EPHESIANS 1:3-6 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

THEME OF THE DAY. FAMILY RESEMBLANCE. I heard it a lot growing up. It went like this, “You look just like your dad.” I simply dismissed it. Now, I look in the mirror, and I want to say, “Hey, dad, how did you get here?” Family resemblance. We know it is true. We see it in children and ourselves. That is how God worked the incredibly marvelous human body and generation to follow generation to follow generation. We take on family traits and resemblance. And it is to be the same in the spiritual realm There is to be the “family resemblance” of our Older Brother taking shape in our lives. By the way, are we aware that Jesus actually is our “spiritual brother” and not ashamed to say so? Here it is . . . For he (Jesus) who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers (Hebrews 2:11). Wow! What a brother indeed!

So, how is the process of taking on the qualities of the Lord Jesus, our elder Brother, going in your life? My life? In order to answer that question, we need to know what the answer looks like. What are the qualities in the Lord Jesus that God the Father and God the Spirit are committed to forming in our lives? What would it look like to take on the “family resemblance” of Jesus? Well, God gave us His book to tell us.

First, to take on the family resemblance, we would increasingly be known as people “full of grace and truth.” The Apostle John writes this of Jesus in the opening chapter of his Gospel – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). What was recognized in Christ was just that – a fullness of grace that spoke truth and treated people graciously in truth. And us? Do people see us demonstrating grace and truth in love? Now notice the Word doesn’t say, “Full of yourself and truth.” Truth spoken without grace and love is ugly, damaging, and as far away from the family resemblance of Jesus as one may be.

The other family resemblance of the Lord Jesus we are to take on by submitting to God’s work and obeying His Word is the Fruit of the Spirit life. In this familiar portion of scripture, we get the “portrait” of Jesus – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23). So, I ask again, how is the process of taking on the qualities of the Lord Jesus, our elder Brother, going in your life? Here is something important and profitable to do in our walks with the Lord Jesus. Get alone with the Lord and pray through every piece of the Fruit of the Spirit asking Him to reveal if the “tree of our lives” is blossoming in this fruit or barren of this fruit.

Family resemblance. It happens in the physical world and it will happen in the spiritual realm as well. That is what God saved us for – to manifest His family resemblances in and through us.

PRAYER: “Father, help me reflect the family traits that are to be mine in Christ Jesus.”

QUOTE: “To be like Jesus is life’s goal, our daily pursuit, and to be like Jesus is the greatest thing we give the world.”