JR 54
09/13/2026
Like Him
I John 2:6
Jesse Randolph

Well, today is a special day on a number of levels. We’ve already witnessed, in the waters of baptism, the testimonies of Kaylob, the birthday boy and Emily Kobza. We are having Fall Kickoff this afternoon, a fun time of fellowship as a church family. The new ministry year is about to begin. The Huskers are 2-0, the Packers are probably going to go 1-0 this afternoon – I know you all care about that. But there’s more. You probably saw, out in the lobby, that our “More Like Jesus” t-shirts are now available for pickup. And those are titled as such, because that is our new ministry-year the theme that we as followers of Christ, and we as members of one another, are striving to be, with the Lord’s help, “More Like Jesus.” Transformed into His image, as we become more and more “like Him.” 

I’m going to have you turn right in your Bibles with me, to the book of I John, that’s where we’re going to be today. We’re going to take a little break in the Gospel of Luke on Fall Kickoff Sunday and look at I John 2. Now, in your bulletin, it’ll say we’re only in I John 2:6, we’re actually going to back it up just a to the end of I John 2:5, and read into verse 6, so that we can capture the complete sentence and the whole train of thought from John and take it in as a whole. So, this is I John 2:5-6, God’s Word reads, “By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” That’s our text for this morning. That single sentence, written by the Apostle John, guided by the Holy Spirit as he wrote it a few decades after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. In this text, we see a few different things happening, and these will be our preaching points this morning. 

Number one, in verse 5, at the end there we see, THE POSITION DESCRIBED – as we look at what it means to be “in Christ”, what it means to be “in Him”. Second, at the beginning of verse 6, we’re going to see, THE PROCLAMATION DECLARED – where John is depicting this hypothetical individual who says he knows the Lord and that he is “in Christ” and that “he abides in Him.” Then third, we’re going to consider, at the end of verse 6, THE PACE DEMANDED – as we dig in on that last part of verse 6, where it says that the one who abides in Him “ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” Let’s start with our first point, if you’re taking notes:

THE POSITION DESCRIBED
Again, look at the last few words of verse 5, where John says, “By this we know that we are in Him.” Now, if you know anything about the letter of I John, if you’ve ever studied it before in any kind of formal or informal setting you know that if there were one word which would describe this letter best, it would be the word “assurance.” I John, the letter of I John is all about assurance. It’s all about how the Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ can not only hope that they have eternal life, but they can know they can have confidence that they have eternal life. In fact, if you turn with me to the very end of 1 John, to the fifth and final chapter in I John 5:13, you’re going to see that in John’s own words. I John 5:13 is the purpose statement of this letter, where John is saying that he is writing these things to give assurance. to know that Believers can know that they have eternal life. 
I John 5:13, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” I mean, listen to that again, “So that you may know that you have eternal life.” 

Those words are such consolation and such comfort to any Believer in Jesus. That to know that belief in Jesus Christ, belief in the Son of God, and assurance of salvation those two things go hand in hand. Those two things are linked. But what John is also going to develop through this letter and as we see this as we work through all five chapters of I John is that it’s never barren belief. It is never an empty profession that gives a Believer assurance. That is because mere barren belief and empty profession ultimately does not save. No. Assurance is available only to those who have genuinely put their faith in Jesus Christ and have a life that matches their testimony. A practice that matches their profession. A walk that matches their talk. And that’s what John is doing throughout this letter of I John. His stated purpose is to encourage the Believer that they can have assurance of salvation “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Now, there’s an unstated principle that’s undergirding this entire letter, as well. John’s words in the letter of I John, are like a double-edged sword, and there’s another side to this blade, as it were. The unstated principle is that assurance of salvation is available only to those who have true and abiding faith in Jesus. Not to those who have a counterfeit faith. But rather, only to those who have the real thing. The way John structures this letter, is around these different tests of assurance. These different markers, these different indicators of true saving faith. In fact, go back with me, to the first chapter of I John. We’re going to skip over some of these, really quickly, these markers, these indicators of true saving faith. Starting in I John 1:6, John says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not do the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

