Line Upon Line

In his book, "Mere Christianity," C. S. Lewis expressed his thoughts about the purpose of the Church:

"It's easy to think that the church has a lot of different objects -- education, building, missions, holding services....The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, and even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose."

I remember one day when I was an instructor at RHEMA Bible Training Center, Kenneth Hagin walked into an office where 4 or 5 teachers had gathered for one of our afternoon theological discussions. He was visibly troubled, which was unusual for him. He said he'd just heard a preacher on the radio criticizing him and all those 'faith teachers.' The preacher said, "all those guys are trying to do is raise up a bunch of little Jesuses."

Brother Hagin said, "Well, what are we supposed to do, raise up a bunch of little devils -- people that act and talk like their father, the devil?"

Good point.

But many sincere Christians believe nobody can be like Jesus.

On the contrary -- that's God's plan for all His children -- that we be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ, His Son. As we learn of Him, yield our hearts and lives to Him, and seek to obey and follow Him, we will become more like Him. When we do, the Son of God will be manifest in and through us, and the world will see His glory! That's God's plan for His Church and His people.

It's about time we got with the program, don't you think?

think on these things...

Romans 8:29 (NLT)
For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)
And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.

Luke 6:40 (NKJV)
"A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher."

"If you're not going on to perfection, what are you going on to?" -- an unknown Methodist preacher from somewhere in Middle Georgia, as told to retired Air Force pilot, Buck West, as told to me by him (did you follow that?)