Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

2 January 2026

Reading From Genesis 4-6

“This is the written account of Adam’s family line.

When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” when they were created.”—Genesis 5:1-2

According to Jesus in John 4:24, God is Spirit and yet He made man and woman in His image. I believe this to mean that God transcends gender and that the two human genders male and female are expressions of His masculine and feminine characteristics. Thus, we do not worship a god and goddess, but rather the Great Spirit whose divine nature is beyond anything we can comprehend, but who is knowable through the revelation of the Scriptures and the illumination of the Holy Spirit.

This is why healthy marriage between one man and one woman is a reflection of the image of God: the two are made one, just as there is one God with masculine and feminine attributes. Holy matrimony is also symbolic of the relationship between Christ and His Church. One day we will be one with God and live forever in perfect harmony with Him in paradise.

God the Son took on a body of flesh and bones when He became the Son of Man as a baby in Mary’s womb. He was fully God and fully man and dwelt among us, living as our perfect example of life and godliness. His resurrected, glorified body was shown to the disciples before He ascended into Heaven. He was able to cook, eat, drink, sit and converse with His friends and yet was also able to appear and reappear and walk through walls. At the resurrection, we too will have glorified bodies, raised imperishable as His.

“Lord God, thank You for being the Perfect Parent. You bless us with everything we need to fulfill our purpose: to honor You in sharing Your love and message with others. Make us more like You. Confirm us back into Your image. We glorify Your holy Name. Amen.”

⁴² So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; ⁴³ it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”^[f]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.⁴⁷ The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we^[g] bear the image of the heavenly man.

—I Corinthians 15:42-49