Confessing Sin: Losing Sight of Sonship

If you Confess, He will Forgive

Apostles’ Creed Posts: 1, 2, now reading 3

Like Father, Like Daughter

I can predict with a high level of accuracy one of the first thoughts you’ll have after seeing a newborn baby: “Who does the baby look like?” I’m terrible at this game. It’s like playing with a Mr. Potato Head. I just start making wild guesses: “Well, the hooked nose looks like the father, but the narrow eyes are the mother’s, and those lips… they resemble a duck-billed platypus, sooo is that… Grandpa?” Again, I’m awful at this game. Somebody, please take this child out of my hands.

Date Night at FPC’s father-daughter dance!?! What, What! BTW, every father-daughter dance devolves into girls' screaming and playing hide and seek while dads eat all the ice cream. Photo by Karen Lewis

The BEST physical trait I’ve passed on to my children has to be their skin. My wife, whom I’m 100% in love with and who is the most beautiful woman in the world (and who is reading this), has gorgeous, milky-white skin. Her skin is like that of Snow White or one of those porcelain dolls in your fancy grandmother’s glass display cases. And like those dolls, my wife’s skin requires protection—SPF 100, which blocks 99.9% of UV rays. On the other hand, I believe the sun could pour the equivalent of battery acid on my skin, and I’d only turn a light shade of bronze. So, you’re welcome, daughters—you’re beach-ready. Don’t say I never gave you anything.

But it’s not just physical traits we pass down. We also bequeath our children’s personalities, hobbies, anxieties, and dysfunctions. Apparently, in my house, I am 100% responsible for every ADD moment in my children’s lives. I find it funny when my kids give me frustrated looks after they forget to write down a school assignment. I imagine them thinking, “Dad, it’s your fault; you’re the one who passed down these genes to me! If it wasn’t for you, I could’ve been brilliant like Mom.” And this, I do not dispute. Any intelligence they received clearly came from their mother. But if I’m going to take responsibility for their lack of attention, I’m also going to take some kudos for their creativity and outside-the-box thinking. So, Ha! Take that; you're not boring!

Don’t we love seeing ourselves in our children? I love how funny and willing to laugh my daughters are. My wife and I both get credit for that one. I’m beyond proud of my oldest daughter, who is always covered in paint and ink and who, like me, hyper-focuses and loses herself in creative projects. And I also see myself in my youngest daughter’s outgoing personality. If you’re reading this on Saturday, she and I are planning something fun. We don’t have any idea what we’ll do, but we’ve got to get out of this house!

This picture is my favorite family photo! We are a family who loves to be silly. Photo by Mark Davis

God’s only Son, our Lord

Our lives and genetic history have stamps from all over the world. That’s one reason why I enjoy reading the Bible’s genealogies, found in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. Jesus has a biological line of descendency through Mary and a legal line of descendency through Joseph. As you go back in time, the two genealogies converge at David and ultimately trace back to “the son of God.” (Luke 3:38). So, why is Jesus—Jesus? It’s because His family line reaches all the way back to the beginning. As the Apostles’ Creed affirms, Jesus is “His [God’s] only Son, our Lord.”

Family is woven into the fabric of existence. God the Father and Jesus the Son are family. We know this because they use the language of family throughout the Bible. In Matthew 3, we hear the Father’s audible voice say, “This is my beloved Son.” And Jesus says in John 10, “I and my Father are one.” Paul, an Apostle, further clarifies their union in Colossians 1, saying, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” The Father and the Son are family, and like family, they look and act alike.

This is The Baptism of Christ by Nicolas Poussin. It illustrates the moment God called Jesus His Son. You can see trembling and that one dude pointing to the sky. Also, french painters in 1641 thought men in Jesus’ day were baptized naked.

And here is the wild part! If we believe the Apostles’ Creed that Jesus is God’s “only Son, our Lord,” we, too, become part of the eternal family. Jesus Himself says, “Who are my mother and my brothers? … Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:33–35). Believer, you are adopted into God’s extraordinary family. We have a Heavenly Father’s love and guidance and the Son and Brother’s sacrificial love and forgiveness. No matter your earthly family of origin, you are part of a divine household that has shown you unwavering devotion and forgiveness. So, if you feel far from your heavenly home, consider returning to the Father. If you confess, He will forgive. And this forgiveness is only made possible through “the only Son, our Lord.”

As is our custom, I invite you to join the other readers in a corporate confession of sin. Let’s pray:

Our Father, forgive us for failing to honor Jesus as Your only Son and our Lord. Lord Jesus, forgive us for forgetting the cost of Your sacrifice and the love that made us part of Your family. Assure us, Holy Spirit, that in Christ we are fully forgiven and forever adopted as children of God. Amen.

Thanks for praying; God Bless You! I hope you’ll read and pray with us next Saturday at 10 a.m.