Reflecting His Image Each Day

As a church, we're going through the book of Genesis right now. It has been a rich series and a refreshing look at this first book of the Bible. Today, my husband preached an excellent message on Genesis 1:27:

"So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them."

Josh's main point was that being created in God's image should shape the way that we view and live our lives. One aspect of being a created being is that I have a Creator. (Seems obvious, but it's important!) This should shape the way that I view myself. I am not the center of the universe and I am not God. I was created. The wonder of this miracle of creation should lead me to stand in awe of God. Also, viewing my life through this lens should function as a means to guard against complaining. How dare I, as a created being, demand things from the God who created me! I owe Him my life. He owes me nothing.

Being created in God's image means that we have a dignity and a purpose. This point stood out to me as vitally important. I was created to bring God glory through reflecting and representing Him. How mind boggling! The very God who placed the stars in the heavens and knows them each by name, the very God who created each cell and organ and molecule inside our bodies, the very God who holds the heavens in place, this God chose to have His image reflected and represented by people like me. This means that each and every moment of my life is an opportunity to reflect and represent God. Viewing life through this lens makes my day seem a lot more purposeful!

Josh also reminded us of the bad news that we're never going to reflect and represent God's image perfectly. We are sinful creatures. But the good news is that Jesus came and perfectly bore God's image; He was the very image of God. Jesus took on the wrath of God that I deserved for not reflecting His image perfectly. Jesus stands ready to give me grace to change as I seek to image God's image to the world.

As I walk through this week, loving my husband and my daughter, I want to think more about the way that I mirror God's image. When my neighbors see me, what kind of representation of God are they seeing? When I train Tali, am I reflecting the image of my patient and loving God? When I work on seemingly mundane tasks around the house, how accurately am I reflecting the image of my joyful God? I pray that God will give me, and you, grace this week to seek to be the clearest image reflectors of God that we can be.

p.s.-If you've got some time, check out the message. It's a goodie!!!! (http://www.sgclife.org/tools_for_growth/recent_sermons.aspx)