About a week and a half ago I asked this very same question: “What in the world is going on?” A that time we were talking about things like flooding, tornadoes, wild fires, earthquakes, typhoons, the economy, trade talks with China and of course the Corona virus. Those were and remain some pretty serious issues that our world faces and we have not even come close to solving any of them. Little did any of us know that we would be dealing with the unrest all across the USA that is going on today. Sure, we have seen things like this on the news happening in New York, Chicago, LA, Baltimore and St. Louis, but Peoria, IL? Bloomington-Normal, IL? Really? This is hitting a little too close to home, don’t you think? And yet, this kind of stuff has been happening all along around us in our own little neighborhoods and we rarely take notice. We live in a world that has social media and communication capabilities that we have not had in the past. We can communicate a message, true or false, and get people to do things that we never imagined. We have people who treat other people worse than animals. If your skin color is “different”, red yellow, black or white, then you are obviously different. Why is that? Personally, I’m a fan of blonde hair and blue eyes and yet I married a brunette with big brown eyes. Why is that? Because when her beauty captivated me more than 40 years ago blue eyes and blonde hair were not at the top of my list, in fact, that was not even important to me.
Why didn’t God create all people to have blonde hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin? Did God even give any thought to any of that? Is it any surprise to you that we have no actual pictures of Jesus? We have all kinds of renderings of what He might have looked like, but we just do not know for sure. What we do know is that each and every one of us is created in the image of God. Think about that! God created man, you and me, in His image and He declared His creation “good”. Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all of the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
God made us to reflect His image. Think about that for a minute. Every one of us carries some of the communicable attributes of God. Wisdom, grace, love, and kindness are some of these attributes and we are made in His image.
We have been made in His image but obviously something has happened. I came across this paragraph telling us what did happen. “Sin has distorted this image, but it has not destroyed it. Our moral purity has been tainted. Our intellect is polluted by foolish ideas. We have fallen prey to the elixir of self-promotion rather than God-promotion. The image of God is sometimes difficult to discern. But do not think for a moment that God has rescinded His promise or altered His plan. He still creates people in His image to bear His likeness and reflect His glory.”
That sure sounds different from what we are being told today. We are bombarded from all kinds of media and even some pulpits to look within ourselves to find our value. Magazines and articles tell us how to find the better you by losing weight or removing wrinkles or smelling a certain way with some special perfume. Legalism in the church is veiled in how your perform, how much you give, and how faithful you are as well as your level of spirituality. The Bible tells us that we are good because we have been created in the image of God, plus nothing. God cherishes you because you bear a semblance to Him and it is when you engage in your role as an image-bearer that you will be satisfied. Think about how different this world would be if each of us, Christians and non-Christians would believe this and say: I was made for God’s glory and am being made into His image.
Please take some time to think about this and let it sink in: you are made in God’s image. So was the person sitting next to you. So was the person who mistreated you the other day. So are the people that you are watching on the nightly news. They were conceived by God before they were conceived by their parents. You were loved in heaven before you were known on earth. You are not an accident and neither is the person next to you. You were made in God’s image and He loved you so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die for you and for me. Allow that truth to define the way that you look at yourself. Now, allow that truth to also define the way that you look at other people too. Think about this: every person that you see was created to bear the image of God and because of that they all deserve to be treated in light of that. Imagine what would happen in our society if people embraced that truth and treated people like mage-bearers of God. Racism would cease. The way we treat those that are different from us would change. Those in prison, the mentally ill, those who are in leadership positions, those who are not, everyone would be treated differently. God is the One who breathed life into every human being on the face of the earth. Every human being is God’s idea, so why do people, including some Christians, treat people differently?
Max Lucado tells a story that I think many of us can relate to.
Parents and grandparents understand the implications of this truth. I recall when my daughter Jenna was pregnant with our first grandchild. She was round as a ladybug. Long before Jenna gave birth to Rosie, I loved our granddaughter. I’d never seen her, but I loved her. She’d done nothing to earn my love. But I loved her. She’d never brought me coffee, or called me Papa. She’d never sung me a song or danced me a dance. She’d done nothing! Yet I loved her already. I would do anything for her. That is not hyperbole
Why? Why did I love her so? Because she carries some of me. A small part for sure, but a part of me, nonetheless. Why does God love you with an everlasting love? It has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with whose you are. You are His.
NWBC family, I want each of you to look at the people who are around you and consider this: everyone of them was created by God and in His image and ultimately for His glory. God did that! That was God’s design and plan. That was His idea and He does not have any bad ideas. He has a purpose for every single person on this earth and in our communities. Even THAT person!!! What are we as Christians to do? How are we to respond to all that is going on? I know of Christians who have gotten together on the morning after a riot to be the hands and feet of Jesus and clean up the mess that was left behind. We must show the love of Jesus!
