Living for Christ in an acceptable manner is all about change. All of us who were baptized buried the old man of sin and arose to walk in newness of life (Rom 6:3-4). However, Christ makes it abundantly clear that change only starts at baptism. It is not to end there. The gospel that brought us to the water to wash away our sins (Mk 16:15-16; Acts 22:16) is to continue to bear fruit in our lives until the day that we die (Col 1:6). As a tree shows evidence of the life working within it by the fruit on its branches, so we are to show the evidence of the gospel working within us, ever changing us to be more like Christ as the days, months, and years go by. As our outer man decays with the passing of time, our inner man is to be continually renewed day by day (2 Cor 4:16).
The plan of God from eternity was for us to be conformed to the image of His Son so that He might be the firstborn (most important One) among many brethren (Rom 8:29). The new man that we put on at baptism was not a finished product. Each of us is a work in progress. We change as we resist the pressure to conform to the world and instead are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2).
Our minds are renewed throughout our lives as we maintain a strong desire for God’s Word, a desire as intense as a baby’s desire for milk, so that we do not remain static in regard to our salvation, but grow in respect to it (1 Pet 2:2). The gospel is our mirror. As we continually put it in front of our minds with the aim of continuing to make changes until we look like Christ, we are transformed into His image a little at a time, or “from glory to glory” (2 Cor 3:18). And, as we look more like Christ, we look more like His/our Father, for the same One who said, “Let there be light” is displacing the spiritual darkness in our hearts as He gives us the Light of the knowledge of His glory in the face of Christ (2 Cor 4:6).
The changes in our life, as He creates our new self in righteousness and holiness, should be as plain to God and to those around us as the changes that signal the end of summer and the beginning of fall. More and more and with greater consistency we lay aside lying, we control our tempers, we stop stealing, and we refrain our tongues from foul and abusive language. We rid our heart of sinful attitudes toward others such as bitterness, wrath, anger, and malice which formerly manifested their ugliness in our lives in loud verbal abuse and/or secret slander (Eph 4:22-31). We look less and less like we used to because we have put away these and other sinful attitudes and actions. Our new man looks more like Christ also because we are putting on more and more compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and other qualities that are part of the divine nature as revealed by the Spirit of God (Col 3:12; Gal 5:22-23; 2 Pet 1:4-11).
Paul Overstreet wrote a song about the imitation of his earthly father that should ring true concerning the imitation of our heavenly Father, as He has revealed Himself in His Son and through His Spirit. I will revise the song to bring out this application- “I'm seein' my Father in me I know that's how it's meant to be and I find I'm more and more like Him each day; I notice I walk the way He walks, I notice I talk the way He talks; I'm startin' to see my Father in me. And I'm happy to see my Father in me.” Signs of fall are very apparent. Are the changes in us as apparent as the crisp air and the brilliantly colored leaves? “If not, why not?”
