Family resemblance—it should be natural with Christians and God

By Dedra R. Woolfolk*

Family resemblance has always been intriguing to me, and that’s probably why I enjoy teaching genetics. Your genes are found within the DNA of each cell of your body, and that DNA is organized into 46 chromosomes, 23 of which are of maternal origin and 23 paternal. When your mom’s egg was fertilized by your dad’s sperm, the result was a cell called a zygote. It divided over and over again, doubling with each mitotic division as you developed in your mother’s womb. If you have any brothers and sisters, they are likely to share many of your physical characteristics, as siblings will possess a different assortment of some of the same genes from other egg and sperm cells produced by your parents. This contributes to the resemblances we observe among family members.

Professor Woolfolk and her family.

My husband and I have three sons. It is common for people to comment that they are the spitting image of their father, and they resemble each other quite a bit, too. At the delivery of our second son, I marveled at how much he looked like his older brother as a newborn. I distinctly remember thinking that they looked like the same baby! Today, they still have striking facial similarities, while our “baby boy” and middle son are often mistaken as twins. In addition to the resemblances in physical characteristics, the likeness of some of my sons’ qualities and mannerisms to those of their father is fascinating. To some degree, each of my sons shares aspects of their dad’s sense of humor. Two of them have his affinity for math and computer science, and they all have varying degrees of my husband’s generous spirit and benevolent heart. Sometimes, I hear them saying things that their dad would say—even in the way he would say it, including the facial expression. However, I would not say that this is particularly surprising. Often, parental characteristics “rub off” on the children as they grow up in the family home.

Sharing resemblance

As Christians, we are part of another family, God’s family. It follows, then, that we would be expected to share a “resemblance” with our Heavenly Father and with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We read in Genesis 1 that we are made in the image of God, and many have penned their interpretations of what this means. Most agree this is not a physical likeness because God is Spirit; rather, we have the capacity to mimic the qualities and “mannerisms” of our Father God as His image-bearers. His characteristics are likely to “rub off” on us as we grow up in the family of God and build our faith through spending time in His Word and in fellowship with our “Biblical siblings.” No, we probably don’t look like our spiritual family members physically, but as followers of Jesus, we should resemble each other in Christlike behavior and in our interactions with others.

Think for a moment about the members of your spiritual family. In what ways do you look like your sisters and brothers in Christ, and how do you emulate your Heavenly Father?  In 1 John 4:7-11, we are told that God is love and because he loved us, we should also love one another.

Paul gives a beautiful illustration of what that kind of love looks like in the life of a child of God as recorded in Romans 12:9-19. He tells us that we should honor others above ourselves, put pride and conceit aside, and be willing to associate with people of low position. He urges us to practice hospitality and share with those who are in need. Paul says we should rejoice with those who are celebrating and mourn with those who are grieving. We are encouraged to bless—not curse—those who persecute us and not to seek revenge, for he “has our backs.”

Paul reiterates similar sentiments in Ephesians 4:1-3 where he exhorts us to be humble, gentle, and patient with each other while showing love and maintaining unity through the bond of peace.

Getting it right

But let’s face it; sometimes we don’t get it right. There may be family feuds in our homes or polarizing issues in our churches, and we may act in ways that give our family a bad name. Just as my husband has stepped in time and time again to admonish our boys when they were at odds with each other, we know our Heavenly Father “disciplines the ones he loves" and he does so "for our good, in order that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it“ (Hebrews 12:6a;10-11).  

So, let us be reminded of what it looks like to be a child of God and to reflect the most important feature of our family resemblance, love. In fact, we might well paraphrase a favorite verse this way: “By this everyone will know that you are my children if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

*Today’s guest columnist is Dedra R. Woolfolk, PhD, dean of the college of arts and sciences and professor of natural sciences at Point University, West Point, Georgia.

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