How to Become Like Christ: Guest Blog by Wes Van Fleet

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When Jesus came among us, He had one purpose: to fulfill His mission of becoming the perfect sacrifice on the cross by taking our place as sinners. We, in fact, could not accomplish this ourselves. God’s wrath on Jesus was a full payment for our sin. It was a holy wrath that pleased God- because it paid for you!! Christ’s payment on the cross for our sins was sufficient.

So what does this mean for us? Well, it means that when we trust in Christ alone for the payment of our sin and receive eternal life, we should be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). This should be our “I.D.”. But the bigger question is how? How do we become or "conform" to the image of Christ?

When explaining to His disciples what true followers of Christ should look like, Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).

Jesus expected His disciples of yesterday to give up their lives to Him. And in the same way, He expects His disciples of today to do the same. We are not supposed to fit Jesus into our life only when comfortable or profitable. We are to take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23). We are to take up our cross at school, at work, and to the local Starbucks. No matter how uncomfortable the situation, we are to carry our cross. Jesus said the two greatest commandments are to love the Lord your God with all you are, and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:37-40). If we love Jesus with all we are, it will be natural to love those around us. If we love those around us, it will be natural to share the gospel with them and explain to them the free gift of life that was so graciously given to us. When doing these things, you shall become more like Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come".

Meditate on this verse this week. And watch how you will become more like Christ.