Image is Everything

Here’s an excerpt from my Bible Study this morning…

A.W. Tozer comments on God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17:

“Abraham, I am trying to tell you something ---

something very important.

I want you to listen and to comprehend.

Abraham, you were made in My image

and you were designed for a single purpose:

to worship and glorify Me… If you do not honor

this purpose, your life will degenerate into shallow,

selfish, humanistic pursuits….commit your whole life

and future into my hands.

Let me as your Creator and God

fulfill in you My perfect design.

It is My great desire that you become a faithful

and delighted worshiper at My throne…

When you have found Me, you Creator,

your Redeemer, and your Lord,

you have found everything you need!

It will be your privilege to trust and obey.

It will be my privilege to bless you,

guide you, and sustain you.”

This passage, as well as all of the scripture assigned to today’s lesson, spoke very clearly to me today…

There are many days when I think, “Lord, what am I doing here? I feel so lost and confused… I don’t know what you want from me.” But then I remember…

The Bible says we were “created in His image”. We are his “masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). I am also reminded of one of my favorite verses of scripture from Jeremiah, chapter 29, verse 11… “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you… plans to give you a hope and a future”.  And Titus 2:11-14 tells us that as our Blessed Hope, Jesus redeemed us and purified us to be His chosen people.  People who are “zealous for good works.”

In his book Desiring God, John Piper so eloquently states…

“He created us ‘in His image’

so that we would image forth His glory

in the world.  We are made to be prisms

refracting the light

of God’s glory into all of life.

Why God should give us a share

in shining with His glory is a great mystery.

Call it grace or mercy or love ---

it is an unspeakable wonder.

Once we were not.

Then we existed for the glory of God!”

God’s entire purpose for my existence (for the existence of all of creation, for that matter) is to BEAR HIS IMAGE… SHINE MY LIGHT… REFLECT HIS GLORY!!! No matter what. No matter where. We are to SHINE!!

So check the mirror… Who are you reflecting today??