Who Is Jesus? The 7 I Am Statements of ChristSample

THE TRUE VINE

In the book of Genesis, the first commandment given to mankind by God, after creating both male and female in His image, was to “be fruitful and multiply”. Being made in the image of God means we have been created to bear His image - stand in it, abide in it, and keep it up. An image is to show a depiction of the original subject. Our fundamental and overarching purpose is to display, communicate, and show who Christ is, expressed through every part of our being and who we are. This is our fruit and the fruit we bear should look like Christ.

In John 15:1-5, Jesus states that He is the true vine, God is the gardener and we are the branches. God as the gardener has the role of pruning us by cutting away dead or overgrown branches to encourage growth. Pruning is the beneficent discipline of the Father. However, if we are being honest, pruning doesn’t always feel good. Pruning may be God’s conviction to stop a particular sinful habit that you were once comfortable doing or having to love someone who isn’t particularly loving to you. Whatever it may be, although it may not feel good at the time, we can be certain that it is good for us because it aids our growth and productivity. Every time the Father prunes and we submit to it, we look more like Him and glorify Him, which is our purpose. We must also be thankful for the Father’s pruning as it displays His everlasting mercy. As His children, He doesn’t allow us to get lost in our sin, but is there to convict, leading us in His righteousness. Jesus invites us to come as we are but doesn’t allow us to stay that way. The father prunes those He loves.

Nevertheless, we must stay rooted in our source to be pruned and bear fruit. Just as branches cannot produce fruit when detached from the tree, the same occurs when we are not connected to Christ, our source of life. We must abide. This means staying rooted in His word to guide us, communicating with Him through deliberate prayer time in our secret place and throughout the day, and submitting ourselves wholly to Him in obedience. Only then, do we begin to conform to the image of Christ and bear His fruit. Fruit bearing is intentional.

A tree is identified by its fruit. We can tell an apple tree from an orange tree because of what is attached to the branches. The elements and composition of the tree allow it to bear its fruit. As created beings, we rely on something to give us life and keep us going. For some, our source of reliance may be money, friends and family, or our jobs. Although these things aren’t innately evil, they do not have the power to give us the life we require. Moreover, these things don’t last and can also disappoint. Our lives will surely tell of the things we rely on and the Bible is clear about the fruit that reliance on Christ bears - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and with all these things, there is no limit. Good fruit comes when we abide in Christ. The more you are around someone, the more you become like them.

Remember, our true purpose is to bear the image of Christ and this is shown by our fruit. What fruit are you bearing?