So, the test here is, as a pattern of your life, do you walk in the light, or do you walk in the darkness? Are you still pursuing those same patterns of sin and wickedness that marked your former life? Or have you truly put off the “old man” as you repented of your sin, and put your faith in Jesus Christ? Or look next at verses 8-9, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” So, the test here is do you regularly confess and admit your sin? If you’re a new creation in Christ, you will still sin. The question is, do you own it? Do you confess it before God your Father? And do you seek forgiveness, knowing that He will forgive? Or look over at I John 2:15, he says, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” The test here is which do you love more? The world? Or the God who sent His Son into the world, to rescue you from the world? Or I John 2:29, “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who does righteousness has been born of Him.” The test here is, do you practice righteousness? Meaning, is your life characterized by doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord? 

Next, I John 3:3, “Everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” The test here is do you pursue purity in your life? Do your words reflect that? Does your thought life reflect that? You know, it’s been said before, and it’s true, who you are when you’re alone, that’s who you are. In light of that reality, would you say, I John 3:3, that you are devoted to the pursuit of purity? Then, I John 3:6 says, “No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or has come to know Him.” Now, that’s not saying what many assume it’s saying that a Christian is sinless. It can’t mean that a Christian is sinless, because I John 1:8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” But the test here in I John 3:6 is do you see patterns of sin in your life decreasing? And are you experiencing regular victory over sin? Here’s another one, I John 3:18-19, it says, “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. And by this we will know that we are of the truth.” In other words, here’s the test; does your practice match your profession? Or instead, are you paying mere lip service to your so-called allegiance to the Lord? 

And now, this one, I John 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
Here’s the test for that one; is your life marked by love? Genuine, others-focused, Christ-like love? Specifically, love for fellow Believers? I John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers.” And then, this one, I John 5:4 says, “For everything that has been born of God overcomes the world.” .Here’s the test for that one Do you find yourself, again, experiencing victory over sin? Do you find yourself increasingly saying “no” to the temptations which are being offered by the world? Then, if that weren’t enough to wrap all of our minds around. And if that weren’t enough for ten minutes or so, to convict our hearts. John gives us our text for today. Back to I John 2:5-6. And here’s the test are we “walk[ing] in the manner [the same manner] as He walked?” Do you walk and do you live the way that Jesus walked? The way that Jesus lived? I’ll read the text in full again, “By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

That’s the test before us here this morning. The exam has been posted on Canvas, or if you’re old like me the Bluebook has been handed out and the Scantron is now in front of you. We are now to take this test, as we ask ourselves am I “walk[ing] in the same manner as He walked?” I think that’s a really important question for each of us to ask ourselves, as we begin a new ministry year here at Indian Hills. 

See, a church like ours, a larger church, a church with many different programs and many different offerings with a stable of servants who have been serving longer than anyone can remember. That’s good, by the way. We can, if we’re not careful, get to the place where we are measuring our faithfulness to the Lord or even our standing before the Lord based on all the things that we do here around church. Of course, we would never vocalize it that way. We would never say it out loud, the way I just said it out loud. We might even think the thought consciously, internally. But somewhere deep below the surface, we can slip into falsely equating our rigorous routines, to being devoted followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. “I’ve taught the same Sunday School class for the past 15 years.” “I’ve been with the same grade in the children’s programs for the past 35 years.” “I take my kids to Adventure Club because my parents took me to Adventure Club, but it was AWANA back in the day.” “I go to Titus Tuesday because that’s what ladies do around here.” “I claim my spot here in the auditorium because, well, it’s my seat.” “I go to Sunday night services, I go to Wednesday night church, unlike those folks who only go to Sunday morning service.” 

