12.1 Walk as Jesus Walked
© 2018 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
The one saying, “I abide in Him,” is committed to walk in exactly the same way [Jesus] Himself walked (1 John 2:6).
How did Jesus walk? It is evident that Jesus walked by grace through faith, never trusting in Himself, but utterly certain that the Father was directing His every step. Jesus walked in the same way Paul teaches us to walk inside the gospel of our salvation.
But let’s add some further words to this question. – We were buried together with Him through immersion into death, that just as Christ was raised out from the dead through the glory of Father, so inside of newness of life we also should walk (Romans 6:4).
Newness of Life. Not only do we walk as Jesus walked during His time in a solitary body, but we also walk “in newness of life,” which is the very resurrection life of Jesus right now.
Here is another statement of John’s along those same lines. – In this love has been perfected, brought to full completion, that we might have boldness to speak [Christ our life] inside the [to]day of judgment, that just exactly as He IS, so also are we in this present world (1 John 4:17).
Obviously, such a reality is entirely beyond us. Never do we look to our own failed performance; rather, our victory is our confidence that Jesus Himself fulfills all that He is inside our hearts and living now as us.
Led in Triumph. For all who have been conceived out from God overcome the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who now is the one overcoming the world, if not the one believing that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:4-5). – We walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Finally, here is the ruling verse from Paul regarding how we are to understand how we walk just as Jesus walked. – Moreover, grace to God, always leading us in the triumphal procession inside of Christ, and the aroma of His knowledge being made visible through us in every place (1 Corinthians 2:14). – Or, as the New King James puts it – God always leads us in triumph.
God ALWAYS Leads Us. The triumphal procession was a Roman practice, a grand parade celebrating a great victory already won, foes already defeated, lands already secured for Rome. God always leads us, not in “the hope of victory,” but inside of Jesus in the celebration of all victory completed, past tense. – It is finished.
God does not lead us this way part of the time. God always leads us inside of Christ in the celebration of His resurrection now our only life. AND God always leads us; never is there a moment when we draw back in fear, imagining that God is not directing our step inside of His love. God always leads us in triumph.
Confidence. Now, that I have put in front of you all these overwhelming verses of how we live the Christian life, I want to make this way of living as practical for you as I can. The key word is confidence, always confidence, that Jesus Himself fulfills in us all that He speaks. We are part of Christ IF we are confident – that we are part of Christ (Hebrews 3:6/14).
Confidence is active and energetic faith, the utter, but active abandonment of ourselves into the responsibility for us belonging to Jesus our Savior alone. Passivity, on the other hand, is not rest, but rather a dull, almost faithlessness. Confidence is pure rest, but never dull.
Our Active Faith. God has given us three specific things that all humans, from the least to the greatest, are able to do that will cause our faith in Christ to increase through every season of our lives. You can do these three things with all the “strength of your flesh” and they are never “fleshy works,” but only the source in you of the knowledge of God.
The first thing you can do with all your strength, heart, mind, and soul is to ask God to fulfill His word in you and then to believe that you have already received. – “Let it be to me.” The second action of faith is, having believed, to speak Christ as your only life. And the third action of faith is to give thanks, knowing that God IS-IS-IS fulfilling His faithfulness to you by sharing your life with you.
No Sufficiency in Yourself. As you ask God to fulfill in you all that He means by what He speaks, believing with all confidence that He IS; as you, then, speak Christ Jesus as the only life you are; and as you give thanks, speaking good grace into all things, knowing that Father Himself is sharing your life with you, then you walk in the resurrection life of Jesus. You don’t need to see anything outward. You walk inside the faith of Jesus Himself without regard to the sight of the eyes. And in all things, you never look to yourself as having any sufficiency in yourself to please God or to “do His will.”
But let’s take that same way of living, then, complete in you, and expand it to your life together with other believers in Jesus.
Giving Favor. If Christ lives as you right now, then Christ also lives as your brother and sister. If Father shares all things with you, then Father shares all things in ongoing daily life with your brother and sister. And if God always leads you in triumph, so He always leads your brothers and sisters in exactly the same way.
Jesus says, “Whatever you do {think, say, or feel} to one of the least of these my brothers, you ARE doing it to Me” (Matthew 25:40).
Yet we remain human, and it is in and through our humanity that God reveals Himself. Forgiveness is not a temporary quality, needed only in this present age. Forgiveness, giving favor for, is how we walk together in newness of life forever – giving space for one another’s humanity.
Be Kind. Here is the clearest rendition of how we walk together just as Jesus walked. – And be kind with one another, tender-hearted, forgiving [giving favor to] each other, in exactly the same way that God inside of Christ gives favor freely to you (Ephesians 4:32). Just as God gives you space to be human, as He created you, so we give space to one another for our human differences.
I must warn you, however, that there is an “image” of Jesus as a miracle worker, a power-being, as someone who is “superior,” who never “makes mistakes,” and certainly not “one of us.” This image of a “super-Christ” will always stand in the way of seeing your brother and sister as Jesus to you right now exactly as they are. That image is the enemy of Christ in your life.
The Display of Power. Yes, God did good things for people through Jesus, often in miraculous ways. And God does good things for people through you just as much. But raising someone from the dead is a little thing.
Do you want to know the big things of God, the greatest glory and power the universe has ever known, the essence of how we walk just as Jesus walked right now? Here it is.
and gentle words of encouragement.
There is no greater display of the power and glory of God than this. Being kind and encouraging one another is the heart and essence of being just like Jesus.
Love One Another. To walk together as Jesus walked is to love one another. – Having purified your souls [your self-stories] inside of submitted hearing of the truth into sincere brotherly love, love one another fervently out of a pure heart (1 Peter 1:22). Or, as the New King James has it, “Love one another with a pure heart fervently.”
Those who have their eyes on power, on an image of outward performance, will see their brothers and sisters in their human foolishness as always beneath, always fallen short. As you keep your eyes set on God, so you will see Him in all the human limitations of your brothers and sisters and will honor them with kindness, with respect, and with tender regard.
Father Made Visible. To walk as Jesus walked is first to KNOW that Father Himself directs your every step inside of His love, and always in the celebration of an already finished victory. To walk as Jesus walked is second never to consider any sufficiency in yourself.
To walk as Jesus walked is to see Him in your brothers and sisters in Christ and to honor Him in them. To walk as Jesus walked is to share heart with the Father, to see all others as better than yourself, and thus to give space, to give favor for one another in kindness and encouragement.
And when you walk together with your brothers and sisters in the full reciprocity of love, Father Himself is made visible to all.