Sixth day of creation: God saved the best for last!
How do we know that we are loved by God? We are created in God’s image, the very stamp of His nature is upon us. The animals, plants, trees, bugs and stars are beautiful, great and amazing, but we are more valuable than all of them because we are the image-bearers of God. How are we like God? Four significant ways: rational – like God we can think and reason; articulate – we have the gift of speech, like God we can communicate in many different ways; creative – like God we can make things, form and fabricate tools and toys and all kinds of products; and spiritual – the most important way we are like God, we can know God and understand eternity, we can relate to God and love God back. We each have an immortal soul, a soul over which God yearns jealously. We are the crown of God’s creation! God was so pleased with humans He said: “This is VERY good!” And God made the woman and the man rulers of the whole creation, high stewards of all of the earth, and all the critters. God gave us dominion, authority, over everything.
In today’s world we think a lot about image: body image and hair style and fitness and fashion and what our outside looks like. But our God-image has nothing to do with how we look and everything to do with how we were created: beautifully rational, articulate, creative, and spiritual. Perfect in the eyes of God. Glorious. We are God’s highest and best creation, the most complex, the most beautiful beings on earth, filled with potential for life and for eternity. We are extraordinary. Capable of ruling the rest of creation. Today’s message: you are created in the image of God and you are therefore extraordinary!!!!!
Prayer: Thank You, God that Your love for me is so great that You stamp Your image on me! Let me live in that truth with joy every day! In Christ’s name, amen!