234. WHO DO YOU MOST RESEMBLE?

(The Information and Edification Series – Batch 5)

We have all seen new born babies and asked the question (or heard people ask the question): “Who does he or she resemble?” Parents, family members, coworker and friends all intently study the newborn’s face, trying to determine if he or she looks more like the mother or the father, sometimes coming to the conclusion that he or she looks more like a grandparent or some other distant relative or in some cases, like no one really.

I wish to pose the question to you. You have professed to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and to be in relationship with him but who do you resemble? When people look at you, what conclusion do they draw as to who you look most like? Is it Jesus, the one you claim to know or is it the world? Can it be seen by the way you dress, the words you use, the activities you engage in, the music you listen to and your overall lifestyle and character, that God is your heavenly Father or do you more resemble someone else?

In John 8, Jesus told the Scribes and the Pharisees bluntly, who were deluded about who their father was, that they were of the devil. For, they were manifesting the traits that he was known for, thereby indicating that they were his children. In particular, they hated truth and therefore, did not believe that Jesus was who he said he was and similarly, hating truth was also a characteristic of the devil. By refusing to submit and surrender their lives to the Lordship of Jesus, they were also rejecting the way of God which was through Jesus Christ his Son and therefore manifesting rebellion, another key trait of the devil.

In Matthew 7:16, Jesus stated of certain people who were claiming to be one thing but were another, “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”

James asked a similar question in James 3:12, stating, “Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.”

Of Jesus’ conversation with the Scribes and Pharisees who did not believe that he was the Son of God, although in truth and in fact, he was “…the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), John 8:21,23, 40-44 states:

“Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come…I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

When it comes to us, anytime people ask the question as to who we, as professing Christians resemble and to whom we belong, it is shameful if people conclude, based on how we live our lives and our behaviour, that we are of the world. It is equally shameful if they walk away puzzled and confused because the answer is not easily apparent and therefore, they cannot tell.

If we have been adopted into God’s royal family and therefore have royal spiritual lineage, it thereby follows that when we traverse through this world, people ought to notice that we are different and that we are special. They ought to notice our spiritual nobility and pedigree, as the light that we have from the Lord, should be shining bright by contrast, to this world that lieth in gross darkness.

Isaiah 60:2 states, “For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.”

When instead, music is presented as ‘Christian’ music but it sounds and closely resembles the style, technique and beat of the world, the people of the world are puzzled because except for the lyrics, the music sounds just like theirs!

When women who claim to belong to Jesus, parade their bodies for sex appeal, just like the world, showing cleavage and legs and figure through a tight or otherwise immodest outfit and doing things to excite lustful passions and desires in men, so as to be regarded as ‘hot’ and ‘sexy’ and popular and thinking that showing skin is fashionable and the ‘in thing’ and that covering up our bodies is outdated, they send the message to the world that they are just like the world and want to be like the world.

My advice to those who name the name of Christ and therefore claim to be Christian is this:

If you are a genuine believer of the Lord Jesus Christ, then don’t aim to LOOK LIKE the world. Aim to SET THE TONE for the world. Don’t aim to be an IMITATOR of the world by trying to fit in and resemble the world. Aim to be an INFLUENCER of the world by embracing separation and being distinct from the world.

For, the world’s standards are faulty, low, loose and inferior to God’s standards and way.

In short, pursuing after God’s way and his will (which does not at all resemble the world’s way, ideas, values and opinions) is the most excellent pursuit, leads to the highest, most fulfilling and noble standard of life, that which the world knows not and could never dream to experience.

The Word of God states:

“Love NOT the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is NOT in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is NOT of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” (1 John 2:15-17)

“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? WHOSOEVER therefore will be a friend of the world is THE ENEMY OF GOD.” (James 4:4)

“Wherefore COME OUT from among them, and be ye SEPARATE, saith the Lord, and TOUCH NOT the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:17)

In conclusion

If you love the world and the ways of the world, then no matter what excuse you give, the Word of God makes it clear that the love of the Father is not in you. In short, you love the world because you belong to it, not God.

Think about it: If two prospective fathers are presented and people are asked to determine who is the father of a baby or child, without needing to do a Paternity test, if the child looks just like one of the fathers and not at all like the other, then it is guaranteed that the one that he closely resembles is his biological father. Even if they dressed the child in the same outfit of the one that he does not resemble, people have enough sense to know that this is superficial and means nothing. It is the facial features and even mannerisms that are key.

The same holds true spiritually. If we claim that God is our Father but we look, talk, walk and act like the world, then we are fooling no one but ourselves in us wearing the banner of ‘Christianity’ and attending Church services, even if we have been baptized and are in the Church Assembly membership.

God knows those who are his (2 Timothy 2:19) and being in the Church membership doesn’t mean that you are in his Church, the body of Christ. As someone once wisely stated, “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian, any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.”

This is therefore an opportunity for introspection. Ask yourself: When it comes to spiritual matters, who do I more resemble? The way of the Word or the way of the world? The Lord Jesus Christ or the devil?

Do I love truth, like the Lord who is THE TRUTH or do I run from it, try to avoid it, oppose it or secretly resent it?

If after examining yourself, you are sure that you are indwelled by the Spirit of Christ but you feel the world’s pull and are tempted to go in its direction, remember that no man can serve two masters. Even in the fictional nursery Rhyme, the character Humpty Dumpty did not get to sit undecided on the wall indefinitely.

You must therefore settle the issue, as to where your loyalty lies: With the world or with the Word? With that which appeals to your flesh, looks good to your eyes and makes you popular OR with the Lord?

Joshua put the same question to the Israelites in Joshua 24:15. Having made up his mind as to what side of the fence he was going to be on (the winning side), he told them:

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, CHOOSE you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

(Written on 24th April, 2022)

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