The above verse is just beautiful to me. "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness".
We should be satisfied each day to be in the presence of the Lord. He should be the first whom we seek in the morning and the last whom we seek at night. We should be in constant communion with Him (I Thessalonians 5:17).
Yet, as I read that verse yesterday, God put upon my heart an additional meaning. "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with [to possess] your likeness". I shall be satisfied when I finally find myself transformed into the image of Christ. Is that not the goal? To be like Christ?
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." Romans 8:28-29
As this verse implies, it is by beholding the face of Jesus that such a transformation occurs.
"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." II Corinthians 3:17-18
The battle we face is truly an inner battle with the flesh. Jesus was persecuted, despised, rejected of men...but it did not bother or deter Him (Isaiah 53:3). He was tempted in all ways in which we are, but He did not sin (Hebrews 2:18, 4:15). Why? Satan had no inroads into Him (John 14:30). Jesus' flesh and soul were in subjection to His Spirit, which was led by the Holy Spirit of God. His sole focus therefore was in doing the business of the Father and not doing as He pleased (Luke 2:49; Romans 15:3).
"Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God." I Peter 4:1-2
"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." II Corinthians 5:14-15
Yet, there is one thing which must precipitate that transformation, and it is us being "awake".
The world is in overdrive trying to keep people asleep. Whether it is teaching people to open their third eye (which is in actuality putting them to sleep by activating the pineal gland) or keeping their senses overloaded as a form of escape (which the world calls entertainment) - however he chooses to do it - Satan is trying to keep people's minds blinded (II Corinthians 4:4).
The answer for them is a Church which has been metamorphosized into the likeness of Jesus Christ that can take authority over those unclean spirits, cast them out, and bring to bear the the light of Christ so that they can be set free.
"Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame." I Corinthians 15:34
Why are some ignorant of God? Because much of the Church is asleep right along with the world. This is to our shame for we are the ones God has commanded to preach the Gospel and set captives free in Jesus' name (Luke 4:18). Trust me, if you are not being transformed then you are being deformed.
The goal is not to try and live like Christ, act like Christ, love like Christ, or say the type of things Christ might have said. It is not us in the flesh doing what we think Christ would do. The goal is to be like Christ because we have been changed to possess His likeness. This can only happen via transformation (Romans 12:1-2). It is the hope for the lost in a dying world.
"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed." Romans 13:11
Additional Resources:
Awakest, Thou That Slumbereth!
Amen!
ReplyDeleteI hope you are well, dear sister in Christ. Continue to fight the good fight!