God's Vision for Your Life

1:31And that is Christ-likeness. Sometimes it helps us to get the big picture of what God's doing in our lives and what he's doing in our world and what he's doing through the ministries of the word and the ministries of the church and the ministry of his Holy Spirit. It all leads towards one point, and that is Christ-likeness. And this is evident in just how Scripture begins and ends. Scripture begins in Genesis 1 and verse 26. And if you read that, God says, Let us, plural, let us, the one God, let us make man in our image according to our likeness and let them rule over all the earth. So God starts out, Let us create man. There's a design, there's a pattern, there is, we want to make God make man in our likeness. Let us make him and let them rule over the earth. And then you come to the end of Scripture, Revelation 22.

2:50Let me just read to you a few verses beginning in chapter 3, speaking of the new heavens, the new earth, and this. Beautiful, wonderful place where the tree of life is, where the river of life is, and the people of God and God in their presence. And here we read these words beginning in verse 3: There will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it. Notice one throne shared by God and the Lamb will be in it, and his bondservants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. These bondservants behold him, see him, and his very name is written on their foreheads. That is, they identify, reflect him so well that their names, they bear his name as an expression of Christ-likeness. Verse 5, and there will no longer be any night, and they will not have any need of the light of a lamp, nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them, and they will reign forever and ever.

4:14God's Christ-like individuals reigning as God set out to do. Let us create man in our image. You see, originally, God said, Man in paradise, and he tested him. Man rebelled, didn't he? Man did not trust in God's words, but he trusted in the serpent's words. And when he did, he immediately died. But God immediately had compassion. He cursed the serpent, and then he promised the coming of one who would comprehensively destroy the works of the serpent, who would crush his influence, crush him and his influence.

5:10And as we go through the pages of Scripture, we realize very quickly: cursed are the ones who listen to the serpent. Cursed is the serpent and all who listen to him. However, we also learn from scripture that God did not destiny man to ultimately reflect the rebellious spirit of the serpent, but the one who would crush him. That's our destiny. If you are in Christ, to reflect the very spirit, the very being of the one who crushed the spirit. You see, so God's vision for your life can be summarized in one word, and that's Christ's likeness. Christ's likeness is the grand Work of the triune God, and it is his greatest gift to you. And the question you have to ask: do I embrace his gift or not? Do I embrace God's vision for my life, which is Christ's likeness, or do I embrace my own vision, which is Christ's unlikeness?

6:22He gave his Son not only to redeem you, but so that you would be like him. That's the gift. Christ, Christ's likeness in you with such a brilliance and such a beauty and such an intensity that you do not even need the sun to light your path because of the inner illumination of the beauty and glory of God Himself. Well, to encourage you to embrace God's vision for your life, I want you to understand three purposes of God. Number one, God's purpose for Scripture. Number two, His call to follow Christ. And number three, the very purpose for Christ's likeness itself. So we'll look at each of those in our time this morning. First of all, God's purpose for Scripture. God's purpose for Scripture, I believe, is an indication, a loud, glaring declaration, if you will, that He wants Christ's likeness. In you and in me. God's purpose for Scripture can be summed up very simply. God's purpose for Scripture is to reveal, exalt, and promote Christ-likeness in man. It's my simple definition, purpose. But that is what God is doing in Scripture: He is revealing, He is exalting, and He is promoting Christ's likeness. First, He had to reveal the Christ, and then He had to, He exalts the Christ and Christ's likeness, and then He promotes Christ's likeness in the earth. If you look back a couple of pages in Revelation, look back to Revelation 19. This is that huge event where Babylon has fallen, the marriage supper of the Lamb has come, and there's a huge hallelujah chorus in verse 6, and then this voice speaking to John, and he says, Write in verse 9, write these words: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true words of God. So John is confronted with this incredible being, this glorious being in John, who walked with Christ himself and saw the glorified Christ. His response was to fall down and worship this being that he saw. Verse 10, Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, Do not do that. I am a fellow servant. Of yours and your brethren who hold to the testimony of Jesus, worship God. And then he says this: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. In other words, what are you saying? The very purpose of Scripture is the testimony of Jesus. The very testimony. Scripture is fundamentally the prophetic word in writing, and it's designed to unfold the beauty of Christ. And I think John Valvard said it very well. This means that the prophecy at its very heart is designed to unfold the beauty and loveliness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And as you survey Scripture, you start to realize that Jesus doesn't just show up in a few random places, but that he is the fundamental substance and purpose of the whole.

