Created In His Image

A moment for the Word

Good morning and welcome to The Daily Bread. I am your host, Jason Deaver, and today's episode is titled Created in His Image. You know, I created this podcast that before the notifications start coming in, before all the worries and distractions start piling up on your plate, that you actually take a moment and pause to get some of the daily bread that Jesus talks about in Matthew 4:4.

He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, and he says, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. We all know that we need physical bread to strengthen our bodies, but we also need the word of God to strengthen our spirit. So I invite you right now, wherever you are, take a moment, set things aside, and let's receive our daily bread.

You ever wondered what God is actually doing in your life? I mean, after you put your faith in Jesus, what comes next? Is Christianity mainly about being forgiven so that someday we can go to heaven? Yeah, that's certainly part of our hope. But recently I noticed something in scripture that completely changed the way I think about salvation. God isn't only preparing a place for us, he's transforming us into the image of Jesus.

Created in God’s image

Now to understand that we have to go all the way back to the beginning.

In Genesis 1:26, then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness. And Genesis 1:27 says, So God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. Now think about that for a second.

Of everything God created, human beings are uniquely described as being made in the image of God. We were created to represent Him, to reflect His character, to live under His authority, and to carry out the purpose He gave humanity with this creation. But then Genesis three happens, and humanity chooses to trust the serpent's word instead of God's word. Sin enters the human story, and something goes terribly wrong. You know, humanity still bears God's image, but sin corrupts the way we reflect him. And that's where Jesus comes in.

Jesus, the perfect image

Jesus is the perfect image. Colossians 1:15 says something incredible about Jesus. The Son is the image of the invisible God. There it is again. That word image. Did you hear it? Genesis says humanity was created in God's image. Then the New Testament tells us that Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

So Jesus doesn't merely tell us what God is like. He shows us with his compassion, his holiness, his obedience, his mercy, his love, his willingness to serve, his willingness to forgive, his willingness to lay down his life for others. I could keep going on. When we look at Jesus, we truly do see the perfect image.

Becoming more like Jesus

And that means Jesus didn't come merely to forgive what went wrong in Genesis. He came to restore what sin had broken. You see, God is making us like Jesus. Now here's where this becomes personal. Because in Romans 8:29, it says that God's purpose is for believers to be conformed to the image of his son. Think about that.

We are to be conformed to the image of his son. God isn't merely trying to make me a nicer person. He isn't trying to improve my behavior. He's making me more like Jesus. And here's where the Holy Spirit comes in. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, it says that we are being transformed into his image with ever increasing glory. And Paul says this transformation comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Now that really changed the way I think about the Holy Spirit because sometimes we focus heavily on spiritual gifts. You know, we might ask, will God give me prophecy, tongues, healing, wisdom, some other spiritual gift? And those are good questions. But First Corinthians 12 tells us that the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts according to his will. There's something even more fundamental that the Holy Spirit wants to do in us. He wants to make us look like Jesus—not physically, in our character, in the way that we love, in the way that we forgive, in the way that we respond to people when somebody hurts us, in the way we treat people who can't give us anything in return, in the way we handle temptation.

In the way we speak, the way we serve, the way we respond when life doesn't go according to our plans, that's transformation into Christ's image.

The fruit of the Spirit

Look for the evidence, and that made me start thinking differently about something else. Sometimes we're looking for spectacular evidence that the Holy Spirit is working. We might be waiting for some huge spiritual experience, and God certainly can do that, but maybe one of the greatest evidences of the Holy Spirit working in my life is something much closer to home. I'm becoming more like Jesus.

So I've started asking myself some different questions. Am I more patient? Am I becoming quicker to forgive? Do I genuinely love people more? Do I want to obey God even when nobody is watching? Does sin bother me more than it used to? Am I becoming more compassionate, more humble? Am I more courageous about talking about Jesus? Because that's the Holy Spirit's work too.

Galatians five calls this the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.

You know, if you notice something about that list, those aren't abilities designed to make people impressed with us, but they are characteristics that make our lives look more like Jesus. And I don't know about you, but that's powerful. Because I can have knowledge about God and still need transformation. I can know Bible verses and still need transformation. I can attend church and still need transformation.

I could even have a spiritual gift and desperately need transformation. That's why Paul puts such enormous emphasis on love. [Unclear phrase about God's power working through us.] I want God's spirit to work in me.

A prayer for transformation

So this has started changing the way I pray. I've prayed, God, pour out your Holy Spirit on me. I've prayed, God, show me how you will use me. I've prayed, God, give me whatever spiritual gifts you want me to have. And I'm going to keep praying those things. But let me tell you, I'm going to add something that might even be more important. Father, make me more like Jesus.

Holy Spirit, change the parts of me that don't look like Christ. Teach me to love Jesus. Teach me to forgive like Jesus. Give me his compassion, his courage, his humility, his patience. Help me obey the Father like Jesus did. And if you give me spiritual gifts, help me use every one of them to serve other people and to glorify Jesus, not myself.

Because maybe that's something we sometimes miss. The Holy Spirit isn't simply preparing us to do something for God. The Holy Spirit is transforming us to become more like Christ. You know, one thought to carry with you today, before you get back to your day, I want to leave you with one question. Don't only ask God what do you want me to do today? Also ask, God, who are you making me into?

Because scripture gives us an incredible answer. We were created in God's image. Sin distorted what humanity was created to reflect. But Jesus came as the perfect image of the invisible God. And now, through the Holy Spirit, God is transforming his people into the image of his Son. That's not something that happens overnight. I can guarantee you, it's a lifetime of walking with Jesus.

Day by day, prayer by prayer, decision by decision. Sometimes God may change something dramatically. Other times you may look back after months or years and realize I'm not responding the way I used to. I'm forgiving things I couldn't forgive before. I'm loving people differently. I'm trusting God more. I'm becoming more like Jesus. And maybe that's one of the greatest miracles the Holy Spirit performs.

Closing prayer

Father, thank you for creating us in your image. Thank you for loving us even when sin distorted what you created us to be. Thank you for sending Jesus, the perfect image of the invisible God, to save us and bring us back to you. Holy Spirit, fill us, transform us, remove whatever is in us that doesn't look like Jesus. Teach us to love like Him, forgive like Him, have compassion, courage, and humility, and help us obey you when it's easy and when it's difficult. And if You give us spiritual gifts, help us never use those gifts to draw attention to ourselves.

We want people when they encounter our lives to let them see more of Jesus.

Amen. This is the daily bread, and before your world goes crazy.

Until next time. God bless.