Who Does He Look Like?

Preached at Northwest Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, May 2, 2010

1 John 2:3-6: Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know we are in Him.

One of the things that parents (and grandparents) the world over since the days of Adam and Eve have done and continue to do on the day their new little one arrives safe and sound is to ask: “Who do you think he looks like?”

Oh sure, brand new parents do things like count their little babies’ fingers and toes to make sure nothing is missing, and they shed tears of joy and hold their precious bundles up close. But perhaps more than any other new-parent ritual, this one – the one where they ask, “Who do you think he looks like?” is most significant.

“Who do you think he looks like?” “Who do you think she looks like?” Why would new daddies and mommies ask a question like that? What is it they want to know when they ask that question?

Have you ever heard someone exclaim, “I just had to pinch myself to see if it was really happening to me – to see if I wasn’t dreaming or something”? You know why young parents ask, “Who do you think she looks like,” don’t you? It’s because they can hardly believe that this new little bundle of joy is theirs. “We just had to pinch ourselves,” they squeal, “because we could hardly believe that she had arrived – that she really was ours!”

I love memories like that, don’t you? I love thinking about new parents rejoicing at the gift of a little baby, one of God’s very best gifts. But, allow me to turn a corner here, if I may, by asking you to consider this question as it connects to the message of our Scripture text: “Whose child are you?” “To whom do you belong?” I mean, when God the Father in Heaven looks at you and me and asks the Lord Jesus, “Who do you think he looks like? Who do you think she looks like?” does He see His likeness in you and me? Do we look like Him?

Now, before you and I start searching our purses and pocketbooks for a mirror to take another look at ourselves, allow me to invite you to open up this “mirror” – the Word of God – to see first of all what God looks like. Will you join me in doing so?

As those who claim to know Christ and to be known by Christ, to discern what we are supposed to look like as Christians, we must first have a good understanding, a well-informed Biblical understanding of what God looks like, of who and how He is! First John – this divinely inspired letter, penned by the apostle John – is a good place to start on this quest. Take a look with me, if you would.

What does God look like? Who is He and how is He? 1 John 1:5 starts us off by declaring that “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all!” And verse 7 adds that He is “in the light.” But what does that mean? What is the Scripture teaching us about God when it indicates that He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all?

Take a look at the verse sandwiched between verses 5 and 7 – and along with that verse, verses 8 and 10 – to uncover the answer to this question. “John, what do you mean? What are you telling us when you declare that God is light and that in Him is no darkness at all?” The answer is in verses 6, 8 and 10. Light and darkness. Do you see it there? Light and darkness are opposites! They have nothing to do with each other. And light and darkness are connected with truth and falsehood respectively.

So put it all together with me for a minute, will you? When the Bible says that God is light, it means that He is true, He is the Truth. And that no darkness – no lies – no falsehood are in him!

Look at 1 John 2:29 and 1 John 3:7. What does God look like? Who is He and how is He?

1 John 2:29 says, “If you know that He is righteous” – there’s our answer, right? “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.” Whew! That verse has a lot to say, doesn’t it?

And look at 1 John 3:7 with me for just a moment, will you? What does this verse tell us about who God is and how God is? 1 John 3:7 – there’s the phrase again, do you see it? The verse says that “He – God – is righteous!” Don’t let anyone deceive you. Don’t let anyone trick you or fool you into believing something different. “God is righteous.” And take a look there – “Just as God is righteous, so also everyone who practices righteousness is as He is” – looks just like Him!

We’ve gleaned a fair amount of information, a working description of who God is and how He is! He is light - truth and in him is no darkness - no lying, no falsehood, no deception at all! And He is righteous. That’s who He is and how He is. But, now let’s come back to our earlier question, “Whose child are you? To whom do you belong?” I mean, when the Heavenly Father looks at you and me, and ask the Lord Jesus, “Who do you think he looks like?” does He see His resemblance, His likeness, in you and me? Do we look like Him?

