After God created earth and sky, plants and animals, He did something incredibly loving; He created human beings. “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:26-27). We have the very image of God in our DNA, designed to be uniquely different from and to shepherd (rule) all the other creatures on earth. We were meant to rule according to His standard of morality for the good of all living things (Psalm 112). We were designed to walk in His image.
Walking in God’s image was the only way of life human beings were meant for. But today, and since sin entered the world and the human heart, there has been a struggle for us to reflect His characteristics, and our hearts became prone to wandering away from God and His Ways. In light of this, what does it look like for us to genuinely reflect God’s image in our character?
God’s characteristics (for more see the Characteristics of God series) include being just and generous, righteous, and moral (Psalm 112). He generously gave us Jesus, His Son, and brilliantly, with justice through Jesus’ blood sacrifice, gave us redemption from sin and eternal life with Him. He also gave us the Holy Spirit when we believe in Jesus (1 Corinthians 12:13). In so doing, He restored our ability to walk in His image!
This doesn’t mean walking in His image is easy, even for those who have been saved by believing in Jesus. It takes choosing to take up our cross daily to follow Him, and losing our life (refusing to follow the sinful desires of the flesh) to follow the Way of Jesus (Luke 9:23-24), who is our perfect example of living according to God’s character and will. He is faithfully walking with us and empowering us to be faithful through the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). In Galatians 5, Paul writes, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:24-25). We reflect God’s image by denying our flesh, choosing to live by the Spirit, as we believe and rely on the redemption and hope we have in Jesus. God longs for us and our character to genuinely reflect His image (Psalm 112). When we pray according to God’s will, we can be assured that He will answer our prayer (John 14:14).
An important caveat is that it is a privilege to be made in God’s image, and something to treat with the utmost humility. It is not our right to play God. To do so is to walk in the flesh, which only prolongs suffering apart from the will of God. It is important to remember when talking about God’s image in us that we are not God; God is God, and we are not.
The image of God is renewed in us by redemption through Jesus Christ. When we abide in Jesus, we have healing, restoration, and life, even in the midst of sin. When Jesus returns to earth, sin will be no more, and we will live in the beautiful way God intended at the Beginning. But, we will understand God’s love on a much deeper level, because we will know and have experienced the bondage to sin that He saved us from. We will understand the lengths He went to rescue and redeem us from it. This just increases our intimacy with God, which sin tried to prevent, but which God desires. Thankfully for us, God’s will always will be done.
Children are often thought of as looking like, or having the image of, their parents. The greatest privilege anyone can have is to be a child of God, to bear His image. And the amazing things is that He offers it to everyone freely, through Jesus Christ. Everyone bears His image, because He created all people, including you! Sin tragically separated us from God our Father. But Jesus, the Son of God, sacrificed Himself on our behalf, making a Way for us to be adopted back into the family of God (Ephesians 1:4-6). Jesus died to save us from the sin in our own hearts and from the sin of the world. He loves all those who were born to bear the image of His Father.
May we joyously thank God for allowing us the Way to partake of His great love in the family of families, which we were made for, and where we will always belong. Amen.
“Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous. Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord” (Psalm 112:4-7).
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