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Thoughts for a Woman's Heart |
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encouragement in things that matter |
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A Family Resemblance |
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My son, Chad, and his wife, Karri, have given us two of the three grandchildren that we presently dote on. Evan is the oldest and the family resemblance between him and his dad is easily seen, and as grandparents, we are able to match his likeness to much younger memories of his dad. Emily, the three-year-old princess who has seemed to look more like her mom, caught my attention in a new way during her recent visit. I was watching her play, and the little girl I saw, suddenly was the same little girl I have seen in very early pictures of myself. All of that is very natural, the outworking of DNA directorship influenced by the biological contributions of both parents, and even two extended families. Nonetheless, it is still a delight to indulging grandparents. The resemblances we see say the words we want a child to hold onto, “I belong. I am a part of this family.” We like it too when those likenesses reflect the thinking and the values of the family.
Believers too are part of a family. In believing and accepting the finished work of Christ, God gives us the right to become children of God. And as His children, we call him, “Abba, Father.” A family resemblance emerges within God’s family, just as is hoped for within biological families. That resemblance says, “I belong. I am a part of this family.” In some ways, believers can tend to bear likenesses to each other, but more importantly, we need a likeness that bears a resemblance to our Dad – our Abba – our heavenly Father.
God’s love for us is seen in the fact that He calls us His children, but apart from a knowledge of God Himself, others will not readily identify our likenesses to Him. Nonetheless we will be different from the people of this world, and that difference will be noticeable. The fullness of our likeness to God will not be realized until we live in His eternal presence. What we will be though, we are still becoming. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. This likeness is not fashioned by DNA, but by a process theologians call sanctification. It is a process that helps us to become more and more like our Dad. By God’s grace, we are enabled to have a family likeness that says, “I belong. I am a part of this family.” And we reflect too the thinking and values of the family we belong to, thinking and values that make statements about our heavenly Father, and will cause even those who know little about Him to begin to understand who He really is. |
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— Bev |
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