Rev.Podiyan Thomas
Quite often I used to think as to what it means when the word of God says “man
is created in the image of God almighty”.
When God created us He has given some of His very own attributes in to us and
that makes us altogether different from other living beings. He created us with
the purpose of having fellowship with us and so it was God’s plan to instill in us
some of His qualities into us. This aspect of man makes him very special and
unique among all of God’s creations.
God has certain absolute attributes, which He alone has, like omnipresence,
omnipotence, omniscience etc. But when God has given some of His qualities in
us those become relative attributes for us. God’s attributes like wisdom, love,
compassion, creativity etc are divine qualities given to us as special gifts that
makes us uniquely different from any of his other creations. These God-given
qualities manifested in human beings can only be compared with God’s but never
equaled.
Lucifer desired for the absolute attributes of God and he was cast out from
heaven.
God is love and we are given the ability of loving and having a loveable nature.
God is holy and God has given us the ability to be Holy and grow towards the
perfection that He alone has. God is faithful and truthful and God empowers us
to be truthful and faithful.
Let us think a little more on this subject. When it is said that man is created in
His own image, it means that we become the image-bearers of God. We are
becoming something that manifests the qualities of God almighty which amounts
to saying that if we don’t manifest the qualities of God, that he intended for us to
have, we, literally, are becoming disfigured images of God.
Ravi Zachariah in one of his books says “Human beings are born creators that
reflect the very character of God infused by Him to humanity”.
This makes me think that when God said “ Let us make man in our own image”
he gave his very best – His own image – to man and He does not want any other
graven images to carry or posses his likeness. That could be the reason why
God explicitly prohibited anyone from making graven images or idols. We as
human beings are given the exclusive privilege of reflecting God’s majestic
image. We are given the authority to rule wisely upon all that He created(fish,
fowl, cattle and so on).
However, with the fall of Adam and Eve, we lost our identity in God. Adam and
Eve had no idea of their nakedness because their complete security and love
came from God. But the moment they gave in to their temptation, they severed
the bond they had with God who was their constant friend and companion in the
garden. The supply of love and security they had from their Creator was
essentially cut off which was as important as water and food are to our human
body. In the instant that they sinned, they realized their nakedness and felt
ashamed. Before the fall of Adam and Eve, they were clothed with the love and
glory of God. They were secure in his arms.
Due to the fall of man from God’s love and grace, Man lost his identity, which
was in God. When we look at our own lives and the lives of others, we can see
that life is filled with pain, suffering and sin. When we take a real, honest look at
why we have suffering and sin in this world, it is because we fell from the love of
God. Since man lost his relationship with God, we try to find our identity and
security in anything that will fill the emptiness we feel. People try to fill the void
with destructive things that bring temporary fulfillment. There is a void in our
hearts that only God can fill. We try to fulfill it by driving ourselves to accomplish
goals such as, having a career, power, money, sex, drugs or anything that will
help us to feel loved.
A direct consequence of the loss of our relationship with the Lord in the garden is
that, people are driven to achieve worldly things in the hope that they will receive
love, admiration and recognition from others. Our motive deep down is, “If I could
do this right…then maybe we can win the approval of those around us.” From the
moment of our birth, we are born with broken souls that crave love and approval
from anyone or anything that we can get it from. Unfortunately, many a time, we
go to all the wrong sources. In any arena we look at in this world, there is a
competitive attitude or spirit. This attitude was born out of an insecurity that every
human being is born with. For instance, athletes in sports are in competition to
achieve approval of their fans and/or make money. There is nothing wrong with
being an athlete. But the problem comes in when they live for the recognition and
worship the idol of fame and money. Fans may give them a feeling of temporary
security because they admire them, but they cannot heal the human soul of that
athlete. The love and admiration of their fans is only conditional and will
eventually run out. Where will they get their satisfaction once their fans see that
they lost a few games or they retire from their sports career and no one is
cheering them up any longer? We must examine ourselves and see what the
primary source of satisfaction in our lives is. Is it from the eternal love of God or
is it from something temporary that is in this world?
