1295. God Wants Us To Be Like Him

Welcome to the daily form from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. The school was founded in 1927 by the evangelist Dr. Bob Jones Senior's intent was to make a school where Christ would be the center of everything, so he established daily chapel services today. That tradition continues with fervent biblical preaching from the University travel platform today on The Daily Platform were continuing a series called our great God.

Today's message will be preached by Bible Prof. Dr. Ted Miller. The Scripture passage is from first Peter chapter 2 in the title of his sermon is God wants us to be like him think Bibles either turned to her right now. First Peter one first Chronicles 16 and Hebrews 5.

If you forget those on less than again. But there is are several the passages will be looking at today the tunnel for last week's message on attributes that belong to God alone was the God, why cannot fully understand the title is been announced for this week regarding the everything God does share with his creatures is the opposite of that title. The God who I can understand.

Rather, today's title is the God who wants me to be like him to convey the title.

Perhaps the God who made me to be like him on the God who saves me to be like him. The Scripture certainly affirms the accuracy of both the statements but the idea that God wants something small, something all something from us or something about us to be true, it does raise certain instant question. If God wants something from us. Did he create us because he lacks something some deficiency that we could somehow fulfill attempts to answer this kind of question predictably veer very quickly into something either ridiculous or cross probably blasphemous. After all, what deficiency could a finite creature provide to an infinite and perfect God made by very definition. Such a God would have no deficiency. This difficulty face at least somewhat when you start to read God's own descriptions of himself in the Bible and the Bible.

We find God quite different from the God of philosophers quite different from the God of armchair speculators who build some God from just the reasons suppositions and will end up with a God is little more than a conglomeration of attributes just enough to function as a source of existence or some basis of order, but God reveals himself in this book reveals himself as a person to person of the divine person to human persons in this connection may help us to understand what can or should be meant by the idea that God wants us, you and me to be like him. The beginning of Genesis, God makes Adam and Eve in his image. She sets them over his creation and he visits with them at the end of Revelation, the Spirit and the bride proclaim an invitation to a great celebration posted in the great city ruled by a great God and the blessed to inhabit that setting. Revelation 21 are said that they shall see his face that Amanda sovereign face-to-face and access comes only by invitation, permission and approval and there is a great problem from Genesis 3 until Genesis 21 to Revelation 21 find this great shadow great staying great curse distant place over all of mankind and everything is under his dominion son 24 says that the earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof.

All the people that dwell therein. But then it says were asked shall approach the hill the Lord who gets to have access to his holy place. The answer is very clear but a little discouraging.

You must have clean hands and a pure heart.

Okay then, how do I become clean and pure well is a challenge.

Everything about you and me inside and out as dirty early around us. Everybody around us is dirty to make ourselves morally clean be be like be caked in mud, take a shower and dripping slides and try to wipe it all down with some tattered and mildewed Dragon no son of Adam, no daughter of Eve partakers. This curse will ever have access to God because we are not like God you've never had the ability to make yourself pure was facing the fact of our sins, and I should just be easier if we decided maybe there's no God at all to me. For some people the intellectual journey to atheism feels like an intellectual journey, but we've got admit at the outset that there's an ethical personal appeal. Atheism, do what you want right.

But even those who affirm the idea that maybe be convenient if there's no godly still find something very troubling about their own desires never decide. In fact, it ushered daughter let him into this universe, despite what difficulties that may introduce the lesson we decide that nothing can be known about him except to the natural world as deists do at that point we would know little about what God is like beyond perhaps his existence and his power. Maybe something about his knowledge that God would still be quite a distant God of hope in the Old Testament and go a step further and we decide okay God has in fact revealed himself, but that revelation ended with the old covenant. At that point, our understanding of or access to God and be limited by the law that God gave through Moses. But what if God had a plan. A plan that involved revealing himself in far more than false and great twist.

The kind of plot twist that nobody can expect the great mystery of the John talks about John one that the word eternal word was God would be made flesh, and he would dwell among us. As John says, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten father full of grace and truth.

