Key Verse: Genesis 6:5: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually,” (NKJV).

We understand from the Scriptures that we are made in the image and likeness of God. Whatever you understand by that, at least we understand that God made us be like Himself, to some extent. We will not because we are children of God become omnipotent; we will not because we are children of God become omniscient or omnipresent.

We will not become God, although somewhere in the Scripture it says ye are gods. We are children of God if we are in the right standing with God. So, we by our first parents were made in His image and likeness to be just like our Father.

It is good for someone to resemble his parents. If you are not resembling your father directly or your mother directly, then you may resemble your father and mother put together or your grandfather or grandmother or somebody in your ancestral line. God created us to be like Jesus Christ in our behavioral attitudes and patterns of life.

The world does not resemble God because Adam and Eve missed it along the line. Jesus tells us in John 8:44 that Satan is a liar; he is the father of lies and all liars. Any liar who claims to be a child of God should not be taken seriously because he does not know what he is saying. All liars are children of the devil.

Sin is a transgression of the law. He who sins is from the devil for the devil had sinned from the beginning (1 John 3:8). We have the privilege of coming back to God today and getting it right with God. Jesus came to redeem us from all the curses of the law into His great marvelous light.

In John 3:1, the Bible says behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God. The Bible also said as children of God that when Christ appears we shall be like Him (1 John 3:2) and only the purified in spirit will have the hope to see Jesus Christ.

Christ has called us out of darkness into His great light, so that, we don’t continue to walk in darkness. Apostle Paul told the Ephesian brethren in Ephesians 5:1-8 that they are once in darkness when they are without Christ, but now that they are in Christ, they are light and should walk as children of light.

You claim to be a child of God, but what makes you different from every other person? Is it your education? Is it your membership in a church or your position in a church that makes you different? Is it your connections, status or name? Is it because you are the General Overseer or Pastor in charge of a church that makes you different? While in Bible School, we were assigned to read a particular text titled: ‘What Is the Difference?’

So, when we talk about spiritual matters, the difference is what matters. It is what gives one boldness, authority and testimony; it is your general attitude to spiritual matters. It is not limited to deacons, pastors or General overseers, but to all Christians. The difference should be that you are a real child of God and that you have a clear Christian testimony.

• Today’s nugget: Christ is the difference. Prayer: Jesus gives me a testimony that I am a child of God. Prayer lines: 08054477940. E-mail: [email protected]. Rev. Pastor Ejikeme Ejim, General Superintendent, Assemblies of God, Nigeria.