JESUS BECAME A MAN, HIS FOLLOWERS BECOME LIKE OTHER KINDS OF MEN

Fellow Christian-

One of the main things that differentiated Christianity from Judaism out of which it emerged, was that the Jews viewed the temple, and Israel as a geographic center and a showpiece demonstration of who God was. As such, Judaism was a come-and-see religion. “Come to Israel. Become circumcised. Observe our dietary laws. See the temple. Become like a Jew and you will experience God.” However, Christianity was not intended to be a come-and-see religion. Christianity is defined by the Great Commission, which, instead of saying come and see, commands us to go and tell. If Judaism said come and be like one of us, Christianity says we will come to you and become like you.

In this Christians follow the example of Jesus. Jesus didn’t just come to us. He actually became one of us (Philippians 2:3-11). So just as Jesus became a man, His followers become like other kinds of men. This is why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9, “To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.