7. Being Conformed to Christ’s Death (Philippians 3:10, Romans 12:14-21)
Paul concluded the Philippians 3 passage
with “being conformed to [Christ’s] death.” This refers to a lack of
desire left to live for temporal things because only things of eternal value
matter. This is likely how Paul felt when he said in Galatians 6:14, “…the
world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
This step coincides with the final step of
Romans 12, which commands us to return love and a blessing to those who do us
harm – just as Jesus prayed for His enemies while fastened to the cross.
Sincerely returning love in response to being intentionally, maliciously
inflicted with pain or loss is miraculous. It defies temporal explanation.
Unconverted Jews tried to kill Paul
several times, yet he was not only willing to die for their sakes, but even to trade
his salvation for theirs if that were possible! He said in Romans 9:3:
“For I could wish
that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren,
my kinsmen according to the flesh.”
Moses felt the same way toward people who
repeatedly accused him and rebelled against his leadership. In Exodus 32:32, he
said to God:
“But now, if You will, forgive their sin –
and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!”
This kind of love is why Paul could
authentically say in Galatians 2:20:
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it
is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
As we saw previously, even as Jesus was
being crucified, His grief and concern were more for others than Himself.
Jesus is Our Model
Spiritual maturity, as Paul and the writer of Hebrews
describe it, is extremely rare. I’ve never met anyone who is mature in all
of the areas we have covered, although I’ve met some who are mature in some of
them. But maybe this rarity is unsurprising. After all, people zealously pursue
all kinds of lesser things such as wealth, fame, career accomplishments,
fulfilling relationships, physical fitness, etc., but relatively few people
greatly excel at any of them, much less all them. How much more
then could we expect the far greater pursuit of spiritual maturity, in its many
facets, to be lacking plentiful examples in such a fallen world? Truth be told,
there are a limited number of examples even in the pages of scripture.
Let us conclude our discussion by
considering Ephesian 4:13, which defines spiritual maturity simply as having “the
measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” It is true
that Jesus is distinct from the rest of humanity in that He rightly received
worship (John 20:28, Matthew 2:2, Matthew 14:33, Matthew 28:9), He claimed to
be God (John 5:18, John 8:24, John 8:58), He forgave sins (Matthew 9:2, Mark
2:5), and He committed no sin (1 Peter 2:22). However, there is also a sense in
which Jesus was fully human and experienced life exactly as we do.
When Jesus walked the earth, He was not
omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent. Hebrews 2:17 says, “He had to be
made like His brethren in all things.” Philippians 2:6-7 says He “did not regard equality with God a thing
to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”
This is why He could be “tempted” like us (Hebrews 2:18) even though “God
cannot be tempted” (James 1:13). Jesus was also totally dependent on grace
from the Father; He could not accomplish anything on His own. He began life as a
child dependent on “the grace of God” (Luke 2:40) and He concluded His
life at the cross “by the grace of God” (see Hebrews 2:9).
Jesus also went through a maturation
process. Luke 2:40 says He was “increasing in wisdom.” Hebrews 2:10 says
the Father endeavored to “perfect… [Him] through sufferings.” Philippians
2:8 says, “He humbled Himself by becoming [i.e. growing, developing] obedient to the point of death.”
Jesus not only modeled the destination of spiritual maturity; He modeled
the process.
This is why Jesus can be our “mirror.”
1 Corinthians 13:12 says we see Him “in a mirror.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
says we behold Him “as in a mirror”. James 1:23-25 says when we look
intently at the perfect law, which Jesus embodies, we are looking “in a
mirror.” Jesus is the image of what a human being is like, as God created
us to be. God was not giving us an impossible standard in commanding us to
become like Jesus. He was commanding us to become who we truly are. We just
don’t complete the process in this lifetime.
Conclusion
The job of a spiritual
parent is to form Christ in his or her children, just as Paul said in Galatians
4:19: “My children, with
whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you.” The reason Paul could say this is because
God “was pleased to reveal His Son in [him].” (Galatians 1:15-16) First, we pursue maturity ourselves; then we
can model it to our children.
However, every parent should remember
this: It is more important that we are growing than where we are in the
journey. We don’t need to have arrived at a particular milestone to be an
effective model. When our children see changes taking place in us, it can
actually be more impactful than if we didn’t need those changes
to begin with because it demonstrates the transforming power of God and His
word. This is why Paul told Timothy to obey his instructions “so that your
progress will be evident to all” (1 Timothy 4:15). Timothy was younger and
less experienced than many of those he was leading, but he could still serve as
an example because of the direction he was headed in, not because of how far he
had gotten.