Christ In YOUR Image

Last week, we began a series of posts, based on a book by Dr. Paul Brand, and Philip Yancey entitled “In His Image”. In that post, we talked about our ability to properly ‘discern’ the Body of Christ. When you and I think of the concept of what we are, and being transformed into that type of magnificent being “from glory to glory,” there is a disconnect for many of us because we feel so ‘ordinary.’ In the society around us — so driven by media hype, and adoration of those few “beautiful people” at the top — most of us feel very ‘inferior’ to those chosen few, selected from the gene pool of humanity for fame, beauty, and fortune.

Yet the entire plan of God for mankind does not focus on that top rung of human society. Rather, the “One Sent” as the representative of the Godhead to mankind purposely aimed His entire ministry at the oppressed “inferiors” of the human realm, and NOT at the rich, or famous, or powerful, or beautiful.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. (Isa. 61:1-3)

We might think that that, in itself, is a magnanimous thing for so great a being to do … to invest His time and effort in a ministry aimed at comforting the poor, oppressed and depressed dregs of humanity down here, but what speaks to us even more loudly than His preaching is that to better serve us, He became one of us.

But made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Phil. 2:7-8)

So He purposefully divested Himself of the very things human beings so earnestly covet; fame, fortune, power, glory, honor, pride, and beauty, to become … an ordinary man.

Since you and I ARE human, and we think of Him as a “perfect” being, we can still fall into the trap of thinking that He gave Himself some physical advantage, as well as the perfection of the Spirit we know He had, but there is no indication of that in the descriptions we’re given.

For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. (Isa. 53:2)

The Hebrew word for “form”  is to-ar (H8389), a masculine noun meaning form, appearance, beauty. It refers to the contours, and outward form of something. The word “comeliness” is hadar (H1926 hadar), and it means glory, splendor, majesty. Elsewhere, it is used to describe the impressive character of God, and His magnificent beauty. Christ’s human physical body did NOT have any of that to attract people to Him.  In fact, because He was “nothing special” physically, it was easy for human beings to “despise and reject Him”, and He was more fully able to identify with the human condition because of this.   He knew the sorrow and grief of being ostracized, ignored, and mocked, as “unimportant” and even “ugly” people often are.   “He bore OUR griefs, and carried OUR sorrows” vs. 4.

If you or I could choose any ‘form’ we wanted to as a human man or woman, what would it be? Well, this great Being — the greatest spiritual man to ever live in a physical body — chose to live that life in an ordinary, unimpressive body specifically so that He could truly identify with the ‘least’ of us.

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb. 4:14-16)

This being came to earth in a lowly form … in OUR IMAGE … so that He could identify with the real human condition of you and I.  The magnificent Word, the Son of God, the One Sent, the King of Kings,  literally chose to “walk a mile in YOUR shoes”, so the He could more intimately know YOU, and serve your needs!

Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him (Heb. 5:7-9)

In every case, Christ identified with the lowly in life — healing the paralytic, the blind, the demon-possessed, and the infirm masses. In parables, He held up Lazerus against the rich man and the grief-stricken, repentant tax collector against the self-glorified Publican. Always, “the least of these” are the ones He identifies with as “My brethren.”

However “unworthy” we might consider ourselves — and we ARE all unworthy of Him — He has made every effort to fully identify with us in the human condition, taking physical form in our unimpressive likeness, so that we could identify more fully with Him and come to believe in the “impossible” prospect that we “ordinary people” could really be created IN HIS IMAGE.

 

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In His Image

I’d like to do something in today’s blog post that I’ve never done before – to recommend a book entitled “In His Image” by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey. As a Christian, I’m always seeking a better understanding of my God, His Christ, and the Body that they have called me to be a part of. In fact, discerning the “Body of Christ” is critical to our remaining a healthy part of that Body as we mature in the faith which was once delivered.

His Body

So let’s start out in the scriptures with 1 Cor 11:23-32. We always read this on the Passover, and if we’re not careful, we can stick it back up on the Passover shelf until next year and just forget about it …(read- vs. 29)

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.  For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. (1 Cor. 11:23-29)

Just what are we to be discerning about the Lord’s Body, and how are we to discern it? Is there a pattern that we can use to examine the Lord’s Body? Can we look at this as a daily, ongoing spiritual exam, like a doctor examining a patient as we look not only at the Body of Christ as a whole, but at our own contributions to the healthy operation of the Body. Why is this lack of RIGHT discernment cited as the cause of what we see in vs. 30?

For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. (1 Cor. 11:30-32)

In light of all the illness, heavy trials, and untimely deaths in all of the churches of God today, maybe we should take a long hard look at ourselves and how we regard the Lord’s Body, as it is presented in the scriptures. We ARE, after all, being created “in His image and in His likeness”, and though we are dwelling in these temporary physical bodies now, as called out ones, we are being re-created in His spiritual image and likeness. As a means to facilitate that re-creation, we have been placed in a spiritual BODY as well. There ARE many bodily processes and functions we can learn from as we go through this life-long transition.

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Cor. 12:12-13)

Learning In The Body

How much of what we experience in life as members of His Body does He vicariously experience because He is the Head of His Body, and ‘lives in us’? Is His Body ‘still suffering’ in us? (in our flesh, so to speak), when we are going through our own baptisms of fire (fiery trials)? Could Jesus Christ still be doing, through His Body (the church) what He did in His own human body while He lived in it?

though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. (Heb. 5:8)

Is Christ still learning, as He lives in us while we learn obedience by the things which we suffer? This goes to the heart of what it means to become a part of the Body of Christ.

That there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. (1 Cor 12:25-26)

Remember we referred to vs. 13 earlier. Now, notice in vs. 25 and 26 how intimate a thing we share, not only with Christ, but with each other. The word for “suffer with” is the Greek word, sumpascho (G4841), which means to experience pain jointly.

 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church (Col. 1:2)

This attitude evidenced in Paul was one of a literal slave to his Master. He was willing to suffer anything for the sake of Jesus Christ’s body, “which is the church.” What does it mean here when it says ‘that which is “lacking”? how could there be anything ‘lacking’ in  in the afflictions of Christ?

Just let me ask this question: Did Christ’s experience in his human body teach Him about the full spectrum of human experience? Did He experience life as a paraplegic, as a blind man, as a couple raising an autistic child, as a single mother of 7, as a man stricken with cancer, or any of a host of ailments, trials, and maladies we see today in the church?

And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Eph. 1:22-23)

This speaks of Christ as the Head of the Body … a position and responsibility given to Him by God the Father. Why did the God of all wisdom place Christ in such a position? In the human body, nerve impulses travel from literally every part of the body to the brain, which regulates bodily functions to supply every need for every cell in the body.

The author of “In His Image” views himself as a single cell in the Body of Christ, and based on a lifetime of medical experience, shares some very valuable insights that we can profit from as fellow members of the Body. I’ll be sharing more details, based on the book, personal observation, and the scriptures in my next few blog posts. Thanks for reading.