Spiritual Formation: Conformity to the Image of Christ

As Christians, we do not hear much taught or preached about growing in the likeness of Christ or being conformed to His image—although we hear a lot about God’s love and goodness. We must ask ourselves, what does it mean to grow in the likeness of Christ? Is it possible to be like Christ in today’s society? Why should we strive to be like Christ in His love and suffering for others?

          In Paul’s writing to the church in Rome, he makes a clear statement regarding the believer’s predestination to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). God desires that believers grow in the likeness of His Son. For many, when Jesus is accepted as savior, we feel we have satisfied what the Lord requires of us, thus remaining as carnal Christians and never being transformed into the image of Christ. George Barna, research analyst and author of Maximum Faith concludes, “Most Americans who confess their sins to God and ask Christ to be their savior . . . lives almost indistinguishably from unrepentant sinners, and their lives bear little, if any, fruit for the kingdom of God.”

          As believers, who profess the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we are mandated to be imitators of God and to represent him as light to the unbelieving world. To live a life where Jesus is Lord, we must be willing to submit our will and desire to His authority. The Lord Jesus has promised not to leave us comfortless but that He would give us another Comforter who would be with us and live in us. The Holy Spirit will be present to “walk alongside” us, and He will continue to reveal God’s truth and bring about holy living to those who will submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He is the empowering presence on which the Christian life must be dependent.

Spiritual formation is a work of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life as He works to conform us to the image of Christ. The apostle Paul addresses the church at Corinth by saying, Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed [emphasis added] into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Cor 3:18). According to Walter Bauer, the Greek word for transformation, metamorphoó means to change inwardly in fundamental character or condition, be changed, be transformed. He further states, “Christians progressively take on the perfection of Jesus Christ,” thus an ongoing process.

          As human beings, it's natural for us to desire control over our lives. However, as we pursue Christ-like qualities, we may discover that He challenges us by subjecting the power we crave to crucifixion. In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me…” (Gal 2:20). Paul’s co-crucifixion with Christ is the very life that is required of all believers who desire to be conformed to the image of Christ.

          For many of us, the crucified life requires more than we are willing to pay. Jesus told those following him, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and comes after me cannot be my disciple (Lu 4:26-27). This may seem harsh; however, the Lord has set the requirements for discipleship, which can only be lived by God’s grace.

          The Lord has blessed us with the power and ability to live a grace-filled life. For, we are no longer under the law of sin and death, but now we live by the law of the Spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus (Rom 6:14; 8:2). As we realize how helpless we are to live the life of Christ in our strength, we begin to surrender to the power of God’s Spirit, which has been given to every believer. Only Christ can live His life through the believer, which is done through the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit plays an active role in the spiritual formation of those He inhabits. As Christians, we must be indwelt with the Spirit to carry out the will of God. The Lord works through the Spirit to bring members of the body of Christ together to do the work of the ministry. According to Frank Thielman, “If Gentiles are to come into God’s people . . . a radical transformation must begin in their lives to make them appropriate dwelling places for God’s Holy Spirit—they need to be holy.”

          In John’s gospel, Jesus told the disciples that they must abide in Him to bear fruit (John 15:15:1-9). This new life in Christ that we strive to live will be manifested as we remain connected to the true vine of life. Would it not seem logical that if we are connected to the vine of life, the nature flowing through the vine will also be displayed in the branches? Although we may be connected, this does not mean we are not on a journey in the transformation (sanctification) process. Conformity to the image of Christ is a progressive journey. A journey that presents the believer with many challenges—some can even be hardships. Nevertheless, our sovereign Lord is keenly aware of the transformation process.

          As we continue in the process of being conformed to the image of Christ through the journey of life, the ministry of Christ will continue on the earth. Our heavenly Father will be glorified, and others will be drawn to God through our testimony of His graciousness.

©Ronald Sterling

#Image_Of_Christ_Ministry
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ሮሜ 8፥
29: ልጁ በብዙ ወንድሞች መካከል በኵር ይሆን ዘንድ፥ አስቀድሞ ያወቃቸው #የልጁን #መልክ እንዲመስሉ አስቀድሞ ደግሞ ወስኖአልና፤
30: አስቀድሞም የወሰናቸውን እነዚህን ደግሞ ጠራቸው፤ የጠራቸውንም እነዚህን ደግሞ አጸደቃቸው፤ ያጸደቃቸውንም እነዚህን ደግሞ አከበራቸው።

2 ቆሮ 3፥
18: እኛም ሁላችን በመጋረጃ በማይከደን ፊት የጌታን ክብር እንደ መስተዋት እያብለጨለጭን መንፈስ ከሚሆን ጌታ እንደሚደረግ #ያን #መልክ እንመስል ዘንድ ከክብር ወደ ክብር እንለወጣለን።

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Biblical worship is directed by the spirit, flows through the soul, and is expressed by the whole body—from head to feet.

