"From Glory to Glory" Kathryn Kuhlman Becoming Like Jesus

If thou couldst envision see thyself the man God meant, thou never more couldst be the man thou art content. I give you one verse of scripture. The fourth chapter of Ephesians, the thirteenth verse. till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. In this marvelous passage, taken from Paul's letter to the Ephesians, there's doubtless An immediate reference to the perfection in Christ Jesus of the church as a whole. And yet, never forget, the church can only come to the stature of a full -grown man as the individuals who compose it are likewise perfected in the graces that belong to Christian character. It is true that Paul was... talking about the church of Christ as a whole. But even as a nation is made up of individuals, so it is true of the church of Christ. It is made up of individuals. And he's not only talking about the perfection of the church of Christ, but the perfection of those individuals who make up his church. And so, we have here set before us the type of character, the whereunto the Christian is to grow. See something. He is to develop into the likeness of Christ. And Christ is the type of growth. Oh, I remember as a youngster what a great impression Hawthorne's Legend of the Stony Face had upon me. You've all read Hawthorne's Legend of the Stony Face. How the great spirit left his image upon a rock and went away promising to return to future time. Then how one Indian gazed upon that face day by day and dreamed about it by night until his own face began to bear its likeness. And one day, when the tribe had ceased from war and its spiritual vision had become clear, do you want to know something? They recognized in this one... the great spirit who had come back to earth in this waiting prophet's soul. Oh, that story used to thrill me. I shall never forget the impression that it had upon me as a young girl. It's something like that that Paul says is to be true of the real truth. child of God. And this is what he says in that portion of the word that has been so misinterpreted and so misconstrued. It's in 2 Corinthians, the 3rd chapter, the 18th verse. I read it to you. We all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror. And this is certainly the original. The glory of the Lord, and by the glory is meant character, are changed into the same image from character to character. Now, does this mean that we are eventually to become, each one of us, another Christ? Oh, there have been those. who have misunderstood the real meaning of it, let the Holy Spirit be your teacher. Let me read it once again. Watch it. And keep in mind, an image is a likeness. Nothing of equality, but a likeness. Nothing of this modern... Deification of man that would make him, in a measure, through sacrificial toil, a savior of the world in the same sense with the atoning Christ? Never. Don't you dare let anyone tell you that any man can become so perfect. himself, that he can stand as a Christ equal with the very Son of the living God. Nothing of this modern deification of man that would make him a savior of the world in the same sense with the atoning Christ. I read it again. We all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image. And remember something. Image here is a likeness. Changed into the same image from character. to character. This is an expression of the transforming influence of the devout contemplation of the moral beauty and glorious goodness of the Son of God. We're to be like Christ. We are to be so like Christ. We are to so partake of his character. that when the world sees us as a Christian, it'll say, tell us of the Christ whose glory you reflect. Tell us the one whose glory and grace you radiate. Tell us of the Son, the living God, your Master, your Christ, your Savior, whose love is reflected through your life. So remember again, when we're born again, we stand justified before God by faith. But we stand justified before the whole world, our neighbors, our friends, our families, those with whom we come in contact with, those with whom we work. We stand justified before them by the kind of life that we live. And the only Christ that many a man, many a woman, is coming in contact with today is the Christian man, the Christian woman, who is reflecting the love of Jesus Christ. They may know nothing about the Word of God. They may never attend church. They have no direct contact whatsoever in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and yet coming in contact with you, you reflect the glory, the grace, the humility, the love of the Christ that you serve. That's it. At the moment, of the new birth, Christ takes up his abode in the believer's soul, and the individual is no longer himself but Christ Jesus. All the rest of life is a continual denial of himself as an individual, and all the supreme loveliness of character is but the expression of the perfect man within, Christ Jesus. I've always loved what they have told us and written about Augustine, who had lived such a wretched, sinful life that he gave himself to Christ. And he renounced his former evil associations. And one day... when he was going down the streets of Carthage. He met the woman who had been his fascination in a sinful life, and he turned and he ran from her. He cried and said, Why do you run, Augustine? It is I. Augustine, still running, shouted back, I run because I am not I. Martin Luther, the great reformer, said once, Martin Luther does not live here. Jesus Christ lives here. And a greater one than Martin Luther long ago said, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. Oh, blessed