So, Do you want to be like Christ? Introduction

This year I decided to implement a study series for our discipleship and it's based on Charles Swindoll's on book entitled "So, Do You Want To Be Like Christ?"

In my desire to see Christ's heart formed in my JAG, I am confronted with the question that made me pursue our study--What is my determined purpose in life?

I hope this will help you in your pursuit of God...in His desire that we will be transformed and conformed in the image of His Only Begotten Son JESUS CHRIST.

Again, thanks Charles Swindoll for your invaluable contribution to our Christian walk. And Jerry Bridges for the supplemental material from your book, "The Discipline of Grace".


I. Introduction

The Gymnasium of the Soul

Tom Landry: “My job is to get men to do what they don’t want to do in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to achieve.”

Achieving anything requires discipline – determined, deliberate, definable actions with a clear goal in mind.

Many centuries ago, Paul coached Timothy, his son in the ministry, with the words, “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7). Timothy was the pastor of the church in Ephesus, a Las Vegas sort of city near the Mediterranean coast in buzzing with the commerce of a world empire. The temple of Artemis—one of the wonders of the ancient world—drew worshippers from every corner of the empire, which created a volatile mix of the occult and money. Ephesus was a busy, rich, sensual place to be a Christian. Sounds familiar?

Discipline. Such a hard word to read, isn’t it? Seeking intimacy with the Almighty requires focused determination, demands specific changes in attitude and behavior, and will come with a number of heartbreak and setbacks.

Paul chose carefully when he selected the Greek term gumnazo. (Most English transliterations spell it gymnazo, from which we get the word gymnasium.) The NASB renders it “discipline.”

Exercise yourself toward godliness. (NKJV)
Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please (MSG)
Train yourself to be godly. (NIV)
Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness. (NLT)
Take time and trouble to keep yourself spiritually fit. (Phillips)

Paul has in mind the word picture of an athlete preparing for the day of competition. I would prefer to translate it “Condition yourself,” which raises two points:

First, conditioning involves repetitive training exercises so that the athlete’s mind and the appropriate muscle groups learn to work together reflexively and automatically. Conditioning combines endurance and skill. Conditioning turns game-winning abilities into habits.

Second, no one can condition someone else. An athlete can seek out a coach to help him with conditioning, but he cannot hire someone to do the work for him. Condition yourself.

Conditioning is between you and God.

Paul’s event is godliness. “Condition yourself toward godliness.” Paul uses the Greek world for godliness ten times in his writings; eight of them appear in 1 Timothy. Godliness is central to Paul’s advice to Timothy.

A “godly” person is one who ceased to be self-centered in order to become God-centered. Christ became a man and, as a result of His earthly ministry, we see how God intended for humans to behave. Jesus is our unblemished example of godliness. Therefore, a godly person is a Christlike person.

OUR GOALS AS CHRISTIANS IS TO BECOME LIKE CHRIST.

Christianity and its goals, Christlikeness, have a person in mind: Christ! What sets Christian spiritual activity apart from all other religions is that they have knowledge of Christ as their goal; not moral perfection (although you will become more moral), not tranquility (although your life will become remarkably more peaceful).

So why exercise spiritual disciplines? To know Jesus Christ. They are simply a means by which you come to know Him experientially. By imitating Him, by sharing His experiences, by living life as He lived it, allowing the Holy Spirit to shape you by the disciplines from the inside out, you will become more like Him.

10[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [[a]which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope], (Philippians 3:10, The Amplified Bible)

When you pray, pray so that you may know Him. When you seek to simplify, do it as a means of knowing Him more. When you surrender, or behave with humility or sacrifice, do it with the sole purpose in mind to know Him.

Transformed into His Likeness

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 NASB
How can a destructive insect that can literally strip a tree of its leaves (at least a swarm of them can) become a dainty creature that can land on the petal of a flower blossom without defacing it? In short how can a caterpillar become a butterfly?

It’s called metamorphosis.

In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul calls it transformation (being transformed). The Greek word for transformation is metamorphoomai. You can readily see that our English word metamorphosis is essentially a transliteration of metamorphoomai. It’s fascinating and instructive to know that Paul uses the same word that describes the spiritual transformation in the life of a Christian. The process is just as mysterious, and the results are even more striking.

SANCTIFICATION (we ought to become familiar if we desire to pursue holiness) – is the work of the Holy Spirit in us whereby our inner being is progressively changed, freeing us more and more from sinful traits and developing within us over time the virtues of Christlike character. It does involve our wholehearted response in obedience and the regular use of spiritual disciplines that are instrument of sanctification.

REGENERATION – the new birth (Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36: 26-27; 2 Cor. 5:17; Titus 3:5)

The goal of sanctification is likeness to our Lord Jesus Christ. In Romans 8:29 he said that God “predestined [all believers] to be conformed to the likeness of Son.” Christlikeness is God’s goal for all who trust in Christ, and that should be our goal also. Both words, transformed and conformed, have a common root, form, meaning a pattern or mold. “Being transformed” refers to the process; conformed refers to the finished product. Jesus is our pattern or mold. We are being transformed so that we will eventually be conformed to the likeness of Jesus.

Ephesians 4:24, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Hebrews 12:10, “that we may share in his holiness”
1 Peter 1:16, “Be holy, because I am holy”

To become like Jesus is to come to the place where we delight to do the will of God, however sacrificial or unpleasant that will may seem to us at the time, simply because it is His will.