The power to live like Christ

Jesus died for every person. This is vital to note. The gospel is the message that someone died for them—those outside the family—and loves them and forgives them and wants a relationship with them. They don’t have to earn it. They don’t have do anything but receive it. “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2) “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.’” (John 1:29-31) 

Why? He died for our sins, so that we could live in the fullness of his grace and power. 

When a teacher is talking about Christ in the gospels, his miracles, raising the dead, opening blind eyes, curing lepers, curing cripples, walking on water, multiplying bread and fish, all the things he did, it’s easy for us to say that Christ did those things as God. We often see it was his divine right. 

But Jesus told us to live like him and he died so that we could. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” (John 14:12) It wouldn’t be fair for him to say live like me and then not give us the means to do what he did. He emptied himself of all of his divine privilege, became a man and then a servant of men. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:6-7) 

Christ overcame as a human being. Why? Because we couldn’t. Then he gave us his grace to do the same.