Sunday, December 25, 2016

Everyone was created in My image. How would your life be different if you saw Me in everyone you encountered?

Genesis 1:27

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

In God’s Image

I think we’d look at people differently and maybe even look at ourselves differently if we remembered that God created us in His image. I don’t mean that we are like God Himself because God is Spirit and doesn’t have hands, feet, or other physical human attributes (John 4:24). What I mean is that God has attributes of justice, equity, fairness, and other natures that we share with Him. If we remembered this fact, would we look at people differently? Every person ever born was made in the image or likeness of God. That’s why I believe abortion is so wrong because they are taking a life that was created in God’s image and treating it like a mass of tissue instead of what they really are: a human made in the image and likeness of God.

Seeing People as God Sees Them

I believe we do people injustice when we see them in any way less than being created in God’s image. Every human being that’s ever been born was created in God’s image and deserves respect and to be treated with dignity. I don’t care if someone believes in God or not; that’s not the point. The point is that we must see them as someone whom God wants to save because He doesn’t want to see anyone perish but that they’d all come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). He doesn’t delight in someone’s destruction, even if they’re wicked (Ezek. 18:23, 32), so neither should we. This is all the more reason to be witnesses for Christ. Since God doesn’t wish anyone to be lost, neither should we!

What If…

My wife and I take walks nearly every day (weather permitting). When I walk, I try to see people through God’s eyes. No, I’m not perfect, and, sadly, sometimes I judge them by sight. But then I think, how am I looking at them? Do I see them as God sees them, or do I see them through the eyes of a human? I would rather look at people as someone whom God’s created for His purpose and for His glory and try not to judge them by sight. How would I feel if others judged me by sight? And they probably do in many cases. I must try to think about looking at people as God sees them. What if we all looked at each other as people who were created in God’s image? How would our life be different if we saw God in everyone we encountered?

A Closing Prayer

Father, please forgive me when I judge by sight and not by seeing them as You see them. I need to look at people as being created in Your image and not in the way that I tend to see them, and in this I need Your Spirit’s help. In Your Great Son’s name, Jesus, I pray.

Amen

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