You Bear God's Image!

"Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness..."   Genesis 1:26

God had you in mind before he created the world (1). He made you in his image! (2) A perfect, beautiful being with unique talents and a bestowed glory all of your own. To be enjoyed by God and others, and to enjoy God and others around you. Unfortunately it didn't stay that way (3). Christianity teaches that you have an enemy bent on your destruction (4, 4a). An enemy who was a murderer and a liar from the beginning...indeed the father of lies (5). And you, along with everybody else, have listened to his lies and are broken. The world became broken...just take a look around! As a broken person, you (and I) continue to believe the enemy's lies about so many things. Some of those lies are about who you are as a person. That the truest part of you is that you fall short, or are ugly, worthless, rejected, depressed, stupid...fill in the blank. Maybe you think you are okay overall, but unless you are delusionally arrogant (in which case you are probably a shallow person with few if any real friends), you have to know there are some things about you that are not as they should be. The truth is, the reason the lies hurt so bad is because there may be a grain of truth in them, or at least you have received wounds somewhere in your life that makes the lies seem believable.

Brooke Davis, from the series One Tree Hill

But God remembers who he had in mind when he created you. He sent Jesus to set things right again (6). To give you 'heart' surgery. To remove your old, broken heart and replace it with a good and noble one (7). To replace your broken image with a brand new one (actually, the restoration of your original image before it was marred). And to take away the lies you have believed about your identity and give you a brand new name (8, 9). The old is gone, the new has come! (10) He doesn't force it on you. You are free to take up his offer of restoration or to reject it. But it is available to all who ask (11).

If you take up his offer, will you still struggle with brokenness? William Gurnall said It is the image of God reflected in you that so enrages hell; it is this at which the demons hurl their mightiest weapons.So yes, there will still be battles. We are in the midst of an epic battle for and against the restoration of many other lives before the enemy must be destroyed (4). But the good news is that this enemy was defeated at the Cross and one day will be completely destroyed (12, 13). His defeat cost Jesus his life, but death could not hold Jesus (14) (more about that on Easter). And death will not hold us either (15, 16).

There is mystery in this. But there is also adventure and joy. Do you want to know who you are, your true identity? Invite God into your life and start the journey to discovery if you haven't already (Prayer to Receive Jesus as Savior)!

By the way, if you haven't had a chance to watch the video on my last post, please take the time to view it. It will give you a clue about who you are in God's eyes. I also posted another 1 minute clip about the artist of that song, who though he sings beautifully has a speech impediment. You will be blessed by watching!
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Footnotes:

Remind Me Who I Am

This song by Jason Gray says a lot in three minutes of what I have tried to express in this blog. Watch it all the way to the end though!
If the link above isn't active, follow this one:
http://youtu.be/QSIVjjY8Ou8
(Remind Me Who I Am, by Jason Gray, This is the Official Music Video).

This is amazing. Jason sings so beautifully, though he struggles with a speech impediment. Listen to him talk briefly about it below:

The Stakes are High

I’m glad at the way it came out, but at the conversion moment, what I heard was God saying, “Put down your gun and we’ll talk.” C.S. Lewis.

There are many worldviews about life, death, and what happens to us thereafter. Whether by choice or default, you and I believe something that frames how we view the world and live our lives. If you are one who doesn’t want to resort to default, then how do you go about investigating the truth of the claims of the various worldviews? With such a multitude (Christianity and other religions, atheism, etc.), it can be quite confusing and overwhelming. And although nothing can force you to inwardly believe one way or another, the consequences are staggering. At the very least they may last a lifetime and at the most they could last for eternity, which is a very long time.

Caravaggio - The Incredulity of St. Thomas

My worldview should be evident from my blog, namely that I am a follower of Jesus (1). In my last post, both my wife and I commented about events in our lives that have confirmed to us the reality of God’s working in our lives. However, I know that until you experience it yourself it is difficult to accept as true. Even Jesus’ own disciple (Thomas) refused to believe the other disciples when they told him that Jesus had physically appeared to them after his resurrection. Thomas told them that he would not believe unless he saw and put his fingers in the holes in Jesus’ hands and side (from his crucifixion). Remarkably, Jesus did appear to Thomas eight days later and told him to examine his hands and side…and to believe. Thomas replied “My Lord and my God! (2)

I say remarkably for a reason, because I am going to propose a bold challenge to you. If you want to know whether God is real, you don’t have to take my word for it. Ask him to reveal himself to you. In his book "Walking with God, John Eldredge writes "In the beginning of our story...in the garden called Eden...the first man and woman...communicated with [God] directly. For this we were made. And this we must recover. Intimacy with God is the purpose of our lives. It's why God created us...not simply to believe in and obey him...though those are necessary too"

Now just a bit of clarification, Jesus has never appeared to me physically like he did to Thomas. But he has revealed himself to me (see my last post for specific examples, in the comments below the post). He has done so to countless others too (3).

I offer just a few of thoughts to consider along with that challenge. If you decide to ask him, ask with earnestness. Be open to the possibility that he exists, watch for his response (he usually does so in a whisper rather than loudly), and be patient. I don’t know how he will reveal himself to you but I have no doubt that he will.

Also, be aware that we live in an age of cynicism, which makes expecting Jesus to reveal himself to you or even believing in him challenging. This is because of thinking that has crept into our culture from the Enlightenment that has relegated God and prayer, along with things like beauty and love, to the realm of “feelings”, as opposed to the realm of “facts”.  According to this line of thinking, facts are those things that are public and real - true for everyone (e.g., science, physical objects, history), while feelings are things that are only true for me and thus, should be kept private. Therefore, God has been defined as not real and accordingly should be eliminated from public discussion and not taken seriously. This is secular humanism, by the way, which is a religion in itself as I have discussed in previous posts (e.g., The Decline of the Secular University, Science and Christianity, What is Truth?, Do I Really Matter?).

I will acknowledge that oppressive legalism has unfortunately plagued the contemporary institutional church. I believe legalism is why so many are turned off by the "church". Legalism, however, is a religious fog that veils the striking beauty of the Gospel of Jesus, both to people already inside as well as to those who are outside the church. This does not make untrue the freedom, healing, love, peace, etc., that are available from God. One just has to be aware of the putrid existence of legalism.

There was a man named Saul who hated Christians to the point that he murderously persecuted them in an attempt to snuff them out. In a stunning change of heart, Saul became one of history’s greatest advocates for Jesus Christ and his church (4). You may recognize Saul as Paul, who wrote more than half of the New Testament. Paul, by the way, used his harshest words against the legalists of his day. He said that what they offered was “dog dung” compared to the life offered by Jesus! (5) To those of you who don’t believe that God exists and therefore, believe the sacrifices asked of us by Christianity are a waste of precious life, you may be surprised that Paul agrees with you to a point. Paul said: “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men” (6). However, and this is crucial, Paul went on to boldly proclaim:  “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead” (7). He knew, because Jesus had revealed himself to Paul on the road to Damascus! Later, Paul reaffirmed this belief in a trial before King Agrippa and Governor Festus, when Paul said: “…Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles.” At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.” “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true…” (8).

Christianity is a radical worldview, but would you want to believe in anything less? It is a worldview that has been embraced by millions. It isn’t “insane” like Festus accused Paul of.

I urge you to investigate these claims seriously. Put them to the test before dismissing them. The stakes are too high not to try. Jesus is real!

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