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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.