Talkin' About a Carwash...And Easter

As children we hear a lot of do’s and don’ts. As parents, we find ourselves declaring a lot of do’s and don’ts. My oldest child is a jewel of a kid, but still we endure the endless cycle of verbal directives with the admirable goal of shaping a responsible adult. The course frequently exhausts a mom and a dad.

I had a glimpse of success yesterday as Jameson took over washing the car. Now, if you had, before now, asked me how Jamie, my husband, washes a car, I would’ve answered simply like how anyone would wash a car, and I wouldn’t have given it much thought. However, as Jameson took the long-handled brush from my hand, and as he began to step and stroke in the manner and nuances of his dad, the imprint was unmistakable. I recognized in Jameson just how his father does wash a car. Jameson had been born of his father, and had watched his father, and the father began to be demonstrated in the son.

Yes, I’m a little weepy-eyed here, but what a befitting illustration to have in mind at Easter.

The do’s and don’ts that were given to God’s people by God Himself, included in the Ten Commandments and in the Law, in essence pronounced us all guilty. No one could live in perfection, and no one could attain the ultimate standard of God. The same God knew we were of a helpless estate, and sent His Son to not only fulfill the law, as Jesus knew no sin, but to bear the penalty of the law, which was death. While Jesus walked the earth, He, as Son, was the representation of God in flesh. Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father,” and “The words I say to you are not just My own. Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, Who is doing the work.” (John 14:9-10)

If you had seen Jesus, you had not only seen God, but had also seen God at work.

Those who see the helplessness of their own estate sometimes turn to God for forgiveness and pray for help to do better. The eternal decision however is much more than that. To know God the Father is to meet Jesus Christ the Son, and to come to Jesus Christ the Son is to choose to be born again, which involves receiving a new nature, the nature of Christ, which in turn is the nature of God. This new nature can grow overnight, but more than likely the nature develops, much like a child growing up, watching and listening to that to which he is exposed. Anyone who looks at a child of God should be able to see a glimpse of the nature of Christ, and thus of God, in the one born again. We are already remarkably made in God’s image, as Genesis 1:26 tells us, but by being born again we receive not only the priceless salvation of our soul, but also the budding of His character…His mannerisms…His steps…His imprint.

This Easter weekend we remember again just “how great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God” through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 3:1) It is of great joy to be born again. Watch and grow in Him, so that in you too would be recognized the very ways of God.