TOPIC:‌“The Christian Must Be a Copycat”

                 by Dr. Reg Dunlap

 

TEXT:‌I John 4:11-17

 

“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world” (I John 4:17)

 

‌When all of the writings of the New Testament are taken together it becomes abundantly clear that we as Christians must endeavor to copy the kind of life that Jesus lived here on earth. Now I am not suggesting here that we are to copy His miraculous acts such as raising the dead, feeding the five thousand, or walking on water. In reality, these mighty deeds of Christ are not ours to perform. What I am talking about is that we are to duplicate the pattern of living that Jesus sets forth upon the pages of the New Testament. In other words, we are to copy Him.

 

‌The Apostle John had this in mind when he declared in the words of our text: “As He is, so are we in this world.” The New International Version has it: “In this world we are like Him,” while Phillips gives us this fine rendering: “Our life in this world is actually His life lived in us.” In other words, the Christ-life should be our life. That should be our goal. We may not reach it, but it should be the desire and aim of our hearts. The question arises, What kind of life did Jesus live that should be duplicated by those of us who claim to be His disciples? Let me mention four areas of His life that we should pattern our lives after.

 

I.

 

‌Consider, to begin with, the first way we may copy the life of Christ. We must be DEPENDENT upon the SOVERIEGN LORD. Let me turn your attention to the words of Christ as found in John chapter 5 verse 30: “I can of mine own self do nothing.” Phillips renders these words of Jesus: “By myself I can do nothing.”

 

‌Now we know that Jesus was not helpless. He was not destitute of strength but He deliberately chose to live His life in total dependence upon God the Father. Jesus completely sought God's will and help in every area of His life. He lived, He preached, He taught, He worked, and He went only where the Father permitted and directed Him. No person has ever lived so completely dependent upon another as Jesus did upon His Father.

 

‌And Jesus was no less clear in the briefing of His disciples about this truth when He declared: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). I like the way Phillips has Jesus speaking to His followers: “For the plain fact is that apart from Me you can do nothing at all.” I wonder: Have we really come to understand the meaning of those words of our Master? Not only the meaning of His words, but the message Jesus is attempting to get across to each one of us. Dr. Thomas Hale, . . .