“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
Who do you resemble?
Is it your mom or dad? Perhaps another family member? Has anyone ever mistaken you for a celebrity or maybe even the family pet?
Have you ever noticed that we start looking like the people with whom we spend the most time? Maybe you’ve seen an old married couple celebrating 50 years. They often have an uncanny resemblance to one another. Time together causes them to sort of rub off on the other. They laugh at the same jokes. They complete one another’s sentences. They have a family resemblance.
That’s similar to what it means to become a Christian, a Christ-follower. The longer we follow Christ, the more we should resemble Him.
However, this is more than just a matter of time together, it’s a matter of being “born of God.” When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, a spiritual birth takes place, and we are adopted, grafted into the body of Christ. We become one with Him. His divine nature begins to transform us and through the Holy Spirit, God the Father begins the process of conforming us to the image of Christ.
This becoming like Jesus doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, we experience a constant struggle between our old nature (sinful/fleshly) and our new nature (spiritual). It’s as if God has grafted this new nature into us, without doing away with the old one yet.
An apple orchard farmer would understand this idea of being grafted. Apple trees are the combination of two natures: a wild root stock and a carefully chosen cultivar or scion. The first is chosen because of its established root system and the second because the farmer has selected a branch from a tree that already produces the good apples that he desires. After the graft takes, both the root stock and the scion will begin to bud. After a while, making sure that the plant will thrive. The buds, or suckers on the root stock are pinched off, while the scion’s buds are encouraged to grow. This will become one tree, but will always have two natures. The cultivar is the one that produces the good, desirable fruit. The root stock continues to be rooted to the earth.
Like a wise farmer, God continually prunes away the undesirable growth from our “root stock” (old nature), and encourages the growth of our new nature. We can cooperate with this process of sanctification by yielding to God’s work in us. As we yield to God and abide in Him we begin to bear spiritual fruit that is pleasing to Him.
Sometimes we may wonder what God is up to in our lives. Especially when times are hard. But faithful Christ-followers understand that God’s purpose is simple. He is making us like Jesus.
And someday when Christ returns, we will finally see the family resemblance.