How well are you bearing the image of your Creator? That’s a fine question you may say, but let’s consider some facts. First, we were made in the image of God.
Genesis 1:27 (ESV) — 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 2:7 (ESV) — 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Although there is more to it than this, to keep it simple let’s consider the fact that we are alive, have minds that understand, and a heart that longs after God – all are evidence that we are made in the image of God. When sin entered the world through the disobedience of Adam, the image of God was marred so that we now bear the image of wrath.
Ephesians 2:1–3 (ESV) — 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
God did not just walk away from us; however, He sent His son the Lord Jesus Christ to take away our sins by dying on the cross as a propitiation in satisfying God’s anger over our sin, and in paying the ransom for us for God to adopt us as His children. Isn’t it interesting the first man, Adam, was created in the image of God but that image was marred by his sin, causing all of us to bear that image. Whereas, the Lord Jesus Christ bore the image of God perfectly and by taking on a body as one of us, tempted in all points yet without sin, and fulfilling the law to the smallest detail, takes us from the image of wrath to the image of God as the Holy Spirit brings the new creation in our hearts, changing us from one image to the other in Christ.
Colossians 1:12–17 (ESV) — 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) — 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Wait there is more!
God doesn’t stop with the new birth. His purpose for us is to bear the image of the Lord Jesus Christ in the process of sanctification as the Holy Spirit uses the good, the bad, and the ugly scenes of life to conform us to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ as He applies the word of God and His power in each situation.
Romans 8:28–29 (ESV) — 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
As we grow in conformity to Christ and as we feed upon the word of God, we find our application to instruction in the Scriptures will guide us in a way of renewal and growth as we long inwardly to be conformed to His image and groan within for the day we shall see Him face to face and the sanctification process will be over.
Colossians 3:8–10 (ESV) — 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Philippians 3:20–21 (ESV) — 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
As an image bearer, we have quite a responsibility to represent the Lord Jesus Christ in all we do. So how well are you bearing the image of Christ? Is your desire to present a view of Christ as you live in His power, depending upon Him, or are you like those who give a poor showing by not giving it a thought? The disciples at Antioch were first labeled Christians as a derogatory term, setting them aside for persecution. The term, “Christian” simply meant “little Christ”, so they were saying they represented Christ so much that the enemy wanted to do away with them as they wanted to do away with the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself.
Acts 11:26 (ESV) — 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
Today, the term Christian has come to mean more of people presenting a label rather than a lifestyle. Those who are truly Christians are conscientious about their image being more like the Lord Jesus Christ as they long for the day when they shall see Him face to face. Oh, what love – that we who bore the image of children of wrath should be called the children of God as we are called to bear His image.
1 John 3:1–2 (ESV) — 1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
Godspeed,
Bob Brubaker, Pastor
Christ Community Presbyterian Church
Clearwater, FL
