5-9-13. Genesis 1:26-27. GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE – my devotional

Genesis 1:26-27,                                                              Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 1:27                                                                5-9-13

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Dear Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for your great love for me. Your grace is more than enough. Thank you for putting people in my life who reveal your love to me. I am swimming in your grace.  I pray that all people may come to know the deep, deep love of Jesus and not live in fear. Please illuminate my heart through these verses today. Grant me more insight into what Craig Smith, author of Whiteman’s Gospel, wants to say. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: God Had A Plan (26)

We are unique creatures in this world. Verse 26 tells us why. It reads, “Then God said, ‘Let us make manin 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.’” (ESV)

We can see the relational elements of the Trinity here. Verse 26a reads, “…“Then God said, ‘Let us make manin our image, after our likeness…..”  “Us” refers to the Trinity. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit would all participate in the creation of mankind. These three aspects of the Trinity all commune together in love. When we say God, we mean the Trinity. For all eternity these three are one. They are bound together. Their identity is bound with each other. They love each other. The Trinity is a great example of relationships. It shows us the ideal of how we should relate to God and to one another.

God wanted to make a mankind in his own image. He wanted mankind to be the crown of his creation, a steward and ruler over all things. He wanted mankind to be able to share in his work, to be someone with whom he could talk, and who would appreciate the beauty and wonder of creation, a people who could understand spiritual things, a people whom he could love and who could love him. He declared his intention.

There definitely is a purpose for human beings. We are not here by accident. God wants to have a relationship with us. This relationship with us will carry on for all eternity. I forget the importance of relationships. I am very task oriented. I think about what needs to get done and being able to measure the achievements. I am actually very low in the relationship area. That is why I get very few text messages and e-mails. But I need to change. God is all about relationships. He is not all about measuring my output and holding me up to a “works” based standard. He is just happy relating to me and growing in a love relationship. I pray to be a more relational person, first to God and then to others.

I need to be more relational to God. This does require some time and some mental effort to focus my thoughts and prayers on God. How easy it is to get my mind just focused on the work at hand. Without Christian faith, the best thing that I could focus my mind and heart on is family and work at the hospital. These are good and require my attention and growth. But they are missing a very important an essential element, an interactive relationship with God and living a spiritual life, Atheists and Agnostics ignore this element. But this is not wise. There definitely is a God sized hole in every person’s heart that only God can fill. Fellowship with God, helps us in work and family also. Where would I be without opportunities to pray and meditate on an share the word of God?  There would be a missing element in my life. I pray that people in our land may fill the God sized hole in their hearts with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and not ignore this very basic and essential element of human existence.

Part 2: Created In God’s Image (27)

God made us in his own image. This means several things. Look at verse 27, ““So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

On the sixth day God created men and women in his own image. We are different than the animals. Like the other animals, people must eat and sleep and we give birth to children like ourselves. But unlike the animals, people have a soul. We share God’s life. Mankind is weaker physically than the lion or the elephant, but he can rule over them because he is a rational, caring person. He can wonder about the meaning of life. He longs for fellowship with God. We have a relationship with our Creator from whom we could get wisdom and insight and inspiration and strength to grow in our relationship with God and serve God’s purpose in our lives. This sets us above the animals.

When we look around it becomes obvious, that though this world is filled with people created in the image of God, most do not reflect the image of God. We mostly reflect our sinful nature. Our newspapers are becoming filled with violent crime stories. People are mostly self centered taking care of themselves and maybe, their own. Where is the image of God reflected in humanity?

It is there. It is reflected for those standing up and loving and caring even in the midst of suffering. It is reflected in those who don’t give up in the face of hardships. It is reflected when people express unconditional love. It is shown when people hope against all hope. The image of God is not lost in this fallen world. It is revealed brighter when the darkness tries to overwhelm us.

We need to grow in the image of God. When I ignore my sins and my flaws and ignore Jesus who is calling me to come to him for restoration and healing, then I fail to grow in the image of God. In order to grow in the image of God I must put the word of God into practice, pray, elevate my thoughts to Christ who is seating on his thrown. Like Brother Lawrence I must practice His presence. I must grow. Nowadays Jesus is helping me to grow in his image.

In the past year God has been helping me to grow out of anger and depression. But in doing so I was becoming disengaged and isolated. But now I am starting to become engaged more in the lives of those close to me. In the past I was not very excited about meditating on the things of God but now I am growing in a thirst for spiritual things. I was not excited about world mission, mostly because my mission was not “my own”. I could not be creative. I felt like I was just plugging into someone else’s recipe. But now I am growing to have a passion for world mission, especially the mission to spread the Gospel to the Native people of NW Ontario and the Art of Marriage. It is not right for me to remain in my sins and reveal the image of a fallen person. My life and character and my family must reflect the image of Jesus Christ. When people see me and my family they must see Christ and a manifestation of the gospel.

I pray that I may always grow in the image of Jesus and mature as a believer and a child of God. Based on this passage I pray for America, Canada and the First Nations People, to all grow in the image of God, the image of our common creator.

Prayer: Father, help me to grow in your image until your life in me shines through.

One Word: Created in God’s own image