“In God’s eyes, there are only two men, Adam and Christ. Every human being is a copy of one or the other. To be in Adam is to be lost and merely human, but to be in Christ is to be wrapped into the Anointed One as one who carries the life of Christ within.” (Commentary, 1 Corinthians 15:47, TPT).
If we understood this more, we would never want to look like Adam again.
Pause and think about that again: Every human being is a copy of one or the other. We either look like the world, or we look like Jesus. This understanding is definitely behind the warning in Revelation 3:15 regarding the Lukewarm Church: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.”
In other words, make up your mind.
To be an effective witness, we can’t live a resurrected life in the flesh. Either Christ has risen and empowered believers or He has not! And of course He has– this is the essence of our faith. But this is also the reality of our life in Him. I am always sad for those who claim to be Christians but live as if He didn’t actually save them.
One of the greatest oxymorons ever is defeated Christian. An oxymoron is a figure of speech that contrasts concepts with opposite meanings within a word or phrase creating a head-scratcher. We could say it this way: an oxymoron is two opposite words that shouldn’t go together but when they do, we understand the concept. This is what I mean by defeated Christian– two words that should NOT go together, yet sadly is a reality in this world.
Why is that? Because people have given their heart, but not their lives, to Christ. They are un-renewed in their minds to the Word and ways of Jesus. They claim Him as Savior but live unsaved.
As one song says, I “ain’t talking about a Sunday only, acting holy, easy kind of faith; ain’t talking about a barely going, through the motions, empty kind of praise; I’m talking about a heart that looks like Jesus– like His hands, like His feet. There’s one way, one truth, one life, that sets us free!” (That’s What We Need, Anne Wilson)
Believers are a copy of Christ Himself and it should be evident!
“As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, wee shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man” (1 Corinthians 15:48-49).
I’ve walked with God long enough now to know the difference between my former life and a victorious life in Christ. And I choose Jesus! This world has a race of people that look like Adam, the fallen man, and another race of people that look like the One sent from heaven. “Once we carried the likeness of the man of dust, but now let us carry the likeness of the man of heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:49, TPT).
The key is simply knowing His Word and acknowledging His resurrection life within us on a daily basis. And then choosing to act upon this knowledge. The Apostle Paul used the illustration of vessels in a house to describe this understanding. The house represents the kingdom of God and the vessels represent those who have willingly chosen to give their hearts to Him. But Paul said each vessel gets to choose how they live and reflect Christ.
“So whoever cleanses himself [from what is ignoble and unclean, who separates himself from contact with contaminating and corrupting influences] will [then himself] be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any good work” (2 Timothy 2:21, AMPC).
You and I are made in the image of Christ. We wear His label. So let us choose Him daily. Instead of choosing the easy way of the flesh and the world (the nature of Adam), let us choose the resurrected life of Christ!