9:56The overall purpose of Scripture can be summarized in one word, Christ-likeness. The very same word that can describe God's vision for your life. It was his vision for Scripture. It is his vision for your life, Christ's-likeness. And it's very important. If you'll turn to John chapter 5, we've already spent some time in there, so I won't exegete or go back through or exposit what we've already been through, but I will bring to mind some of the important elements of John chapter 5. 5.

10:32It's very clear that we should think about Jesus the way he thought about himself. And Jesus thought about himself as the very purpose and substance of Scripture. Look at, you remember in John chapter 5, just to bring you up to speed, remember there is a paralytic that was healed at the pool of Bethesda. And when Jesus healed him, he drew all this fire from the religious establishment because he told the man to carry his mat. In verse 8, it was the Sabbath. And his actions basically were interpreted that he was making himself equal to God. And his actions quickly became a death warrant for his expression or for his declaration of being equal to God. In fact, you see it in verse 18. For this reason, therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because he not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God. And so this whole controversy becomes about Jesus' claim to be equal to God. And what Jesus does in the remainder of the chapter is he goes on to assert his equality with God more vividly, and then he goes on to defend it. He asserts it by saying, Saying, look, I do the things that the Father does. I have the same life-giving power that he has. All things have been handed over to me to be the judge in verse 22. And then he says these words in 23, so that all will honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. So if Jesus ever wanted to clarify that he was not God or didn't claim to be God, this was the point to do it. But instead of doing that, he doubled down and he says, Yes, I am God, and I will give you further evidences of my godness. I am the exclusive judge, and I will be honored to the same degree as the Father. Wow.

12:42So he goes on and he reasserts it. And then he goes on to defend his equality with God by calling upon several witnesses. You remember, he brought forth the witness of John the Baptist in verse 31 and 35. Then he called upon the witness of the mighty works that the Father had given him to do in verse 36. But then finally, in verses 37 through 47, he brings forth his most incredible witness, and that is the words of his father that were recorded by Moses, recorded in Scripture, but ultimately words of his father. And in these verses, Jesus reveals three truths about the purpose behind prophetic oracles. Why did God give his word? Jesus goes through very quickly. Tells us. In verse 38, Jesus asserted that there's a direct link between himself and the Father's words. Look at verse 38. You do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe in him whom he sent. So, what Jesus is saying, that receiving the Father's words, receiving true prophetic oracles from heaven, leads to one place, and that's faith in Jesus Christ.

13:54And basically, he's saying all religions are not equal. One cannot be truly a follower of Christ and hold that all religions are equal. Jesus Himself makes this exclusive claim. But then he goes on in verse 39 to 40 to say that not only was his Father's words intended to connect people to Jesus, but Scripture is designed to connect people to Jesus. Look at what he says in verse 39. You search the Scripture because you think that in them you have eternal life. It is they that testify about me, and you are unwilling to come to me so that you may have life.

14:32You see, just as John the Baptist and miracles are pointed away from themselves to a greater reality, so does Scripture. Scripture, in and of itself, does not have any life-giving qualities apart from who it is from and who it is about and the Spirit by which it is given. Scripture, you can read. Scripture and never come to know. But all of it is about Christ. By predictive prophecy, everything, everything, whether it's law, prophecy, type, whatever it is, it all points to one reality, and that is the person behind it all, Jesus Christ, the Son.

