Page 97 - BACK TO BETHLEHEM

Take the veil off our eyes, we pray, and take the veil off our
minds, we pray and take the veil off our heart, we pray and show
us the Lord Jesus. We thank You. In Jesus’ name. Amen
We’ve come to look at that wonderful truth; what it
means to be conformed to the Lord Jesus. That is a big truth.
Usually the way it is approached, the theologians call
“sanctification”. Sanctification deals with our progress in the
Christian life. Usually when you talk about sanctification you
are talking about holiness, Godliness, separation and surrender.
Some people say that if you are going to study conformity,
you’ve got to study what it means to grow in Christ. 2 Peter
3:18, “…but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the
day of eternity. Amen”
I think the apostle John might have had that in mind when
he wrote 1 John. He addresses fathers, he addresses young men
and he addresses children. Perhaps Jesus had that idea of
growth in Mark 4:28, “The soil produces crops by itself; first
the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.”

We want to be conformed to Jesus. We want to be like
Him. Ephesians 4:13, “…until we all attain to the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man,
to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of
Christ.” We want to grow up in Christ. Galatians 4:19, “My
children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed
in you..” We don’t want to get all confused about being like
Jesus. I don’t want to talk all about sanctification. I don’t want
to talk about the steps in how you grow in Jesus. I want to look
at what it means to become like Jesus in the simplest way
possible.
If you like outlines, here’s the outline. First I want to give
the starting point of being like Jesus. The starting point is the
guarantee that someday I will be like Jesus. Then I want to
show you the process of becoming like Jesus. Then I want to
show you the consummation, when we finally arrive. So, I want
to show the starting point, the process and the consummation
when we finally become like Him.