God's Image

What do people think of when they think of you? Some people are so obsessed with what people think of them that they put their whole life on hold to fulfill their preconceived idea of how they should be. Some people don’t care what anyone thinks about them, not even God. Either way, what people think of you is definitely an issue in both the natural world and the spirit world. Now, I’m not talking about whether people think you dress nicely or not or whether they think you’re pretty or ugly. I’m talking about what people associate with you, how they perceive you.

Genesis 1: 26-28 says this: "Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Will whoever is not a male or a female please raise their hand. Great! That means that everyone who didn’t raise their hand is made in God’s image.

Colossians 3: 9-10 says this: "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off you old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge in the image of its Creator."

The Doubleday Dictionary for Home, School, and Office defines the word "image" as the following: "A representation of a person or thing . . . a natural resemblance; likeness; counterpart. . . a mental picture, impression, or idea . . . the way in which a person or thing is popularly perceived or regarded . . . a symbol; embodiment; type. . ." It defines the word "represent" as "to serve as the symbol, expression, or designation of; symbolize . . . to set forth the likeness or image of; depict; portray." As you can clearly see, being the image of something is a little bit more complicated than it looks.

If we are to be the image of God, when people think of us, they must directly connect us to God. Our attributes, actions, and words must be directly in line with God’s. We must not just profess our Christianity but live our Christianity. Think about that; we are the image of God. We are the representation, likeness, and impression of God. We are the way in which God is popularly perceived and regarded. We portray God. That is an awesome job! It’s also an important job because if people attest to Christianity and then act like the scum of the universe, they make God look bad in other people’s minds. On the other hand, if people that profess Christianity act like the God-fearing children that they are, they demonstrate the goodness of God. So, the next time you feel like blowing up at someone, think about how well that would fit in the "image of God" category.