Whatever you might believe is the right thing to do in response to what is happening, you must, as a Christian, do it through the grid of Scripture. Is what you are about to say true? Is it for the good of the other person? Are you on mission to point out faults and sin in someone, or to point people to Jesus? Are YOU faithfully bearing the image of God to those who are watching you or is your agenda for anything other than that. As I watch the news I have to admit that I have said “What in the world is going on?” I don’t know for sure but I do know that God does know what is going on and nothing has happened outside of His knowledge and permissive will. Could it be that God is watching to see how His Church, Christians will respond and act in the midst of this mess? My hope and prayer is that the people in each of our vicinities might be viewed through our eyes as those who bear the image of God and then as a result of that, those same people might see Jesus in each of us. I do not like what happened in Minneapolis at all, in fact, I hate it. God hates it too, but God loves every person involved so much that He gave His Son as a sacrifice for them. That includes George Floyd and Derek Chauvin. Think about that!!!
Let’s pray for our leaders, our country, and all who have been created in the image of God.
Why didn’t God create all people to have blonde hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin? Did God even give any thought to any of that? Is it any surprise to you that we have no actual pictures of Jesus? We have all kinds of renderings of what He might have looked like, but we just do not know for sure. What we do know is that each and every one of us is created in the image of God. Think about that! God created man, you and me, in His image and He declared His creation “good”. Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all of the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
God made us to reflect His image. Think about that for a minute. Every one of us carries some of the communicable attributes of God. Wisdom, grace, love, and kindness are some of these attributes and we are made in His image.
We have been made in His image but obviously something has happened. I came across this paragraph telling us what did happen. “Sin has distorted this image, but it has not destroyed it. Our moral purity has been tainted. Our intellect is polluted by foolish ideas. We have fallen prey to the elixir of self-promotion rather than God-promotion. The image of God is sometimes difficult to discern. But do not think for a moment that God has rescinded His promise or altered His plan. He still creates people in His image to bear His likeness and reflect His glory.”
That sure sounds different from what we are being told today. We are bombarded from all kinds of media and even some pulpits to look within ourselves to find our value. Magazines and articles tell us how to find the better you by losing weight or removing wrinkles or smelling a certain way with some special perfume. Legalism in the church is veiled in how your perform, how much you give, and how faithful you are as well as your level of spirituality. The Bible tells us that we are good because we have been created in the image of God, plus nothing. God cherishes you because you bear a semblance to Him and it is when you engage in your role as an image-bearer that you will be satisfied. Think about how different this world would be if each of us, Christians and non-Christians would believe this and say: I was made for God’s glory and am being made into His image.
Please take some time to think about this and let it sink in: you are made in God’s image. So was the person sitting next to you. So was the person who mistreated you the other day. So are the people that you are watching on the nightly news. They were conceived by God before they were conceived by their parents. You were loved in heaven before you were known on earth. You are not an accident and neither is the person next to you. You were made in God’s image and He loved you so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die for you and for me. Allow that truth to define the way that you look at yourself. Now, allow that truth to also define the way that you look at other people too. Think about this: every person that you see was created to bear the image of God and because of that they all deserve to be treated in light of that. Imagine what would happen in our society if people embraced that truth and treated people like mage-bearers of God. Racism would cease. The way we treat those that are different from us would change. Those in prison, the mentally ill, those who are in leadership positions, those who are not, everyone would be treated differently. God is the One who breathed life into every human being on the face of the earth. Every human being is God’s idea, so why do people, including some Christians, treat people differently?
Max Lucado tells a story that I think many of us can relate to.
Parents and grandparents understand the implications of this truth. I recall when my daughter Jenna was pregnant with our first grandchild. She was round as a ladybug. Long before Jenna gave birth to Rosie, I loved our granddaughter. I’d never seen her, but I loved her. She’d done nothing to earn my love. But I loved her. She’d never brought me coffee, or called me Papa. She’d never sung me a song or danced me a dance. She’d done nothing! Yet I loved her already. I would do anything for her. That is not hyperbole
Why? Why did I love her so? Because she carries some of me. A small part for sure, but a part of me, nonetheless. Why does God love you with an everlasting love? It has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with whose you are. You are His.
NWBC family, I want each of you to look at the people who are around you and consider this: everyone of them was created by God and in His image and ultimately for His glory. God did that! That was God’s design and plan. That was His idea and He does not have any bad ideas. He has a purpose for every single person on this earth and in our communities. Even THAT person!!! What are we as Christians to do? How are we to respond to all that is going on? I know of Christians who have gotten together on the morning after a riot to be the hands and feet of Jesus and clean up the mess that was left behind. We must show the love of Jesus!
Whatever you might believe is the right thing to do in response to what is happening, you must, as a Christian, do it through the grid of Scripture. Is what you are about to say true? Is it for the good of the other person? Are you on mission to point out faults and sin in someone, or to point people to Jesus? Are YOU faithfully bearing the image of God to those who are watching you or is your agenda for anything other than that. As I watch the news I have to admit that I have said “What in the world is going on?” I don’t know for sure but I do know that God does know what is going on and nothing has happened outside of His knowledge and permissive will. Could it be that God is watching to see how His Church, Christians will respond and act in the midst of this mess? My hope and prayer is that the people in each of our vicinities might be viewed through our eyes as those who bear the image of God and then as a result of that, those same people might see Jesus in each of us. I do not like what happened in Minneapolis at all, in fact, I hate it. God hates it too, but God loves every person involved so much that He gave His Son as a sacrifice for them. That includes George Floyd and Derek Chauvin. Think about that!!!
Let’s pray for our leaders, our country, and all who have been created in the image of God.