PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
1 Corinthians 1:2–3
To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
CONSIDER THIS
To be “sanctified in Christ Jesus” means that Jesus has made us holy by his work on the cross. We are set apart and pure in the sight of God. We are seen through the lens of Christ. From that position of being made holy in the sight of God by the saving work of Jesus, the saints (which means “holy ones”) are engaged in a transformative process of sanctification that touches every area of our lives. Let’s talk about that process.
The process of ongoing sanctification, or ongoing transformation into Christlikeness, simply means that God is at work within us to make us like Jesus. In other words, we are sanctified before God because we are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 1:2) and because of this union, God is transforming our lives daily to become human as he intended.
Let me illustrate this idea of ongoing sanctification, which is rooted in being sanctified in Christ Jesus.
When I first met my friend, he was not a follower of Jesus. His demeanor was one of anger, confusion, and self-protection. He was a man who had a hard life, and his heart matched it. But . . . God.
God’s grace had been drawing him his entire life. After some conversations between us, he decided to visit our church one morning. At the end of the message, I gave an invitation to come to the front to surrender to Jesus. He began to walk toward the front and many eyes in the room welled up with tears. We gathered around him in love, and as we prayed for him, he came to Jesus. He was sanctified, made holy, in Christ Jesus.
What happened next surprised me, in the best of ways. He was in Jesus. Jesus was in him. Weeks began to pass. He began to learn the way of Jesus. He was taught about his union with Jesus and about the love of the Father for him and others. He immersed himself in worship every time our doors were opened. His hands, raised high in worship week after week, were becoming clean—right along with his heart (Ps. 24:4).
I watched the transformation with my own eyes; we all did. The Spirit was at work in him, conforming him to Jesus. He began to evidence the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. He began to express love in a 1 Corinthians 13 manner. He started to become a peaceful presence in my own life and was generous with his love and care. Then, over months, he began to selflessly minister to others in remarkable ways. He was a changed man.
Grace had drawn him into union with Jesus. Grace had saved him through Jesus. Grace was now transforming him, from glory to glory, into the likeness of Christ. And all along the way, his eyes were softened by the love of God for him.
And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18)
Sanctification means we are set apart as God’s people and the Spirit within us is making us like Jesus as our lives are offered to him in completeness. The Spirit of Jesus is at work in us, loving us, living through us, changing us—from glory to glory. We begin to practice the way of Jesus in all aspects of our lives, public and private, and the Spirit changes our attitudes, our motives, our affections, and our desires.
We nurture communion with him, and we begin to desire an awareness of his presence more than anything else. We fix our eyes on him, we go through trials that test our faith, and we run the race set before us (Heb. 12:1–3).
Sanctification means that Jesus, living in you and you in him, is taking over. You are on a journey to become like him, changed by his relentless love for you. As an apprentice trains to become like his or her master, you are in training (1 Cor. 9:25–27). You will not find comfort or rest in remaining as you are, nor in behaving in ways that are more like your family upbringing than they are like Jesus. Your attitude is on its way to becoming the same attitude of Jesus, who took on the nature of a servant (Phil. 2:5–11).
Like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, you may not always love the process, but you will love the result. You will bear the good fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22–23). He is faithful, and he will do it (1 Thess. 5:24)!
Here is the best part. His heart will grow within you. Your eyes will shine with the light of Jesus, like sanctuary lights radiating through stained glass on a winter’s night.
Sanctification is about Jesus making you a sanctuary of his presence, lighting the world with the love that is lighting you. We are made holy, sanctified, perfected in God’s life and love, by our covenant union with Jesus. Then, we are daily transformed in Christlikeness. He is in you, at work in you, to accomplish the goal of you coming into the “measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19).
THE PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I am in you and you are in me. Let your sanctifying work continue in me. Transform my thoughts, words, actions, and the inner attitudes of my heart into your own. In Christ Jesus, I pray, amen.
THE QUESTIONS
Have you ever heard the word sanctification before? If so, what did you think it meant? How has your understanding changed as you read today’s entry?
For the Awakening,
Dan Wilt
P.S. It’s Sowing Season
The other day I got a note from a reader with this question: “You guys almost never ask for money. Do you need help?” Truth be told, we make an invitation for giving twice a year—once during the sowing season and once during the harvest season. And we run a tight ship. I was so impressed with the Farm Team as they actually found 18 percent cost savings in producing the Wake-Up Call this year. At a time when inflation is driving everything up, we are lowering the cost. Will you pray about sponsoring a day or part of a day this year? The buy-in for sponsoring a day is $300. Half a day is $150. Quarter day is $75. Any gift of any size is welcomed and appreciated. You can give here. I’ll be back with Season 2 of Acts beginning May 20. Grab your Acts Wake-Up Call Companion Journal while supplies last. And, now, for those who are listening, how about we start warming up for Acts by singing a hymn together?
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2 Responses
The two Scriptures quoted in today’s Wake-Up Call call Jesus Lord five times!
When we call Jesus Lord and acknowledge that He is the Head of the body of Christ on earth, we’re proclaiming that we’re letting Him take over and personally direct our lives moment-by-moment, both individually and as a body of believers. O how we need to back up that proclamation with our behavior and allow the risen Jesus to personally direct us in our daily thoughts, words, and behaviors, and in what we say and do when we assemble ourselves together for worship. It’s vital that we let the living Jesus personally lead us both individually and corporately so that through us He can demonstrate His Lordship for all to see.
When Christians gather for worship, we need to let God’s Spirit show us how to light each other up with the light of Christ that is shining in our heart. We need to follow the direct, inner promptings of the Spirit, not just human traditions. We need to openly testify about what Jesus is doing and has done in our life. We need to individually show people the reality of His presence and Lordship by personally saying and doing what He tells us to.
Where is Jesus in the typical church service?
A) Watching from heaven?
B) Present but mostly ignored?
C) Actively directing the meeting by prompting various people to openly and humbly share what He puts on their heart?
Although from a worldly human perspective, Christianity in the West appears to be on severe decline, I believe that there is a back story playing out simultaneously. Here in America, our culture that once reflected Biblical values, continues it’s downward spiral towards total re-paganism. It’s even affected the institutional church, both progressive and conservative branches. As an article authored yesterday by Dr. David Watson on Substack entitled, “The Sad Saga of Operation Ark Bomb”, pointed out; there will be times when God will withdraw His presence from His people, “Ichabod”, in order to purify them. I truly believe that we are experiencing that process in many of our US congregations right now. This too, is part of the Sanctification process. Like this daily Wake-up call pointed out, “Like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, you may not always love the process, but you will love the result.”