The call of the Christian, the mark of the one who has been assured of their standing before the Lord is not that he or she is busier than everybody else. No. The call of the Christian, the one who knows that they are “in Him” is what it says right here in I John 2:6, that they “walk in the same manner as He walked.” That’s what we’re to be all about here at Indian Hills going into this new ministry year. Not to be a bunch of worker bees, or folks on the assembly line, putting our widgets together who have no sense of purpose, or we’ve forgotten our purpose as to why we’re even there to begin with. But instead, a devoted gathering of Disciples, who seek to serve the Lord with genuine hearts of faith, true faith. Faith which is marked by “walk[ing] in the same manner as He walked.” 

So again, our first point is: THE POSITION DESCRIBED. We’re looking now, as we dig a little bit deeper into this text that those first few words at the end of verse 5, where it says: “By this we know that we are in Him.”  Again, a Christian can “know” meaning, they can have confidence confident assurance that they know the Lord that they know that they are “in Him.” Now, what does that mean to be “in Him?” Now truth be told, those are two of the most profound verses in all of Scripture. They appear all over the Bible in some form or fashion, some expression or another, whether it be “in Christ” or “in Him” we see one of those two formulations “in Christ” or “in Him” or something like that some 80 times in the New Testament. Now, I’m not going to go through all 80 examples or references. I do want to give you a sampling though, just to give you a sense of the breadth and the beauty of what it means to be “in Him.”

First, to be “in Him” means that we have been graciously and sovereignly chosen by God before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4 says, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love, by predestining us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” To be “in Christ” means we have been forgiven. To be “in Christ” means we’ve received a divine pardon from God. Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” To be “in Christ” describes our new position. I Corinthians 1:30 says, “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.” To be “in Christ” describes our new nature as Believers.  II Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away and behold; new things have come.” And to be “in Christ” describes our new patterns, the new trajectory of our lives, as we come, or after we come to saving faith in Jesus. Here’s Romans 6:11, “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” There’s so much more to say about what the Scriptures reveal about being “in Christ”, but I’ll leave it there so that we can get to the punchline of what John is saying in our short little passage here this morning. But first, one more stopover. We’ve just considered what it means to be “in Christ.” That was the POSITION DESCRIBED. Now, as we read in our text, in I John 2:6, we’re now going to look at and here’s our second point:

THE PROCLAMATION DECLARED.
Beginning in verse 6, he says, “The one who says he abides in Him.” Now, we’re just going to stop there and camp out here for a moment and note that’s a conditional clause. It’s just hanging out there. It’s fully dependent on the words that are going to follow those words. That is really important for us to note here. Because of the way he’s written this, it’s evident that John is presuming that there are going to be two types of people in the church. And two types of people who claim to have some sort of affinity or relationship with Jesus Christ.
First, will be the one who says, as it says here – “says he abides in Him.” So, he says he abides in Christ. Second, will be the one who actually does. 

Now note, those who are in that first group those who “say” they are “in Christ” those who “say” they “abide in Him” but have nothing to show for it nothing, to prove, demonstrates the truth of their confession. Well, they are on incredibly shaky ground. They are in a very perilous position. They are on spiritual quicksand. They might walk their way and make their way through this life fooling others, as they “play church”. But they are not fooling God. And in the end, they are only inviting judgment upon themselves. Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 7, where He calls out this very group of individuals those who have pretended their entire life, who in the end, prove to be fakes. Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” That’s that first group, those who say they abide, those who say they are “in Him.” 

