Toure Roberts - And You Can Too

I’ve been excited about teaching this message, and one of the reasons why I’m thrilled about it is that the beauty of Easter, Good Friday, Christmas, and similar holidays allows us to focus more on the essence of God rather than merely on the hand of God. Let me explain. For most of us, our spirituality revolves around the promises of God, the protection of God, and the provision of God. All those aspects are wonderful—understandably so—because thinking in these terms supports our everyday lives and enhances our journeys, making them better. I understand why the majority of our time is spent thinking about promises, protection, and provision. However, the beauty of Easter and some other holidays is that we are invited to focus not just on the promises, protection, and provision, but also on the person of God. There is something profoundly powerful about focusing on the person of God, and more specifically, the person of Jesus. This focus allows us to dig a little deeper, taking us into a more profound dimension of our faith. We are not only considering the benefits of God, but the being of God, which brings us deeper into our spirituality.

Here is the thing: we are the offspring of God; in fact, we are beings ourselves. Thus, focusing on Christ, the person, enriches our understanding of our identity and our perception of self. This enables us, watch this, to show up in the world as something greater than just a grateful praiser. Now, there is nothing wrong with being a grateful praiser—a hallelujah person—because that’s me every morning when I reflect on the goodness of God, the faithfulness of God, and the blessings and provisions. I become a grateful praiser! However, when I look at the person of God and understand that I was created in His image, especially when I examine the person of Jesus, it takes me deeper. I see a reflection of myself in Jesus. In fact, the title of this message is «And You Can Too.» Do me a favor, say it right now: «I can too! I can too!» I want us to unpack these verses that we’ve been hearing for a long time because they deeply illustrate Jesus’ thoughts, actions, and how He functioned.

Anytime you and I seek to become more powerful, anytime we aspire to be everything that God has created us to be, we must examine Jesus. We must analyze His thought life, His behavior, how He acted, what He did, and His sacrifice. By emulating Him, we will become powerful, just like He was. Are you with me? If you’re tracking with me, just type it in the feed if you’re on YouTube and say, «I’m tracking, PT.» Oh, and by the way, you’re going to get a professor today. I’m not going to preach—I don’t think. How can I not preach on Easter? But pray for me; I really want to embody Professor Toray in this season.

It starts off by saying, «Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus.» We’re talking about His mentality—how He saw things, how He thought, and how He operated. So, let’s dive in. Let this mind be in you, which Philippians 2:5-6 (NKJV) states was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. In other words, He was God in the flesh, and it wouldn’t have been inappropriate for Him to present Himself as such. However, it says that He made Himself of no reputation (Philippians 2:7 NKJV). We’ll circle back to that. He took on the form of a bondservant—literally a slave, a servant, «doulos» in Greek—and coming in the likeness of men. Let me stop right there. Why did Jesus come in the likeness of man? One of the reasons Jesus came in the likeness of man, as it pertains to you and me, is that He came to show us how to live.

Are you tracking with me? Yes, He was the Son of God, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, the propitiation for our sins—He was everything. But, as it relates to how we navigate our daily lives, Jesus showed us how to do it. He said, «Greater works you will do, ” which means that you can do it too. Just type it in the feed right now and say it out loud: „I can do it too!“ In verse 8, it says, „And being found in appearance as a man…“