I love to see a family resemblance. Whether it’s in my own family or someone else’s, I always smile when I catch a glimpse of a parent in their child. Sometimes it’s much more than a slight resemblance. It doesn’t matter the age, sometimes the similarity is striking. A son may be the spittin’ image of his dad. A daughter looks just like her mom. People tell me all the time, “You look just like your mom!” I consider it a compliment!
Scripture tells us that Adam had a moment like this.
When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of a son who was just like him—in his very image. He named his son Seth. (Genesis 5:3)
I wonder who Cain and Abel resembled. Because of simple genetics, I’m sure there was a family resemblance. But Seth looked just like his dad. When I read that, I had to read it again. Because a couple of verses earlier, God reiterates this about His creation:
When God created human beings, he made them to be like himself. (Genesis 5:1)
I think it’s interesting that Scripture places these two statements side-by-side. Of course, aside from the incarnation of Jesus Christ, God does not have a human form. He is talking about His character. But God uses this analogy so that we’ll understand.
In the beginning, God created us like Himself in character.
God is everything good (Psalm 100:5; Psalm 136:1).
He is kind and tender (Psalm 36:1; Titus 3:4-6).
He is faithful (Deuteronomy 7:9; Hebrews 10:23).
And God is the definition of love (1 John 4:7-8).
But sin marred the image. Oh, how it ruined us. Outside of Christ, all of us can be (and have been!) the worst (Jeremiah 17:9). Maybe it’s only sometimes. But … We lie. We cheat. We steal. We gossip. We are short-tempered. We are jealous and rude. We are irritable. And we lose faith.
Tough words. I know. Because at times … this is me. At times … it’s all of us.
No matter how hard we try, we will never be perfect (Romans 3:10).
No matter how hard we try, we will never “look like our Daddy.”
Then why does God say this?
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
But it must be possible, right?
Those of us who know Christ, can see and do reflect the glory of the Lord! As the verse above says, it’s a process. We become more and more like God as He does the changing.
Yes, we do have some responsibility. Our job is to be in the Word. As we spend time there–reading, praying, contemplating, getting know more about Who God is and what He’s like, how deeply He loves us–the Holy Spirit works change in our attitudes and actions. The Word washes us clean.
Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. (Ephesians 5:25-26)
Growth and maturity take time. It’s a beautiful cycle.
God draws us to Himself with tenderness and kindness (Hosea 11:4).
As we draw near to Him, He draws even closer (James 4:8).
Our obedience is a love response to His love for us (1 John 4:19; 1 John 5:3).
The cycle repeats. We change. And guess what? Before you know it, people look at us and say, “You look just like your Daddy! You carry the family resemblance!”
We bear the family resemblance as the Holy Spirit works change in our lives.Image: Pixabay (Couleur)
![This week in our small group study, I felt the Lord’s gentle chastisement.
We looked at the promise in Luke 11:28, “He [Jesus] replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.’”
At first glance, the promise of blessing comes from obedience. But it’s much more.
In the preceding verses, Jesus had cast out a demon that caused a man to be mute. The crowd accused Him of casting out a demon with Satan’s power.
Jesus explained how ridiculous it would be for Satan to drive out his own demons. Then a woman cries out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you,” (v 27).
This is the sticking point. Jesus was in the middle of an important discourse when this woman interrupts Him. He corrects her with this:
✨ Blessed are those who HEAR the word of God and obey it.
That word HEAR means to LISTEN with FULL ATTENTION.
✨ We cannot truly obey God if we don’t know what He’s saying to us.
Basically, Jesus told this woman, and the others in the crowd, “Pay attention!! Don’t get distracted from my voice. I have important things to tell you. You won’t know what they are and what I want you to do, if all you’re thinking about is what you want to say or how you can gain attention. Put your attention on ME.”
It’s never fun to be Jesus’s object lesson.
The questions I’m asking myself …
✨ What keeps me from spending time alone with Jesus?
✨ When I finally get alone with Him, what distracts me?
✨ What keeps me from focusing on God’s Word?
✨ What causes my kind to wander when I’m praying?
➡️ Eliminating distractions …
➡️ Exercising discipline …
… to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)
… brings true blessing.
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This is such a beautiful illustration, Dianne! So grateful the Holy Spirit does work in us and change us to reflect Him more.
Dianne,
I found your post through the Grace & Truth linkup… Wow… Thank you so much for writing and sharing this.
I love Genesis, but I had overlooked this gem in chapter 5!
Such a beautiful post, saturated in Scripture, with a great applicational message…
Thank you again – it was just what I needed to read today!
God bless,
Lois
Your words lead my heart to say “YES!” I want to bear the family resemblance — for His glory!
Thanks, Bethany. Only through Him, right! Blessings to you this day. <3
Thanks, Lois. It was new to me, too! Yes, God’s Word is NEW every morning.
I learned something new today! The glory be to God! Thank you so much for my sister in Christ. May God continue to use you and expand your gift of sharing your knowledge of things that are not seen or understood when we read the word. This post was amazing and I always learn something from you! Thank you friend.
You are so sweet, Erlinda! This was new for me, too! Love and miss seeing you!!
We used the one of the same verses in our posts today! And on the same vein of thought in some respects. I’m glad God is doing that work in us and we do have our part. We apply the Word, and it changes us into His image! Blessings to you.
I love reading other bloggers and discovering that God is communicating the same message to several of us. Allowing us to share it in different ways. Bless to you, Karen! Enjoy your weekend.
Thanks for coming by today, Michele! Blessings to you!
Beautiful reminder of our identity in Christ!
Jen 🙂
Amen Dianne! This post is chock full of God’s truths. Thank you for sharing. I will be sharing on my Inspiration board. I love that God is helping me to become more like Him each day. Have a fantastic week and blessings to you and yours.
Lovely post, Dianne. And, sweet picture of you and your mom. I love this beautiful yellow you have on your blog…so pretty. Thanks for sharing. ((grace upon grace)
Dianne, what a great post! It made me stop and think. Many people have told me that I look like one or the other of my parents. Or that I bear a resemblance to one side of our family tree or the other.
I love that, as God conforms us into the image of Jesus, we begin to look more and more like Him too. It’s amazing how much work God does on our behalf, out of love for us.
And, I never noticed that line about how Seth looked just like his dad (my paraphrase 😉 ). Thanks for pointing that out.
I’m your neighbor at Testimony Tuesday and #RaRaLinkup. It’s nice to see you again. 🙂
I love this post so much because it has been a huge focus for me the past 5 years. I am so thankful for the new creation Jesus made way for us to be so that we could become the righteousness of God and reflect His glory. What a beautiful thing God did in making us like Him and then equipping us to be transformed through His son. I am still in awe and amazed at His generosity.
Thanks for taking time to read, Jen!
I love that God loves us enough to pursue it! Sometimes I can be a bit ornery!
Thank you, Brenda. (I appreciate your liking the yellow! My blog is in the process of an overhaul and how yellow plays a part is on the table!)
I love it when God shows me a little thing like that … and then links to the bigger picture. He’s the best Teacher ever! I echo your thoughts about how much God does for us–because of His love for us. Thanks so much for dropping by today!
He loves us so dearly … I know I don’t begin to grasp the depth of His love … but I pray God grows my love for Him so I can reflect His love more clearly!