Image Bearer

Genesis 1:27 tells us that we were made in His image. This past week I have pondered what does this mean exactly? I believe that it is not so much that the Image of God is something that man bears, as in an act of doing something, but rather something that man is. So often we read or hear about establishing the kingdom of God and we all probably ask “how do we do that?”

Now for the good news. We don’t have to do anything the Kingdom is already fully present in us. Just as God breathed into Adam in Genesis 2:7 and he became alive so the power of the Holy Spirit dwells in us, empowering us to be the kingdom. In the past I had mistakenly thought that being an image bearer was like carrying this giant shield of God’s image where I had to be strong enough to carry something massive. Honestly I felt it was too daunting to consider. I knew that I wasn’t strong enough, I didn’t consider myself worthy enough and I thought God probably thought so too. The truth is it’s not some massive heavy thing I have to carry. It’s not something I need to do, it’s something I get to be. All we need to do is be exactly who we are. How simple is that? He designed us exactly the way He wants us. Weird and wonderful and fully a reflection of His image!

We waste so much time trying to twist and form ourselves into some image of what we think a “Christian” should be like. The fact is it’s not about efforts we have to make, it’s about relationship to Him. He has already called us sons and daughters. It’s done, we don’t need to earn it. We only need to live in relationship with Him and His image is already visible within us. So instead of gearing up for some huge endeavor all we need to do is spend time with our Daddy God. We don’t need to have a huge ministry, a wildly successful career, the perfect family etc. We simply need to be who we are, the image of God in the earth.