I so appreciate the words of the apostle John, the words of the Spirit of God through him. Do you know why that is? It is because they are so simple! You go to some of Paul’s letters or to places like the book of Hebrews, and sometimes you almost get lost – maybe even confused – in the long sentences and the tightly woven logic. But not in John’s letters. He writes on a level I can handle. He writes simply. But, listen. Don’t misunderstand. He also writes straightforwardly, pointedly, even what we might call painfully, when he communicates the truth of God for our lives. A perfect illustration of this is the subject we are considering today. The subject of looking in the mirror to see if I really look like the One who is light and walks in the light! “John, can you help me? How can I know – really know – if I look like Jesus?”

1 John 2:3, 1 John 2:4, 1 John 2:5, and 1 John 2:6 – all four of those verses are the answer the Holy Spirit gives us through the apostle John, and all four of those verses say it in the same simple, pointed and yes, even painful sort of way. Here it is: You know – you can know right now if you look like Jesus by asking yourself one question: “Am I obeying God?’ “Do I keep His commandments?”

Simple, isn’t it? No long sentences. No tightly woven logic to unknot. I can know. I can discover whose I am by examining whether or not I am obeying God consistently.

Now, let that settle in for just a moment.

Those who truly are God’s children show it, prove it, by their obedience to His commands. It is simple, isn’t it? But it’s also pointed – ouch! And, it’s even painful!

Let’s look again at the text, shall we? How important is it to obey God? Verse 3: obedience to God is an indicator that we have come to know God. “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know we are in Him.”

Verse 5 – Obedience to God. How important is it? To obey God, to keep His Word is to open up the way for God’s love to be brought to fuller maturity in me. Or to put it another way, when I obey God, my love for Him grows!

Verse 6 – Obedience to God. It’s so simple, isn’t it? But again we must ask, “How important is it?”

Looking again at this text and this verse, this verse stunned me. It grabbed my attention, because when it says, “He who says that he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked…” do you know what it is trying to teach us?

Here’s what it intends for us to know about how important obedience is. OUGHT - do you know what that word implies about obedience? It means that obeying God so that we will look like Him is not merely a good idea or some divine suggestion that God has passed down to us from heaven. No! Rather, it means that to obey God is my obligation! If I am going to claim to belong to God and to look like His son Jesus Christ, then I must obey God. I am indebted, under obligation to do so!

The words of the apostle John about belonging to God and looking like His Son, Jesus Christ really are very simple. But also very painful and pointed. Because they highlight our deficiencies and underscore Jesus’ supremacy! Jesus always lived to do His Father’s will. He didn’t merely preach, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done!” He practiced it! In fact, in one place He said that to do God’s will was like food to Him (John 4:34).

Yes, John’s simple words, “You can know that you know God, that you belong to the Father in heaven, by asking, ‘Do I keep His commands?’ ‘Do I make it a habit to obey Him?’”

John’s simple words along these lines point out in big, bold type, our deficiencies. I often don’t obey God, and when I disobey Him, I am – in essence – attacking His authority and the authority of His Word over my life. And when I disobey God, I am making myself out as someone who claims to be God’s child, when I disobey God, I make myself out to be a liar, and I make it impossible for me to be like Jesus, to follow His obedient example.

So, what do we do? “John, you’ve pointed out - the Holy Spirit speaking through you has pointed out – our deficiencies! And believe me, they are many! But can you help us? Can you direct us to Someone whose life isn’t marked by deficiencies, but by all encompassing sufficiency?” I love it! I love it, don’t you?

1 John 2:1-2. There is Someone. Who always looks like God, Someone who always proves it, by obeying Him! And guess what? He is our Advocate! But what does that mean? Two things: As we struggle with the impossibility of obeying God on our own, in our own strength, what does our Advocate do? He comes alongside us, offers us His strength, and declares to us, “Let Me help you make possible the impossible! Let Me empower you to do what you are otherwise unable to do!” He is our Advocate.

Secondly, here’s what that great truth means when it tells us in 1 John 2:1 that Jesus Christ, the righteous one is our advocate. It means that when we fail – and believe me, we WILL fail to obey God – as our Advocate, when we fail, guess what? He pleads with God to forgive us!! His propitiating blood covers our failures! Praise God!

Who do you think you look like? Let me close with one last promise to all who truly belong to God through Jesus Christ and one last exhortation.

1 John 2:3-6: Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know we are in Him.