Cheryl McGrath, April 2003
"as He is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17b - NKJV)
"For we realise that our life in this world is actually his life lived in us." ( 1 John 4:17b Phillips Translation)
Not long ago while considering how we are being "conformed to the image
of Christ", I researched the way in which our everyday Australian coins
are created at the Royal Australian Mint. This turned up some interesting information.
It seems that coins start off as blank pieces of metal alloys, including copper.
After a coin has been cut from this metal, it is firstly "rimmed".
This means the edge of the blank is raised by being rolled through a very narrow,
specially shaped groove. After this, the blanks are softened in a furnace heated
to around 850 degrees Celsius. Then each coin is placed in a burnishing machine
where it is tumbled against a mixture of small steel balls and chemicals to
smooth and polish it. A lubricant is then applied and the coin is passed through
a hot air drier. Through this process discolouration is removed, and the coin
is made to shine brightly.
Finally, the coin is taken to the press. The choice of press depends on the size and nature of the coin. A collar is applied to the coin to keep it still, and the blank coin is struck simultaneously with two dies, producing a permanent image on both sides of the coin. The larger the coin and the harder the metal, the more pressure is required, usually meaning a slower strike rate. You would think this would be the end of the process, but the coins are then inspected for quality by the press operator. If the operator is not satisfied with the final product, that whole batch of coins is quarantined and undergoes further inspection. If not up to the required standard they will never be released as currency.
Perhaps you're feeling, as I did, that this minting technique is not unlike the refining process the Holy Spirit leads us through as He forms Christ within us. The most interesting thing I realised, however, is that although each coin starts off blank, in the end it becomes known by the image that's pressed into it. We do not look at a two dollar coin, a fifty cent coin or a five cent coin and say "that's some kind of coin". Rather, we say, "that's two dollars, fifty cents, or five cents". Each coin, while remaining a coin, eventually becomes valued for the image impressed into it.
"And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so shall we, and so let us also, bear the image of the Man of heaven. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption." Cor. 15:49-50 (Amplified)
My story about the coins has a purpose of course, because what I would like you to see is that when the Bible says we are being conformed to the image of Christ, that's exactly what it means (Romans 8:29). For various reasons, many of us live our Christian lives always trying to be "like" Christ. We try to be unselfish, like Him. We try to show kindness, like Him. We try to love, like Him. We try to be holy, like Him. We try, we try, and we try. And as if to confirm we're not trying hard enough, we are bombarded with Christianese slogans like "what would Jesus DO?" in this particular situation, or in that one. So what is the outcome of all this trying and doing? Little more than an apparently unceasing procession of flesh-works that produce no lasting fruit, and unfulfilled lives that don't know what it is to experience Christ as our sabbath rest. We know there just has to be more than this to the resurrection life we were promised, so we try harder, often only to find ourselves discouraged, burnt out and confused.
You see, we've lost sight of the mark. Many believers' lives have become about being "like Christ", instead of being "in Christ". We've failed to understand that the essence of New Testament teaching is not concerned with disciples becoming like Christ from the outside in, but from the inside out. The scriptures do not tell us to live our lives considering "what would Jesus do right now" as if He were some place else, but rather "what IS Jesus doing IN me right here, right now?" (2 Cor. 4:11). We are not told our old natures will be saved through changing our behaviour; we are told our old natures are unsaveable and only fit for crucifixion (Rom. 8:8; Gal. 5:24) We are not even told to try and live Christ-like lives; we are told, rather, for Him to live we have to die (Gal 2:20). Nowhere does the New Testament indicate that God is the least bit interested in saving, refurbishing, making over or renovating any part whatsoever of what we were before we came to Christ. Why? Because in our flesh "dwells no good thing". Full stop, no exception.
Being born again is not being fixed up and made acceptable, but becoming a whole new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). God is not a renovator, He is a creator. He expresses Himself not through remodelling, but through creating. If we are believers sincerely seeking discipleship and humbly submitting to the Father, Christ is being created within us. Essentially, this means it is He who lives His life through us, not we who live ours striving to be like Him.
This does not mean, of course, that we are at liberty to live as we please while we wait to be finally conformed to Christ's image. Resurrection life begins the moment we are born of Spirit and water. Just as we saw with the coins, there is a process involved in being made an image bearer. If we are not co-operating with the Word and the Spirit we are in rebellion against God and in agreement with the world. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the things of the Kingdom, nor can a lawless life inherit holiness.
Bearing the image of Christ is about being stamped, impressed, indelibly marked
with HIM. In fact, in reference to believers, the idea behind the New Testament
word "image" is to "yield, to give up your place to". As
we decrease, He increases.
"For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect."(Heb. 10:1)
Living in false religion, or law, is always about being a shadow, a replica, of the original. The replica will always fall short of the mark. No matter how good it looks, on the outside, it is not the original, it is a counterfeit. However, something that has been impressed with an image, just like a genuine coin or note, is transformed forever. We are called to be image bearers, not shadows. And if we are image bearers, Jesus said that constitutes ownership (see Matthew 22:19-21) We were bought with a price, we are not our own.
Jesus told Philip that he who had seen Him had seen the Father (John 14:9). In Australia we have a slang term. We say someone, often a child, is the "spitting image" of his or her mother or father. It means they are exactly alike, even down to their spit. Rather a crude expression, I'll admit, but if it makes the message clearer I'm not averse to using it. And to go further, the scriptures say that Jesus is the "spitting image" of His Father. Well, perhaps not in exactly that language, but the message is the same, for He is the express image of God. The Greek word "charakter", translated "express image" in the NKJV, is only used in this one place in the New Testament. It's exact meaning is "the instrument used for engraving or carving; the mark stamped upon that instrument or wrought out on it; a mark or figure burned in or stamped on, an impression; the exact expression of any person or thing, marked likeness, precise reproduction in every respect." Not a copy, not a replica, but an exact reproduction with no differences and no flaws.
Jesus is the one and only exact image of His Father, and His Bride as she is being filled with the knowledge of Him is also being matured to reflect His image (Col. 3:9,10; 2 Cor. 3:18).
"As He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17b)
When will the world look upon the church and know they have seen Christ? When we are so saturated with the knowledge OF Him, rather than knowledge ABOUT Him, that it is His image we display and no other. As He IS, so are we in this world. There is a certain freedom in those words. They are absolute and they are final. There is victory. There is hope. And our hope culminates in this deep truth - CHRIST IN US!
Cheryl McGrath
Great South Land Ministries, Australia
Website: www.greatsouthland.org
Email: southland@greatsouthland.org
Copyright Cheryl McGrath, Great South Land Ministries, 2003 This article may be distributed freely with copyright intact. Permission is needed for reproducing this article or any part of it on a website.