But then, there’s this second group. Those who not only “say they abide in Him” and that they are abiding in Christ, but who actually are. Those are the ones who, at some point, recognize that they are a sinner. That “There is none righteous not even one.” Romans 3:10. They are the ones who recognize that God, because He is holy, had to, and did attach a penalty to their sin, namely, death, Romans 6:23. They also recognize that God, because of His love and His infinite mercy He extended a way for them to have their sin dept paid which was by sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on a Roman cross for their sins. That’s Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” And having heard those truths, Gospel truths, those in that second group, having repented of their sin, and having turned from their sin they eventually heeded the words of Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

Now, this second group, having been saved, are living a new life. They’re living under that light and easy yoke of their new Master, the Lord Jesus. They live by the words of Paul in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” They’ve been radically changed. They’ve been made new. They’re living out what Paul said in II Corinthians 5:17 – what Kayleb and Emily said in the waters of baptism this morning. That “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” And now, getting back to our text for this morning, I John 2:6, those in this second group, they “abide”. Look at the words again, of I John 2:6, “The one who says he abides in Him.” Now, that word “abide” it literally means “to dwell”. It’s the word from which we get our English word “abode.” As in a place one inhabits, or a place in which one dwells. We all have abodes whether it be a house, or a condo, or an apartment, or a van down by the river. But, to “abide” here, in this context, it has a bit more of a nuanced meaning. It means something like “to remain” “to stay” “to linger”, even “to draw.” The one who “abides in Him”, is stayed upon Christ. They’re fixed upon Christ. They find not only their shelter in Christ, but the way that we would find shelter in an abode, in a habitation. They actually are drawing their sustenance, their life – from Him. That’s the meaning of “abide” here. 

Now, how do we know that that’s the meaning of “abide”? That it means not just “to dwell”, but actually “to draw” “to draw life from.” Well, we know it because it’s the Apostle John who wrote these words in I John 2:6, humanly speaking. He’s also the one who recorded the very memorable words of our Lord Jesus, in John 15. Why don’t you turn there with me, actually to the Gospel of John. To John 15. Same human author. He wrote the Gospel of John. He wrote I John, II John, III John, Revelation. But John 15, the scene here is the Upper Room where Jesus, on the eve of His arrest and His crucifixion partook of the Lord’s Supper with His Disciples. He’s about to be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver. He’s about to be captured in the Garden of Gethsemane. He’s about to be flogged and spit upon. He’s about to go to the cross. But not before He said these words to His Disciples starting in John 15:1, He said, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine-grower. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He cleans it so that it many bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” This language is spectacularly vivid. Jesue here is likening God the Father to this keeper of a vineyard with Jesus, God the Son, being the vine, and His followers, His Disciples, being the branches. And the natural outcome of those branches being attached to the vine is what? Bearing fruit, fruit-bearing fruit-producing.

I had the privilege this week of traveling out west to the state of Washington, to visit my parents, to spend some time with my Dad and my Mom. One of the days I was out there my Dad took me on a tour of a farm that my parents purchased a few years ago. And when I say farm, I mean something more like a lush garden. Not like we think of farms out here. On their property were these rows of apple trees, plum trees, and pear trees. They were growing figs – though Jesus cursed the fig tree. They were growing strawberries. They were growing grapes. And I kid you not, we were plucking all of this fruit directly off the trees, directly off the vines eating it right off the vine or the branch, on this perfect 65-degree day, with no humidity, not bugs it was beautiful. Not quite, it wasn’t quite Nebraska beautiful, but it was beautiful. Now, part of that experience of walking around that farmland with my Dad, specifically, was that there was actually fruit on those trees. It would have been a very strange visit it would have been a very odd visit a very awkward visit, if he said to me, “Jesse, I want to show you my farm” and we drove out to the farm, and when we pulled up, there was a bunch of dead grass. Or a bunch of dead and dried branches with no fruit on them or fruit all over the ground, or just completely empty branches. I mean, if that had been the scene when had first pulled up to that farmland with my Dad, I certainly have had some questions for him. Questions about his watering practices. And how he’s pruning. And where the sun and the shade are. And what kind of soil he’s planting in. Because it would have been obvious that something was obviously clearly wrong. But that’s not what I encountered at all. No. As I mentioned, the trees and the vines were producing. The fruit was growing, and we were popping things into our mouths. Everything was in bloom, it was beautiful. And why? Well, there was clearly a healthy connection between each of those branches on those trees that were bearing that fruit. And the tree, or the vine to which each one of those branches was attached. Those branches were totally dependent on the vines or the trunks, and they were totally dependent on the vinedresser in this case, my Dad for life and sustenance and strength. 

