Sermon 13th February 2011

Today, one of our Lay Readers, Trevor Tayleur, continues our lessons on The Purpose Driven Life.

Created to be like Christ

(Purpose Driven Life)

“Created to be like Christ.” That sounds a tall order

doesn’t it? How can we dare to imagine that we could

be like Christ? That’s the challenge that Rick Warren

sets before us in his book, The Purpose Driven Life.

This is the fourth sermon in a series on this book,

The Purpose Driven Life, which Cameron started last

month and will continue until the end of Lent; we’re

also hoping many of you will want to read it during Lent

this year. So far we’ve looked at the first two purposes:

Planned for God’s Pleasure, and

Formed for God’s Family.

And today it’s the third purpose – Created to be like

So, how do we begin to meet this challenge of being

like Christ? I’m going to start at the beginning of the

Bible, for Genesis 1 tells us that we human beings are

created in God’s image. That doesn’t mean that we

are God’s equals in any way; God is the creator and

we are his creatures. But yet the truth remains – God

created us in his image.

That sounds great – that God created us in his image.

Unfortunately things soon began to go wrong. One

aspect of being created in God’s image is that we

human beings know the difference between right and

wrong. Genesis tells us that humans rebelled against

God, they chose wrong, and so the image of God in us

has been distorted. We are capable of good, but we

are also capable, each of us, of doing great harm.

The winning Australian captain in the 1999 Rugby

World Cup was called John Eales; he was an

exemplary character both on and off the field. His

nickname was Nobody, because “Nobody’s perfect”!

And of course that is true. Nobody is perfect..

And yet we are made in the image of God – God

who is perfect in every way. It’s hard to grasp –

that we are created in the image of God who is all

knowing, all powerful, eternal and perfect. God is

way beyond our understanding, as much beyond our

comprehension as we human beings are beyond an

ant’s comprehension. But we have help. For the Bible

tells us that Jesus is the image of God. Colossians

1:15 tells us that Jesus is the image of the invisible

God. If we want to know what God looks like, we

look at Jesus. And it’s God’s goal for us to grow up

spiritually and to become like Christ.

To become like Christ. As I said at the start that

sounds a tall order, doesn’t it. But what a wonderful

God, think some of the great passages in the Bible, for

example in ! Corinthians 13 where St Paul describes

love. He starts, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does

not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” And he

finishes, “Love always protects, always trusts, always

hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

Wouldn’t it be marvellous if those words were true of

us? And the more like Christ become, the greater our

love for God and for others will be.

It’s a slow and difficult process, becoming more and

more like Christ. Fortunately we’re not on our own.

We don’t have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps;

that’s impossible. We have the Holy Spirit to help

us. Now the Holy Spirit isn’t going to transform us

magically overnight. We can’t sit back and expect to

become Christ-like without any effort on our part.

Christianity is based on faith, not good works. We are

saved by God’s grace, by the mercy God has shown

to us even though we don’t deserve it. God sent Jesus

to die for our sins, and it’s through our repentance and

belief in Jesus that we are saved – that we are put

right with God. But that’s only the start. The process

of becoming Christ-like is something that will go on

for the rest of our lives. We shall have the Holy Spirit

helping us, but we need to work hard at it.

How, then, do we grow, become mature spiritually

and more Christ-like? Rick Warren suggests it’s

through a combination of people, God’s Word and

circumstances.

In some religions those who are regarded as the most

holy are those who isolate themselves and live in

deserts and on mountain tops. Now, monasticism is

a worthy calling, but a minority one. Being part of a

community is, for most of us, a vital part of becoming

Christ-like. Part of becoming Christ-like is learning to

love people the way Jesus loved people. And we may

find certain people easier to love in their absence, but

that’s not Jesus’ way. Jesus said to his disciples, “My

command is this: Love each other as I have loved

you.” (John 15:12)

If we love one another as Christ loved us, we become

more like Christ. We can’t become Christ-like in

isolation; we need other people to be part of the

We also grow more Christ-like by studying God’s

Word, the Bible. As Rick Warren puts it – we are

Transformed by Truth. The underlying assumption

is that the Bible is authoritative – it’s trustworthy

and reliable. So, is the Bible reliable?. Believing

in its reliability is not intellectual suicide; there are

good reasons for believing in its reliability based on

historical evidence. And if you want to know more

about the Bible’s historical reliability, you can do the

Alpha course starting in the spring, where one of the

sessions covers this issue.

The Bible isn’t just a history book, though; it’s authority

for our lives. The Bible isn’t a simple book. There

are difficulties of interpretation. But these difficulties

should not be an excuse for ignoring its message. It

contains many essential truths about which there is

little argument. Loving God with all our heart and our

soul; faithfulness in relationships, concern for justice,

compassion for those in need. These are all truths

about which there is little argument.

Through reading and studying the Bible we become

more Christ-like. And that’s hardly surprising, is it? If

we spend a lot of time reading the newspaper, we’ll

know a lot about the news. If we spend a long time

practising a musical instrument, then we’ll become

better players of that instrument. If we stop practising,

we may remember how to play for a little while, but

soon we’ll lose our ability to play the instrument well.

