Loving, believing, and serving like Jesus

Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider based this youth service on Sunday, 4 August 2024 on Romans 8: 29: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

We can become like Jesus if we want to

Firstly, Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider referred to the “predestined” in the Bible text and said, “Before you were born, God knew you: your person, your personality, your character, the conditions you would live in, and every single detail of your life.” That does not mean that our free will is restricted, but that God has decided: “I will give this person, in this time, in this country, in these living conditions, the opportunity to become like Christ. And I will give him or her everything they need to become like Christ. But it is up to them. They must decide whether they want to become like Christ or not.”

Becoming like Jesus—in future and already today

There are two dimensions to becoming like Christ: “Firstly, there is the dimension of eternal life,” the Chief Apostle said and explained, “Jesus Christ was the first human being who could enter the kingdom of God. God gave Him a new body and He was able to enter the kingdom of God.” For us human beings this means that if we want, we can receive this resurrection body and become as perfect as Jesus Christ was, the Chief Apostle said. This would allow us to have perfect fellowship with God.

The second dimension: “You can become Christ-like now, in this life.” Already today we can develop Christ-like attributes.

• Confidence: “Jesus Christ was absolutely confident when He was on earth: I know the future; I know what is going to happen.” For us this means that we can become like Christ and have the same confidence in the future. We know what is going to happen, the Chief Apostle said. He explained that God wants to save human beings and will do everything and make sure that everybody who wants to can enter the kingdom of God.
• Love: “Jesus was perfect in love.” Human beings are everything but perfect: “From time to time we do things we should not do and we hurt others. But Jesus tells us: if you want you can become like Me. I will tell you how you can love in a perfect manner.”
• Wisdom: “Jesus always made the right decisions.” And with the help of the Holy Spirit we can do the same. We are human beings and sometimes we make mistakes and wrong decisions, but in terms of eternal life we can be wise and whatever we decide will not hinder our salvation, the Chief Apostle said.
• Strength: “Jesus was strong, powerful. He decided: I want to go back to My Father and nobody can hinder Me.” We can decide: “We want to enter the kingdom of God. We want to be with Jesus. We want to have eternal glory, and Jesus can help us to become strong.”
• Source of blessing: “Jesus was a blessing for many.” The Chief Apostle said he hopes that the young people feel the same way and want to be a blessing: “Let us be a source of blessing for others and help them and make them happy.”

Becoming like Jesus and making the right decisions

To become like Christ means we must make the right decisions:

• “Like Christ, we must first of all decide that we believe in God and trust Him.” We must believe in God and trust in Him unconditionally, like Jesus trusted His Father.
• “The second step: I want to love God as Jesus loved His Father. This was Jesus’ absolute priority: the relationship with His father.” The same applies to us: “The most important thing for me is my relationship with God. I want to remain connected with God. I want to love Him and not allow anything or anyone to destroy this unity, this love for God.”
• “The third aspect: Jesus had decided that He did not come to be served, but to serve.” If you want to be transformed into the image of Christ and become like Christ, you must decide as He did: I want to serve and not be served.” That means being obedient to God like Jesus was “even if I do not understand the will of God”, the Chief Apostle said. And, like Him, we must focus on salvation and the salvation of others: “This is something that Christians have to accept; they cannot utilise God and the gospel and their faith to rule the world and solve all the problems of the world.”

Becoming like Jesus and changing the world

“When you make these three decisions—to believe, love, and serve—it has an impact: it transforms not only yourself, but it also transforms your relationship with others.” And: “By becoming like Christ you can transform the world—not reality, but the way people perceive it.” During His time on earth, Jesus revealed the nature of God and His presence on earth. “Becoming Christ-like makes it possible for other people to see and recognise Jesus Christ through us: God is present, He loves us, He is at work, He is with us, and is working towards our salvation.”

At the end, the Chief Apostle summarised his sermon as follows: “We can become like Christ, to enter into the glory of God like Christ did. We have the opportunity to become like Christ here on earth and to behave as Jesus behaved. It is up to us. We must just decide: I want to trust in God, I want to love God, I want to serve God and my neighbour. Doing so will change our relationship with others. We will no longer be defined by our differences, but by our model: we have the same role model, the same goal, the same mission. Doing so can help others to discover the true reality: God is love. He is at work on earth.”