Read: Hebrews 2:11-12
Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren (Hebrews 2:11).
Jesus Calls Me His Brother
In what sense are He who sanctifies and they who are sanctified “all of one”? The Revised Standard Version makes this clear. “He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified have all one origin” — both have come from God himself. I am awed when I remember that my Lord and I have this same spiritual heritage. Paul reminds us that “God was in Christ” (II Corinthians 5:19). And now this same God, the Holy Spirit, fills my sanctified heart.
Because of this oneness I may expect my desires and impulses to be like my Lord’s. This was not true in the past. When I was filled with the carnal mind there was antagonism to the things of Christ; I did not want what Jesus wanted; my desires were different from His. The great transformation of heart holiness is that it makes us like Jesus in our responses to good and evil. The Holy Spirit draws us on to be like the Master in all our attitudes toward God and men. Paul exhorts us, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Peter declares that this is the precise reason for our being sanctified. We are “chosen… by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ” (II Peter 1:2, R.S.V.).
The love of God shed abroad in our hearts makes us long to be like our Lord. When we are filled with God’s Holy Spirit we want what He wants, and because of this likeness, Christ is not ashamed to call us brethren.
My desire, to be like Jesus; My desire, to be like Him. His Spirit fill me, His love o’erwhelm me- In deed and word to be like Him.*
— Lillian Plankenhorn
*Copyright Lillian Plankenhorn. Used by permission.