Imago Dei

Put on your thinking caps . . . Close your eyes and answer this . . . If God walked into the door right now, how would He look?  God walks in the door … Who do you see?

Some see a kindly, older gentleman . . . Pair of khakis, golf shirt, jacket, maybe wearing glasses and a cap. Maybe even smoking a stogie.   A grandfatherly figure, much like the one George Burns portrayed in the “Oh God” movies. A kind, benevolent God who is very much misunderstood . . . Loving.  Forgiving.  All-embracing.

Some might see an older man in a long flowing white robe with a long beard. He bears a striking resemblance to Father Time. He is watching and waiting, looking for the right time to unveil the rest of His plan for all creation.

Some even see a vengeful and angry God, perched high upon His throne, watching like a hawk with a bloody sword in hand. Ready to punish evil-doers and having little to no mercy on those who sin.

Who do you see?

Voltaire said: “If God made us in His image, we have certainly returned the compliment.”

In other words, we have forgotten that we were created in His image, and have tried to re-create Him in our image . . . To make Him something that fits our expectations, our lifestyles . . . To have a convenient, comfortable God who never challenges us, who is there at our beck-and-call, and who is NOT there when we don’t want Him to be.

Is this what He intended when He created us in His image?

Some freely admit they don’t exactly know what to think, BUT The fact that we are created in the image of God brings us to the sanctity of human life.  That, above all other life forms, human life should be revered.

What does this mean to you?

In Genesis 1, God said “Let us make humanity in Our image.” Ancient Hebrews would have understood, at this point, God is the ONLY AUTHORITY on earth.  The human race would be caretakers of this earth.  WE would be stewards.  WE are responsible of this place.

To be made in the image of God means that we bear an extreme likeness to God . . . However, we are not God.  We are not deified, we are not gods, but we do reflect the divine nature within our humanity.  And only the human race is described as being made in God’s image.

The image of God is so basic to mankind’s structure that the Fall into sin did not destroy it.  Sin has spoiled it . . . sin blurred it . . . But men and women remain as reasoning, moral, creative creatures.  Still intended to have dominion over the earth.

ALL of us.

The implications are many, and they are DEEP:

• There is something special about the human race
• We should hold human life in highest regard
• This goes back to the very beginning, and transcends any lines of nationality, race, social status, etc.

When a child is the spittin’ image of a father or mother, that child is a reflection of the parent. Sometimes a child can look like both  That child is a reflection . . . You can look into that child’s face and see the face of the parents.

THAT is what is so special about the human race.  We are God’s creation . . . There is something about every one of us that should reflect the face of God.

Not saying that God has eyebrows . . . arms . . . legs . . . a body, roughly six feet tall with ten fingers and toes.

There is something about who He is that is bound up in who we are.

This is why life is so incomplete for one who does not know Christ.  The world discourages this kind of talk, but this explains the God-shaped void in our hearts.

At the end of it all, two things stand out:

1. Any person who does not know Christ will NEVER be complete, will NEVER be happy until they have a relationship with God.  They will never know true happiness and completion until they have asked Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
2. Every Christian has the charge to reflect the image of our Savior, Lord, and Creator in our lives . . .

In how we live.  In how we love.  In how we handle adversity, such as those we face as Americans today.  Even in how we celebrate victory.

LITERALLY in EVERYTHING we do.

Many things can be said about being made in the Image of God, but the MOST VITAL IS THIS: EVERYONE in the world should be able to look at us and see HIM.

YOU need to know:

• You are created in His image
• He desires a relationship with you
• He wants to save you from your sins
• But, He gives that choice to YOU

WE WERE MADE TO DO THESE THINGS.

Because we were made in the Image of God.