Summertime Reflections

In the image of God:

Life as it was meant to be.

Kingston Open Bible Church, August 2010

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth

was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and

the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

And God said, "Let there be light,"

God saw that the light was good…

…and there was light.

… Gen 1:26Then 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 the earth, and over all the creatures that move

along the ground."

Gen 1:27-28

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

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

“O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name

in all the earth!

At the thought of this creation mandate the Psalmist David broke into a song of praise:

You have set your glory above the heavens.

When I consider the heavens, the work of your hands, the moon and the stars

which you have set in place,What is Man,

that you are mindful of him, the son of man, that you care for him?

You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him

with glory and honour.You made him ruler over the works of thy hands,

You put everything under his feet, all flocks and herds

and the beasts of the fields The birds of the air and the fish of the sea

and all that swim the paths of the seas

O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

Made in the image and likeness of

God!

You get Multiple Blessings!

A little lower than the Heavenly

beings, and crowned with

glory and honour

Ruler over the works of God’s hands

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made… Ps 139:14 - NIV

However, sin has marred the image in humanity

so that we have deviated from the original plan for our

development, no longer living out the wholeness and beauty

of being image bearers.

The gospel places those with faith in Jesus Christ back on course

toward God’s intended goal for us – to be fully human, glorifying God

as the imago Dei.

However,

Each human being (including the person in the mirror)

is created in the image of God, awaiting full restoration.

Jesus Christ came to redeem us so that we can experience the

fullness of what it means to be the image of God.

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are

changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of

the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18 - KJV

We can now experience life as it was meant to be

That is our destiny, finally arriving at what God intended all along.

We will be God’s representatives on earth, in harmonious

relationship with the Trinity and with our fellow human beings,

continuing to carry out that original Cultural Mandate.

We are not transformed merely as individuals; we need to be

interconnected with a faith community that walks with us toward this shared

destiny,

God Bless you!