That is exactly the point that Jesus is making here in John 15. Like the branches I saw on those trees in Washington last week as Believers in the Lord Jesus, we are to draw our very life from Him, the Vine. We are to yield total control of our lives to Him, the Vine. We’re to draw sustenance, daily, spiritual sustenance from Him, the Vine. When we do so, His power and His strength flows through us allowing us to produce fruit for Him. It can be fruit that takes the form of more holy, consecrated, dedicated, spirit-filled lives. Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” It can also fruit can be shown in good work, Colossians 1:10, we’re to “Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work.”  

So, question. Are you abiding in Christ? Are you abiding in Christ? Do you draw daily life, strength, vitality from Jesus Christ our Lord? Do you produce fruit on account of being connected to the Vine? Now, some of you might be thinking: “Well, I don’t know if I’m abiding or not.” “I read my Bible; I go to church what do you want me to say?” “I don’t know if I’m abiding.” “Is not that sort of an abstract concept to abide in Christ?” “How can I even tell if I’m abiding in Christ?” Well, that brings us to our third and final point for this morning. Look at I John 2:6 again, where John, after laying out that conditional statement and says, “The one who says he abides in Him” well, now he drops in the condition “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

That’s our third point. For the notetakers this morning:

THE PACE DEMANDED.
We’re now at the heart of this passage. A passage admittedly I hand selected for a purpose, as we kick off this new ministry year. We are now at the heart of a passage which really gets after the heart of Jesus. What He did. What He pursued. What motivated Him for His years of His earthly ministry when He was with His people there in Judea, as He ministered to those.  I can guarantee, not based on my personal opinion, not based on my pastoral position but rather, on the authority of the Word of God. That if each one of us, in this room this morning, goes into this new ministry year with a renewed resolve to “walk[ing] in the same manner as He walked.” In doing so, “abid[ing] in Him” and in doing so, demonstrating that we “are in Him”, and that we love Him, and that we seek to glorify Him with all that we do, no matter what day of the week, or what time of day well, this year is going to be our best year as a church yet. There is no sweeter place to be than in the company of fellow Believers, who are truly abiding in the Lord, and faithfully walking in His steps. 

So, practically speaking, what is this going to look like? For us individually, and us collectively as a church body, to abide, “to walk in the same manner as He walked?” 

Well, before we get to that, I just want to really quickly highlight that this theme of “walking” here in I John 2:6, it’s not like John just dropped a new concept here into this passage like there’s nothing else in the New Testament where there’s a reference to “walking”.  No, the concept of “walking”, the Greek word is peripateo. Just think of like, “pitter pat”, like “pitter pattering” your way down a path somewhere. The Greek is peripateo, it literally means to “make one’s way”, it means “to make progress.” It’s the very opposite of sitting on your rear end. Sitting on your backside. Letting the moss grow under your feet. That whole concept. No, the believing life, the Christian life, is one of walking. It’s one of action. It’s one of moving. It’s one of moving forward. It’s one of gaining distance from the place from which we came in our old past, our old life, and now moving in a direction of growth in Christ. Growth in Christlikeness. Growth, as we walk toward our eternal prize, or eternal inheritance. Consider just a few passages, I’ll give these to you rapid-fire in the New Testament where that same word – peripateo – walk, or walking is used.
Romans 6:4, “We were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 4:1, “Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” Ephesians 5:8, “Walk as children of light.” Colossians 1:10, “Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.” Colossians 2:6, “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” And then, I Thessalonians 2:12, “Walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”

