HIS Intent

 HIS Intent

Our Heavenly Father intends to make us like his Son (Romans 8:29) and then to use us to change our world. Since Jesus was as fully human as we are, he can make us like himself. In fact, he died for this purpose: "In order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him" (Colossians 1:22). This is why he told us, "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). It is why Peter taught us, "As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct" (1 Peter 1:15). Being like Jesus is not an unattainable goal to which we should nonetheless strive in the new year—it is God's intention for every one of us. The same Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus (Luke 4:18; Matthew 12:28; Acts 10:38) now dwells in you and in me (1 Corinthians 3:16).  Theologian Gerald Hawthorne wrote: "The Holy Spirit was the divine power by which Jesus overcame his human limitations, rose above his human weakness, and won out over his human mortality." Now the Spirit intends to do the same in your life and mine. Our part is to "continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard" (Colossians 1:23). It is to yield every day to the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and live in his leading and power through the day. Then, as we work, he works. As we strive for holiness (Hebrews 12:14), he will make us holy. As we "behold the glory of the Lord," we are "being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another" (2 Corinthians 3:18). "The dominant figure of Western culture" To be negative: If more Christians were more like Christ, would our culture be the way it is? To be positive: If more Christians were more like Christ, could our culture stay the way it is? In this new year, let us settle for nothing less than all Jesus won for us when he died for us and rose for us so we could be "born again" as the children of God. Let us be empowered by divine omnipotence, led by divine omniscience, and impassioned by divine omnibenevolence. H. G. Wells called Jesus "the most dominant figure in all history." Newsweek editor Kenneth Woodward agreed: "By any secular standard, Jesus is the dominant figure of Western culture." Daniel Webster attested, "All that is best in the civilization of today is the fruit of Christ's appearance among men." Now imagine the impact if two billion Christians ("little Christs") walked our planet. Imagine the difference if we refused to be anything less than the literal "body of Christ" in the world today (1 Corinthians 12:27). If you were more like Jesus next year than you were this year, what would need to change today?