear and we shall be like Him. What a glorious prospect this is for us! - copied
G. Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”