መጽሐፍ ቅዱሳዊ አምልኮ የሚመራው በመንፈስ ነው፣ በነፍሳችን በኩል ይፈስሳል እንዲሁም ከራስ ፀጉራችን እስከ እግራችን ባለው የአካል ክፍላችን ሁሉ ይገለጻል።

ዮሐ 4፥24

እግዚአብሔር መንፈስ ነው፥ የሚሰግዱለትም #በመንፈስና #በእውነት ሊሰግዱለት ያስፈልጋቸዋል።

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#ተወዳጆች፣

እግዚአብሔር የልጁን መልክ እንድንመስል እለት እለት ይቅረጸን እንጂ ዓለም የራሷን ቅርጽ አታውጣልን።


ሮሜ 12፥2

የእግዚአብሔር ፈቃድ እርሱም በጎና ደስ የሚያሰኝ ፍጹምም የሆነው ነገር ምን እንደ ሆነ ፈትናችሁ ታውቁ ዘንድ #በልባችሁ_መታደስ ተለወጡ እንጂ #ይህን_ዓለም_አትምሰሉ።


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Every morning I thank and praise God, because today
He will do miracles. Every evening I thank and praise God for He
has done miracles. Today He enables me to endure what I cannot
endure; today He causes me to love what I cannot love. Today He
makes me do what I cannot do and live in a manner in which I cannot
live. Thank and praise Him, daily it is impossible with men, but daily
it is possible with God!

Life that wins - Watchman Nee

በካታኮምብ ዋሻዎች (የሮማውያን ከመሬት በታች የተዘጋጁ የመቃብር ስፍራዎች) ይኖሩ የነበሩ የጥንት ክርስቲያኖች ዝማሬ፥😭

O gladsome light, O grace
Of God the Father's face,
The eternal splendor wearing,
Celestial, holy, blest,
Our Savior Jesus Christ,
Joyful in the thine appearing.

ምንኛ የታደሉ፣ ጸጋ እና ምህረት የበዛላቸው እንዲሁም አለምን እና ሞትን የናቁ ነበሩ።

ጌታየ ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ፣ ወንጌልህ እኔ እጅ ላይ ሲደርስ አይቅለልብኝ! ምህረት አድርግልኝ?😭😭😭

2ቆሮ 6፥

4 ነገር ግን በሁሉ እንደ እግዚአብሔር አገልጋዮች ራሳችንን እናማጥናለን፤
5 በብዙ መጽናት፥ #በመከራ፥ #በችግር፥ #በጭንቀት፥ #በመገረፍ፥ #በወኅኒ፥ #በሁከት፥ #በድካም፥ #እንቅልፍ_በማጣት፥
6 በመጦም፥ በንጽህና፥ በእውቀት፥ በትዕግሥት፥ በቸርነት፥ በመንፈስ ቅዱስ፥ ግብዝነት በሌለው ፍቅር፥ በእውነት ቃል፥
7 በእግዚአብሔር ኃይል፥ ለቀኝና ለግራ በሚሆን በጽድቅ የጦር ዕቃ፥ በክብርና በውርደት፥
8 #በክፉ_ወሬና በመልካም ወሬ ራሳችንን እናማጥናለን፤

#Image_Of_Christ_Ministry

Believers have all they need in Jesus. There is nothing better, deeper, or more spiritual than knowing, loving, and serving him. Christ is God, He is ours, we are His, and we must turn a deaf ear to any teaching that suggests otherwise.

ቆላስይስ 2፥
6: እንግዲህ ጌታን ክርስቶስ ኢየሱስን እንደ ተቀበላችሁት በእርሱ ተመላለሱ።
7: ሥር ሰዳችሁ በእርሱ ታነጹ፥ እንደ ተማራችሁም በሃይማኖት ጽኑ፥ ምስጋናም ይብዛላችሁ።
8: #እንደ_ክርስቶስ_ትምህርት_ሳይሆን፥ እንደ ሰው ወግና እንደ ዓለማዊ እንደ መጀመሪያ ትምህርት ባለ በፍልስፍና በከንቱም መታለል ማንም እንዳይማርካችሁ ተጠበቁ።
9: በእርሱ የመለኮት ሙላት ሁሉ በሰውነት ተገልጦ ይኖራልና።
10: ለአለቅነትና ለሥልጣንም ሁሉ ራስ በሆነ በእርሱ ሆናችሁ ተሞልታችኋል።

#ImageOfChristMinistry


የፌስቡክ ገጻችንን ይቀላቃሉን!👇

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"You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless, until they rest in you." Augustine of Hippo

Rome 5፥1-2
Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God's glory.


ሮሜ 5፥1-2
1 እንግዲህ በእምነት ከጸደቅን በእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ በጌታችን በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ሰላምን እንያዝ፤
2 በእርሱም ደግሞ ወደ ቆምንበት ወደዚህ ጸጋ በእምነት መግባትን አግኝተናል፤ በእግዚአብሔር ክብርም ተስፋ እንመካለን።

#Image_Of_Christ_Ministry

"He paid a debt he did not owe, and I owed a debt I could not pay."

#Image_Of_Christ_Ministry

My God is "unmoved mover", "the first cause", "necessary (not contingent) being" and "perfect".

#Image_Of_Christ_Ministry

"I find myself clinging to Christ like a burr to a dress."

Katie von Bora, Mrs. Luther

This is the true nature of preaching. It is the man of God opening the Word of God and expounding its truths so that the voice of God may be heard, the glory of God seen, and the will of God obeyed.

Steven J. Lawson

#Image_Of_Christ_Ministry

የፌስቡክ ገጻችንን ይቀላቃሉን!👇

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Heavenly Father, as I begin this new day, I ask for your guidance and wisdom.

I pray that you would lead me on the path that you have set before me, and that I would be able to hear your voice and follow your direction. I ask that you would give me insight and discernment as I make decisions about my life, and that I would be able to trust in your plan for my future. I trust in your guidance and provision, and I pray that I would be able to follow your lead today.

In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

መዝ 5፥3
በማለዳ ድምፄን ትሰማለህ፥
በማለዳ በፊትህ እቆማለሁ፥ እጠብቃለሁም።

#Image_Of_Christ_Ministry