Tag: God’s image

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Luke Devotionals

Father, what belongs to you?

Surrender

“Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?”

“Caesar’s,” they said.

“Well then,” he told them, “give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Luke 20:24-25)

Father, what belongs to you? Just ten percent of my salary?

No, all I have, all I am, belongs to you.

You have engraved your image, your name on me. (Genesis 1:26-27; Revelation 3:12)

I am yours.

So let me never question your authority or the authority of your Son as the chief priests and scribes did. (Luke 20:2)

Instead, with a humble and grateful heart, may I always give you the fruit you seek from me, never sending you away empty-handed. (Luke 20:11)

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Ephesians Devotionals

To be like you

God's image

But that is not how you came to know Christ, assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, to take off, your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on, the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth. (Ephesians 4:20-24)

Father, we were originally made in your image. (Genesis 1:26-27)

But that image has been distorted and corrupted by our sin.

Your image in my life has been distorted and corrupted by my sin.

And yet you loved me, and by your grace you saved me, desiring that I become like your Son. (Ephesians 4:13)

So help me to put on the new self, one created according to your likeness.

May I be characterized by your righteousness. By your truth. By your love. By your grace. By your kindness. By your compassion.

When others see me, let them see you. I want to be like you.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Genesis Devotions

Mere animals?

Genesis

If there is one thing this world tries to convince us of is that we are mere animals.

That there is nothing truly special about us. That we’re no different from any other animal.

But Genesis 1-2 exposes that lie.

I find it interesting that God blessed the animals and humans in similar ways. Both were to multiply and fill the earth. (1:22-26)

But God blessed humans in a special way. He said,

Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth. (1:28)

But it would have been impossible for humans to fulfill that command were it not for one important thing God did, one special quality he gave us.

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness…”  

So God created man in his own image;
he created him in the image of God;
he created them male and female. (1:26-27)

God created us in his own image.

We can think as he thinks.

We can communicate as he communicates.

We can love as he loves.

We can create things as he does.

We have a sense of right and wrong, warped as it is sometimes by sin.

The next time you’re at a coffee shop, or at a park, or a beach, or a train, stop and look at the people around you.

Just look at the things they’re doing, no matter how ordinary.

And ask yourself, “Are these simply animals, no different from any other, with no greater value?”

Yes there are thing we have in common with animals. But God has made us so much more than they are.

So let us stand in awe at the God who made us. And let us stand in wonder at how fearfully and wonderfully made we are.

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Mark Devotionals

Recognizing our Lord

Mark

Jesus’ opening words to the parable of the tenants really struck me today.

A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. (Mark 12:1)

The owner, of course, represents God. God is the one who created us, created the environment we live in, and provided work for us to do. Our very ability to work and produce anything comes from him.

We are mere tenants in this world. Because of that, we owe to our Lord the fruit of our lives. Nothing really belongs to us. It all belongs to him.

But like the tenants in the story, so many reject God’s rightful lordship over their lives.

“My money! My body! My life!”

Do these words sound at all familiar? Do those words ever come out of your mouth?

Those were essentially the words of the tenants. And so they rejected the One who is the very cornerstone of our lives.

Do you?

We were made in the very image of God. Like Caesar’s image was imprinted on the Roman coins showing his authority over all who used them, God’s image is imprinted on all of us. We are accountable to him.

Do we give to God what is rightfully his? Do we give to God our very lives?

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Ephesians

Becoming all that we were meant to be

Elsa

In the Disney film “Frozen,” there comes a point when Elsa, the queen, reveals her powers with ice and snow to the people, and because of their fear is forced to flee.

All her life, she had hidden her powers from the world. But now in exile, she is determined to “Let it go.” To be all she can be.

And so she sings,

It’s time to see what I can do.
To test the limits and break through.
No right, no wrong, no rules for me.
I’m free!

But her “freedom” is short-lived, for when her sister Anna comes, she tells Elsa the mess she has made of everything by “letting go” of her “true self.”

And so Elsa sings,

Oh, I’m such a fool, I can’t be free!
No escape from the storm inside of me!

I can’t control the curse!
There’s so much fear!

And when Anna tries to convince her that she can still repair things, Elsa cries out, “I can’t.”

I wonder how many people who love the song “Let it go” ever realize what Elsa realizes later. True freedom doesn’t come in simply “letting go” and “discovering ourselves.”

For what is in us will destroy us. And what’s left is fear of what we are and the realization that we ultimately can’t fix things on our own.

But so many people fail to understand this. Paul says of them that they walk, “in the futility of their minds.” More, he says,

They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.
Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. (Ephesians 4:18-19)

Not all of this is directly applicable to Elsa, of course. Frozen is not meant to be a Christian allegory.

But she was darkened in her understanding as to who she was truly meant to be. She was ignorant due to the hardening of her heart to the people who had rejected her.

And as a result, she simply “let it go,” living her own way, and thinking herself free.

In the same way, many people today are darkened in their understanding of who they were truly meant to be.

Because of their hardened hearts, they’re ignorant, not of a God who has rejected them, but of the God who in love fashioned them into his own image.

And in rejecting God and who he created them to be, they lose sight of who they really are.