15:26See, the Father testifies to Jesus through Scripture. And deadness to God is seen in a person's unwillingness to come to Christ. So, the question is: How do you know if you've been correctly taught by the Scripture? Have you come to Christ? Do you keep coming to Christ? That's the evidence that you have truly been taught by Scripture and that you get it. Scripture leads to one point: faith in Christ. It reveals him, it exalts him, it promotes him. That's what it does. It doesn't do anything else. And so, if you've been correctly taught by Scripture, you will come to Christ and you will continue to come to Christ and you will continue to grow in Christ's likeness. And then Jesus talks about Moses and Moses' words were intended to connect people to Jesus. He says in verse 46, For if you believe Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? And Jesus is saying, look, Moses and Jesus cannot be disconnected. If you reject Moses, you will reject Christ. And all of this is what Jesus is saying: look, Scripture testifies to Jesus, Moses testifies to Jesus, which is written in Scripture as well, right? All of it testifies to Jesus. Why? Because all of it is the Father's words testifying to his Son. That is the very essence and nature of prophecy, the testimony of Jesus.

17:06You see, seeing Christ's likeness as the ultimate goal of Scripture is not forcing some grammatical or allegorical connection to Christ from every scripture. What it is, it's recognizing how each text in Scripture contributes to the exaltation and the promotion of the Christ revealed in Scripture. In other words, you could say it is like this: Scripture, every stream of biblical thought empties into the vast ocean of Christ's glory, Christ-like beauty. Each text exalts and promotes in some way, whether by a supporting role or a lead role, it exalts the beauty of this vast ocean of Christ-likeness. That is what has captivated the Father. That's what the Father can say in this, I am well pleased.

18:00This ocean, this vast, limited ocean of Christ-like beauty. And that's his gift for you. And his beauty, it includes his sinlessness, it includes his humility, it includes his sacrifice, it includes his resurrection, it includes his current priestly role now. But it doesn't end there. It's the glory of his total person. And every text plays some role in revealing this glorious person of God's Son. In fact, you can say, you know, the glory of God in Christ could not simply be revealed in a single generation.

18:46It's so beautiful, so vast, so incredible. The glory is so transcendent that just to begin to describe the boundaries of Christ's glory, it took all of human history and a relevatory time span just to be able to begin to talk about the boundaries of Christ's glory. It will take all of eternity for us to plumb its depths. This is what the Father was well pleased with. This is what the Father wants for you. Christ's likeness is his vision for you. You.

19:31And the question for you today is: do you embrace it? Or do you embrace your own vision in un-Christ-like depravity? Well, we can say this: that if God's ultimate purpose for Scripture is Christ-likeness, and Scripture is God's instruction to us, then we can be sure that Christ's likeness is God's ultimate goal for us. And that's certainly true. You can see that in Scripture. But, second, you can also see that Christ's likeness is God's vision for your life because that's God's purpose for following Christ. That's God's purpose for calling you to follow Christ. If I can sum up, what is God's purpose for following Christ?

20:23It's to form His righteousness in you, right? He wants you to follow Christ so that you will be like Him, so that the righteousness which is in Christ will be the righteousness that's in you. Very simple. It's the purpose of discipleship, to be like the Master. Oh, I want to take a few moments just to look at how the theme of God's righteousness is developed in Scripture so that you will understand that this righteousness is what He wants in you and what He is doing. Doing. This righteousness was revealed in the Old Testament. It was embodied in Christ, and it's currently being formed in those who follow Him. And this is what God is doing. Sometimes it's helpful for you to get the big picture, right? Where He's starting, where He's going, and what He's doing in you. Well, the righteousness of God revealed in the Old Testament, it's there from the very beginning of Scripture. You see, God's righteousness and goodness is set on display against the backdrop of man's unrighteousness and man's wickedness. Perhaps Genesis 6:5 is about the most telling verse, just what happens when man is left alone apart from God's Spirit. Look at, well, you can just write this down and listen, but I would say this is a verse you need to circle in your Bible. Genesis 6:5. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That's a gross expression. That's a very vivid expression, I should say, of man's gross depravity. And then, of course, we have the whole flood narrative. But in stark contrast to man's depravity is the righteousness of God.

22:28And Scripture makes it very clear. Know what you need to be delivered from? You need to be delivered from God's outrage against your unrighteousness, your willful participation in all that is unclean and flies in the face of Him. You need to be delivered from His righteous outrage against your unrighteousness, but you also need to be saved from your own disposition to continue growing in unrighteousness. You know, as you walk through Scripture, sometimes I think we get the idea that Scripture is about how God overlooks sin. No, He does not overlook sin, right? Scripture tells the story of how He forgives sin and how He forms righteousness in man. That's what Scripture is about.

