The Christian life is the Christlike life in the present. And the divinely ordained destiny of all Christians is Christlikeness.

 

Imitation Game

I’m sure you’re familiar with the saying, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” To imitate someone is to acknowledge their uniqueness, their superiority, their greatness, their beauty. Well, interestingly enough this familiar saying actually applies quite readily to the Christian life. Paul has this to say in 1 Corinthians 11:1,

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Notice Paul isn’t telling the Corinthians to imitate him because he himself is so great. No. Rather, he too is a fellow imitator. He is an imitator of Christ. Christ is the only one ultimately worth imitating. This theme pops up throughout Scripture.

I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church (1 Corinthians 4:16–17).

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:1–2).

And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 1:6).

For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews (1 Thessalonians 2:14).

 

The Christian Life is the Christlike Life

The Christian life is the Christlike life. As saints, we imitate Christ’s ways (1 Corinthians 4:16–17). We imitate Christ’s sacrificial love (Ephesians 5:1–2). We imitate Christ’s Holy Spirit empowered joy in the midst of affliction on account of the word (1 Thessalonians 1:6). We imitate Christ in our suffering (1 Thessalonians 2:14). Christlikeness is not merely peripheral to the Christian life. The Christian life is the Christlike life here and now, in the present. But Christlikeness is also in our future.

Christlikeness is the divine destiny for all saints. God predestined us to look like Christ.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:29)

Through Christ we are conformed to the image of the Son (Romans 8:29). Through Christ we become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Through Christ we are being transformed into the same image of him (2 Corinthians 3:17–18). Through Christ we are being renewed in knowledge after his image (Colossians 3:10; cf. 1:15). Indeed, through Christ, we will be like Christ (1 John 3:2–3).

 

How Do We Look Like Christ?

This is a wonderful promise, but how do we take hold of it? How do we do this? How do we live in such a way now that we imitate Christ—that we look like Christ? Where do we start? Not surprisingly, we start by looking at Jesus.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18)

We are transformed by beholding the glory of the Lord. Where do we look to behold this glory?

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6)

We look at Jesus. That’s how we start. We can only imitate Jesus if we are looking at Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth is the supreme revelation God has given us of himself. Well, where do we see him? In at least two places to start: (1) in Scripture and (2) in the lives of fellow, more mature saints.

 

See Jesus in the Bible

First, we see Jesus supremely in Scripture by the power of the Holy Spirit. All of the OT prophesied, pointed to, and anticipated him. And all of the NT reveals how Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled in this age and will fulfill in the age to come all of God’s promises to his people (Luke 24:27; 44–45; Revelation 22:12, 16, 20). The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the truth of Christ if we will look. We see Jesus by the Holy Spirit revealing him to us supremely in the Scriptures and testifying of him to our hearts (John 15:26). Read of Jesus in the Scriptures. See him, and imitate him.

 

See Jesus in Seasoned Saints

Second, we see Jesus when we look at fellow believers who are further down the winding road of our great pilgrimage. Here, we’re back where we started in this article. Paul issued this very instruction to fellow believers, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Similarly, the author of Hebrews says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:1). Even here, the author of Hebrews runs back up the chain of faith to Jesus himself, who never changes, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

This means we can look at the lives of past saints and living saints to see Jesus. Find a saint of old, perhaps an early church father, a reformation era theologian, or a modern Christian who has passed on to glory, and spend time with them. Read their works. Find their sermons. Read their biographies. But don’t just find a saint of old. Find a living saint. Find one who isn’t far, but close. Your local church where you are a member is the ideal place. Spend time with them. Talk with them. Listen to them. Consider their way of life and imitate their faith. Look at saints of old and present. See Jesus through their lives, and imitate them.

 

Look at Christ to Look Like Christ

Looking at Christ—this is how we run this great endurance race (Hebrews 12:2). And by looking at Christ, we will look like Christ. In this present earthly life we will look like Christ imperfectly. But this is really preparation and practice for the eternal life that awaits when we will look like him perfectly. Because this is our foreordained destiny as saints, to look like Jesus (Romans 8:29). And it may not surprise you at this point to learn that what will finally bring about our perfect image-bearing of Jesus is our seeing and looking at him when he returns.

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2)

We look at Jesus to imitate and look like him now. And we do this in the knowledge and unwavering hope of this promise: We will see him as he is. And when we do, we will look like him.

Look at Christ to look like Christ.