The Image of Jesus Should Be Seen in Us
Among my various sleepwear is an old
gray T-shirt. One evening I was wearing it as I was getting ready for bed when
my wife noticed a small white spot on the front of it. She wondered if maybe I
had gotten toothpaste on it as I had just brushed my teeth. I reminded her that
this was the shirt someone had given me which originally had been emblazoned
with elements from one of my favorite movies, North by Northwest. I
informed her that if she looked closely, she could see that the little spot she
pinpointed was actually the face of Cary Grant. After various wearings and
washings over a period of time everything else had faded with only the image of
the actor’s face remaining visible.
This reminds me of what the Bible
says about the image of Jesus being seen in us as His followers. “But we all,
with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being
transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of
the Lord” (II Corinthians 3:18). God’s Word tells us that part of God’s purpose
for us is that we “be conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29). While
we are told that such a transformation will take place more fully once we leave
this earthly existence behind us, even now we should be experiencing the
reality of the image of Jesus becoming more and more evident in us. Of course,
we’re not talking about resembling Jesus’ physical appearance. We don’t even know
what He looked like when He was here in the flesh. I doubt that He looked like handsome
Cary Grant, since prophecies described Christ as not having an attractive appearance.
It’s His character, qualities, and spirit which should be increasingly
manifesting themselves in our lives.
Part of this process of becoming
more like Jesus involves everything else that is not like Him fading away. For
example, the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 is often viewed as
being embodiments of the spirit of Jesus. As those qualities increase in our
lives, anything contrary to them should be diminishing. It’s not just about
adding that which is good and Christlike to our lives, but also getting rid of anything
which isn’t part of that image – such as anything that would be unloving,
unkind, harsh, impatient, anxious, and lacking self-control. Sometimes I’m
afraid we try to add Jesus’ likeness to our lives while still keeping everything
else intact, including our own image with all its faults.
There is an old song that points
out that we need to be so giving ourselves to the Lord that it becomes “less of
self and more of Thee”, even seeking for it to become “none of self and all of Thee.”
As we continue on our journey with Christ, there needs to be less sin and less
self in our lives and more of Jesus. We need to follow the example of the
Apostle Paul who testified, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer
I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).
Do people see Jesus in you? Maybe they
see some of His qualities in your life, but is there so much of that which is
un-Christlike still present that it gets in the way? Let’s pray for Jesus’
image to become more evident in our lives. Let’s cooperate with the Holy Spirit
as He works in us to mold us into that image. And let’s pray that everything
else will be cleansed and will fade until people see only Jesus living in us
and through us.