Like Him? Like Him! REPOST

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!
 Foll’wing our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
 Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Christ the Lord is Risen Today
By: Charles Wesley, 1707-1778

Listen as you read.  This is a nice instrumental ambient version.

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On Tuesday we tuned our hearts with the wonder of what is in store for us one day we soar into the skies to join our Resurrected King!  Today we are going to think again about how He accomplished that, and what the implications of that are for us.  Glad you could join us as we ponder these things.

Exalted Head

When we go soaring on high we will do so by following our “exalted head”.  There are a number of things that come to mind with these words.  The first to ponder I believe is what does it mean by saying Christ is our head.  Next how exactly He earned that exalted position.  Finally, how we will follow.

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. Colossians 1:18 ESV 

Jesus was the firstborn from among the dead, but many more will follow His lead.  Those who will follow are His church, His blood-bought bride. They are the ones who are trusting Christ’s work to make us right with the Father.  He is our Head, and we His body will follow Him, just like every body follows wherever its head goes.  He has ascended to the Father, and so shall we.

But that right to ascend was not easily acquired, even though He had willingly and voluntarily laid down His glory to become one of us and perfectly obey the Father.  When I think of Christ as head, my mind often goes to this translation of an old German hymn.  It alludes to the glory He had laid down to walk among us, “once…bright as morn!”

O sacred Head, now wounded,
with grief and shame weighed down,
now scornfully surrounded
with thorns, thine only crown:
how pale thou art with anguish,
with sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish
which once was bright as morn!
Anonymous

That self-sacrifice not only paved the way for Christ’s exaltation, but shows us our path to follow as well.  We must be willing to lay down our lives and take up our cross just like Jesus. This is what it means to follow our exalted Head.  Though we will not be offered as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, we must follow His example to deny our selves that we may fully pursue the path our Father has marked out for us.

Like Him

When there is repetition in any form of literature the author is always emphasizing something.   It is a very deliberate choice to repeat the words “like Him” in this line.  “Made like Him, like Him we rise.”  Colossians 3:1, 4 puts it like this.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God…When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Since we have been made like Him in His resurrection, we will rise as He did, not only from the dead, but also on high to join Him in glory.  As the last line says, “Our the cross, the grave, the skies”.  We are made like Him so when He appears we will appear with Him in glory.  What an incredible promise!  But with it comes an exhortation to “seek the things that are above”.

So often we get mired in daily living, the rudiments of our earthly existence, that we forget we have something coming that far surpasses the best of these days.  We must daily remind ourselves to “seek the things that are above”.  How do we do that?  By setting on mind on them, and allowing the reality of them to shape not only our thoughts but our behavior as well.

Reflect on the fact that you are made like Him, but acknowledge you would like to be more even more like Him.  Then ask Jesus to show you today how you can practice that.

Deliberate Thinking!

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