Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Created in God’s Image

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Gen 1:26 (NIV)

Embedded in these words is a great and wonderful promise. We were made to reflect the image of God. Exactly does this mean. Well you were created with a spiritual aspect. You and I are not only flesh and bones you also have a spirit. No other created thing has a spirit. This also means you are eternal. God is eternal and because you are created in his image you to are eternal. Your spirit lives forever.

When sin entered the world, it distorted that image, but it did not destroy it. Our moral purity has been tainted; our intellect is now polluted. But God’s goal is still to have His people bear His image and reflect His glory. God in order to accomplish His goal washes away anything that is not of Him. (Sin) He has accomplished this through the shedding of the blood of Jesus.

Recreating us more and more into His image. Let’s look a few of verses to help understand.

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Col 3:9-10 (NIV)

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Cor 3:18 (NIV)

According to the bible you are good, simply because God made you in His image. Ever wonder why God loves you? Well, here is the simple answer, you carry something of him in you. He stamped His name on your heart.

You are God’s idea, God’s child. Created in His image. This speaks to our identity. Who we are and to whom we belong. We are not some sort of swamp ooze.

Let this truth settle into your heart. It will change the way you look at yourself. You were conceived by God before you were conceived by your parents. You are not an accident or a fluke.

This truth will change the way you look at others. Even person that you see was created by God to bear his image and that person deserves to be treated like an image bearer.