Made in God’s Image

Week 35

In Genesis1:27 we read that God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. What does it mean to be made in the image of God? Do we look like him? I believe that to a certain extent we do. When he took on the form of a man as Jesus the Christ and came to earth, he didn’t look any different than anyone else. And his word tells us that Jesus was the exact replica of God. But I also believe that the image of God is more than just physical appearance. 

An image is a likeness, when you look into a mirror you see an image of yourself, but it is not truly you. It is a reflection of you but it does not have dimension. If you were to touch the image in the mirror you wouldn’t really know what skin felt like. You can’t tell by looking at your image if you smell good or bad. There is no way of knowing how smart you are or what your voice sounds like and yet, it is you.

We are made in God’s image. If we are born again believers, we are a reflection of God, but we are not exactly like him. The word tells us that God is Spirit. 

As believers, we have God’s Spirit living in us. His spirit is the part of us that is most like God. From the beginning of time, God wanted to dwell with man. He wanted to communicate with us and be a normal part of our daily lives. In the garden of Eden he walked with Adam and Eve. I believe that they were able to see him because their spiritual eyes were pure. There was no fear in them. 

But sin has caused a separation and a spiritual blindness that keeps us from seeing God as he truly is. Our human makeup is limited in our ability to see him as he is. And yet, his spirit that lives within us is able to keep us intune with him. Through his spirit we are able to hear his voice and understand what he wants us to do. That spiritual connection is the best way that God could bridge the gap and make contact with us. It would not have been possible if Jesus had not died for our sins, been resurrected and rose from the dead. Somehow that sequence of events made it possible for the Holy Spirit to indwell mankind.

1 Corinthians 2:14-16 says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”

As human beings we process data through our senses, sight, hearing, tasting, touching and smelling. These are all processed through our brains. We try to process God in the same way, but it is impossible. It is like processing what we are like by looking at the image in the mirror and describing someone from that viewpoint. We have to have the mind of Christ and the Holy Spirit to be able to understand who God is. Even then we are limited in these earthly bodies. 

When God’s Holy Spirit is invited to take up residence within us and we start being led by the spirit, we develop a hunger to know more and more of God and the things of this world dim in comparison to the things of the Spirit realm. This is one of the reasons why is it so difficult to tell non-believers what we are experiencing in our spirits. It is foolishness to them. 

How do we make sense of this mystery? Paul tried to help us when he wrote to the believers in Colosse. He told them that the mystery that had been kept hidden for ages and generations is now disclosed to the saints. To those God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:26-28)

Christ in us, the hope of glory. We have the mind of Christ according to scripture. As believers who have the mind of Christ and in whom the Holy Spirit has taken up residence, how do we live out our lives? What exactly is expected of us with this awesome God living in us?

Jesus tells us in Acts 1:7-8 He said to them, (that means us) “It is not for you to know the times or the dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

That is the purpose of God’s spirit living in us, to witness to the world about Christ in us. We are to make disciples for Jesus throughout the world. Wherever we go, we are spreading the gospel message.

It is not us however that spreads this message, but the Spirit of God within us that does the work. We are merely vessels used to carry God’s spirit throughout the earth.

The way that God spreads his message is as varied as we are. The Holy Spirit gives each believer a gift with which to spread the message of salvation. Those gifts are empowered by the spirit of God in us and proclaimed spiritually to those around us. This is a mystery to us as well. 

Can you remember how you came to a realization of all that Christ did for you? I remember the day that I knew for sure that I would dedicate the rest of my life to Christ, but it wasn’t one big event that happened to me. It was a culmination of events, a lifetime of seeds being planted within my spirit and one day, it took root and began to grow. I knew on that day that the growth was going to be ongoing and I knew that if I stayed on my knees thanking God the rest of my life, it wouldn’t be long enough to truly thank him for what he did for me.

The closer walk we have with the Holy Spirit within us, the more we listen to his leading, the nearer we are to God himself and the more we resemble him. The goal of every Christian should be to be so attune to the Holy Spirit that we never do anything without first consulting God. Jesus was like that. The only time he was ever out of communication with God was the day that he hung on the cross and the sins of the world were upon him. Remember his words? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 

The more time we spend with God in the spirit realm, the more we will miss him when we are not with him. That was his desire for us all along.

Holy God,

We know that as long as we have mortal bodies we can never fully see you because you are Spirit. But we want to become more attentive to your voice and we want your Holy Spirit to be the voice we hear all day long. Show us how to walk in your spirit and be receptive to you. We know that you want a relationship with us and that is the same thing we want. We desire to know you better Father. We want to know you as Christ knew you and we want to be unsettled in our spirits when we are out of sync with you. Draw us nearer every day. In the name of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit we pray. Amen.