And this fullness. Have we all received his incarnation, the Lord Jesus is the perfect revelation of God. But his work also demonstrates the incredible and utmost importance that God places on his creatures, being like him is several language Peter says that we've been given exceeding great and precious promises that we might be some phrase it blows my mind. Partakers of the divine nature. Paul says it. I cannot tell you the burden I had that Christ be formed in you see Christ finished work of turning the wrath of God from us and our sin is the means, not only for making us able to have access to God is the means for ongoing amazing work in our daily life. The Holy Ghost at salvation takes complete ownership of you a causes you as a new lead born child of God to desire to want the very thing that God desires and wants that we might be as much like the infinite and eternal father as a finite creature can be no we think about the kinds of things that God says that we must be like him as is difficult to ignore the holiness of God is quite friendly difficult to know that to start with his holiness or make holiness the finale or just make everything that matters about our lives that under one overall, the term of the holiness of God's holiness can refer to God's absolute separateness as Dr. McGonagle discussed last week, which would move us all and wondered something we can never fully understand, but holiness can also refer to God's absolute moral purity know you and I have never actually encountered in real time in real life side perhaps her in prayer life but encounter with an absolutely morally perfect being describe such an experience is unsettling and disturbing would be an understatement. Is the very kind of thing that Isaiah experiences when he cries out.

I'm a man of unclean lips.

I do all the people of unclean lips, is what Peter is feeling when he realizes who he is standing before he says, depart from me, I'm a sinful man, so here's our dreadful dilemma our own sin prompts us to cry out to holy God depart for me and if in the holy God would grant this request but hope we have. We would never be with him, but instead of departing from us. God pursues you he puts you in a family and he calls you, then to be just like the head of this family. If you look at first Peter one verse 14 it says. As obedient children, members of his family, not fashion yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation because it is written this and start the New Testament either being holy as I am holy God desires and commands that we be like him in his moral purity and crisis incarnation models. This holiness perfectly. He was separate from sinners, he fulfilled the law always did those things, which pleases father and you as you watch Christ and his moral purity work through the Gospels we find that his wife is also highlighted by yet another divine it that we are called to be like he was indeed separate from sinners, and he saw them diligently. He ate with them. He fulfilled the law, and yet he was merciful the measure to those trapped in sin, we find that the working out of God's plan for us to share his holiness could not be possible without another divine attribute. Also, for which we are called to imitate. And that is God's mercy and his lovingkindness is really interesting about the mercy of God in the Old Testament we find Israel just being rescued from Egypt under God's commands through Moses to construct the tabernacle we end up with a very sparsely populated our first mobile extensive tent in the center of which was the least accessible room of all time.

And inside that room. The ark of the covenant covered by lid and that lid had a name was called in Exodus 25, the mercy seat to cherubim facing one another wings outstretched hovering over an empty space portraying the access that we cannot have Larson, but we must have right with God to approach the internal and invisible God on his terms. With great seriousness, we find out that in spite of the inaccessibility of the access to to the temple or the tabernacle, the lid of the ark of the covenant is called the mercy seat.

God has a stance of welcoming centuries later after fatal lesson learned by moving the ark on his own.

David brings a new art to to to Jerusalem was the ark to a newly constructed tabernacle in verse first Chronicles chapter 16 is where he started praying and thanking God for what is happening right okay thanks Lord, call upon his name is make it public prayer before all this really is can recite a lot of Israel's history make known his deeds among the people sing to him sing songs in the him talk. You of all his wondrous works. And for many verses he actually does recount wondrous works of God on behalf of Israel and if you scan down then in verse 33 then shall the trees of the woods saying out out at the presence of the Lord because he comes to judge the earth. Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good for his mercy endures forever. If that phrase sounds familiar. His mercy endures forever. It may be because Psalm 136 an entire Psalm dedicated to the recounting of God's goodness Israel closes each verse with for his mercy endures forever. God's enduring mercies, favoring his people with his presence and forgiveness as they come to him is wonderful to celebrate when you're the recipient.

It does get a little tougher.

However, when his lovingkindness is can be shown for those that we don't care much for over called shown ourselves. This kind of struggle over imitating God's mercies we find an extended conversation and Jonah ending with a question from God. Really, what objection could Jonah rightly have to God's granting mercy, that is, to Nineveh why the prophets heart so hard. Why did you not enjoying and imitate this loving sovereign who is showing mercy, amazing lovingkindness. After these questions. The book ends with silence, we find his hardness is not limited to Jonah when God condemns Israel index on both Israel and Judah. Recurring theme is the hardness of the hearts of the people shown to people who needed lovingkindness. The orphan and the widow, the day laborer who is with whose wages were withheld.

Went to bed hungry. The stranger who had no natural protector. Why would you be so hard on the converse when Christ comes incarnation. He exhibits not just perfect holiness. He exhibits perfect lovingkindness when he gets challenged for why he's meeting with tax collectors and sinners he answers in Luke 15 with back to back to back parables, all of which have a similar theme and a similar ending the first two parables and with the celebration at the lost coin and lost sheep are found, but there's a coda and the third one that extends past the celebration is marred by the older brothers response is demonstrated by the way, the proximity does not by itself produce likeness. Why is Jonah's heart so hard at the end of Jonah 4.

Why is the older brother's heart so hard at the end of the story of the prodigal son. It was all this mercy that God is willing and ready to show we not portray God semi-morally softies for less than holy. He does state sin.

He will not he will not stand with those who commit iniquity. He hates the sentence on 55 but God also laws to forgive these pain. My heart is he's paying by the hardness that prevents people from repenting a pain by the hardness that will not imitate his lovingkindness.

When repentance occurs. One particular point parable Jesus tells of a sermon himself forgiven of a great unpayable song then turns around and imprisons a fellow for not paying him back there time I really wonder if this kind of love in this kind of forgiveness really is one of the unique marks of those were the children of God. We Jesus calls those out who pride themselves on loving those are like themselves and his socio-anybody that I can do that if you want to be the children of your father which is in heaven need to love like your father loves you love those who even revile against you. So God wants me to be as holy as he is holy.

God wants me to be as merciful as he is merciful and, boy, the first two of many in many communicable attributes.

I guarantee you I can't do this.

There's actually no way I can be holy like out there is no way I'm to be as merciful as God is merciful and realizing this I believe is a key piece of becoming like God. Because Christ in his ministry. The perfect God man gives us another thing that we are to imitate my we don't know that I would call this a communicable divine attitude but is something true about the God man that he models for our imitation with eternal son of God became incarnate, he did so in accordance and in alignment with a great divine plan of God says in Hebrews 10 verse five.

Wherefore, when he son cometh into the world, he says, sacrifice and offering that what is not, but a body has them prepared for me in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. I had no pleasure and said I low I come in the volume of the book is written of me, what Christ did when he came was simply a perfect submission to alignment with an imitation of God, and those where they can easily as other words, maybe just a perfect obedience and absolute yielding full agreement, the just shall live by faith. There was never a time that the perfectly just, son of God was not living his life in full and perfect trust and obedience in the heavenly father proceeded to trust God and depend on him. Everything is going well you know when you're being glorified by your father and the labor healed in the blind see in Prather crowds are gathering the hungry eat God's office and glorify his son and son is glorifying him. But when the times turn it sure is harder God seems almost silent as the enemies of Christ, the master strength. The plot against his life as a bribe. One of his own to turn on him false witnesses where where is the father when Jesus spat on and kicked and mocked Jesus. Finally, hang on the cross is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me get through all this, the author of Hebrews tells us something fascinating about the sun in Hebrews chapter 5 verse seven says when the days of his fleshly law for the prayers and supplication with strong crying and tears on the him it was able to save him from death. It was her and that he feared though he were a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. I confess the ability to understand what's really going on in the garden when Christ prays, not my will but thine be done to understand it, but oddly enough I find in my heart a deep desire to imitate it to be like it is no way that this is identity crisis depends God makes any real sense. Especially when you're depends on you and you dying is any that the ancient Greeks looked at the the gospel sideways like the center of your message is that God's son was crucified. This nonsense is once you lose your life.

There's no redo this no details. After that the work out a sentence over it. Crisis has committed himself to him who is able to judge righteously because of his desire was to be in total and full alignment with God is a will.

He was God. But as the sun he learned obedience even through that which he suffered no God makes children for the most natural thing they do is to imitate and is it any wonder that he would place in his spiritual children. A copy of his great desire she wants you to be like him. And if you are his child. He is putting you in some form that cannot be explained by any natural means. A copy of that desire that you want to be like him is selling sooner we find in the clothes were in first John three where it says that when we see him we should be like him, for we shall see him as he is, and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, the theological approximate very perfectly.

This hope of having your highest desire fulfilled is met with a practical daily task of imitating the Lord Jesus, who is a perfect copy of imitating his heavenly father. This desire expression John Les and Leslie Sim finished then the new creation true and spotless.

Let us be let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored and the change from glory and the glory till in heaven, we take our place to a cast their crowns before the loss and wonder. I will ask these as soon as is okay and and and you were listening to the Charles Wesley him Dr. Ted Miller referenced at the in the sermon love divine, all loves excelling.

It was performed by BJ you alumni Matt Mike and Mark Herbst are in arranged by retired BJ you music professor Joan Pinkston. I'm Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University. Thank you for listening to The Daily Platform, please visit our beautiful campus in Greenville, South Carolina to see how God is working in the lives of our students both spiritually and academically. For more information about Bob Jones University's more than 100 accredited academic programs visit BJ you.edu or call 800-252-6363. Thanks for listening to our program today and listen again next week as we continue the series called our great God on The Daily Platform