In His Image

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature;

the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. NASB

Jesus Must be Supreme in Our Affections

What do you love? What do you treasure? Of what can it be said about you that you long for and desire it above all other things in your life? Whatever that thing may be, it can be said that this is what you worship. That is because the word worship originates from the idea of “ascribing worth” or “value” to something. So then, that which you worship is that which you value or ascribe worth to, that which you treasure or adore. It is that which you revere or honor, that which you venerate or idolize, it is that which you glorify or consider to be highly valuable. Now if Christ is supremely valuable in reality, and there is truly nothing that even comes close to being as infinitely worthy of all glory and honor, worship and adoration as Him, it only stands to reason that to fail to give Him this proper place of honor in our hearts and affections is to be sorely mistaken and self-deceived in our value system. This is because He is the One who is worthy of Glory and honor!

Revelation 4:11 – 11 "Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created." NASB

Revelation 5:12-14 – 12 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." 13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." 14 And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped. NASB

If we love something more than Christ, we have misplaced affections. He is altogether lovely, therefore not to love Him is to have a degraded mind, and to throw contempt on the highest manifestation of human excellence and Divine love. This is why the Scripture pronounces a curse upon those who fail to love Christ.

1 Corinthians 16:22 – 22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. Maranatha. NASB

This is to say if you do not love Christ, you are accursed already! In fact, the very state of being accursed is the state of not properly valuing that which is truly valuable. If we love and adore that which is wretched and worthless, we are then by virtue of this, wretched and worthless. If we truly love what is supremely lovely and virtuous and valuable, we will then become lovely and virtuous in ourselves, because we properly value what is truly virtuous. More than this, as we trust in and rely upon Jesus, our great God and King, enjoying Him and our daily relationship with Him, it has a transforming affect that propels us with increasing intensity toward Christ’s likeness. We live out this union in Christ that we have with Him.

Knowing this, we should be all the more eager to worship the Glorious Creator, Jesus Christ! Even Jesus Himself taught us that our love for Him was to exceed all other loves and affections in our lives.

Luke 14:25-27 – 25 Now great multitudes were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 "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. 27 "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. NASB

The word “hate”here does not suggest positive antagonism but rather "to love less". Our love for Christ must be so strong that all other love is like hatred in comparison to it. In fact, we must hate “our own lives” and be willing to lose our lives and “carry our own cross” to follow Him. We must love Him more than our own very lives because He is more valuable than our very lives themselves. When we trust Him and rely upon Him and enjoy Him, following Him in obedience to His Lordship, we show forth the genuine character of our love for Him and living for Christ becomes our main life purpose. When we do this, we have properly placed our affections on that which is worthy of our love, and our trust in that place where it properly belongs, and we will then become like Him because we value His virtue and long to possess it more than anything else. As we truly love to follow Him and obey His commandments, we begin to live out His virtues and His character which is being created in us by the Holy Spirit. If you treasure joy, you will seek to be joyful. If you honor and esteem justice, you will seek to be just in all your affairs. If you esteem love and compassion as most valuable, then you will become loving and compassionate. If you trust in, honor, esteem, venerate, treasure and glorify God more than anything else, in all of His glorious virtue, then you will become like Him, because you seek to possess Him above all other things. Consider how loving, hungering and thirsting for God takes on a new meaning in this context.

Psalm 143:5-6 – 5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Thy doings; I muse on the work of Thy hands. 6 I stretch out my hands to Thee; My soul longs for Thee, as a parched land. NASB

The most loving and beneficial thing that God can command us is to treasure, esteem and love Him more than anything. This because He is what is in reality most worthy of being loved, and this causes us to become like Him because we seek His virtue and want to possess it more than anything else. Thus we see the reason why the greatest of all commandments is to love God! In other words the highest of priorities for our lives is the love and honor of God. It is imperative to understand that He must have first place, or preeminence in our hearts and affections. We must love Him above all other things.

Matthew 6:33 – 33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. NASB

Matthew 22:36-38 – 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37 And He said to him, "’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. NASB

Philippians 2:12-16 – 12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. 14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may have cause to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. NASB

Now as Christ holds first place in our affections, and as we live out the obedience of faith in Him, we will indeed become like Him, and with increasing intensity we will bear His image. We will in fact “participate in the divine nature” and godliness, or true piety will begin to define our character. In this we will be reflectors of God’s very own glory in which we will shine through us as “lights in this world,” the very purpose for which we were created.

If you would like to know how to know Jesus Christ and be ransomed from your sins and receive eternal life….. have a look at these links below that explain the Gospel…..

What is the Gospel? by JI Packer

An excellent overview of the Christian Gospel.

Defining the Gospel

A brief and concise overview of Gospel Basics.

shaansloan

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Pastor Shaan Sloan

Christ’s Servant at

Heritage Christian Fellowship

11104 Menaul Blvd NE

Albuquerque, NM 87112

www.heritageabq.org

The Lord is the Strength of My Life