{"id":11625,"date":"2023-09-06T09:23:47","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T15:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theclarion.org\/?p=11625"},"modified":"2023-09-06T09:23:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T15:23:47","slug":"thoughts-from-the-bible-132","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/?p=11625","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts from The Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"

God\u2019s Image Restored in Christ<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Sarah Wootten Corinth Missionary Baptist Church<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThen God said, \u2018Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,\u2019\u201d (Genesis 1:26, ESV).
\nLast week, we looked at how God made mankind special and distinguished them from the rest of creation. God created mankind in His image. However, it is clear that we are very unlike God. God\u2019s likeness in us is ruined, and we are helpless to restore ourselves to the beautiful image we were intended to reflect. When the image of God was ruined in mankind, we lost personal holiness and a joyous fellowship with our Creator. We gained guilt, sin, and eternal death. Who can help us?
\nThankfully, there is One person who has always been righteous. Colossians 1:15 says, \u201c[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God,\u201d (ESV). When Jesus calmed the raging storm, people saw God\u2019s power over nature (see Luke 8:22-25). When Jesus healed the outcasts, God\u2019s mercy and compassion was demonstrated (see Luke 8:42-48). The severity of God\u2019s just judgment was known through Jesus\u2019 words to the wicked (see Luke 10:13-16). When Jesus came as a man to the earth, mankind saw \u201cthe radiance of the glory of God,\u201d who represented God exactly (Hebrews 1:3, ESV). Jesus is God in the flesh.<\/p>\n

And yet, men rejected Jesus. I wasn\u2019t kidding last week when I said we wouldn\u2019t recognize someone who perfectly reflected God\u2019s likeness. John 1:10 says, \u201c[Jesus] was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him,\u201d (ESV). Mankind has fallen so far from whom he was created to be. So what did man do? They killed Jesus.<\/p>\n

On the cross, Jesus became the sinless sacrifice. Since God is a good judge, sinful people must be punished; otherwise, He wouldn\u2019t be just. However, Jesus became the substitute. He received the punishment that man deserved so that those who have faith in Jesus may be restored to a perfect relationship with the Father. Punishment no longer awaits those who are found in Christ (see John 3:16-18 and Romans 8:1-4).<\/p>\n

Apart from Jesus, everyone is unrighteous and guilty of sin (Romans 3:10-12). Everyone who has faith in Jesus receives righteousness from God (Romans 3:22). Those who are found in Christ are \u201choly and blameless before Him,\u201d (Ephesians 1:4, ESV). Blameless before God; doesn\u2019t that remind you of the state of man in the Garden of Eden? Jesus is the only solution. He bears no guilt Himself, and He has already bore the guilt of everyone who comes to Him. God\u2019s likeness that was broken in us can only be restored in Christ. It cannot be done apart from Christ.
\nFor Christians today, through the power of the Spirit, we strive to live a life that reflects the image of God. Colossians 3:10 tells us to \u201cput on the new self\u2026after the image of its creator,\u201d (ESV). We shouldn\u2019t continue in the wicked deeds that are opposed to God\u2019s character; rather, we are called to reflect His character once again (Galatians 5:16-24).<\/p>\n

And yet, the image of God in believers isn\u2019t perfectly realized today. Even though we are putting to death the deeds of the body (Romans 8:13), we still have sin remaining in us (1 John 2:1). But, we have hope. When Jesus comes again to make all things new, believers will be like Him (1 John 3:2). Of course, we will never be exactly like God; deity and omniscience doesn\u2019t await us in eternity. But we will be beautiful image bearers once again. We will no longer rebel against God; we will only obey Him. We won\u2019t experience the guilt and shame of our sin, trying to hide ourselves from our Father. Our whole beings will rightly worship and glorify Him in everything that we do. We won\u2019t strive with our neighbor anymore, but live in perfect harmony with one another.<\/p>\n

Lastly, can we be confident that God\u2019s likeness will be restored in believers? Romans 8:29 says that everyone God foreknew, He predetermined would be \u201cconformed to the image of his Son,\u201d (ESV). It is God\u2019s restoring work, not our own. God is all-powerful and all-knowing. Nothing can thwart His plans. God will complete the work for us. Of this, we can be sure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God\u2019s Image Restored in Christ by Sarah Wootten Corinth Missionary Baptist Church \u201cThen God said, \u2018Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,\u2019\u201d (Genesis 1:26, ESV).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tho"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11625"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11626,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11625\/revisions\/11626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}