Can I Be Better Than I Am?

“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see; such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him. He existed before anything else and He holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is His body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything. For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from God. You were His enemies, separated from Him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now He has reconciled you to Himself through the death of Christ in His physical body. As a result, He has brought you into His own presence and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it. 

I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for His body, the church. God has given me the responsibility of serving His church by proclaiming His entire message to you. This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing His glory. So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.” (Colossians 1:15-28) (Also read Amos 8:1-12; Psalm 52; Luke 10:38-42) How many of us are perfectly happy with the way we are now? How many of us feel that we are the best person we will ever be? How many of us feel that we have learned all we will ever learn, that we have accomplished all we will ever accomplish and that we have reached our full potential? Now, how many of us think we could perhaps, stand some improvement? How many think that we could change some old habits and things about ourselves that we are not happy with and that we might become a little more godlike? The real question then is: Can I and can you, be better than we are now? The answer of course, is yes! I can be a better person than I am now and so can you. There are some practical steps that I can take and you can take to accomplish it.

I.) We may become a better person by seeking or being sensitive to the Divine will for our lives. Earlier in the first chapter of Colossians, Paul prayed for his readers that they might be “filled with the knowledge of YAHVEH’s will” (Colossians 1:9). We may become a better person by growing in knowledge, wisdom and spiritual understanding. “Get wisdom,” the writer of Proverbs advised “and whatever else you get, get insight” (4:7). Wisdom and understanding are the fruits of prayer, study, meditation and reflection.

II.) We can become a better person through a change of mind. This is really where a change for the better begins; in the mind. “I have made up my mind to do this or that,” we often have heard it said. Thus Paul advises in Romans to “be transformed by the renewing of your minds” (12:2). The Good News Bible puts it even plainer: “let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind.” That’s really what repentance is, isn’t it; a turning or a change of mind and heart. So if we really want to be a better person, then we must have a change of mind, we must make up our minds that we are going to see it through; sort of like making a New Year’s resolution. This change of heart and mind will inevitably lead to good works. Paul admonishes the Colossians to “bear fruit in every good work” (1:10). Being a good citizen and doing good deeds to others are vital steps in becoming an all-around better person. And a change of heart and mind should also lead to more dedicated worship and thanksgiving. Paul says, “with joy give thanks to the Father” (Colossians 1:12). Through private and public worship, our attitudes are altered and our personalities are moulded more into the image of YAHVEH and what He wants us to be.

III.) But as Christians, we know that a primary way we can become a better person is by following the example of Yeshua. This is where we want to spend the remainder of our time in this teaching. For you see, Yeshua “is the image of the invisible YAHVEH” (1:15). In Yeshua, YAHVEH dwelled as in no other who has ever lived. In Yeshua, the divine nature could be clearly seen. As Theodore Parker put it, “In him [Yeshua] the Godlike and the human met and embraced and a divine life was born.... In Him, as in a mirror, we may see the image of YAHVEH.” As Eric C. Rust has stated, “In HaMashiach we also see ourselves as YAHVEH intended us to be and by His grace we are being conformed more and more to that image which YAHVEH originally intended for us.... Thus HaMashiach’s humanity is a divine disclosure of YAHVEH’s intention for us.... For us image means ‘copy,’ ‘replica,’ ‘likeness.’ If we would know our true nature, we must look at the life of our Adonai.” “HaMashiach in you” is the phrase that the apostle uses (Colossians 1:27). “HaMashiach in you”! What a concept, that HaMashiach potential is in each one of us, if only we would let Him shine through. You see, Yeshua is called throughout the gospels the “Son of Man,” for He served as the perfect example of what man and woman were intended and are intended to be. So can I be a better person than I am? There is no question about it. By growing in the knowledge of YAHVEH and being sensitive to the Divine will, by making up our minds to change and pursuing good works and above all, by following the example of Yeshua before us, we can be better persons. We can reflect the image of YAHVEH and be the kind of man or woman that YAHVEH created us to be. And others will stand up and notice the difference in us. And our lives will be happier for it.