Have you considered the implications of being made in the image of God? An image is a representation of someone or something. It is a re-presentation of the original. We are told that Jesus, as the Son of Man, was the exact representation of his heavenly Father (Heb.1:3). Jesus told Philip, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn. 14: 9). Jesus re-presented the Father to those whom he encountered on the earth. I’m not suggesting that Jesus was the exact representation of God in some physical way while on the earth, but that he carried within him the essence of his Father – his values, his purposes, his perspectives, his ways, his words, and his heart.
In the same way, we are made in the image of the Father and carry within us qualities of his divine nature. Some of those qualities have matured in certain believers. Other qualities are developing and still other qualities exist in seed form waiting to mature and bear fruit. All of mankind is made in the image of God. In many the image is distorted and fragmented and yet some of that image is still recognizable.
For those who have the Spirit of God within them, that image is in the process of being fully restored. As we become more like Jesus, we become more like the Father and as we mature in Christ, we are able to re-present the Father on earth in greater and greater ways. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor.3:17-18).
The implications of being made in God’s image cannot be overstated. That fact sets us apart from all of creation and in the beginning set us above creation. I wonder if Adam and Eve appreciated the exalted position they had been given and if they had understood who they were if they would have succumbed to the enemy so easily? I wonder if we understand who we are in Christ and the exalted position that we have? If we did, would we give in to the enemy so easily ourselves?
I suspect that we should spend the first part of every day considering who we are in Christ and who we are in the whole realm of creation – both in the natural and the spiritual realms. The Father has given us amazing positions in both realms. If we can ever grasp that reality in our hearts and see ourselves as God sees us it will change not only us but we in turn will change the world the Father has given us to rule.
