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So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. When you can’t describe something the best thing to do is to show a picture, an image, of the item you want others to learn about. One day God walked through the world He had just created. Birds sang; water’s babbled; the breeze brought the fresh aroma of blooming flowers to His nostrils. He felt the warmth of the sun on His face as he watched a lion cub playing with a new born lamb. Life was good.
As He continued His stroll through the garden He looked around and thought, “I need to share this with someone. Someone that has emotions and intellect like I do. Someone that can choose to love my world and me. Someone that, while he shall have a beginning, can live eternally with me to enjoy fellowship with me.
He knelt one more time in the newly created soil and began to form His most amazing of all creations, man. For a time He walked with man and they enjoyed the intimacy of perfect relationship. While it was fulfilling to Him, God knew that man would need someone like himself who would be a helper. Someone who would stand beside him and fulfill the emotional and intellectual needs unique to man. So God created woman. Together they would share the intimate fellowship of love only possible through God, their Father.
The Bible tells us that we are created in the image of the Almighty God of the universe. We can not, and perhaps will not grasp the fullness of that truth until we see our master face to face. Being made in the image of God has individual as well as cultural implications for the Christ-follower. Individually it reminds us that we bear the DNA so to speak of deity. We are set apart from every other life form because we bear within us the capacity to love, to think, to choose intellectually and to live beyond the time allotted this physical shell we call a body. We will live forever, either with Jesus in Heaven or eternally separated from God in Hell.
Culturally, as Christ-followers, bearing the image of God means that we show those around us the essence and power of God through our lives. The dictionary defines image as an “exact likeness; a person strikingly like another person.” The image of God that those around us have is directly tied to what they see in us on a daily basis. We show what God is like when we get cut off on the interstate, or get lousy service at a restaurant, or are verbally and emotionally attacked or treated unjustly. If others were to describe God based on the His image shining through you, what kind of God would they see?
PRAYER: Holy Father and Creator God. I’m humbled when I try to comprehend the great love you have for me. I’m honored by the fact that you want an intimate relationship with me. I’m so unworthy of your love and grace. As I go forth I ask that in every life situation you would empower me to show others an image of You that would lead them to follow you. Empower me to believe in myself based on the fact that I am made in Your image. Amen.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10.
The ‘Cultural Onion’ is a diagram used to describe the cultural make up of individuals and societies and how that make up affects the behaviors of people. The concept uses the layers of an onion to illustrate the idea that the outer layers of a person are not, in essence, who that person it. To find the real person the layers must be peeled away until you reach the very core of who the person is.
All of our actions, feelings about ourselves and others, reactions to the circumstances of our lives and our values come from that inner core. The inner core of our being is what we hold as most important in life. It’s what we live for and what we base our life view on.
The concept is really a new way to explain what the Apostle Paul teaches us in I Corinthians 15:10. This verse is part of Paul’s teaching on the essence of the Christian life. It tells us why we do what we do. Everything Christ-followers do hinges on the fact that Jesus Christ was Son of God, crucified, risen and coming again. Nothing else really matters.
Whether we realize it or not, everything we do is based on how we view ourselves or, what is at the core of our being. Paul tells us a little about his self-view when he states that he is the least worthy of any apostles to be in the position that he is in. In other writings we see Paul, formerly Saul, as an aggressive, angry, hateful man intent on destruction of ‘The Way’ and all those who followed Jesus of Nazareth. Paul’s passion was based on his strong belief that these followers of Jesus were tools of Satan intent on destroying the true way to God. Paul was a murderer, a blasphemer and all around nasty guy.
But Paul had other qualities as well. The only ‘Bible’ the early Christians had was the Old Testament. Paul was an expert on the teachings of the law and as a contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth could very well have sat under some of His teaching. Paul’s education and heritage put him heads and shoulders above the rest of the apostles.
But none of that mattered. Paul took his self worth from the grace that he received through his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Paul took all the good of his past and realized that it didn’t measure up to God’s standards. He looked at all the bad of his life and saw no hope for any life at all. But when he looked at himself as God saw him, through the lens of Jesus forgiveness he was able to say, “all that I am is based on the grace given me.”
The same Grace that made Paul the great teacher that he was indwells each of us as Christ-followers. When you peel away all the temporal things of this world, your toys, your job, your friends and family, even your community or church activities, what is left? Like Paul, as we peel away everything about us we should be able to say, “I am unworthy of all I have. But what I am is very special because my being is not based on my own abilities, past or accomplishments. I’m important because through Jesus Christ I am a child of God, empowered by grace to change my world for Jesus.
PRAYER: Father, as I look into my past I see so many ways I’ve failed you and failed others miserably. The more I try to succeed the more I struggle to stay afloat. Thank you that the person I really am is the person that you have made me through Your Son, Jesus. Free me from my tendency to rely on my own accomplishments and strength. Empower me by Your Spirit to live according to who You see me as.
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Revelation 3:18
How we perceive something affects our entire outlook on life. Years ago ‘magic eye’ pictures were very popular. These mosaic design pictures had hidden pictures among the dots or squares. Some people could see the message in the picture right away. Others had a hard time seeing the message, or couldn’t see the message at all. It is all a matter of perception.
Spiritual perception can work the same way. In Revelation John writes to the church in Laodicea. The church in Laodicea was well established. They had been doing the same things for years and had become very stable. The trouble is, sometimes stability leads to stagnancy and Laodicea had become stagnant. In today’s terms they may be referred to as being ‘politically correct’.
The Laodicean’s knew what they stood doctrinally. They believed all the right things. The problem was that tradition and leniency had seeped into the church so that it was really hard to tell the difference between traditional and doctrine. In a word, they were comfortable. Jesus didn’t call us to grow comfortable and stagnant. He called us to be vibrant, alive members of society. Like salt adds flavor and preservatives to food, the Christ follower is to be a positive change agent in their world.
Jesus issued some harsh words to the Laodicean’s about their spiritual perception. Perhaps the biggest concern was the fact that the people didn’t even realize how far they had strayed. Like the frog in boiling water they had become so accustomed to the gradual straying from God’s ways they didn’t realize how far they were from the truth. It was as though the people in the Laodicean church had cataracts. They no longer saw their mission and purpose clearly.
As a follower of Jesus Christ we need to constantly check our spiritual eyesight to make sure we are seeing life through Jesus’ eyes and not the eyes of tradition or denominational dogma. The best way to do that is to, first of all, go directly to the source. Spend time reading the Bible on a daily basis, not just reading books about the Bible.
Secondly, talk to God about your questions. Prayer is not just you talking and God listening. It’s voicing your concerns, needs, etc. and then meditating and giving God a chance, through His Holy Spirit, to direct your thoughts in the direction He wants you to go.
Lastly, build your life around a core group of believers that you can trust to tell you the truth, pray with you and encourage you through the tough times.
Jesus wanted to clear up the eyesight of the people in Laodicea because He knew that clear eyesight leads to clear direction. In the same way He wants each of us to see how we can best change the world around us.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I come to you today realizing that my view of you and of what you want me to be is in danger of being affected by society, tradition and denominational dogma. As David prayed, I ask that you would search me and see if there is anything in my life that is keeping me from being salt to those around me. Show me through your Word, prayer and fellow believers how I can be the vibrant person you want me to be. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 