Genesis 1:26-27. 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Yesterday we said that being alive begins with God and with his love. But what does it mean to be alive? Were we made by God simply to be loved by God, like a pet? The answer the Bible gives is actually way better. Better than being loved? Yes.
To be alive is to image God. Genesis teaches us that the image of God has been stamped into every human being. Every person bears God’s image and likeness. Nothing else in all creation can make this same claim. Not plants, or animals, or even angels. Only us. This means that we have a unique purpose – to make the invisible God visible. But what exactly does that mean?
Our image. Why does Genesis (and God) use the plural our? Because, like we said yesterday, God is a plural. A trinity. A loving community of three that exists as one God. This divine community of love is what we were made to make known to the world.
What about the word image? What does that mean? The word image can bring to mind many ancient concepts. An idol imaged a deity. A servant imaged their master. And a son imaged their father. That last one is the one that we want to grab hold of today, image bearing as son-ship. The Bible says that Jesus is the eternal and uncreated Son of God and therefore he is THE eternal Image of God. God the Father’s image is God the Son.
Colossians 1:15. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
You and I were created in THE Image, Jesus. We were never meant to be THE Image. But we were meant to be IN the Image. Our sin and rebellion, however, have caused us to naturally fall short of this. But the good news is that now, by our union with Christ, the divine image is restored in us by the Spirit. Our created destiny has been regained. The goodness of being like Jesus has been restored in us by his own indwelling life and death.
Now we can see that being made in God’s image is even better than simply being loved. It is the ability to love like Jesus in return. We are not just loved BY Christ; we are able to love LIKE Christ too.
“To live is Christ” restores the image and likeness of God to humanity as we become like Jesus. But don’t forget this restored image of Christ in us is a process. A process of learning to live moment by moment from his life. A process of learning to receive and then share the love of God. A process that one day will be complete when we finally see Jesus face to face.
1 John 3:2. we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
You: What would you say is the purpose of your life? Is it image-bearing?
You in Christ: Meditate on how being in Christ is more than being loved by God, it is the ability to love like God.
Christ in you: How can you make the life and love of Christ visible today?
To Live is Christ 