Think of the amazing gift we have been given in being made
in God's image, in being “image bearers” of the Lord of the universe:
·
We were created for eternity with an eternal
soul
·
We were made for a relationship with our creator
·
We were given the gift of relationships with one
another
·
We were granted the gift of moral freedom
·
We were given the amazing capacity to create
·
We were given the ability to love deeply
The apostle Paul puts all this in perspective in Ephesians
2:10. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The word “workmanship” means a
unique work of art, a one of a kind. As unique works of God we were created for
a personal relationship with him in
Christ Jesus, in order to join him in
His work in this world (good works)
which God prepared for each of us “in advance.”
In endowing us with His image, He gave something of Himself
to mankind. Our very ability to know and love him and one another is part of
that gift. I can adore and love my spouse and my children and have meaningful
relationships with others because He chose to make me in His image. I can know
Him, serve Him, join Him in His work in this world because he made me in His
image. I can use all my creativity in loving and caring and serving and living
because He made me in His image.
I remember meeting my son Jon for the first time
knowing that this was my flesh, my offspring. The day I met my first
grandson, Gavrel, was even more profound, Again, here was a
precious child with my DNA, flesh of my flesh of my flesh entering the world.
In making us in His Image, God deliberately planted something of Himelf in His
created. Just as I look at my grandson with a love too deep to describe, so He
looks at us with a love that is able to see beyond all of our brokenness for He
sees His image in us, however flawed by the entrance of sin into our world –
deliberately planted in us by Him.
Our news is full of stories of the brokenness of our world.
It is easy to become numb to the human needs and issues we become aware
of. But stop for a moment and put on the lens of God. Your neighbor who is
hurting is made in God’s image. The thousands of children who needlessly suffer
from malaria every year for lack of mosquito netting are made in His image.
The disabled who are so easily treated as throw away people
in much of the world are made in His image. Those who suffer from chronic dysentery
for lack of clean water are made in His image. Those young slaves of the sex
trade internationally are image bearers of God. The millions who are aborted
annually are stamped with His imprint. The elderly who are shuffled off to a
lonely existence are made in His image.
Seen in that light, we cannot
ignore the spiritual and human needs around us or of our world and be like
Jesus. Life is precious. People are precious. Even the most broken individual is a potential son or
daughter of the king because all were stamped with His image.
No other part of
God’s creation was endowed with an eternal soul or an eternal destiny. To care
for people and their situations is to see people as Jesus sees them and to love
them as He loves them. To live selfishly, immune from the suffering of others
is to reject the nobility God placed within man, even though sin has made much
so ignoble.
Every time we uphold the dignity of human life, uphold
biblical sexuality, treat our spouses well, care for those that society throws
away: widows, orphans, AIDS victims, those with unwanted pregnancies, the disabled, the
sick, those in dire poverty, the elderly, we join Jesus in bringing value to life made in His image. We join
Jesus in His prayer, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” How is it
done in heaven? Perfectly!
When we join Him in meeting the physical and
spiritual needs of our world we start bringing little bits of heaven and His
values to a world that is lost and dehumanizing to those He created. We join
Him in His quest to reimage an image made wrong by sin and bring out the beauty
of what God originally intended.
We cannot meet all the needs of our broken world but we can
make a difference for someone who is
an image bearer of God. Every act of compassion that meets physical and
spiritual needs is an act of obedience to our Father who cares so deeply for
every human being. He hurts when they hurt, and wants every image bearer to
find Him and be ReImaged into His likeness.
Every time we go out of our way to bring
life to a situation, we make the heart of God glad. Each word that encourages,
touch that shows love, help that brings hope or Good News that speaks to the
soul mirrors the heart of God toward those He created. None are beyond His
grace, none are too broken for his healing or beyond His divine touch.
Do you see people through human eyes or Jesus' eyes?