23:26And the Old Testament scriptures reveal a righteousness so superior to fallen man that God describes it in these terms, describes the difference in these terms. Listen to the words of Isaiah 55 and verse 7: Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Those are fighting words, right? That's God speaking, right? The wicked, unrighteous. We'd get offended at that today, but that's the words he uses. He doesn't. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man. His thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

24:27The psalmist will write extensively about the righteousness that belongs to God and God alone. And yet, as you go through, you also recognize that God did not simply reveal his righteousness to shame man and condemn man, but he revealed his righteousness to save man. He doesn't just reveal his righteousness so that you can feel awful and condemn you on that basis. He reveals it with the intention of bringing it near to you so that he can promote it in you. In fact, Isaiah 46, 12 reads this: Listen to me, you stubborn-minded, who are far from righteousness. I bring near my righteousness. It is not far off, and my salvation will not delay, and I will grant salvation in Zion and my glory for Israel.

25:24The whole purpose of him revealing his righteousness was to bring it near to you. And righteousness is so close to you this morning. Righteousness, the kind that Christ possesses, is just a prayer away. It's right here. He draws near to you through his word and the proclamation of his word. He is drawing near to you this morning. And some of you have still never put your faith and trust in Christ. You're still trusting in your own righteousness. You're still thinking you're okay. You're good. You have not been taught by Scripture. Because the scripture will teach you to move away from yourself and move to that righteousness that you desperately need and standard. But it's, and we easily go through life. We can easily get weighed down. It's not just for this message, it's not just for those who've never heard. It's for those who hear and keep hearing. He keeps bringing that righteousness near. And as you come, confess, believe, you grow in that Christ-like righteousness. Listen, we are stubborn-minded, far from righteousness, and yet what God is doing, he has declared us righteous by the work in his Son.

26:49And then he continues to bring us more and more, make us more and more righteous by conforming us to more and more to the image of his Son. And he keeps bringing his righteousness near. Well, it's clear that not only is this what God revealed about his righteousness in the Old Testament, but it's also how Jesus thought about himself. He thought of himself as the righteousness of God. And Jesus is very clear on this. He declared his teaching to be God's teaching. He declared that he possessed absolutely no unrighteousness in himself. He saw himself as the worthy standard for man to emulate. This is why he calls people to follow him. This is why he says he has priority over every other earthly relationship that you have, that he is the most important because he himself sees himself as possessing qualities of divine righteousness, worthy of human worship, worthy of human emulation.

27:59But he also declares something astounding in John chapter 14, verse 9. He said, To see him is to see the Father. Listen to what he says to Philip. Jesus said to him, Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. Jesus boldly declared his righteousness, his likeness to be that of. The fathers. Christ's likeness is the father's righteousness. And Jesus not only saw himself as the embodiment of that righteousness, but he called others to that same standard. And when he calls us to follow him, he's calling us to God's righteousness, to the father's righteousness.

28:56Well, Jesus clearly called other people to the same standard. So the Old Testament reveals this righteousness. Jesus embodies this righteousness, and the Holy Spirit is active, forming this righteousness in man. You see, the whole purpose of discipleship is to do what? Make the pupil like the teacher. In fact, Jesus says it in Matthew 10, verse 24, a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher.

29:38You see, Jesus came to reveal the Father. Listen to what he says in Matthew 11, 27. He says, All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal him. You see, Christ wants to reveal his Father's righteousness to you. Christ wants his Father's righteousness formed in you. See, Christ was absolutely captivated by the beauty of his Father's glory, and he perfectly reflected it.

30:27He perfectly embodied it. So, if I can give you what a definition of Christ's likeness is, this is what it would be. Christ's likeness at its core is the perfect desire and ability to reflect the Father's goodness. Christ's likeness is the perfect desire and ability to reflect the Father's goodness. Christ had the perfect desire to reflect the Father's goodness, and he had the perfect ability to reflect the Father's goodness. And you and I have neither of those, right? Apart from his work. And that's what the Holy Spirit does. He comes and he forms his righteousness in us by first giving us the desire and knowledge of the Father's goodness. And then he increasingly gives us the ability to reflect the Father's goodness. And one day we will put on a glorified body. And there will be no division. There will be no impedance at all. But we will perfectly reflect the Father's goodness.

