The Family Resemblance.  By Sara Cain.

Middle School is a very interesting time in our growing up years. The search for our own unique identity bursts forth and many of us decide we no longer want to be identified with our family.  Good luck with that, I was told over and over; the prevailing comment was something like, “There must be a stamp for your family, you Smith kids all look alike.”  There were years I was told I was the spitting image of my dad, other years people insisted that I looked exactly like my mom. And yet others, “you look just like …” and some aunt or grandmother would be named. But as the years moved forward decade after decade, the consensus now is that I look just like my mother, and more than just my looks, people are speaking about my being like her.

That’s just fine and dandy with me because my mother was an incredible human being. She was the best mother in all the ways we think of when we say “mother” as well as being an exceptional woman who accomplished amazing things usually unattainable for women during the time she grew up.

But more important to her than all of the praise for her amazing accomplishments was that people recognized her as being an image-bearer of Jesus Christ.

This is the resemblance for which I want to be authentically known. I don’t want to be just displaying the “Smith stamp” but rather bearing the stamp of family resemblance to Jesus and The Father.

In Genesis 1:27,

So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

The Hebrew word for image is tzelem, meaning shadow.  God fashioned Adam to be his shadow on earth, to be a living, breathing reflection of his glory and nature.

Well, we know how the story of Adam and Eve ended. But God’s love would not allow Him to give up on us, so He sent His son Jesus to us, who is described as the “visible image of the invisible God” in Colossians 1:15-17, and in Hebrews 1:3, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” 

The Greek word used for image is eikṓn, which means “assumes a prototype, of which it not merely resembles, but from which it is drawn”

It was always God’s intention that we, His created heirs, carry His family resemblance. So, we are not only designed to be a reflection, a shadow, a mirror-image of Jesus and The Father, but we carry part of them inside of us.

This is our Divine Purpose: to be image-bearers of Jesus Christ.

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Romans 8:29 NIV

If we have been redeemed and surrendered our life to Jesus we are adopted into God’s family.  As we grow in faith and understanding, our life should be taking on the shape and look of Jesus and the Father.

“And we all, who with unveiled face, contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” – 2 Corinthians 13:8 NIV

It is by Holy Spirit that we are transformed into the likeness of Jesus, and we reach for that by “contemplating the Lord’s glory”, or in other words, by meditating on Him and His words, and worshipping Him, while surrendering our whole heart to Him, inviting Holy Spirit to change us until we bear the family resemblance.

If we become image-bearers of Jesus, what will our life look like?

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”  – I John 4:16

To look like Jesus, we have to look like Love.  This love is unconditional, unaffected by circumstances, personality, natural abilities, etc. This agape love is God-in-us supernatural love.

“Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped for his own selfish enjoyment, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” – Philippians 2:5-8

Self-humbling was His first human act. He was God, He created the world, He knew all there is to know, He was able to do the impossible, but by His own will, He gave up His glory and God-form to be a mere human of low means in order to save us. The vastness between ruler in heaven to a helpless baby born in a stable among stinky animals is a distance beyond our comprehension.

Why do we humans struggle so much with humility? Jesus went from God to helpless baby, by His choice, and yet all He is asking us to do is to set aside our Ego that is built from lies of the enemy so that we can grasp the truth that none of us are above another. Fancy clothing, big houses, fat bank accounts, born to a certain bloodline – all these false values mean nothing in terms of any of us being “above” another. These standards are just lies from The Pit. The truth is that we gain when we humble ourselves – we become what pleases God and opens us up to receive His blessings and allows us to partner with Him and be co-heirs with Jesus of all that Heaven offers.

Humility is the first step in our transformation. We truly cannot move forward to resemble Jesus if we skip this step. Humility is at the core of love. A humble heart is where love grows.

A humble heart is a servant’s heart. Jesus was the disciples’ Rabbi, Teacher, Leader, “captain of the ship”, and they knew Jesus was The Messiah.  Imagine their shock then when He started washing their feet. Jesus made Himself their servant to teach us humility: regardless of our station in life, we are not above anyone else. If we want to be usable in His Kingdom, we must humble ourselves.

This is where the Family Resemblance begins: Love flowing from the humble heart of a servant.

The Aramaic word used for love here is a whole concept of “burning” love coming from the depths of the heart as an eternal energy, an active power of bonding hearts and lives in secure relationships. Wow! That is intense!

The Greek term agape is also used, which is God’s love for His people. It’s a loyal, endless, and unconditional love that must be demonstrated… Actions, not just feelings. It’s a commitment to bring about the well-being of others, both physically and spiritually.

I Corinthians 13 is known as The Love Chapter. Verses 4-7 describe how we should love others. We’ll discuss that next week, but first, let’s look at how those verses are framed.

Even if I spoke in many languages, even the beautiful language of angels, yet didn’t express it in love, it would only sound to God like a clanging gong.

If I had spiritual gifts of prophesying with a profound understanding of God’s hidden secrets and had so much faith that I could snap my fingers and move mountains, and yet I never learned to love, all those incredible gifts mean absolutely nothing- I am nothing – if not coming from a heart of love.

If I did many good deeds- fed the poor, gave away everything I own, offered myself as a martyr, but without the motive of love, it would all be for nothing.

On the other hand, love remains long after our words are forgotten, and the effects of our good deeds are gone. No matter how much spiritual knowledge we accumulate or spiritual gifts we receive, they are worthless to the Kingdom of Heaven if they are not given in love.

Chapter 13 concludes by saying this:

“… until then, there are three things that remain: faith, hope, and love- yet love surpasses them all. So above all else, let love be the beautiful prize for which you run.”

Churches hold a high value for people with exceptional talents who are  willing to use them for their programs and ministries. They appreciate people who are willing to be available. But the busy-ness of doing good deeds is not what Jesus asks of us. Those deeds are not the standard, but instead, it’s a servant’s heart of love and humility that give value to those deeds and give them the right to even be called “good” deeds.

Doing is not the same as Being.

Love requires us to BE love, to embody love, to inhale and exhale love, to be unable to separate ourselves from love. And then the doing, the performing acts of generosity and love and speaking words of encouragement and love, flows out of our being love, which is Holy Spirit living in us.

Just as Jesus entered our world, so we are to enter the world of others.  Not just their physical world, but where their heart and challenges live.

“We go inside the doubts of the doubters, the questions of the questioners, and the loneliness of those who have lost their way. The most effective preaching comes from those who embody the things they are saying. They are their message. Christians need to look like what they are talking about.”  ~ C.S. Lewis     

It is our reflection of the character and love of Jesus, our personal authentic representation of Him that communicates the love of Jesus and the gospel message. This is how we partner with God to grow the Kingdom.

One of the most impactful descriptions of what the love of Jesus looks like is this message from Women at the Well Ministries:

Judas ate too

Hours before the death of Jesus, Judas ate, too.

Jesus fed Judas, too.

Jesus prayed for Judas, too.

Jesus washed Judas’ feet, too.

I struggle to fathom what kind of love this is…

A love that would feed the mouth that deceived you,

A love that would wash the feet of the traitor,

A love that would forgive even the vilest of betrayals.

Honestly, I struggle to comprehend it.

And then, suddenly, I realize … that I’m Judas, too!

And in that moment, I’m so thankful and altogether overwhelmed that, Judas ate, too.

The true test of Christianity is not about loving Jesus, but loving Judas.

Showing love to someone like Jesus is so easy,

But loving someone hard to love,

A sinner like Judas is difficult.

That’s what following Jesus is all about.

~

If we are going to be image-bearers of Jesus – if we are going to carry the Family Resemblance, we must become this supernatural, Holy Spirit infused kind of love.