God created humanity in God’s own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them. (Genesis 1:27)
“Who was I made to be?”
“Exactly who you are.”
Ever had this conversation with someone? Have you ever asked the question of who we are made to be and then been given this response? It seems to be a very truthful albeit unhelpful response. It’s start to the point, simple, and yet extremely complex.
How can something be simple and complex at the same time?
That seems unreasonable, but we see it all the time in the scriptures. Love your neighbor as yourself doesn’t sound complex but it really is.
To add even more complex to this conversation let’s hone in the question of this post.
Who has God made me to be?
God created all beings in His image.
We are made to be like God, but we are not God. Which means we have qualities like God, like Love, Grace, Peace, Kindness, Caring and may others.
It’s that simple.
The problem is that we complicate the equation. We make it seem that we are not created to be in God’s image because if we were made in His image we wouldn’t make the mistakes that we do, but that is not true because at the same time we are human, and the nature state of being a human is making mistakes.
So you see the point now.
It’s simple, yet complicated.
Which is why the Israelites struggled with this thought and their worth and identity for years. Which is why Jesus came to begin with, to show us who we were made to be. His disciples. Jesus comes to the earth to help us realize our worth and identity, that it is not in our sins that we are defined but in the faithfulness of Christ. Christ defines us for who we are by saying, “I will die to prove that you are worth my image.”
It’s a powerful and influential force that comes when Christ dies for our sins. In that one simple act we are rebranded in the body and blood of Jesus. Because it is truth what it says in Galatians 2:20:
I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God’s Son, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
You and I are not what we were before.
Christ is the active and abundant force that is within us, giving us the direction and words to say when we need them. However, we must embrace this force that is within us because when we do that we truly embrace who God made us to be all along, His image.
We no longer live but the body and blood of Jesus Christ live within us and we live by faith and are defined by the faithfulness of God’s Son, Jesus. Who died to prove that we are worth His image.
May God encourage, equip, empower, and energize us to embrace His image.
Amen.