be God for such wonderful transformation. And it's scriptural. We are new creatures in Christ Jesus, I tell you the truth. If you are not a new person in Christ Jesus, then you've never been born again. Literally. If you are the same person that you were before that experience, then you never had that experience. There will be a transformation. I run because I am not I. I no longer live here. Jesus Christ lives here. I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the assertion of Christ in a believer's being involves the reproduction of Christ in a believer's life. Having the same mind, the same disposition with Christ in all things, that this world, in taking note of the Christian's daily walk, conversation, living, will recognize that Christ has come back to earth in the soul and life and living of a person. I represent him. If you are a Christian, you represent him. And it means something to be a Christian. We spoke about the reproduction of Christ in life, but not as anything a poor, weak human soul might do. We'll have to consider the lilies again. All that wonderful illustration that Christ himself gave regarding the lilies. Consider the lilies. How they grow. Well, how do they grow? How does an acorn become an oak? Not by trying, but by allowing the oak life within its own natural development. There's no struggle. A lily doesn't struggle to grow. There's no struggle whatsoever. and the life of a lily to grow. Neither is there a struggle in that little acorn to become an oak. It's a natural process. And so the Christian's Christ -likeness does not result from a struggle, from an effort of the human life, the human soul. To reproduce the character of Christ by imitation? We've got too many imitations. So many counterfeits. I still contend that wherever there is the genuine, somebody's always concocted a counterfeit. And it's just like that. We've got counterfeit Christians. Sure. To reproduce the life likeness of Christ in a Christian's life is the most natural thing in the world. It's a natural growth. This is what is meant in the scientific world when they speak of the conformity of type. It's so natural. Then what does it mean to be like Christ? Let's just get right down to bare facts. What does it mean to be like Christ? Well, in plain terms, it means we'll be a good deal easier to get along with. In the home, you'll be easier to live with. No longer will you be just awfully nice away from home and as cross as a bear in your own household. Oh, sure. There's some folks that are so sweet when they're out, and the minute they enter their own house, they're as mean and cantankerous as any person who walks the street. Uh -huh. That's being a counterfeit. That unruly temper that goes off with the hair trigger that... you have to live with in the neighborhood. Your associate in business is going to come under control and disappear. That thin -skinned sensitiveness that's always getting his feelings hurt will disappear. Because the self -life will be crucified and a dead man isn't supposed to have any feelings. But I'll tell you, we've got some of the liveliest corpses God's church. All that bitterness of heart, that unforgiving spirit will take wings. And when you've buried your animosity, you'll not spend any time putting flowers on its grave. A lot of people do. They bury a thing, but I'll tell you, they keep the grave loaded with flowers. Every once in a while after they buried something, they'll take the old pick and shovel and dig it up again. Mm -hmm. That spirit of good as anybody else and a little better feeling will give place to real humility. It works. That's what the scripture's talking about. There'll be a change in that life of worldliness. that has caused people to wonder what the difference was in your life and in the life of that somebody who never made a profession of Christianity. Let's get right down to what it really means to be a Christian. Right down to what that scripture really means, this change of life, this perfection. Look. Look at his wonderful character, the dazzling glory of his moral beauty. And think of growing up, as Paul says, in all things into him. Think of being like him, like him in his sublime and unfaltering faith in the righteous purpose and power of the Father of heaven to redeem the world. though all the powers of hell be set against it. Like him in his cheerful obedience to his father's will, though it wrung his soul with unspeakable agony to perform it. Like him in his self -forgetful earnestness that made his whole existence a continuous Calvary passion for his... Fellow man, do you know what a real passion for souls is? Do you really? Have you ever had a real compassion for soul? Have you had a real love for souls? Have you forgotten yourself long enough to think of others? Willing to do things for others and then forget it? And you did it because you loved them, you wanted to do it? Have you forgotten yourself long enough to think of your fellow man? That one who needs your help, who needs your love? Who needs your compassion? Like him, in his infinite forgiveness that came from a heart without a grain. personal animosity even though his persecutors nailed him and in their wrath crucifying him. Like him in his tender compassion that sent his heart out with an infinite yearning to the poor and distressed and made his life a mission of mercy to the heirs of misfortune. Like him in his calm and gentle self -control. Oh, that beloved. That gentle self -control. Like him. We all with unveiled face. beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from character to character. God bless you.