31:42That's his vision for your life. That's what's going to happen to his people. That's what he's doing. That's where you're going to end up. So that should impact how you start living now, right? That's who we are. That's who we're ultimately going to be. So Christ's likeness is intended to impact every aspect of our being while we're here. From all aspects of the way we think about God, it's summed up in Christ's likeness. From everything we talk about the world of ethics, the things I should say, the things I should think, the things I should do, the things that people ought to do, all of it could be summed up in one thing. Is it promoting Christ's likeness? Christ's likeness is to be the dominant theme of his people and will be the dominant theme of heaven and earth, the new heavens, new earth. It is, that is the paradigm.

32:44You may be asking, who should I date? What kind of relationships should I have? Or court, whatever word you want to use. Who should I court, right? First question is: does the relationship promote Christ's likeness? What job should I take? Question to ask, is it a good job? It's going to promote Christ's likeness. How should I educate my children? Promoting Christ's likeness. What hobbies should I be involved in? Do they promote Christ's height? Do they exalt Christ's likeness? Do they promote Christ's likeness? Do they expand Christ's likeness? What should you do with your vacation? Where should you go? What should you do with your extra time? Promote Christ's likeness.

33:25What kind of entertainment should you engage in? What kind of movies should you watch? What kind of extracurricular activity? Whatever, whatever, whatever, what should you be doing? I guarantee you, God's will for your life is to promote Christ-likeness. That's what he's doing. And any activity that does not promote Christ's likeness in your life is not for God and it needs to be abandoned. And it will be abandoned if you are in Christ. And this comes down to: do you embrace Christ's likeness? In fact, I love how Paul summarized this whole concept in Romans 8:29 and 30. For those whom he foreknew, that is, foreloved, foresaw a relationship, set his love upon, intimate relationship for those the Father loved, wanted to give him something good.

34:22He also predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son. You see the expression of God's, the Father's love. For you? It comes in the expression of Christ's likeness. That's the best gift. It's not just having your sins forgiven, it is being like him. That's his gift. No other creature gets that. And these whom he predestined, he also called. And these whom he called, he justified. And these whom he justified, he also glorified. Do you see the purpose of the call? He's calling you. God's purpose for calling you to follow Christ is to form Christ's likeness in you.

35:20And obeying the Christ revealed in Scripture is the means for Christ's likeness to be formed in people. There is no Christ outside of the Christ of Scripture. There is no other Christ that can save. There is only one Christ, and it's the Christ revealed in Scripture. It is his righteousness that is revealed in the Old Testament, that is, he perfectly embodied, and that he calls you to follow. So, have you ever really considered where following Christ ultimately leads? You know where it ultimately leads? It leads to Christ's likeness. It doesn't lead anything, it doesn't lead anywhere else. Following Christ leads to Christ's likeness, and it doesn't lead anywhere. Anywhere else. Okay, so we've seen that Christ's likeness is the purpose of Scripture. It is the purpose of discipleship. So we know that Christ's vision for our life, or God's vision for our life, is Christ's likeness. Then we have one more question that I'd like to think about, cause you to think about. What is God's ultimate purpose for forming Christ's likeness in his people? What is the overall goal for Christ's likeness? Okay, I get it. God, he wants me to have a Christ-like routine so that His vision for me is to have a Christ-like routine this semester because His vision for me is to be Christ-like. Now my question is: what is His vision for me being Christ-like? Where does Christ's likeness ultimately lead?

