Family Resemblance

Often times we resemble someone in our family, for me people say I look like my Dad. The other day I asked myself why did God create family resemblance? This question came about because of a conversation I had with my wife. She got a chance to baby-sit our niece who is about nine mouths old. My mother-in-law joined her in this task and they made an observation that our niece had some resemblance to her great grandmother. So that got me again thinking why did God create family resemblance? There are probably several good answers to this question however I will give my point of view on the matter.
Perhaps God wants us to remember our loved ones who have passed on. It is a joyful and touching observation to see our grandparents in our children. It is the grace of God when we see our children smile and that smile reminds us of a family member who is gone. It gives us hope that we will see our loved ones again someday. Maybe another reason would be to create a sense of community in our families. Some families love to spend time together and look at old pictures and home movies and in those events and pictures there is a growing appreciation for our heritage and our roots. Along the same lines as Christians we have a family resemblance to God. We were made in the image of God. It is an honor to be a child of the living God and to bear his image. It should give believers a sense of community that sometimes our churches lack. It also should remind us of our rich heritage in the faith and give us assurance and hope that we will see our loved ones again.