Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. John 5:19 NKJV
Have you heard the saying “monkey see, monkey do”? That’s when someone is imitating someone else. Most of the time folks who use that saying are referring to a small child following an older sibling’s every move. Well, in one sense this is what Jesus is saying. He only does what He sees His Father doing.
Consider the following verses:
- For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26 NKJV)
- And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” (Galatians 4:6 NKJV)
- Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. (Ephesians 5:1 NKJV)
The other day I met a woman at the park. We talked about how her adopted girls had developed similar traits and personalities as her and her husband’s. It fits quite nicely with this devotion doesn’t it? Just as these adopted girls imitated their adoptive parents, we will start to imitate our adoptive Father the more we hang around Him.
The Bible tells us we are adopted into God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ’s finished work on the cross. We are sons and daughters of God. When we came to believe, God sealed us into His family by giving us His Holy Spirit as a guarantee (2 Corinthians 5:5). It is His Spirit in us changing the way we act and behave. Our old nature is gone and a new nature has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Look what Paul had to say in Galatians 2:20 NKJV: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” He knew the meaning of the old is gone and new has come. Moment by moment he chose to imitate God, knowing when he did it was really God working it out through him.
How about you? Have you learned what it means to be a son or daughter of God? Do your attitudes and behaviors reflect the fact you are a child of God?
Lord, thank you for adopting us into your family and calling us sons and daughters. Enable us to grasp the full extend of our family connection. May your Spirit in us work out your resemblance in our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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