Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
As a followup to yesterday’s tupos, allow me to share my problem with English translations. To me the word imitate implies we are not being real and we should be real.
Focus on Paul’s term, “I am of Christ.” He was the Paul expressed image of Christ. How he expressed Christ was through obedience of faith, to do what he was called to do as instructed by the Holy Spirit.
And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Playing our part in obedience of faith is not an act, we are merely expressing the love of God that abides in us in every measurable way to be who we are in Christ. We do not try to be Paul, or Peter, or John, or James, we are the [place you name here] expressed image of Christ.
Yes we are fallible but so were all of those who came before us and that fact did not hinder the Holy Spirit from doing His job. Shining the light through us.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
I Am the Light of the World
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Jesus is the light, Jesus is the life and His abiding presence wants to be seen through us.
Remember the image in the mirror we spoke of recently? Cleaning the mirror, wiping off the filth, allows us to see our image more clearly but does nothing to change the image in the mirror.
Obedience of faith is the only thing that will change the image in the mirror.