A Physical for the Christian Soul

A couple days ago one of our children's classmates looked at me and asked, "Are you Samuel's father?"  I said yes then Samuel happened to come up and stand next to me.  His classmate looked at both of us and said that he knew that I was Samuel's father because we looked alike.

That got me to thinking about my father.  My younger brothers and I walk the same as he did.  If all four of us were in a crowd and you were walking behind us, you would think that we were all related because we all walk the same way … the same cadence, the same posture, the same stride, everything is the same.

We reflected my father’s image as Samuel reflects my image.  This is the case with nearly everyone.  We reflect looks, mannerisms, emotions, behavior and the like of those who bore and reared us.

The Bible tells us that mankind was created in the likeness and image of God (Genesis 1:26), our Heavenly Father.  So what does that mean?

Since God is Spirit (John 4:24), mankind is not going to reflect his physical characteristics, but we will reflect his moral ones like love, peace, kindness, gentleness, grace, mercy and the like regardless of our religious convictions.  

The question for Christians becomes are we living out our lives in the same moral sense as God reflects to us?

For instance, God is love (1 John 4:8) … he is perfect and pure in loving us.  Do we love others in the same way?  Jesus told his disciples that they will be known as his disciples by their love for one another (John 13:35).

Do we extend mercy, grace, kindness, peace and the like in a perfect and pure way to others as God extends to us?  

Not a chance! Because we acknowledge that we are not perfect or pure apart from the work of Christ.  

So how do we then reflect our Heavenly Father’s image?  

Through the work of his Son and the power of his Spirit.  Christ’s perfect life met God’s demands; his death satisfied God’s wrath; his resurrection defeated sin’s grip; and his ascension secured our eternal victory.  And he has sent us a helper (John 15:26) that gives us the power to say no to the things that bind us and yes to the things that free us.

This means that bitterness can become true joy; hate can become true peace and love; hurt can become true forgiveness; that harshness can become gentleness; that out-of-control behavior can become self-controlled.   

This is why God’s grace is so amazing.  It astonishes people because it has the ability to turn us from reflecting the world to reflecting the goodness and purity of God.  Then people will identify us as belonging to God, just as Samuel’s classmate looked at us and could tell that we belonged to each other.

Now imagine for a moment if more Christians surrendered to the Gospel of Grace and allowed the Holy Spirit to work powerfully through them so that they could become more like God.

How would it change the harshness of a father's voice?

How about the destructiveness of self-indulgence that plunges people into addiction?

How many would bury the hatchet on a hurtful issue, reconcile with one another, and lead peaceful co-existent lives?

How would this change our cities?