So you ask, how do I get to this eternal love of God? This is where Gods perfect
plan comes in! He made a way for us to come back to a secure identity and
relationship with him. He showed us the ONLY way to heal our wounded and
hurt souls from all the pain we have inflicted upon ourselves. That way is through
his Son Jesus Christ, who came and contained himself in a tiny human body, full
of limitations, so that He could identify with our sufferings. He identified with our
pain. The Bible says that He was a man of sorrow and familiar with suffering. He
did not just talk about loving us while sitting on His thrown in heaven. But he
willingly came down to earth, by being born as a helpless baby, to prove his love
to us. Most of us would never give up our child, let alone our only child for
someone who may or may not want anything to do with us. We turned our backs
on God and yet, knowing the pain of rejection from humans, the father sent his
only son to take on all of our mess and died for us. But wait, it doesn’t end there,
He actually physically rose again from death. The resurrection is good news for
us because that means he defeated the power of death and sin. That means we
have a chance to be healed. We have a chance to feel secure again because
Christ is offering himself for you and me.
Experiencing true love will forever change us because the power and attraction
of sin will no longer entice us. His love can make us feel whole again, so that we
don’t run after the fleeting things of this world. This love is a free gift. You cannot
earn it with good works. The only “good work” you have to do is take a step of
faith and believe that Christ came to die for you personally. Invite him into your
life, confess your sins and turn away from your sins and Jesus will come and live
inside you. Once you accept the sacrifice and forgiveness of Jesus, you become
a true image bearer of God. Before we came to know Jesus, our identity in God
was twisted and lost. We cannot be an accurate reflection of Jesus without his
help. Good works or achievements cannot save us or help us to reflect Christ.
But Christ became sin for us so that we can have his righteousness. Without the
righteousness of Jesus we can never measure up to God the father. That being
said, you may be still be thinking, “my life is too messed up and no one can help
me…I have lived this way for too long…”. But Jesus came to heal the broken
hearted and heal those who are sick in their body and spirit. You may have been
hurt from the betrayal of a spouse, friend or family member and you feel all
alone. You may have been abused mentally, physically or emotionally through
out your life. Or you may have been running after the pleasures of this world for
as long as you can remember and feel as if happiness is always, just out of your
reach. You feel your circumstances never allow for the happiness and peace you
crave. Maybe you have been bitter and angry from something someone did to
you a long time ago. You may even be “bad guy/girl” who did the betraying, or
inflicted horrible abuse on some else, but there is forgiveness in Christ no matter
what sin or problem you are struggling with. Whether you are the victim or
abuser, all of us are sinners. The bible says that we ALL have sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God and that there is no one righteous, not even one. Since
we all fall into this category, we can rest assured that the sacrifice of Jesus was
sufficient for every single sin committed by man or woman in the past, present or
future.
We have to realize that once we have a relationship with Jesus, we are putting
on Christ as our identity and we no longer have to be naked or ashamed. God no
longer sees our broken hurting past. He only sees His image reflecting back at
him because we are clothed with Christ. As we continue in a relationship with
Jesus, he will accept us as we are, but he will also start transforming us from the
inside out. Through the word of God, the bible, we can see that God is loving and
trust worthy. As we surrender and allow him to work in us, we will first start
thinking differently and then our outward actions will change as our thoughts
become more and more like Jesus. We will learn to love ourselves and those
around us as we experience a loving relationship with Jesus. Compared to what
the world offers which is pain, misery and second rate satisfaction, Christ offers
us true love and lasting satisfaction. He offers us his everlasting companionship
during the hard times that are bound to come during the rest of our time here on
earth. He will never leave us or forsake us. He will guide you through every
difficulty. Please put your trust in Him. Let His work in you begin today!
Cheer up, you are an image bearer of God almighty.