With those, as our backdrop now, I’m going to lay out several ways, I think there are six ways for us to consider how we can “walk in the same manner as He walked.” Let’s start here. To walk as Jesus walked is to be fundamentally, others oriented. “Others oriented” would describe Jesus in His humanity Jesus in His earthly ministry, to a tee. He was fundamentally others oriented. Turn with me, to Philippians, a familiar passage to many of us here. The book of Philippians, Paul’s letter to the Philippians chapter 2. This passage is all about Christ’s incarnation how the Son of God took on human form when the Word became flesh. And, of course, in one sense, this is not capable, or this pattern of what Christ did, nobody can mimic it perfectly. You know, the incarnation happened one time, when God became man, and God came to earth in the form that He did. But even as I start reading this note in verse 5, there is a personal dimension to this, for us. There is something we can emulate. Philippians 2:5 says, “Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” 

Christ stooped to inexplicably low depths in His incarnation. Though equal with God. Though God Himself the King of the universe became a slave. He took the form of a slave. And He could have left us in our poor, miserable condition. He could have left us in our sin state and been no less holy, and no less righteous, and no less just. But He didn’t. Instead, He came to earth. He came to His people. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. But He didn’t stop there. Verse 8 says He was “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” He did that for people like you and me; wicked, wretched evil men; depraved, horrible, vile, wicked sinners undeserving sinners. So, the Lord Jesus, then, He engaged in the most others-oriented form of sacrifice that’s ever been known. He engaged in the most others-oriented form of sacrifice that any of us could possibly imagine.  And we’re called, as His followers, as we seek to be those who “walk in the same manner as He walked.” To follow His others-oriented example. Look again, at Philippians 2:5 – “Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”

So, as you think of Christ’s ultimate example, His incarnation, His humiliation, and then His crucifixion who comes to mind for you right now? Who comes to mind as someone to whom you can show a Christ-like, others-oriented example, even today? As you strive “to walk in the same manner as He walked.” Is it your wife? Is it your husband? Is it your child or your children? Is it your parents? Is it a fellow member of this church with whom you’ve otherwise been at odds?

Here’s another way that the follower of Christ “ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” The first one was by following His others-oriented example. This second one is connected to the first; we walk as Jesus walked through the love that we show one another. Jesus continually demonstrated love toward others. He loved Lazarus, John 11:36, He loved the Rich Young Ruller, Mark 10:21, He loved John, John himself tells us that He loved John in John10:26. He loved through service, like when He washed the Disciples’ feet, in John 13, He loved His enemies, as we see in Luke 22, when He healed the ear of the high priest’s servant who had been sent there to arrest Him. And of course, Jesus demonstrated His love most powerfully, when He offered up His very life for underserving sinners like us. Just mark this one down – John 15:13, where Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” In light of that immeasurable act of forgiving love which Jesus demonstrated toward us when He died on the cross for our sins, so too, ought we have love for each other. That’s how it’s said in I John 4:11, “Beloved if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Or Ephesians 5:2, “Walk in love, [peripateo] just as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us.” So, as you commit to “walk[ing] in the same manner as He walked”, as we start this new ministry year; are you committed to loving as He loved? The two go directly hand in hand.

Here’s a third way that the follower of the Lord Jesus “ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” It is through our demonstration of compassion. Jesus demonstrated routinely, compassion – gut-level compassion. Bowel-level compassion toward those with whom He came into contact. And in His day, that especially took place in the context of those who were in need of healing. Matthew 9:36 says, “And seeing the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 14:14 says, “And when He went ashore, He saw a large crowd and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.” Mark 1:41 says, “And moved with compassion, He stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’”

Do you have compassion towards others? Do you have compassion for those in this body those in this church? Do you have compassion for those who are struggling? Those who might be struggling maritally. Those who might be struggling financially? Those who might be struggling spiritually? Or instead, have you adopted the “I’m sure glad that’s not me” approach to doing church-life? Or perhaps you have adopted the “stiff upper lip” theory of sanctification, where you feel like your brothers and sisters here in this body, though you are Biblically members of one and other well, if they’re struggling with something, they just need to grin and bear it, and grit their way it, and at some point, just get over it. I certainly hope that’s not the case with anyone here. That that would be our theory of body-life, or sanctification. Because our Lord showed compassion, and so ought we, toward one another. Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted [that’s the same word as compassion in other translations], graciously forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has graciously forgiven you.”

