40-Days to Servanthood: Day 1

God’s goal for your life is for you to be like Jesus.

God has set apart every person called to follow Jesus Christ “to become like his Son, so that the Son [will] be the first among many brothers” (Romans 8:29, Good News Bible).

Does that seem impossible? It probably does.

After all, Jesus was (and is) not just a human being, but God. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible...all things have been created through him and for him...in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell...” (Colossians 1:15-19, New Revised Standard Version).

But I’m not making this up. God means for you to become like Jesus.

Jesus is the prototype of a new human race. This is what the apostle Paul was talking about in First Corinthians 15 when he effectively designated Jesus the new “Adam.” “For as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ” (First Corinthians 15:22, New Revised Standard Version). Sin infected the human family when Adam rebelled against God. Because human beings are the pinnacle of God’s creation, the only one of God’s creatures to bear “the image of God” (Genesis 1:26-28), all of creation bears the burden and the signs of our rebellion against God.

But God means to give fresh starts to all who turn from sin and surrender to Jesus Christ (Second Corinthians 5:17). Jesus is the new Adam, the resurrected first example and the pioneer of the new human race of which God invites all people to be a part.

In Christ, we are born anew (John 3:3). But just as our physical births are only the beginnings of our lives, so our spiritual births only begin our lives in Christ.

God’s goal for your life is for you to be like Jesus.

Bible Passage to Ponder: “God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him.” (Romans 8:29, The Message)

[This is the first installment of a forty-day series of extremely short devotional pieces which I wrote back in 2006. (Some have been slightly revised.) The pieces are being used at the congregation I serve as pastor, Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan, Ohio, as part of our Lenten walk toward Easter. I hope that you find them helpful.]