Even as simple human beings, we were made into God’s image. Genesis 1:27 reads, “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Because God is essentially spirit, He created us with a spirit. In this way, our likeness to God sets us apart from any other created being. We also have the power to think and feel, and to make moral choices.
At the beginning of God’s creation, man loved God and hated anything that involved being apart from Him. However, sin altered the human spirit and gave us an unrighteous nature. We are doomed to death without some sort of intervention.
While we do not naturally have the same God-like spiritual attributes, He graciously sent Jesus so that He could atone for our sins on the cross and so that we could be conformed to His image as the perfect Son of God.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. – 1 Corinthians 15:20-21
What ultimate evil did through man (Adam and Eve) at the beginning of the world, Ultimate Good atoned through another man (Jesus) through His death on the cross.
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Let’s skip down a few verses in the same chapter in 1 Corinthians:
And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. – 1 Corinthians 15:49
The term “image” in the reference above can be translated as representative from the original Greek language in which it was written. How can we conform to the image if Christ in such a way that we represent Him, and do it well? In the New Testament, Paul writes about the fruits of the spirit, which are Christlike attributes that can be seen in His true followers:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control; against such things there is no law. – Galatians 5: 22-23
- Do you choose to love the unlovable, even when you don’t feel like it?
- Do bad circumstances steal your joy?
- Are you at peace in non-peaceful situations?
- How good are you at working with another timetable besides your own?
- Do you seek that which is good (as defined by God’s Word)?
- Do you waiver in your faith when times are hard?
- Are you gracious in your dealings with others?
- Who or what controls you?
These are just some of the questions we must ask ourselves if we are going to put ourselves in the light of Christ to be examined. He and He alone can conform you to His image through the power of the Gospel. Besides redemption, perfection is God’s other main agenda. Let Him work in your life to make you more like Christ until the day He calls you home.
