Last night, I had a wonderful dream.
I was in a classroom and a preacher was teaching a group of us.
And he kept saying, the lesson was “elementary” to our faith in Jesus Christ. That “He became as we are, so we can become as He is.”
After I woke up and recorded this dream, I had a great sense of wonder and excitement a deep desire to inquire into the mystery of the statement, “He became as we are, so we can become as He is.” A quick search online discovered this was spoken by at least two early church fathers, Athanasius, and Irenaeus:
“HE BECAME WHAT WE ARE SO THAT WE MIGHT BECOME WHAT HE IS” I knew the teacher in the dream was emphasizing how Jesus’ SINNER’S DEATH as the incarnate Word opened the door for our resurrection and our victory.
The Lord become sin, so we could become righteous.
He gave us what we don’t deserve because He loves us.
This is the love of God.
He took our place on the cross.
As I sat with the Lord over this dream and searched the scriptures, I came across a wonderful stretch of the Word that makes a powerful point:
When we SEE His purity, We SEEK His purity.
When we SEE what He became for us, we can become more like Him.
We are indeed meant to become, “As He is.”
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Romans 8:29 NKJV
And here’s the hard truth: To be like Him is to suffer as He suffered. He is meek and lowly in heart. He was despised and rejected by men. We considered Him cursed.
He is a suffering servant.
So, to be pure, is to seek to live with the heart of a suffering servant. It is just as Jesus prayed, “Not my will, but your will be done.”
This is what it means to be a child of God. We take on the nature and character of the Son of God. He DIED and GAVE ALL so we might be called righteous.
This passage makes a powerful connection between SEEING JESUS and BEING LIKE Jesus.
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” I John 3:2-3 NKJV
The passage says we will be like Him when we “see Him as He is.”
Until that time of His return, to see Him as He is – is to see Him with nail prints in His hands and feet.
So, to be more like Him is to carry our cross daily.
May we seek the low road to become more like Jesus in a world that wants us to conquer and seek superiority.
May we seek to be lowly and meek. May we seek to have the fellowship of His sufferings.
When we see Him as He is, the suffering servant, He is our example, and we can become “like Him.”
God bless you,
FM
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