10-10-2019

Good Morning All,

       Genesis 1:27; “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

    It is one thing that I am completely flummoxed by.  I get calls to visit moms and new babies in the hospital.  It is a wonderfully joyful time.  Yet, someone will inevitability ask, “who does he (or she) look like?  I really never know.  In a few months, I can guess; you see a dimple show up or the eye structure or the turned-up nose; then I can kind of tell but my usual thought is “he looks like an angel.”

    Sometimes, it is almost uncanny how much a child looks exactly like one of the parents.  They look like a “mini me.” It really gets interesting if and when they start standing like the parent or start to adopt the mannerisms and movements of the parent.  When little girls who look like mom and then they go to a similar hairstyle or similar style dress it can be amazing.  We use the phrase “the spitting image” to describe these children. 

     In our verse today, we see the phrase “image of the God”.  To many people, this sounds like we are the “spitting image” of God.  Yet we know that God does not appear like us; God is Spirit without bodily form.  We know this means that we were created as God, with perfect knowledge of his will and a heart that desired to follow it.  But sin removed that and so this image became so tarnished, we no longer are in the image of God.

    When we want to truly see God, we only need to look to Jesus.  We see God as a loving and compassionate God.  We see it when Jesus healed the blind, the deaf and the lame.  We see it when Jesus fed the multitudes.  We see it when he had mercy on the woman caught in adultery.  So, what does this mean to us?  It means that God is an unchanging God; he had compassion, love and mercy on the people as he walked the earth and he does the same today.

     Scriptures uses many metaphors to describe the people who are lost in sin.  One that I like the best is that of sheep who were poorly sheared.  They are beaten, bloodied and completely lost.  There are many days when that is how I feel but as I sit and look at it, I remember the words of Jesus.  I remember his words of love, his words of compassion, his words of grace and his unending words of forgiveness.  I hope you do as well.

    When you think of God, remember his image as dying a horrific death because he loves you.  Remember his resurrection as a sign that what he did was enough for you and that God said this is enough.  Remember his ascension because where he goes we will follow.  Remember his promise to return to restore perfection to this creation.  Remember that you are a child of God and nothing will ever change that.  Remember the love that God shows through his image- Jesus.

Father of all love, give us the wisdom to see your love shining through in Jesus.  Often, we wonder about who you are, we fail to see your love for us shining as a beacon through the life of Jesus.  Help those who are struggling now to see your wonderful grace and give them the consolation and peace which they need. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret