Casting a Vision? It Must Be Christ!

 Romans 8:29

For those he foreknew, He also predestined

to become conformed to the image of His Son...

Colossians 1:28

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man

and teaching every man with all wisdom,

so that we may present every man

complete in Christ.

Philippians 1:6

For I am confident of this very thing,

that He who began a good work in you

will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Our destiny, if you will, is that we have been foreordained and appointed to be like Christ. This is God's plan for all of those that He has called and drawn unto Himself. It is the ultimate outcome of our salvation. I John 3:2 tells us that when He appears and we see Him, we shall be just like Him. How this happens is explained in I Corinthians 15:20-57. God is going to make us like His Son, and that process started the minute, no the second, we were saved. What a marvelous gift from God!

But there is a process to go through. for even though we are changed in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, we still have to go through that sanctifying process in this world during our lifetime. This is where the role of the pastor-teacher comes in. This is what Paul was referring to in  Colossians 1:28 above. He understood his role in preparing people for eternity, by preparing people to be presented complete in Christ. This is also a function of the church in concert as the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teacher fulfill their ministries in equipping the church to do the work of service that builds up the body of Christ to a mature man, to the fullness of the stature of Christ.

God's vision for us from eternity past is for us is to be like His Son, the first born of many brethren.  So as pastors and teachers should that not be our vision as well. Are we casting a compelling vision of Christ before our people so they will aspire to be like Him? Do we present an all encompassing picture of Christ to our people as our ultimate example of what God expects us to be? Do we model Christ in our own lives? Is Christ our example to the extent that we are an example of Him to our people? Do they understand that this is where God is taking them through the sanctification process, and the ultimate to their question, "Why?"

This vision of Christ that we present to our people is to be all encompassing, affecting every area of our lives, so that, in becoming complete in Christ, what is true about Him becomes true about us.