It is a Life of Constant Growth into Christlikeness

2 Corinthians 3:18

“But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.”

There is nothing static in true spiritual experience. The upward look and the unveiled face must catch something of the glory of the Lord and reflect it. With a growing knowledge of Him and a deepening communion with Him, there must inevitably be an ever-increasing likeness to Him. It is a transformation into His image from glory to glory. The spiritual nature is ever reaching out after and laying hold of that which is spiritual in order that it may become more spiritual. “As the bursting acorns lay hungry hold only on what will produce oaks,” so the spiritual man lays hungry hold only on what will produce likeness to Christ Jesus.

John 15:2, 5

“Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

Surely there is progression in Christlikeness—”not fruit,” “fruit,” “more fruit,” “much fruit.” Do these phrases not unveil before us the possibilities and potentialities for Christlikeness open to every branch in the vine? Do they not also show us the positive progression “from glory to glory” God expects to see in us? These expressions are descriptive. Which one describes you? There is but one branch that fully satisfies the heart of the divine Husbandman.

John 15:8

“Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”

God makes very clear what fruit He expects to find on the branch.

Galatians 5:22-23

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.”

The “fruit of the Spirit” is the full-orbed, symmetrical character of the Lord Jesus Christ in which there is no lack and no excess. The apostle Paul did not speak of “the fruits of the Spirit” as he is so often misquoted. It is just one cluster, and all nine graces are essential to reveal the beauty and glory of true Christlikeness. But how often do we see a great heart of love spoiled by a very quick temper? There is “love” but not “self-control.” Or we see long-suffering marred by boastfulness—the person being so afraid the long-suffering will not be noted and appreciated, that there is a repeated reminder of it. There is “long-suffering” but not “meekness.” Occasionally, one sees a Christian long on faith but very short on gentleness. He has in his makeup the thunder of Mount Sinai more than the love of Calvary. He believes and defends the doctrine with better success than he adorns it. He has “faith” but not “kindness.” Or often we see one whose life is the embodiment of goodness, but the goodness is overshadowed by anxiety, worry, and fretting. The presence of “goodness” is limited in its beneficent working by the absence of “peace.” Oh! How the lack or the excess of one of these graces mars the beauty, the completeness, the symmetry of the cluster! In the spiritual Christian, all nine of these graces blend in such beautiful and winsome attractiveness and harmony that the world sees Christ living within.

I was traveling on the Yangtze River in central China. A heavy rainstorm had just cleared away, and the sun shone brightly behind the banked-up clouds. I felt an inward impelling to go out upon the deck, and the Lord had a precious message awaiting me. The water of the Yangtze River is very muddy. But as I stepped to the railing and looked over, I did not see the dirty, yellow water that day, but instead the heavenly blue and fleecy white of the heavens above, and all so perfectly reflected that I actually could not believe that I was looking down instead of up. Instantly the Holy Spirit flashed 2 Corinthians 3:18 into my mind and said, “In yourself you are as unattractive as the water of the Yangtze River but when your whole being is turned Godward and your life lies all open to Him so that His glory shines upon it and into it then you will be so transformed into His image that others looking at you will see not you but Christ in you.” Oh! friends, are you and I “reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord”?

It is a Life of Supernatural Power

John 14:12

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

Jesus Christ spoke these words to a little group of unlettered men. One of them was a sunburned, weather-beaten, rough old fisherman. He would be ill at ease in a modern college crowd and probably fail to pass entrance examinations into a present-day theological seminary. But he belonged to the company of believers to whom this promise was given, and one day it was marvelously fulfilled in his life when, through one sermon, he won six times as many souls to true discipleship as Jesus did in the three years of His public ministry.

In what did Peter’s power consist, and does it avail for you and me? Was it the power of personal charm? Of gracious manner? Of giant intellect? Of eloquent speech? Of massive scholarship? Of dominant will? While there were many lovable qualities in the impulsive, eager, loving old fisherman, none of them could account for such an overwhelming fulfillment of our Lord’s promise in him. God clearly reveals the secret of Peter’s power.

Acts 1:8

“But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

The power to do “the same works and even greater” is not the power that resides in anything human. On the contrary, the power of God the Holy Spirit is fully at our disposal when we are fully yielded to Him. Is His supernatural power manifested in your life and works today?

Source: “Life on the Highest Plane” by Ruth Paxson

Lord, this life of becoming more Christlike must be our daily experience. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can manifest more of You and less of ourselves!