04/26/2018
When you look at who you are in a mirror you probably see a family resemblance that confirms you to be part of your earthly family, but when you look at the reflection of yourself that is being returned to you by those around you... who do you see? Do you see a similarity to Jesus Christ? How about your Heavenly Father?
“Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
Genesis 1:26-27 ESV
There is more to this scripture regarding our creation than we understand when we read it for the first time. Being new to the faith we still see ourselves physically as earthly beings, but as we grow spiritually something amazing happens; we begin to take on the character and mannerisms of our “Father which art in heaven.” What a gift this is, and what an incredible family we have become a member of.
“And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”
Galatians 4:6-7 ESV
We are “heirs through God” our family line doesn’t start with Jesus... it start with God, just like Christ’s does. Have you ever wondered about the scriptures that traced the Lineage of Jesus? Our spiritual lineage is important, just as it was with Jesus Himself. These scriptures are not just telling us the biological lineage of Christ, they are telling us about our own spiritual lineage... they are educating us in who we are as sons and daughters of God. They are bestowing roots to us. Then, once we know our family, God begins the process of molding us to be like Himself in character and mannerisms. What an incredible gift this is. God places His own Spirit into us...
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"”
Luke 11:13 ESV
I look like my two brothers, and when we are together it is clear that we are related, but when you take a picture of our father and hold it up you suddenly realize who we really look like, who we are all related to. The eyes, the mouth, the cheek bones, and the resemblance goes even deeper than that... if you were to call us on the phone you would have trouble telling who you were speaking with; is it Rich, Chuck, David, or perhaps our father? Our voices sound the same. Now let’s go even deeper; if you called and didn’t know who you were speaking to, then you would listen for a clue that would allow you to tell which of us had answered the call. You would listen to the way we pronounced words, or what expressions we used, but interestingly enough... that would even be difficult. We sons don’t speak like each... we speak like our father. I moved away from my family many years ago, forty two years ago to be exact, and although my accent has changed from a strong Virginia accent to one that identifies me as a Tennessean, the family characteristics of my mother and father still remain.
This brings me to a couple of points about our faith. The first is that God does more than sign a document that adopts us... He takes us into His family and raises us as His own children. He instills in us His Spirit... who He is, and what He values. We cease being the children of a broken, abandoned, abusive, or nonexistent home, and become His to raise. He teaches us to resemble Him in every way, and the longer we are with Him, the more we are like him. He gives us a Brother in Jesus Christ, and then imparts in us His own Spirit. These are gifts for the broken people we were when He found us... gifts of love.
“And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."”
Acts 1:4-5 ESV
The second point I would like to make ties to my moving from Virginia to Tennessee. As long as I was in Virginia, and in my father’s house I was growing to be more and more like my father, but when I moved away I began to change. This is true of us spiritually as well. While living in our Father’s house He molds us, but if we separate ourselves from Him for any period of time, we begin to succumb to the influences of our surroundings... our accent changes, and we begin to speak and act differently.
The wonderful thing about our Heavenly Father is that we can physically move anywhere in the world and He is there, but there is a greater spiritual distancing that can take place, if we allow it, and this is the equivalent to my moving from Virginia to Tennessee. When we separate ourselves from Him we begin to change, oh sure, there are some traits that we hold tight to, but the change begins subtly until one day something like this happens...
I had lived in Tennessee for several years and Ann and I travelled back to Virginia to spend Christmas with my family. While there an old childhood friend came over to see me, and within seconds of our beginning to talk, he looked at me and in astonishment (and admonishment) said “What in the world has happened to your accent!?” I hadn’t realized the slow but steady change in the way I spoke, and the words I used... simple expressions like using “hose pipe” in the place of “garden hose”, or using an “oww” sound when saying house instead of the Virginia “ouu” sound. This happens to us spiritually as well... when we separate ourselves from our Father then we ever do slowly begin to take on the character and mannerisms of the world around us. This change isn’t as harmless as changing a Virginia accent for one of a Tennessean. It is much more detrimental than that, but it happens very similarly, and often we don’t realize it until we go home, and find we are not the same.
So when we are adopted by our Father, Abba, we change and become more and more like Him, and we begin to act, look, and speak as our new family does. But as we move in and out of the world around us we must be careful not to let it rub off on us. We need to constantly be looking at ourselves in heavenly mirrors, and asking... “who do I see” when we look through the eyes of those around us? Do we see the reflection of Jesus, and God the Father? When we hear ourselves speaking is it the same accent and dialect we used in our Father’s home? When we look back on our day were our actions those of a saint, or those of the person who once lived the brokenness of life before God found us?
Who do we see?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for adopting me into your Holy Family, and recreating me in your image. I thank you for my brother Jesus Christ, and for your Holy Spirit which abides in me. Lord, teach me well, and let me speak with the accent of heaven, and reflect your perfect character. I want to walk like you Father, hold my hands before me in prayer, and drink the same wine as Jesus... let my taste be as His, and my joy shine forth as His does. Never let me be far from you Merciful Father, and don’t allow the world around me influence who I am. I want to hear you in my voice, and see your goodness in my actions. I want to feel the love that Jesus feels, and obey you as He does. Increase my faith I pray, and make me cognizant of your will for me always. Give me your strength when temptation comes, that I can withstand it without fail. Holy Father you are my God, and I desire to be more like you with each passing day. Keep your hand upon me, and teach me your ways. Holy, Holy, Holy, art thou my Father. Great is your house, and great is you lineage forever.
Rich Forbes