Speaking of which, here’s another one, another way that the follower of Christ “ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” That is by forgiving one another. Throughout His earthly ministry, our Lord regularly displayed and gave extended forgiveness. To the woman who anointed His feet with perfume with her hair, He said to her, in Luke 7:48, “Your sins have been forgiven.” On the cross, He cried out, in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know that they are doing.” After His death and resurrection, in John 21 – having forgiven Peter for denying Him three times, Jesus restored him to service.  And of course, even today, even right now, Jesus stands ready to forgive anyone who would put their trust in Him and His finished work of the cross for the forgiveness of their sins. So, having been forgiven so much, by such a forgiving Savior. As we look to be those ones who “walk in the same manner as He walked”, again, these words from Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, [now listen to this] graciously forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has graciously forgiven you.” Who might you need to forgive, or seek forgiveness from, even today? What’s stopping you? What’s holding you back? What’s preventing you from picking up the phone, or sending that text? Is it worrying? Fear? Pride? “Graciously forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has graciously forgiven you.”

Here’s another one. As we seek to “Walk in the same manner as He walked.” We do so, by patiently enduring. Listen to these words from I Peter 2:19 says, “For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unrighteously. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this finds favor with God. [now listen to this] For to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps.” Christ suffered tremendously for us. He suffered tremendously for you, and in doing so, He left you an example to follow, it says here in I Peter 2. An example in not only suffering, but how you patiently endure through that suffering. I won’t go through that all right now. If you go and find my Entrusted Conference message from a few weeks ago, you’ll see I did a whole sermon of that subject, on the suffering that Christ went through the enduring that He went through, and how we can be doing both, as we “walk in the manner He walked.” 

Finally, another way, this is number six, that we can “walk in the same manner as He walked.” It’s by seeking to do the will of the Father. Striving to please the Father, God the Father, in all that we do. This was the consistent testimony of the Lord Jesus who said things like this: John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me.” John 5:30, “I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” Detecting a pattern here? Luke 22:42, He’s addressing God the Father here, He says, “yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

In other words, in His humanity, Jesus did not live for self at all. Rather, He lived to please and do the will of God. He lived to please and glorify God. We have a similar charge. Our charge, these are our marching orders, these are the ones you put on your dashboard on the post-i; note on the refrigerator, or on the steamed-up mirror. It is II Corinthians 5:9, “We also have as our ambition, [it says] whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.”

Is that your aim? As we launch a new ministry year, as you think of your service in the church this year, as you think of how you can invest in your home and your family this year; is it your aim to just kind of will your way through it? To buckle down and get to the month of May, and just kind of sweat it out until then, and then comes the glorious relief of summer? Or is it your ambition, your aim, to be pleasing in all respects to the Lord? Now matter what’s happening here in the church. No matter whether it’s when the lights are on in the church, or the lights are off in the church. That was Jesus’ aim, to be always pleasing to the Father. Well, Jesus, as we’ve seen this morning, in His life here on earth, He demonstrate, I gave you six of these: others-oriented nature love compassion, forgiveness, patient endurance and then He sought to do the Father’s will by pleasing God. 

And the question, again, for us, on the table, as we kick things off, as we start this new ministry year is, are we walking as Jesus walked? Are we, as we’re striving to walk like He walked are we becoming more like Christ? Are we, as it says in Romans 8:29, “Become conformed to the image of [God’s] Son.” Are we, as it says in II Corinthians 3:18, “Being transformed into the same image [the image of Christ] from glory to glory” Are we “walk[ing] in the same manner as He walked?” Are we becoming “more like Jesus”? 

That’s my prayer all year long. That will be my prayer all year long that we individually, and we as a collective body of Believers, will become “more like Jesus.”