Quote: Christ-Like

~ Have You Looked in a Mirror Lately? ~ 

Consider the appearance of three different surfaces!

The following is an excerpt from a book.

With respect to the hidden gem, notice that the pearl slowly takes on the appearance of that which is forming it. Examine a grain of sand under a microscope; this foreign matter that enters the oyster’s side has rough, sharp edges. But slowly, ever so slowly, a pearl evolves into an item of beauty, with the same luster and beauty of the inside of the oyster.

It may be well to note that the external appearance of the oyster is not beautiful. It is Christ who transforms the Church. We read concerning Jesus Christ, the Messiah, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2).

What is the pearl like? Its luster is like the inside of that which forms it. Have you ever looked at the inside of an oyster shell? It has the same luster that a pearl has. In essence the pearl’s exterior resembles the interior beauty of the life that produced it. The nacreous coating is on the external surface of the pearl. Jesus Christ bought the pearl of great price at the Cross of Calvary, and now He covers Christians with His righteousness.

The fruit of the Spirit results from the Christian being attached to the vine, the trunk, as explained in John 15:5. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22). We are to be taking on the luster of Christ. We should be becoming more and more like that which is transforming us. In Philippians 3:21, concerning Jesus Christ, we read: “Who by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.” Did you catch that? “Who [Jesus Christ] will transform [redesign] our lowly bodies so that they will be like [identical to] His glorious body.” The Christian community will take on the luster of Christ as He forms His Church (see also Romans 8:29). “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

~ from “ONE PRECIOUS PEARL: God’s Design for His Church, pgs 105-106  (ISBN: 9780741462329)

Learn more about this important book at Amazon, the Publisher, or the Author’s website.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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