“I want to be pretty.” This is the title of a popular tv program that was airing when we lived in Poland. It was a reality tv show in which in every episode you follow the changes of two women who are the heroes of the program. Each of these women work with a team of specialists for six weeks. During that time they are cut off from contact with their friends and relatives as they undergo major changes in their physical appearance and also their self-image. Finally friends and family are invited to the studio where they meet them face to face with great drama.
An example was Gosia who said: „I was good looking all my life but I’m not able to accept how I look now….It’s not about being older. But it’s simply that I look different. Now I feel like an old used up slipper. I’m ashamed of myself in front of my husband. This has gone on for nearly a year. How long can he stand it?”
Does our life and happiness depend on our appearance? I’m sure Gosia was happier after her transformation but is she a better person? Is she a better wife and mother? Does the change of appearance change our character and make us better people?
This morning we are returning to Genesis 1 and looking at one more thing that God created from nothing – the image of God in human beings. Here God says that man was created in the image of God; in his likeness. But what does that mean?
Can we say that we physically look like the Lord God? The Old Testament many times describes God as a man. The Bible says that God has a face, ears, eyes, mouth, hands, feet, and fingers. God walks in the garden of Eden and sits on a throne.
These descriptions are called anthropomorphisms which means a way of describing God in a way that reminds us of a man. But God is actually Spirit and has no body. John 4:24 “God is Spirit.” He is not limited as we are. He doesn’t need eyes to see or ears to hear. So the image of God is not his physical appearance. The Old Testament uses the picture of a man so that we can better understand the actions of God. In fact any time people do see God, he is in the form of Jesus Christ: Col. 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God.”
The image of God in us separates us from the animals who were not created in His image. We are unique. And his image is about his character. What do we have in common with the character of God?
God can speak. In the third verse of this chapter it says „And God said…” and then the sixth verse: “And God said”. God spoke to Adam, to Abraham, to Moses, and to us. And we are still similar to God because we also speak – we communicate through words. And we don’t just speak among ourselves but we speak with God in prayer. Prayer is simply a way of communicated in our Spirit. Out of all creation, only people can pray!
God can write. What did he write? God used men to write the Scriptures but there are a couple exceptions: God wrote the 10 commandments. Exodus 31:18 And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.” Just like God, we too write. We write books, emails, notes, lists, because we are in His image.
Above all God is creative. He created the world in a beautiful, interesting, artistic way. Look at the person next to you – doesn’t that prove that God is creative and original. Who else but God could make a face like that? And so we too make all sorts of things: we paint, build, compose, create from fabric, from wood, from metal, from everything possible. And thanks to God we create new life – we are given the awesome blessing to bring new life into the world because we are in the image of God.
God loves. You can say that your dog loves you – but he knows that you are his master and that you take care of him and feed him. But God loves us without any conditions – he loved us when we were enemies of his. Often we use the word “love” in songs. We fall in love and get married. We love our friends, our children. All of this because we are in the image of God.
God has an eternal Spirit – he never ends. Man is not just body. But unlike animals, we have a soul and a spirit which are eternal and never end. Death does not end our Spirit and Soul but they continue on because we are created in the image of God.
The image corrupted
Some may claim that we no longer have God’s image. Read with me James 3:8-9 “but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.” According to this passage we still are born in the image of God but that image is distorted, corrupted, twisted. We have the characteristics of God but his image is distorted in us.
Remember when Adam and Eve committed the first sin? How was Eve tempted? She wanted to know both good and evil. In order to know evil she rebelled against God and ate the fruit. With Adam they knew evil and from that moent the image of God was corrupted in Adam and Eve. Sin was planted in the heart of man – he knew evil. And this is our inheritance from them – we have a desire to do evil. This is our sinful nature.
Like God we can speak but we use our words in evil ways to hurt others, gossip, lie, curse, use vulgar words and deny God himself.
