The Teacher returned home to His own village of Nazareth. As He taught in the familiar synagogue He had attended for many years with His family, His wisdom, as well as the stories of the mighty miracles, which He had performed throughout Galilee and Judea, astounded His former neighbors and friends. Surprisingly, however, the amazed crowd filling the synagogue turned hostile. They remarked among themselves, “We know where He comes from. We know His mother Mary and his brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. His sisters live right here. He’s just the carpenter’s son, where does he get his ability?” Hearing their offense, the Teacher responded, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and his own house.”[i] Because of their skepticism, He was unable to do many mighty works, right in His own hometown.
[i] Matthew, 13:53-58
The people of Nazareth missed out because they allowed their familiarity with the carpenter’s son to blind them to Jesus’ true identity. It is more than an understatement to say He was so much more than they conceived. He was the Son of God, but to the people of Nazareth, He was just the ordinary boy next door who couldn’t possibly do the powerful things told about Him.
Do we also miss much of Jesus’ identity because we have allowed Him to become overly familiar? Paul says that God predestined us to become conformed to His Son’s image, but how will we be conformed to His image if we do not really know Him? [i]
[i] Romans 8: 29
A PROCESS
Paul says our transformation into Christ’s image happens from glory to glory.[i] In other words, we do not become the image of Christ all at once, it is a process. Further, we are not transformed from our own efforts, but it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Our part is to cooperate as the Spirit leads us to spend time getting to know Jesus.
[i] 2 Corinthians 3:18
KNOWING JESUS
Kingdom Business
What mattered most to Jesus? When He was twelve years old, He traveled with His family to the temple in Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. After the feast, unknown to His parents Mary and Joseph, Jesus stayed behind to converse with the teachers in the temple. Anxiously, Mary and Joseph returned to Jerusalem searching for their missing Son. Finding Him in the temple, Mary asked, “Son why have You done this to us?” He answered, “Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?”[i] This was His purpose for coming to earth—to be about His Father’s business. If we are conformed to Jesus’ image we too will be about our Father’s business, not our own, but His.
[i] Luke 2:41-49
Glory
Concluding His time on earth, Jesus prayed to the Father, “I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do”[i] As Jesus went about His Father’s business, His strongest desire was to bring glory to His Father. If we are to be conformed to the image of Jesus, we will have to let the Holy Spirit cultivate this same desire in us. It will not come naturally. How many of us can honestly say my strongest desire is to do the will of my Father and glorify Him? Other things get in the way, pushing out His will to make room for ours. God is not interested in mere outward compliance. He desires inner oneness with His purposes. This is a heart issue.
[i] John 17:4
In Philippians, Paul assures us that He who began a good work in us will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.[i] God has pre-destined us to become conformed to the image of His Son.[ii] He will not give up on His plans, but much depends on how willing we are to yield our time and obedience to His purposes.
[i] Philippians 1:6
[ii] Romans 8:29
WHY?
Why does God want us to be conformed to His Son’s image? As the scripture declares, Jesus is the measure of all things, the exact representation of the Father,[i] Jesus told His disciple Philip, “Those who have seen me have seen the Father…”[ii] When we are conformed to Christ’s image then we too represent the Father’s image.
[i] Ephesians 4:13
[ii] John 14:9
We were created in the image of God, destined to be His exact representation. Fulfilling this destiny will bring ultimate satisfaction. Missing this destiny will leave us with a void that we cannot fill no matter how we try. No relationship, success, material wealth, etc. will completely satisfy. He made us that way.[i] Jesus not only knew this, but lived it. How could He live a life of perfect peace, joy and contentment even as He faced the cross every day of His life? He lived in oneness with the Father.
[i] Genesis 1:26-28
ONENESS
At the Last Supper, Jesus prayed:
I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.[i]
[i] John, 17:20-23
The oneness that God desires for all who belong to Him comes from being conformed to the image of His Son. We take on the family image.
It should be noted that God is not looking for clones. Although we are being conformed to the image of Christ, we continue to retain our individuality, our personalities. This is a mystery. How can we be the express image of Jesus and still be us? It will happen in the same way that Jesus was the exact representation of the Father, but still the Son.
IDENTITY
Author and teacher Ken Boa makes a significant point about being conformed to the image of Christ.[i] As we allow ourselves to be conformed to the image of Christ, our identity becomes secure. We no longer depend upon the world’s values and judgments to know who we are. Jesus, as Boa highlights, was free because He knew His significance and identity given to Him by His Father. Knowing His identity in the Father gave Jesus the security to become a servant without feeling demeaned or bereft of dignity and power. For, as Boa points out, He had all power—the Father had given it to Him.[ii]
[i] Boa, K., February 18, 2014. How to be conformed to Christ’s image. Decision Magazine, https://decisionmagazine.com/how-conformed-christs-image/, Accessed 12.24.2023
[ii] Ibid
Lord Jesus, You are so much more than we will ever know, our understanding will increase as we dwell on Your actions, words and attitudes. We won’t be able to hurriedly read over Your life. We will have to ask ourselves: why did You respond to others as You did, what did You chose to do as well as what did You chose not to do, what risks did You take, who and what commanded Your attention, what drew You, what was not of interest to You, how did You position Yourself in relation to others, how did You interact with others as individuals and, most importantly, how did Your relationship with Your Father take center stage?
We will have to look at our own lives through what we learn, asking the same questions: what do we choose to do and not to do, what risks are we taking, what commands our attention, how do we position ourselves in relation to others, how adaptable are we, and what is the role of our Father in all of this?
Lord Jesus, it should be so simple, but we struggle. We want to be conformed to Your image, but with the first troublesome thing that comes up, we find ourselves planning ways of reacting that suit us rather than listening to the Spirit.
You knew what mattered and kept the main thing the main thing. We’re too distractable. No matter what came up, You displayed great flexibility and inventiveness. We’re too rigid and narrow in our thinking. It’s not about following a set of rules, but listening to the Holy Spirit’s leading and following His strategies.
Lord, there are so many nuances to being conformed to Your image, only with the work of the Holy Spirit will it happen. Most of all, He will work in us a will that desires pleasing the Father over pleasing ourselves. Without this attitude, it will never happen. The Holy Spirit will show us how to make this happen, situation by situation, individual by individual.
THE PAINTING
The organic forms from the painting are in the process of becoming. Their state is fluid and in flux moving toward a final form that is unknown. This is not unlike the process of our being conformed to Christ. We must be fluid and adaptable without exactly knowing our final form, other than we will be like Him.
When things are in process, there is an element of anticipation, looking forward to what comes next. The painted forms only hint at what comes next, but there is expectancy of something more, although a more that is unknown. There is no template to consult.
As we become conformed to the image of Christ we can look forward to seeing ourselves change and while we may not know exactly what the changes will involve, unlike the painted forms, we have a final template. His image is our destination. Although there can be a lot of uncertainty with the process, we do know for certain that we will become so much more than we are now.
Sydney Walker, December 27, 2023
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