“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2Cor 3:18).
God has graciously provided us with the right means of becoming the kind of man that Jesus was. We have seen that the Holy Spirit is the person of the Godhead who is saddled with the responsibility of transforming a child of God into the image of Christ. However, in as much as the Holy Spirit’s role is fundamental and indispensable to the conforming of a child of God to the image of His Son, He does not perform this task arbitrarily, but with the cooperation of the person involved. For this reason, Paul’s admonition to the Philippian Church was, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;” (Philip 2:12). Clearly, Paul believed that the Philippian Christians needed to play their part by obeying God—the only way they could work out their salvation. However, the apostle was quick to remind them that the whole exercise was to be, “[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.” (Philip 2:13 AMP).
This implies that, in as much as God wants to transform you, He needs your permission to do it. God will not override your will to make you the person He wants you to be. We can see this principle at work in the way Jesus called His disciples : “And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” (Matt 4:18-20). Take note of the approach : First, He offered them an invitation, “Follow Me” and then promised them a reward, “I will make you fishers of men”, should they accept. His invitation to the fishermen, offered them both the power to follow Him and choice to decline the invitation. Thankfully, they responded by accepting His invitation, and the rest, as they say, is history.
We cooperate with God in His bid to conform us to the image of His Son, by yielding to the Holy Spirit. It is worthwhile to meditate on Zechariah 4:6 until you internalize the truth therein. It is only what the Holy Spirit reveals to you, that you can become in Christ Jesus. Hence, there is no alternative to giving the Holy Spirit a free rein in your life, if you want to be the kind of man Jesus was on earth. Remember what the Bible says in 2Corinthians 3:16-17 : “Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is , there is liberty.” You need to turn to the Lord, who is the Spirit in order for the veil that hinders people from being able to see Jesus, to be taken away. The result is that you will find the liberty to be like Jesus, more and more.
Until we see Jesus, as the Holy Spirit reveals Him to us, we can never become like Him. The more we behold Him, the more we become like Him. The Holy Spirit unveils Jesus to us through the Bible. The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is all about Jesus. The following verses of scripture prove this point : “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”” (Jn 1:45) ; “Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”” (Lk 24: 44). The Bible, as a whole, is the revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev 1:1). However, in order for the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus Christ to us in the Bible, we need to look intently into the perfect law of liberty. Shalom.
