Shadows of the King

 

This afternoon I received a flyer through my door.

“Shadows of the King”…

…Elvis night at the local Indian restaurant!

Putting to one side the inconsistency of having an Elvis night at an Indian restaurant; Isn’t it curious how people enjoy dressing up as Elvis Presley and, even more surprisingly, people enjoy watching people who are dressed up as Elvis Presley!

My mind boggles at the thought.

I suppose when you listen to and observe an Elvis impersonator, you see something of the original: “Shadows of the King”. And if you were a fan of the original Presley, then, almost by default, you will be a fan of any good-quality impersonator. After all, they are a Shadow of the King.

I don’t know what preparation goes into becoming an Elvis impersonator- I have never tried it- but I imagine a lot of research, practise and listening are involved. Probably the main qualification for the job, however, is to have a real passion for the whole Elvis culture along with his music (I use the term ‘music’ advisedly).

It takes a lot of energy, time and zeal to become ‘like’ Elvis.

The Bible says that God’s son, the Lord Jesus became like sinful men. That doesn’t mean that Jesus impersonated our sins. Certainly not! Jesus Christ was perfect in every way. But because he was perfect, that meant that he could take our sins upon himself. All of us deserve punishment for our disobedience, but Jesus Christ so loved us that he willingly became ‘like’ us and paid the punishment in our place.

But the Bible doesn’t only talk about Jesus becoming ‘like’  us. It also talks about us becoming ‘like’ Jesus. According to the book of Romans, Christians become more holy-  or are ‘sanctified’. This means that we grow to be more and more like Jesus Christ.

We are given a timeline of events in a Christian’s life. This is what God is doing to believers:

Those whom God foreknew…

…he also choose to be conformed to the image of his son…

…those who he choose he also called…

…those who he called he also justified (made perfect in God’s sight)…

…those whom he justified he also glorified.

You see how it all works? Those who have trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation (otherwise called justification) are being ‘conformed to the image of his son’ and will one day be glorified!

How does God conform us to Jesus’ image? Through the Holy Spirit who changes us.

I’ve heard a number of testimonies recently- stories of how God has changed Christian's lives. And all of them have mentioned how vastly different the behaviour and attitude of a true Christian is to that of a non-believer.

Like an apple tree bears fruit, Christian’s are also to ‘bear fruit’. Jesus has borne many a great harvest of fruit! The book of Galatians describes some of these:

• Love
• Joy
• Peace
• Patience
• Kindness
• Goodness
• Faithfulness
• Gentleness
• Self-control

As Christians, we should be becoming more like Jesus every day. These ‘fruits’ should be growing in our lives. We cannot grow fruit simply by trying really really hard! We need the Lord Jesus to be living in us, and we need to be regularly talking to him and reading his word. The Bible is great spiritual fertilizer!

But we aren’t merely impersonators of Jesus! The Bible says that we are also brothers who will share in the blessings of God the Father. Because of this, one day we will see much much more than simply “Shadows of the King”- we will see our King and be able to call him Father!