A few years ago, in our home fellowship, a continuing topic of discussion for a while was about the attributes of God, why we need them, and how they are a life-giving imperative in the lives of all Christians everywhere – all day, all night, all the time. One man occasionally commented that we needed to spend our time only in intercession and prayer. He eventually just came straight out and asked, “Why are we spending our time talking about this?!”
i suppose he didn’t exactly see the value of knowing God’s qualities nor did he seem to have an interest in understanding the value of the Lord from another facet besides intercession and prayer. Either way, due to his comments, i was motivated to not only discover as many of God’s attributes as i could, but to also make a list of what was under God’s banner of intimacy, and what our King imparts to us if we’ll take the time to be involved with Him. The Lord shares Himself with us so that we can come into the likeness of the Son. According to Romans 8:29, those who believe in Christ are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, and being conformed to that image means we take on His attributes. Incidentally, the word “conformed” means to be “pressed and squeezed into shape” … meaning coming into the likeness of the Son of God is not always moonbeams, merry-go-rounds, and candy canes.
One of the things God gives to us of Himself is, what i would call, modeling. God models for us how to act, when and how to have grace, what is His idea of kindness, courtesy, obedience, sacrifice, timing, integrity and privilege to name a few. Also, in the Bible is a host of other characters who model how we should NOT act, what we should NOT do, attitudes we should NOT have, and even some subtle discussions of detrimental intent which opposes righteousness.
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God’s view of things is radically different than ours! Instead of using Christ as our model, i believe a large part of our country listens more to the bland and shallow “beautiful people” which our culture promotes in order to sell us on ourselves. More often than taking advice from God Himself and His written word, many seem to listen more to any and every celebrity who might appear on a television or radio talk show. Ahhh yea, the media seems to have become, what i call, the great “discipler”.
But if we’ll listen to and follow after the Lord, being diligent to study the Bible, God has indeed extended us all sorts of models: role models for example. The Lord gave Paul as a role model. Paul says as much in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” Paul urges us to take note of those whose lives imitate Christ as is pointed out in Hebrews 6:12 – “that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
Above that, though, Jesus is the ultimate role model. He modeled how to surrender to being obedient to every word which proceeds from the mouth of God. He is THE model whom we should ultimately fashion ourselves and lives after. He is the self-emptying, humble, and obedient Christ of God. Jesus modeled right relationship with God all the way to the cross.
Most of us have parents whom our lives have been modeled after to one degree or another. How many of us have said, myself included, “I’ll never be like” her or him? Regardless of our declaring who we won’t be like, whoever raised us has imprinted on us their life habits, thinking patterns, goodness and badness, for better or for worse. i think to not have any of our parents’ attributes is probably inescapable, short of God doing a mighty work in us.
Let me also add, that in following Jesus, getting to know Jesus, listening and being obedient to Jesus, using the life of Christ as our pattern for living, we slowly come into the likeness of the Son. And let me certify, the change that comes with following after the Lord can be radical.
Speaking for myself, i’ve even had people ask me if i am actually related to my brother or sister because they say i am nothing at all like them. At that, all i can say is God has made me different and my likeness is more of my Savior, and not after my biological family … and for me, i don’t know about you, but i do know about me … i consider that miraculous and a wonderful thing.
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In the entire New Testament, Jesus modeled unity for the Body of Christ. i heard a man say once, “Unity in Christ was the absolute necessary evidence of the gospel at work. Redemption that does not redeem, that does not cause a Philemon to accept the runaway slave Onesimus back as a brother in Christ, is merely soft, ugly mush. Redemption that does not actively practice forgiveness, that does not crush ‘complaining’ against and ‘arguing’ with one another in the Christian community, mocks the word of the Lord.” Philippians 2:14-15, “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”
God extends to us a model of how we should behave ourselves. Jesus modeled the importance of forgiveness by forgiving us who believe; then He takes it further by saying in Matthew 6:14 – “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” The Bible also extends to us models of how we should not act. Like in Luke 20:20, there were those whom are shown to be of disrepute, where it says, “they who pretended to be honest.” Friends, i’m absolutely worn out on pretend honesty and the facade of genuine sincerity where there is no genuineness to it. Jesus modeled honesty and it wasn’t for nothing. If we want to live in a culture of honor, it would seem honesty is absolutely a main ingredient. Not only did Jesus model grace and honesty for us, He also was the perfect example of good boundaries. Good boundaries make for solid relationships, in fact a distinct lack of boundaries is usually what destroys friendships, and inspires criminal thinking.
In Luke 10, Jesus tells a story with six different character types. All are examples of people of today as well as at that time in history. Which one are you, the victim in the ditch, the exploiting thieves, the priest and Levite who were concerned some of the victim’s bad ju-ju would get on them, the Samaritan who extended himself to help the victim, or the inn keeper who would help the man, but only for a fee? Which one are you? Can you be honest about that? Which one have you modeled your life after? In the overview of the entire parable, Jesus was also one of the characters, doing more than just helping, but literally giving His life for us. Be honest now … which one of those characters do you think your life is modeled after? After all, the idea is to come into the likeness of the Son.
