Like Jesus, Part 2 – Luke 3:21-22

To sum up last week’s message, in order to be like Christ, we must be baptized by the Holy Spirit, that is externally illustrated and declared in baptism by water. So, how do we continue to grow in the likeness of Christ? Christians become more like Jesus Christ as we have the mind of Christ by filling our hearts with His word and living in obedience to it. Therefore, as we become the righteousness of God in Him through His death and resurrection (2 Cor. 5:21), one of our primary goals is to grow in sanctification.

A key component of spiritual growth in sanctification towards righteousness is how strong our prayer life is. Thus, prayerlessness always leads to disobedience and unrighteousness. Jesus is always our example and He demonstrates even during His baptism that He was praying. Jesus demonstrated the importance of praying constantly as He was conscious of being face-to-face with the Father in prayer. So, as Jesus always prayer we, too, ought to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). Consequently, the church, in unity, also devotes itself to a life prayer (Acts 1:14).

Some might ask this question, “If Jesus is God, why did He pray?”

• Jesus was truly man. We, also being man and incomplete, face all kinds of evil and are not immune to spiritual and physical problems. Our life is fragile; therefore, we must pray to God to put our lives in His hands.
• Jesus was born to pray. Jesus was brought forth into this world by the Holy Spirit and led to pray as He trusted and leaned on the Father in his humanity. In the same manner, Christians are born again to pray as we are given a divine nature to be in communion with the divine God.
• Jesus’ relation to the Father. Jesus was one with the Father. Thus, Jesus was the only One in history who was able to explain who the Father was to the world. But Jesus practiced this reality in how He trusted in the Father through prayer because the Father was able. Do we trust in the Father the way Christ did?

As the Father’s adopted children and fellow heirs of Christ, we too, are given a spirit of prayer. It is only by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ are we given a new heart to call God our Abba, Father, and able to approach the throne of grace confidently as Christ is our Intercessor.

Jesus demonstrated a life that fully depended on the Father when He was on earth. Do we trust and know God in the same manner? As Christ exemplified his unchanging relationship with the Father from eternity in His time here, we need to understand the reality of our new relationship with the Father as a result of being born again. As the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we must continue to be filled with the Spirit (i.e. sanctification) in order to be in prayer unceasingly.

How can we grow in holiness that leads to a prayerful life? Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you (Col. 3:16). When we read and fill our hearts with the word of God are we able to grow in godliness through obedience, and pray according to the will of God.

God can transform and grow our church as we depend on God and pray Scripture as it will transform each member.