Like God we can write but we write books about other gods. We write about evil things. We write text messages that destroy, emails that hurt others, books that lead people away from Christ. On the internet are thousands of web pages devoted to evil, rebellion, murder, sex, violence, and falsehood.
Like God we create but we create terrible things such as pornography, idols, places of false worship. We create drugs which destroy the body. We make bombs and instruments of torture, films which fill man with terrible thoughts and temptations.
Like God we love but unfortunately we love mainly ourselves. We serve ourselves and love others only under certain conditions. Love is understand only as lust. We want someone for ourselves rather than thinking about giving of ourselves to someone.
Like God we have an eternal spirit. But our spirit is sinful and is heading for eternal suffering. Our spirit cannot exist in the presence of God. 1 John 1:5 “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” No one can be near God if he is in the darkness. John also wrote in 2:9 “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.” That’s very serious! This isn’t about murder, rape, black magic, but is about hatred to someone. If you hate someone you simply do not belong to God but are walking in the darkness.
If we’re honest, we must admit that the image of God in us is not beautiful. How does the image of your life appear?
Jesus as the Image of God
19th century English historian, Thomas Carlyle, once wrote these words: “I am a poor man, but I would gladly give 1/3 of all my belongings for a faithful picture of Jesus – it would be the most valuable belonging of all time.” Years later French artist Leon Lhermitte painted a portrait of Jesus in a robe but sitting at a table with French villagers. 30 years later an American newspaper printed the picture and from that time is was very well known.
Then Warner Sallman, an American liked that painting so much that in the 1920’s he made his own version but only with the face of Jesus. He left out the Frenchmen and the table. He called it: “The head of Christ.” Today most people think of this as the official portrait of Jesus but he certainly didn’t have blue eyes.
A teacher at Sunday School once showed a painted picture of Jesus to the children and explained: „You must understand that the artist painted this picture in his own image. He didn’t know how Jesus really looked.” And then one boy responded: “According to me, he looks just like Jesus!”
Is Jesus image really that important? Yes, but not his physical appearance. Colossians 1:15 says: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” The character of Jesus reveals what the Father is like. He loved the Father and people without conditions – even his worst enemies! He communicated in words which healed, encouraged, built up, gave hope. He did the will of his Father and praised Him through his words and actions. What did people say in response? “He has a demon!” „He is crazy!” (Jn 10:20) When he said „I and the Father are one” they took stones to kill him (10:30-31) and later, people created in God’s image cried out: “Crucify Him!”
We are sick! And we need help because our sickness called sin directs our thoughts, our words, and our deeds. Just like cancer destroys our body, sin destroys our life and hurts not only us but people around us. Do we turn to the doctor? Or do we say that everything is ok – everything will heal itself.
But Jesus took on himself the consequences of our sins – our nature – which is corrupted and terrible. Why? So that our image might be restored! 1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” This is our lifeline – our renewal – our healing. We give our life to Jesus and he changes us into a pure image of God.
What are the results of this change of image? First, we are pure before God and before judgment. “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation, the old has passed away, behold the new has come.” (2 Cor. 5:17) What does that mean that we are “in Christ”? It means that you have given the ownership and leadership of your life to God. You are entrusting your life to his control. You trust Jesus lived and died and lives today for YOUR SAKE. Jesus is your hope, your life, your thinking, your will and your love. And when you stand before the Father on the day of judgment God sees Jesus because you are “in Christ.”
There is a second change – every day of your life you look to Jesus to form you to be more and more like him. We still fight with our old sinful nature to the end of our lives. But we “Look to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith.” (Heb. 12:2) Every day we need to give our life over to him and surrender to his will. Ask his Holy Spirit to change your character: “Help me to write like you to speak like you to create like you to love like you to live only for your glory.” And every day God will answer that prayer. He will open doors and change you to be more and more like his Son.
Every one of us want to be pretty or handsome. I don’t know anyone who wants to be ugly and repulsive. And every one of us are beautiful to the Lord as his creation – that beauty is completed through Jesus Christ. The beauty of Jesus is yours today. Will you receive it?