If we spend time reading the Bible, we will get to know

Jesus better; it will help us to become more Christ-like.

And if we don’t, or if we stop, then inevitably we will

There are many ways of reading the Bible. One

option this coming Lent is to follow the studies in

The Purpose Driven Life. If you don’t feel that’s

for you, there are plenty of Bible notes that are

available; if you want more information, please feel

free to ask Cameron, Gill or me. And if you want the

encouragement of others, then why not join one of our

People help us to become more Christ-like. So does

God’s Word, the Bible. And so can circumstances;

we can also be Transformed by Troubles and Grow

through Temptation. God uses troubles to draw us

closer to himself. Rick Warren writes, “Your most

profound and intimate experiences of worship will likely

be in your darkest days.”

It’s very easy to sound glib when saying that God uses

suffering to bring us closer to him. But as a Parish

I think we’ve moved beyond the glib stage when it

comes to suffering. Many of us will remember last

year’s sermon series based on Lazarus in which those

who spoke offered personal reflections on the nature

of the suffering they had been through or had been

part of. Cameron, Adjoa, Adrian and Gill all spoke very

movingly and challengingly last year, and if you want

to read the talks, they’re on the Parish blog; you can

find them in April and May last year, or instead you can

ask the Parish Office for a copy.

In the light of what we heard last year, I’m hesitant to

say things that may sound glib. It’s easy to create the

impression that if God is with us, everything will be

alright. Mary and Martha went through great sadness

when Lazarus died, but their sadness turned to joy

when Jesus brought him back to life. But we know that

isn’t a universal experience. Christians are not immune

from tragedy – a young mother dying leaving children

behind, a parent losing a child. Bad things do happen,

and it’s in that light that I’m offering these thoughts;

in full awareness that healing will not always happen

in this life, we’ll have to wait for the resurrection life to

God wants us to become Christ-like, and if we are

to become like Christ, we’re going to experience

suffering. Jesus did. Indeed, the Bible tells us that

Jesus “learned obedience through suffering”, and that

he was “made perfect through suffering”.

Remember ICJO from Gill’s sermon a few weeks ago?

Instant Complete Joyful Obedience. If Jesus learned

obedience through suffering, then certainly that’s also

a way we’re going to learn obedience.

As well as being Transformed by Troubles, we’ll also

Grow through Temptation. Jesus was tempted, During

Lent, we remember the 40 days that Jesus spent in the

wilderness when Satan tempted Jesus. And if we’re

going to become more like Jesus, then we’re going to

face temptation, - and we’re going to defeat it. It’s not

a sin to be tempted. Often we can’t stop the thoughts

coming into our minds, but we can choose not to dwell

on them or to act on them. Yes, we are going to be

tempted, and so need to face up to the dangers of

temptation and not be intimidated by them.

Temptation comes in many forms, though often

money, sex and power are at the root of it: temptation

to fiddle a tax return; temptation to cheat on one’s

spouse; temptation to take the credit for a colleague’s

good work in order to gain a promotion. These are all

common temptations, and none of us are immune. We

must recognise our vulnerability.

How do we defeat temptation? A lot of it is common

sense. Diversion is a very good strategy. Temptation

begins in the mind. The thought pops in, “Why

don’t you do X?” X being something wrong. “If you

think, “I must not do X, I must not do X...”, the more

it consumes you, the more it takes you over. Instead,

focus on something else. Ignoring a temptation is a lot

more effective than battling to resist it.

Sometimes the best way of dealing with temptation is

to leave a tempting situation. Turning the computer off

or walking away from the bar isn’t cowardly; often it’s

The Bible is also a vital shield against temptation.

When Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus replied with a

quote from Scripture. When Satan said to him, “If

you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become

bread...” Jesus didn’t reply, “I’m not hungry.” Instead

he answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread

alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of

Again, there’s a risk of making it sound too easy. It

isn’t; it’s not often that we’re going to defeat temptation

overnight. Philip Yancey, another Christian writer

whose books we’ve often recommended, has written

a lot about people battling with addictions. He once

wrote, “Although an alcoholic may pray desperately

for the condition to go away, very few addicts report

sudden, miraculous healing. Most battle temptation

every day of their lives, experiencing grace not as

a magic potion, rather as a balm whose strength is

activated daily by conscious dependence on God.”

Created to be like Christ. Christlikeness is our eventual

destination, but it’s a very long journey – a journey

that will last a lifetime. Being part of a Christian

community will help us, as we learn to love others

as Jesus loved us. God’s Word, the Bible, is also an

invaluable resource. As we face troubles and suffering,

we shall grow. Similarly, we shall grow into maturity

by overcoming the temptations we face. But it’s not

going to be an easy journey, and at times we will feel

discouraged. I’ll conclude with some words from Rick

Warren; “Remember how far you’ve come, not just

how far you have to go. You are not where you want

to be, but neither are you where you used to be. Years

ago people wore a popular badge with the letters

PBGINFWMY. It stood for “Please Be Patient, God

is Not Finished With Me Yet.” God isn’t finished with

you, either, so keep on moving forward. Even the snail

reached the ark by persevering!”

Father, Thank for sending us your Son. In the power of

Sprit, may we face up to the challenge of this life and

become more like Him. Amen.