By David ReayTuesday 16 Apr 2019LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 2 minutes
Read Genesis 1:26-28
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
27 So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” (NLT)
Here is one way of describing yourself. You are iron, enough to make a medium-sized nail. You have enough phosphorus to tip a thousand matches and enough sulphur in you to rid one whole dog of fleas. You contain sugar so as to sweeten seven cups of tea, and if you are in any way typical, there is enough fat in you to make seven bars of soap. And of course, most of you is actually water.
But we instinctively rebel against such a description. To be human is to be more than a collection of chemicals. We are made in the image of God. Meaning we have a capacity and need for relationships with God and others. We are endowed with moral reasoning and responsibility. And we have a certain authority to be used wisely in God’s world.
We are not the products of chance, we are persons made by a personal God. And when God made us, he finished his creative work. Human beings were the pinnacle of his creation: it was as if he looked at us and concluded that he couldn’t top that act!
In short, we have great dignity and value. And this shapes how we regard ourselves and others. All of us bear God’s image irrespective of how marred that image might have become. Each of us is a masterpiece, albeit one that needs restoration. God does not make junk.
Blessings
David Reay