Christ likeness is not an imitation of Jesus. The whole WWJD (What would Jesus do) campaign years ago revealed the horror of how little the Church understood the heart of the gospel. Think about it: if you faced every situation with the prayer, “What would Jesus do” we are actually saying, “What would Jesus do – if He were here.” Where is He if He is not risen from the dead and here now in each of us facing every situation. The heart of the gospel is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” When we talk about Jesus, we can’t just reference the record of the life He lived on earth that’s recorded in Scripture’s because Jesus is still alive and living now. Put another way, the gospel is that by the grace of God, we have been placed into the life of Christ and His story so that He can live His life through us and our life story.
When Luke wrote the book of Acts to Theophilus, he said in verse one, “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach,” referencing the gospel of Luke that he had composed and sent to Theophilus. Notice that Luke said his gospel was about all that Jesus “began” to do and teach, obviously intimating that the book of Acts was going to be about all that Jesus “continued” to do and teach through His body: the Church. Jesus is alive in each of us and is continuing to tell His story through us. He has redeemed our lives by clothing Himself in our story and living it out as His in the daily details of our lives. Jesus is not living in us to help us live a better life. He lives in us to live His overcoming life through us, thus revealing the new creation that is in union with Him. Colossians 3:4 says that, “Christ is our life.” If Christ is our life, then Christ likeness is the life He lived then, lived now by Him through us. The gospel is not an imitation of Christ but a participation in Christ and a manifestation of Christ. Christianity is not a restoration; it is a transformation.