Royal Family Resemblance
If you come to one of my family’s get-together, and you’re over 5’7″, you’ll feel like a giant.
My father is short and stocky. His six brothers are short and stocky. My brother and most of my male cousins are short and stocky. Men in my family have a distinctive family resemblance.
Similarly, we who are adopted as children into God’s family through Christ must have a distinctive family resemblance.
As children of God, the King, we must strive to resemble our Heavenly Father. We must aim to be holy as He is holy (Mt 5:48 cf. Lev 11:44-45; 1 Pet 1:16). We must have the royal family resemblance: holiness. We must be the salt of the earth, and light of the world.
This Bible Study is based on the previously posted sermon on Mt 5:13-16, which I preached at another church’s Youth Sunday.
Below, please find the main points, videos, slideshow, Greek text, and author’s translation. See the bibliography here, and download the presentation (and any other lesson one might be interested in) at the C4C DropBox.
Main Points
- If we are King’s Kids, we have to have the royal family resemblance: holiness
- We have to be holy – distinct from the world and set apart for God’s special purpose
- We have to be the salt of the earth that preserves society from moral decay and adds Christ-like flavor
- We have to be the light of the world dispels darkness and shines the attractive light of the Gospel
- To God – not us – be the glory; let’s make God look good
- Salt that is not salty is not useful; light that is not visible is not useful
- As King’s Kids, we have royal privileges and royal responsibilities
Videos
I downloaded and edited a few YouTube videos in a short compilation demonstrating people who were “salty”. I was contrasting how salt would be metaphorically understood in the 1st century vs. the 21st century.
In today’s slang, being “salty” often refers to someone being upset or angry after being embarrassed. You can see the edited compilation if you download the original PowerPoint file of the slideshow (it will not display in the SlideShare below). But, here is one of the clips included:
Slideshow
Greek Text (UBS5)
13 Ὑμεῖς ἐστε τὸ ἅλας τῆς γῆς· ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἅλας μωρανθῇ, ἐν τίνι ἁλισθήσεται; εἰς οὐδὲν ἰσχύει ἔτι εἰ μὴ βληθὲν ἔξω καταπατεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. 14 Ὑμεῖς ἐστε τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου. οὐ δύναται πόλις κρυβῆναι ἐπάνω ὄρους κειμένη 15 οὐδὲ καίουσιν λύχνον καὶ τιθέασιν αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τὸν μόδιον ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τὴν λυχνίαν, καὶ λάμπει πᾶσιν τοῖς ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ. 16 οὕτως λαμψάτω τὸ φῶς ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅπως ἴδωσιν ὑμῶν τὰ καλὰ ἔργα καὶ δοξάσωσιν τὸν πατέρα ὑμῶν τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.1
Author’s Translation
For more information on my translation decisions, please see the footnotes in the sermon text.
13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt is made tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is no longer useful for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under peoples’ feet. 14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a (measuring) bowl — but rather on a lampstand. And so it shines light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.