Created in the Image of God
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27
The Living Stone and a Chosen People
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:4-9
I love the books of First and Second Peter. He gives us several powerful word pictures for Christ. The language that Peter uses to describe Christ’s followers in 1 Peter 2 never fail to move me. The love of God washes over me as I read them. So does the responsibility to live in a Christ-like manner!
Let the words wash over you as you hear God’s word for you!
You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood--created in the image of God
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Jesus is our high priest, and we are a member of His Royal Priesthood. All we need to know about membership can be learned from Him. Be confident that God has plans to use you, (yes, even you) in his Kingdom work. As people of God, we are called to live in such a way that magnifies and glorifies Him. Our lives are to be magnets which draw others to Jesus just because of what they see in us!
Each of us is created in God’s image--uniquely designed and created for our individual purpose; one that God will equip us for and use for the glory of our High Priest, Jesus. Because we are created in the very image of God, we are designed to be creative, passionate, loving, goal oriented, lovers of beauty, order, and relationship and actively loving others.
God-whose very existence forms community - God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit- created us to also live in community. Peter names this community the “Royal Priesthood”.
We are created to dream dreams about what we want to do in this world. Just as Joseph’s dreams revealed to him God’s own unique purpose for Joseph, God is continually trying to reveal His purpose to us!
Peter tells us we are a “people for [God’s] own possession”, so never fear that you are alone in your purpose or that God will not equip you for that purpose. As members of the Royal Priesthood, we have all we need to fulfill this high calling from God.
One morning, caught up in the wonder that God created me in His own Image and a designed a unique purpose for me in His Kingdom work, I wrote my own psalm of wonder and praise. I was assaulted with all that it means to being created in the image of God.” I pray my psalm causes your wonder to increase, while drawing you deeper into the presence of God.
Being created in the image of God is beyond our human comprehension -
O God, I am created in your image - in your likeness
How vast are the implications of this!
This being created in the image of the living God!
Born to dream.
Born to live with passion.
Born to look ahead with hope -not focus on the past.
Born with visions of a better world - filled with hope and peace.
Longing for a simpler life,
or more abundant life.
Buried deep within us, your priests, lies a –desire for meaning and fulfillment,
yearning for significance,
gnawing truth that there must be more to life than simply living day by day. Springing up from that secret place in my soul I know
I am unique.
Yet my inner spirit questions, am also special?
Loved?
Enjoyed?
Wanted?
O, how I yearn to be. I want to be special and known and wanted by Someone.
Being created in the image of God makes me yearn for relationship and fellowship with Him.
This being created in the image of the Creator God, also
Tells me that I have the heart and soul of a creator!
An eye for beauty,
for symmetry,
for color,
and a heart that responds to imagination and beauty and music and art -
and all things beautiful!
My eyes feast on the splendor of an icy blue glacier,
While my heart stirs in awe at the size and sheer power of that river of ice.
And yet my eyes also squint take to in the delicate,
intricate beauty of a butterfly’s wing.
While my heart thrills at the details and colorful design on a creature so small and fleeting.
My hands are raised in worship at the beauty of a song
proclaiming the glory and the power of God.
I am spellbound by the splendid color, beauty, and fire of a sunset.
Yes, being created in the Image of God makes room for beauty and power in your creation—
Yet being created in the Image of God also stirs in me the desire to create!
My hands long to caress and shape soft, malleable clay…
Or they itch to bring a canvas to file with the blending and splashing of oils…
Or to patiently carve a lovely loon from a hard block of wood.
My heart rejoicing as the strength of functionality of an earthen bowl
And smiles that the burst of color on finished canvas,
And marvels at hands that can create such a likeness from a
mere block of wood
Or perhaps, my creativity takes a different route.
Maybe my hands long to coax a hymn from the ivory keys on a piano,
A concerto from the violin, or
jazzy tune from the brass trumpet.
My heart will ever embrace music of the soul,
offering it up to the Creator as a song of praise.
This being created in the image of God, the Father,
shows me, as well, that I am created for relationships, for community.
In fact, I yearn for meaningful relationships,
for love and
trust and
sharing and fun.
For moments of intimate conversation,
for walks along the shore hand in hand with my lover,
my soul mate,
or my friend.
It means my arms yearn for snuggling moments with a child,
or times of deep sharing with an elderly wise neighbor.
Or maybe simply the everyday act of breaking bread around a table of family and friends
Or celebrating momentous occasions with loved ones.
All the while my heart, though, is yearning for stolen moments of quiet and solitude
with my heavenly Father, my Abba.
For moments sitting at the feet of Jesus, my Lord,
and melting in the warm presence at the Holy Spirit.
And knowing, knowing indeed, that I am someone special to Someone
God, this is so beyond our human comprehension -
This being create in your image.
This knowing I have been created to live with you,
to gain my purpose from you, and meaning in you,
this knowing that I was made for much more than this earth can offer.
This conviction that the earth is not my permanent home.
That You are preparing a place for me where You are!
This being created in the image of God means that I was created for eternity.
For unbroken relationship with you.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
So, please, Jesus for today, stay close by…
Awaken that long lost yearning for all things You within me…
Stir up inside me the fire of your love…
And allow me a glimpse of eternity - even now. Amen.
Take a few minutes to ponder and write what it means to you to be “created in the Image of God". Use this song by We Are Messengers, "Image of God" to further inspire you!
It is truly a concept that will take a lifetime to grown into. If you are willing, share with others in the comment box on the blog site.