Being like Jesus

We often hear that we need to be like Jesus, grow into being more like Jesus, be Christ-like.
I need to be careful, here, because the above would be so very wonderful and, obviously, different.

Jesus was and is counter-intuitive. One only needs to read His words in the Bible and follow His actions during His ministry, right down to the very last words to see that He doesn't operate at all like we do. No one has been like Jesus!

The issues are two-fold. One, He is GOD! God, by His own definition, is OTHER. He is totally different from His created to the point of being quite impossible to define or even clearly understand. We simply cannot be God. There are some people who walk this world with the misconception that they, in fact, are like God, but that is not true and leads to a serious set of problems, eternally.

Two, He is sinless and perfect. Sin is in our bones, if you will. Even the most wonderful Christians in this world continue to sin because of the nature of the flesh. Try as we may, we will not eradicate sin from our lives while we walk this planet.

So, here is the rub. To set a goal to be like Jesus is to set a goal that cannot and will not be achievable. I would suggest, and this is just me, that even at the point of Sanctification, we will still not be like Jesus because we will not be God.

The point is that we need to be careful not to define our walk by such an unreachable set of expectations. Do we need to wonder in awe at the very way Jesus lived? Yes. Do we need to pray to the Spirit that He will work with us to be more loving of our fellow man and appreciative of God's blessings? Yes. To emulate is not to be equal. 

The wonderful truth is that we will someday, through no work of our own, be face-to-face with a God who loved us enough to send His Son to die so that we might abide and live in His presence.

Glorious! Praise God!