December 11
Some people think brand new babies all look alike—but we ‘ooohhh and aaawwww’ over them anyway as though each child who emerges from the womb is the loveliest and most perfect of the species ever produced. Their parents and grandparents believe it! Because we love our children, we want them to be the best of who we are.
That’s essentially how God feels about us. Make no mistake, He isn’t deluded into thinking more highly of any of us than we deserve; He knows our frame, He knows our heart, far better than we know ourselves. But because of His love, Jesus came as the propitiation for our sin. Because of His love, we can be pure; we can be like God.
Paul encourages us toward this end of Christ-likeness. In Ephesians 5:1, 2 he says, “You are God’s children, whom He loves, so try to be like Him. Live a life of love just as Jesus loved us and gave Himself for us as a sweet-smelling savor unto God.” God, our loving Heavenly Father, wants to look upon us and see purity and love within us.
Like any doting parent, God wants to see Himself in His children. Before our conversion to Christ, before our emergence from the womb of sin into the fullness of the Lord’s glory, we were indistinguishable from our fallen brethren. But when we gave our lives to Jesus, the image of God was planted within us by His Spirit. May we let it reflect Christ's glory!
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