You were made to image God. There’s so much more to this statement than meets the eye.
It has positively entranced me for the past several years. I just can’t get enough of it.
It changes everything.
Yes, Genesis states God made us *in* His image…but then a LOT of stuff happened. This verbiage disappears. By the time we get to the New Testament, these words aren’t associated with ordinary humans but with Christ.
And instead of being made *in* the image, Jesus IS the image. We find the “new selves” of the followers of Jesus are “being renewed in the image” of our Creator (Colossians 1:11).
We discover we are to be “conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29).
What happened?!
Unlike all of the other creatures God made, we were created for the purpose of imaging Him. This speaks to our innate value.
Bible scholar NT Wright describes humans as angled mirrors. We were created to reflect the character and ways of God into creation and also reflect the praises of creation to God.
Mirrors.
Mirrors can crack.
Of course, cracked mirrors don’t stop being mirrors. They can still reflect God, but not as clearly. As cracked mirrors, many pieces jut out to reflect the other things we set our hearts on as well.
Jesus came to repair our mirrors.
Why is this so important? It goes back to yesterday’s devotion.
Eden was a temple that was designed to grow and expand. The man and the woman were God’s first priests. As they had children, new generations of priests would continue to expand the garden.
But how would they expand it? By imaging God! By reflecting *HIS* wisdom, *HIS* care, *HIS* ways. That was the only way!
Cracked mirrors who want to rule earth with our own wisdom can’t engage in this work.
But Christ could. And He did. This is what His teachings on the Kingdom of God were all about.
He carried the presence of God in His Body. This made Him the new temple. This is why He could refer to His Body as the temple. And then He expanded the Kingdom by reflecting the character and ways of God everywhere He went.
And what is the church called? The Body of Christ. This isn’t just temple language. It’s temple *expansion* language.
As Christ heals our cracks, we get to image Him into the thorns and weeds of the world around us. Not on our own, but as part of Him.
Until God’s presence is reflected into all of earth.
How do you see people around you imaging God today? How are you imaging God? What cracks need to be healed?
