Luke 4:16, “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, 18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” 20 And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
All of us as believers carry a common calling and destiny, even if it’s worked out in different vocations. That calling and destiny is to be Christlike. We’ve talked about this before in the past on a number of occasions because this is the dominant theme for the new creation that we’ve become. We are regenerated to experience and manifest the fullness of Christ, flowing from a life of rich intimacy and obedient faith. The fullness of Christ released in us looks like the fruit of the spirit; and the fullness of Christ released through us looks like the gifts of the Spirit being given away to others by us. The life of Christ on the inside filling us, and the ministry of Christ flowing to others through us, is Christlikeness. It’s important to remember that both aspects, that which He is us, and that which He does through us are part of Christ likeness. The verses I quoted from Luke 4 describes the kind of ministry Jesus came manifest, and that mandate hasn’t changed. The only change is the new body He has to work through, and that new body is me and you. You and I should absolutely expect the Holy Spirit to release the same ministry of Christ through us now as his body, that the Holy Spirit released then through His humanity then, as described in the pages of scripture. To settle for anything less is to settle for less than Christlikeness. The holiness of Christ being lived out in us by the Holy Spirit is miraculous and supernatural, and the ministry of Christ being lived out through us that the Holy Spirit should also be a miraculous and supernatural ministry. That is normal, run-of-the-mill Christianity. It should be the expectation of every believer. The whole thing is transcendently supernatural, and miraculous. That’s what makes it all so exciting to be a Christian.