Stop Trying to be like God

It is a question that many Christians ask. And that question is "How do I become more Christlike?" On the surface there is nothing wrong with desiring to be more like Jesus. However, I think we must realize one thing; and that one thing is that Jesus is God! We actually are asking how to become more like God. Now, most Christians will not say they are trying to be like God, but their actions betray them. Have you ever heard, or maybe you believe, that Christians are to be sinless? Well, the only individual who ever went a lifetime avoiding sin is Jesus. I run into trouble when I say that because the kneejerk reaction to hearing that Christians aren't supposed to strive for sinlessness is that you are giving Christians a license to sin. Do not get me wrong, I do believe that as a Christian grows in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ that we should expect a diminishing of sin in our lives. However, when we spend our lives trying to avoid sin, what is our focus on? Our focus is on ourselves and not the Lord. Our entire focus revolves around avoiding what is evil and and doing what is good. Doesn't that sound familiar? I think we have heard that before.

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' " "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3: 1-5

Everytime we try to live our lives by trying to avoid what is evil and to do what is good, we are eating the forbidden fruit. Or, as I have heard it said, we are living in the wrong tree. One of the things that always intrigued me about this passage in Genesis 3 is how Eve said to the serpent that God told her and Adam not to "touch" the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There is no record of God saying that to Adam. His command was to not eat from the tree. This seems to give an impression that Adam didn't tell Eve the exact words God had told him. And that seems to be how many Christians view passages in scripture that seem to support the belief that we are to be like God. When we attempt to define good and evil we have accepted the lie of the Devil. This well-meaning, but fundamental error, that has been accepted by Christians has prevented the growth many say it is supposed to encourage.

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." Philippians 3: 7-9

I heard one of the best quotes this morning that I have ever heard about religion. "The devil lives in religion." I know that may be offensive to many Christians and unbelievers of other faiths. After all, most successful and long standing societies have had some sort of religious tenants at its foundation, including the United States and the nation of Israel. But, I am not talking about rules in which to create a just society that keeps order and everybody in line. I am talking about how God intends for us to live. When we try to live a life of avoiding evil and doing good, we are trying to establish a righteousness of our own in the eyes of God. The attempt to do that can only come from trying to live a life under the law. You name the religion, Christian or otherwise, and I will show you their list designed for its followers to establish their right standing before God. For example, Christians are always promoting the Ten Commandments as the guide to Christian living. As if we can somehow live up to the standard of God when the Jews, who the law was given to, could not. However, the law is geared towards the flesh. But, God says that His righteousness comes by faith. And that faith is in Jesus Christ, who is the only person who ever lived the Christian life. Now, He wants to live that life in and through each believer. He can only do that if we stop trying to do it ourselves and place our faith in Him to do it through us.

"I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me." Colossians 1: 25-29

What is the mystery that God kept hidden for ages and generations, but has now disclosed to the saints? It is that Christ indwells us for all eternity. That is what's meant by the Church being called the "Body" of Christ. If we are His body it means that He lives within us. What does Paul say is the motivation for his life? It is that he struggles with all Christ's energy which is working in him. Can you see the full circle that we have come since the serpent deceived Eve in the Garden? God was indwelling Adam and Eve at Creation. His very life was their life. They were not living a life of responding to what was good and what was evil. They were living in dependence on the life of God that indwelt them. In fact, with God guiding them from within, He is not going to lead them into a life sin. But, when Adam ate the forbidden fruit and died, God removed His life from both he and Eve. Therefore, since they decided to try and be like God, He honored their choice and eventually gave the Law as His standard of perfection. What God has done by giving us the law is to give us a chance to be like Him. We fail miserably. And that is what is supposed to happen. We need to be shown that we can't be like God at all. The law, whether the Mosaic Law or our own religious laws, is meant to show us we can't be like God so that we would turn to Christ by faith. And, by doing so, He leads us from within. That is why scripture says...

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." Titus 2: 11-14

Set free from a life of trying to be like God because God is living our life for us! Amen.