36:54And so that's what I want to ask. What is God's purpose for Christ's likeness in you? And my answer is so that you can reign with Him. God's purpose for Christ's likeness in you is so that you can reign with Him. And that's where Scripture began with God's desire for man, and that's where it ends, with you reigning with God. You see, by exalting Christ's likeness, in no way does Scripture promote Christ over the glory of God. Christ's likeness is the manifestation of the glory of God. By exalting Christ, in no way does Scripture exalt the Son above the Father. The very nature of Christ's likeness delights to honor the Father. In fact, there is one glorious final act that the Son does. Paul tells us about that in 1 Corinthians 15. He's talking about the doctrine of the resurrection and the order of the resurrection. And then he tells us something about what Christ will do, the Son will do. He says, then comes the end when he, the Son, Christ, hands over the kingdom to God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power, because he must reign until he subdues all things. So here's this picture of Christ with everything under his feet, total subjection. Even death has been defeated. And what does Christ do? What does the Son want to do? He hands the kingdom over to God, the triune God.

38:53Christ's satisfaction is this. Listen, in verse 28, when all things are subjected, To him, then the Son himself also will be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all. Incredible beauty. Everything. The Son, eternally equal with God, yet willfully, even having all things under his feet, puts everything in subjection to God. Eternal subjection. Eternal equality, eternal subjugation. You see, the Spirit of Christ-likeness wants the triune God to be the all-encompassing desire in all of humanity.

39:50All in all. That's what the Son wants in you: is that the Father's goodness, the glory of God, the Godhead, Father, Son, Spirit, that the glory of all that would be everything in you and in all of humanity. That's the spirit of Christ-likeness. And you see, we share, we participate in this triune glory by taking every thought captive to Christ. When we place ourselves and all that we are and all that we do. Under his authority, we display this act of Christ's likeness, this ultimate act of Christ's likeness that desires everything to be under the subjection of the Father.

40:46It's not about how much you have to put under his feet, but that whatever he's given you, you put under subjection to him. That's Christ's likeness. That's the beauty and glory. He is so taken with the Father's goodness, and the Father is so taken with the Son's goodness that both are just eternally exalting one another. And we can participate. Jesus shall reign, right? Wherever the earth, wherever the Son goes, he shall reign. You know why there's going to be an external dimension of Jesus' kingdom? Because there's an internal component. He will reign wherever, because he reigns in all of his subjects. He is everything to them, and that will find expression.

41:47Read verse, it's Psalm 17. I'm going to wrap up my thoughts here and then look back at Revelation. David. David in Psalm 17 was perplexed in a great situation and his desire. He was comparing others. There are people in this world whose portion is this life, whose belly is filled with treasure. And then he says in verse 15, As for me, this is David's inheritance, As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. I will be satisfied with your likeness when I awake. So here's David. He says, You know what? I will see your face in righteousness, and I will be satisfied in being like you. That will be my ultimate satisfaction. You go back to Revelation. Let me just read again those final words. The end of the book.

43:04There will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it. And his bondservants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And they will reign forever and ever. That is God's purpose for forming Christ-likeness in you. His vision for your life is to ultimately reflect the righteousness and beauty and glory and disposition of his Son, who ultimately wants to put all things under his feet. And it is in this beautiful relationship that they reign. And it is in that beautiful relationship that man is to reign upon the earth. He is not to be above God. He is not to go the way of the serpent, but he is to reign with God, with God, and under God.

44:13You see, the call to Christ's likeness is a call to reign with God. That was his vision from the beginning. And it is God's greatest gift that he offers to you today. The Father lovingly desires it for you. The Son perfectly embodied it and made the sacrifice necessary for you to have it. And the Spirit of God forms it. Do you see the work of the triune God in forming Christ's likeness in you? And the purpose of all of God's dealings in your life is to promote Christ's likeness in you. And I hope today that you will not resist, suppress this vision of God for your life.

45:00But that you will embrace it. That you will embrace it by repenting a million times over. That repentance would be a disposition of your heart that you will constantly be putting off and that you will constantly be embracing and growing in Christ's likeness. Through a million deaths, we'll become like Him. That is why we take our cross daily. Embrace Christ's likeness. It's God's greatest gift for you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, so often we suppress this truth. We get active in so many things that are unchrist-like, and then we justify it and say we're free to do so. And Father, we just miss the whole teaching and message of Scripture and the work of your Spirit. You desire Christ's likeness because you desire to reign with us in such. Father, such glory is too much for us to even begin to survey its boundaries, let alone its depths. But we see it here in Scripture. We know it is your greatest gift. Help us to respond appropriately. In Christ's name, amen.