READINGS: Psa. 119: 49-64; Ezek. 36: 24-28; Gal. 5: 16-26; Luke 6: 27-38
TEXT: Luke 6: 35-36
“But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful”
A model is defined in the dictionary as a miniature (small) representation of something.
A model gives you a picture of something that you desire to see but not yet available, so before it becomes available the model gives you a picture of what it looks like.
The purpose of a model of anything is first to create awareness and secondly to create interest in that thing
So that people will believe in it, will be interested in it and will commit themselves to it one way or another
For example we have plans to build a new church building, a model of the building we plan to build will help to –
1. Present to the congregation a picture of the structure of the building, what the building will look like
2. The congregation sees the model of the building and without seeing the building itself they fall in love with it. Their interest is stirred up
3. It generates desire and positive energy the actualization of the project – everybody becomes ready to do whatever is necessary to make the building a reality, but all of this started just because they saw the model
In the same way as children of God, it is God’s desire that our lives will be a model of the life of Christ, such that when people see us –
1. They will desire to see Christ
2. They will be interested in committing themselves to Him
3. They will be prepared to do whatever is necessary for them to eventually get to meet Him and spend the rest of their lives with Him in eternity
Now the effectiveness of any model is measured by how well it is able to capture and represent the individual features that make up the structure or the personality that it models.
For example, back to the church building scenario, if by the time the design model of the church building is completed we discover that the final picture the model presents to us is different from the picture of what we want our church to look like, what do we do, we reject the model and ask that the person who built should rework it and that cycles continues until we get it right.
If some reasons after several attempts, we find that the person helping us with the model is unable to give us what we want, what do we do? Do we say okay since you cannot get what I want let me take what you have, some may do that, but some will rather give the job to some else who they believe will be able to give them what they want.
In the same way God will not settle for less in raising for Himself a people who will perfectly model Christ in their daily walk.
To have a perfect model of Christ, all the features of Christ must be perfectly represented in that model. The essential feature of Christ that must be in anyone who seeks to perfectly model Christ is love.
The love we talk about here is not the popular one that the world celebrates today, rather it is sacrificial, unconditional love of God for man demonstrated through the His giving of His only begotten Son for the redemption of mankind.
It is the master feature that encapsulate other features.
Jesus in the gospel read to us a few minutes ago, mentioned seven aspects of unconditional love. These actions, not done naturally by human nature, require supernatural enabling - and serve as proof that we perfectly model Christ -
• Love your enemies.
• Do good to those who hate you.
• Bless those who curse you.
• Pray for those who mistreat you.
• Do not retaliate (v. 29 a).
• Give freely (vv. 29 b-30).
• Treat others the way you want to be treated (v. 31).
This kind of love marks one off as distinctive (vv. 32-34), and as having the same characteristics as the heavenly Father (v. 35).
What must we do if we are
to serve as perfect models of Christ?
Do not live in the flesh but live in the spirit. Another way to say this is to say that you do not listen to the suggestions of the flesh but follow entirely the suggestions of the Spirit. (Gal. 5: 16)
What is our benefit when we model Christ? Jesus says that your reward will be great (v. 35)
In explaining what we can call part of the reward, Jesus taught His followers a fundamental principle of the universe - what one sows he will reap (vv. 36-38; cf. Gal 6:7).
Jesus outlined five areas which were proof of the sowing and reaping theme, mentioned so often in Scripture:
• Mercy will lead to mercy (Luke 6:36). The disciples were exhorted to have the same merciful attitude God displayed toward them.
• Judgment will lead to judgment (v. 37 a).
• Condemnation will lead to condemnation (v. 37 b).
• Pardon will lead to pardon (v. 37 c).
• Giving will lead to giving (v. 38). It is simply a fact of life that certain attitudes and actions often reflect back on the individual.
• And of course it is only Christlike persons that can hope to be with God in eternity, so when you are making effort to perfectly model Christ, you are only helping yourself to develop the necessary attribute that will make you a citizen of heaven. So when you sow to yourself now in modelling Christ perfectly, you reap as eternal life in the future.
May this gift of eternal life not elude any of us in Jesus name. Amen.
Great article thanks