One of the most significant models God has given us is the model of marriage. This model starts at Genesis, “In the beginning,” and concludes in Revelation with, “The grace of Christ be upon all God’s people, AMEN.”
God gave us the model for those who get married in Mark 10:6-9. He gave us a model of what NOT to do once we ARE married as shown in the decline of Solomon in 1 Kings 11:1-13. Jesus modeled commitment, love, and devotion … God’s love and commitment are most amazingly revealed in the four gospels, in the stars, in all the earth, and from cover to cover in the Bible. God knows the end from the beginning. The character of the cross was worked in the heart of the Son from before the foundations of the world was laid, so from the beginning to the end God models for us marriage as seen in His actions toward us whom He loves.
The Lord gave men a model to draw from on how to treat their wives in Eph 5:25, in fact all of Eph 5:25-30 IS the model. “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” Now, let me add the unspoken rest of the story. The wife ought not to take advantage and manipulate her husband while he’s busy laying down his life.
1 Timothy 3:2-3 gives men the model on how they should conduct themselves within the marriage and outside the household. Prov 12:4 models for women a vision of God’s intent on who she should be to her husband and where it all goes if she is a disgrace. And, of course, we can’t leave out the model woman of Proverbs 31. The story of Ruth is a wonderful study of how women should model themselves. In fact, the same word Boaz used of Ruth’s character – calling her “worthy” or “noble” in Ruth 3:11 – is the same used in reference to the Proverbs 31:10 woman, naming her character as someone of great virtue, strength, and courage.
James 1:27 gives us a model of how to act towards widows and orphans, and that we should help the helpless, the orphans and widows. The Lord is generous and we should be as He is. Instead, we often model ourselves after other people instead of the Lord, who modeled a standard for us that we should act like Him. Eph 5:1,“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.” Jesus revealed to us how children should treat their parents in Luke 2:51-52. We see it outlined again in Eph 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” A poetic model of how to treat our parents is also seen in Prov 1:8-9, “My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother; Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair, like rings on your fingers.”
Oh my, do you see it all?! God has so amazingly laid out for us the models of how we should conduct ourselves in business, in marriage, in righteousness and holiness. The Lord God Almighty did not commission the book called the Bible to be written just so we could ignore His models for our conduct, character, and conversation.
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Above the models of modesty spoken of in 1 Corinthians, or of wisdom in Proverbs and in Matthew … above Paul’s model of stewardship in Colossians, and above multitudes of scriptural models of persistence, diligence, righteous justice, mercy, creativity, faith, and fairness … Above all of these and hundreds of others God has given us so we would know what to do and how to act … above all that, the Lord has called us to be models ourselves; models after Jesus. We are to be image AND reflection, meaning not only how we look, but also in how we act. Not that anyone can become Jesus, but we can certainly set our eyes on being like Him. He calls us to become role models for the world.
Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Letting your light shine before men doesn’t mean we go around slamming people with the gospel. It means, and hear this: it means to live a life which has a constant upward pointing to the sovereignty of God.
N.T. Wright wrote: “the path to God himself is seen in Jesus Christ! That of giving yourself away, of generous love which constantly refuses to take center stage.” You’d be surprised how far your work in the Kingdom will go if you’ll stop putting your name all over it.
God has also revealed to us other models – models of those whom we should NOT act like: think Balaam, Ahab, Jeroboam who made Israel to sin, or Korah, or Cain. It is very important that we know who NOT to model after, but i believe more importantly, we need to know to whom we SHOULD.
God gave to us His only Son, who was, in the flesh, the reflection of the Father in Heaven. Jesus said in John 14:9 – “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” And John 8:19 – “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” In other words, if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen Him, and if you know me, you know Him.
Who are your heroes? Who have you modeled your life after? Do most of us even know? If we don’t, what can we do to help ourselves become all that God has called us to be? And right there is a big AMEN. Think about it…
John 13:14-15, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” Washing feet is more than a towel, pan of water, and scooping the water across someone’s feet. That’s too small and falls far short of what the Lord intended. Go over and mow their lawn, bring your wife coffee in the morning, do the dishes, go clean someone’s house or weed their garden, be consistently kind and graceful to your parents. Tell others about the goodness of God instead of the badness of men. That kind of stuff is washing feet. That is modeling the character of the Lord. Condemnation never liberated anyone from immorality or depression.
Jesus is our model and frame, the singing light who lived and died on our behalf. He gave Himself for us and asks us to give ourselves to Him, to model His heart and life, accomplishing the Heart of the Father that all those who believe in Christ, would come into the likeness of His dear Son, Jesus.
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Thank you for taking a few moments in time and space to consider with me the possibilities of God’s infiniteness living in us.
Be strong and courageous, pray for your neighbors, drive carefully, and step into the model of righteousness God has given you the power and authority to do. Be blessed my friends, be blessed.