Monday, January 20, 2025
Created
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27
God created man and woman in the image of God. They were literally created as male and female with untested creature holiness. They were created in his image and after his likeness (Genesis 1:26). This can raise the question of what it means to be created in the image of God. How does a human image God? For the original readers of this text, it would have sufficed to say that humans were created in the image and after his likeness. They would have understood this to mean that they had been created to be like God, to reflect God, and to represent God. Humans are the representatives of God on earth, and we are like him. It is important to understand that being made in the image of God is what a human is. It is not what a human does, and it is not what a human has. Adam and Eve were bearers of the image of God just by being human. Because of their untested creature holiness, they bore that image in great fulfillment. Because they were created in the image of God, they could fellowship with him, love him, serve him, and worship him. They could love each other and have relationship with each other. They were created in the image of God with purpose—that they may bring God glory, and the image allowed for them to live out their purpose fully. Consider that fact that humans are created in the image of God. It means that every human life bears the image of God. No human does not bear that image. Take some time today to ponder what it might have been to be with God, in his image, without sin.
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Distorted
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” Genesis 9:6
While Adam and Eve were created with untested creature holiness, they chose to rebel against God. After sin entered the world the image of God was not taken from humans. It was and is, however, distorted because of sin. After sin entered the world, humans are less fully like God than before. But it is clear in Scripture that though distorted, the image remains in every human. When Noah steps off the ark, God reveals that there is a difference in humans. They are still made in the image of God. James tells us that with our tongue, we “bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.” (James 3:9), revealing that humans still bear the image of God. It is helpful to remember that the image Is not talking about something that people do or have, it is what a human is. That means that even those who deny God and are far from him still bear his image. When God created Adam and Eve, he looked at what he made and declared that it was very good. Sin has distorted the image as character, speech, and actions do not reflect him in the way they did in sinless Adam. Therefore, it is important for us to understand the full meaning of the image of God, not in what we currently see, but in what God has revealed in his word. Consider the distortion of the image of God in your own life. How has God’s image been distorted? What peace does it bring to you to know the distortion has not removed the image from your life? How does it impact the way you see others?
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Image
He [Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Colossians 1:15
Jesus came as the very image of the invisible God. He told Thomas that if they had seen the Son, they had seen the Father (John 14:9). God is the blessed Ruler who no one has seen or can see (1 Timothy 6:15-16), yet he has chosen to make himself visible in Jesus. It is not that the Son is made in the image of God, he is the only satisfactory representation of the invisible God. David Garland quotes Murray Harris as saying, “As the image of God, Christ is an exact, as well as visible, representation of God, illuminating God’s essence.” In Christ we can see who God is, what he is like, and what God does. In Christ we can see God in his fullness—his entire self if you will. The Son is the only One who can truly and exactly image God. In addition, we can see and learn what it means to be the humans that God intended us to be by looking at Jesus. We can see how to truly love the Father, how to submit to his authority, how to be in fellowship with him, how to love the people of the world—how to be humans that fully bear the image of God. Think about what it means to become more like Jesus. It means to bear the image of God more fully. How can this help you in your journey to Christlikeness as a follower of Jesus? It is not a list of what to do and not to do, it is a surrender of your will to the will of the Father so that the prideful part of you that stands in defiance may surrender to God and his purpose for your life.
Thursday, January 23, 2025
Transformation
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18
Please read and/or listen to 2 Corinthians 3 today. Something amazing happens in the life of a person when they are born again. If you have been redeemed, you are no longer blinded by the god of this age to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:4). You can now see the glory of God. That is what Paul is speaking of here. There is a transformation that happens in the life of one who beholds the glory of God. It is not possible to truly encounter the glory of God and remain unchanged. The moment you are saved the Holy Spirit begins a miraculous transformation into a greater fullness of the image of God in your life. You become more like Christ. When you truly begin to behold the glory of God by learning who he is as he has revealed himself in his word, you will be drawn to him and you will desire to be more like him and then the Holy Spirit will move in your life and begin and continue the amazing transformation and you will begin to find your true purpose and your true design, and you will behold him ever more deeply. You will begin to live the abundant life that he has made possible for you through Jesus! This is life. The more you are aware of the presence of the Spirit in your life and the more you respond to his power to transform you the more you will image Christ. It is not about what you do. It is not a list of dos and don’ts; it is a drawing into knowing and obeying the one who is far more glorious than you can ever begin to imagine! Have you been saved? Are you beholding the glory of God? How is the Spirit transforming you more fully into the image of Jesus?
Friday, January 24, 2025
Representation
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 1 John 4:19-20
Would you please read and or listen to Matthew 22:34-40 and 1 John 4:13-20 today and consider what Jesus means when he says, “on these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Love God, love people. The reason we love people is because we love God. The reason we love God is because he loved us. When we have been reborn (when we have turned from our desire to be the center of all there is and put God in the center) we begin to be transformed into his image more fully. As that happens, our view of the world changes—especially our view of his image-bearers. We begin to see people as God sees them. We love them because they bear the image of the one who loved us. We pursue ways to love them. We cannot love God unless he opens the door for that love. We will fear his judgment and will miss knowing his love. Our fear of his judgment will keep us from drawing near to him. Once we are reborn, we know the love of God and the fear of judgment is removed. We live in the freedom of his love and presence. There is no way we can truly say we live in that love and presence if we do not love the way that he loves—his love flowing through us. We love him as we love those who bear his image. We seek for them to know the dignity they have by being his unique creations. We represent him and reflect him to a world that needs his light.
Saturday, January 25, 2025
Resurrection
Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:49
While on the earth we bear the image of God, but we also bear the image of Adam—the man of dust. In Genesis 5:1-3, Adam is said to have been created in the image of God and that Adam fathered a son, Seth, who was in Adam’s likeness after his image. So, since Adam, all humans have represented not only God but Adam as well. In this life, once redeemed we can begin the process of transformation, but we will always bear the image of the man of dust—the one who was made. Upon the resurrection from the dead, those who have died in Christ, will bear the image of the man of heaven—Jesus—the One from heaven. This is what is meant by glorification. The shedding of this temporary dwelling that was designed for this world and the putting on of the dwelling that is made for the recreated world and our eternal life in the presence of God away from the presence of sin. This is our hope of glory. It is that one day, the distortion of the image will be done away with. Take some time today to imagine what that will be like. Who is someone in your life that you can talk to about what is waiting for you?
Tomorrow we begin our series on the Holy Spirit.