They throw off the “shackles” of right and wrong, living their own way, thinking they will find freedom. But in the end, they find they are not free at all.

Instead, by “letting it go” and living their own way, they actually make a total mess of things, a mess they cannot repair.

But Paul says that as Christians, we are not to live that way anymore. Rather, we are to put off the old self.

In other words, we are to put off our old attitudes and habits that we had when we were living in rebellion against God because they are utterly corrupt and will destroy us if we follow them. (Ephesians 4:22)

What’s the main thing to let go of? Trying to be independent of God and live our own way. Living this way doesn’t make us free. It actually binds and curses us.

So Paul says we are to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. In other words, let God change our hearts and minds, and put on the new self. What is the new self? It’s a life, “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:23-24)

That’s what we are meant to be. To be like God.

This is not to say that we will all be carbon copies of each other. We all have our gifts and talents. We all have our own personalities. We don’t lose them when we turn to God.

Rather, just as Elsa’s gifts at the end of the movie, they become the beautiful things they were meant to be. We become the beautiful creation God meant us to be.

But for that to happen, we need to let go of the attitudes of independence and self-sufficiency from God. And we need to embrace who we were meant to be: people created in his image.

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1 Corinthians

Though we are a dim reflection

1 Corinthians

I was kind of planning to move on to the next section of this passage, but the more I reflect on this passage, the more I stand in wonder at what we will be.

Our new bodies will be imperishable and incorruptible. No longer shall we know illness, injury, or death.

More, Paul tells us,

And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man (Adam), so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven (Jesus). (1 Corinthians 15:49)

Put another way, in our new bodies, we will bear the likeness of Jesus. And because he is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), we will in fact bear the image of God much more perfectly than we do now.

As Adam’s descendants, all of his imperfections have been passed down to us.

Jealousy. Deceit. Bitterness. Anger. Hatred. Sin.

All these things mar the image of God in us.

As a result, our bodies as they are are but a dim reflection of God’s likeness. But when we are transformed, we will reflect God’s image as perfectly as anything can.

As John said,

But we know that when [Jesus] appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

But though we marvel at what we will be, let us not disparage or despise what we are now.

Paul writes,

There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another.

The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. (1 Corinthians 15:40-41)

In other words, in all that God creates, each thing has its own splendor.

Our human bodies, marred by imperfections as they are, deteriorating as they are, still have a type of splendor.

Think about all the intricate parts of the eye that have to work together so that we can see. Or all the parts of the ear that are so perfectly fitted together so that we can hear.

Think about all the processes that connect my brain to my fingers so that I can type this the moment I think it.

These are things we all take for granted, but if you consider them, they’re incredible.

As David wrote, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14)

And though we are imperfect, God is not waiting for us to receive our new bodies to transform us.

Rather, Paul tells us,

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

So let us not just consider the wonder of what we will be in glory. But let us consider the splendor of the bodies God has given us now. They too reflect God, if only dimly.

And as we consider that, let us strive each day to reflect his image even more clearly to those around us.

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Luke Luke 20 Mark Mark 12 Matthew Matthew 22

Giving to God what is his

The gospels

I hate paying taxes. When March rolls around (tax time in Japan), it’s not so bad in that I actually get money back (after the pain of filling out all the tax forms).

But when June rolls around, that’s when it really hurts because that’s when I have to pay property taxes as well as city and prefectural taxes.

Nobody likes paying taxes, but the Jews in Jesus’ day especially loathed it because they were paying it to their conquerors.

And so the Pharisees and Herodians thought they had come up with the perfect question to trap Jesus, saying,

Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.

Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not? (Luke 20:21-22)

If on one hand, Jesus said they shouldn’t pay taxes, the Herodians would have immediately reported Jesus to the Roman government accusing him of being an insurgent.

If on the other hand, Jesus said it was right to pay taxes, he would instantly lose popularity with the people.

Jesus, however, knew what they were trying to do. And once again, he answered a question with a question.

After having them pull out a coin that they would use to pay their taxes, he asked,

Whose portrait and inscription are on it? (Luke 20:24)

When they answered, “Caesar’s,” Jesus replied,

Then give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s. (Luke 20:25)

What was Jesus saying? First, “You are using Caesar’s money, aren’t you? If you are using Caesar’s money, then isn’t it really his? Give to him what belongs to him.”

But he didn’t stop there. He said, “But make sure you give to God what belongs to him.”

In one short sentence, he both tactfully attacked what Rome claimed, and taught the people a very important lesson.

The Romans claimed that Caesar was God, and such was written on the inscription of the coin the people showed Jesus.

But Jesus clearly draws a distinction between Caesar and God. “Give to Caesar, the man, what is his. But make sure you give the only true God what belongs to him.”

It is the second point Jesus was making, however, that I want to focus on.

Just as the Roman coins had Caesar’s image and inscription on it, so we too have God’s image and inscription upon us.

The Bible says we were made in the image of God. And in II Corinthians 3:3, Paul tells us,

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:3)

God has written his name upon our hearts, showing that we belong to him. And though his image upon us has been marred by our sin, nevertheless, through Christ,

We…are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

What am I saying? That we belong to him. And because we belong to him, we need to give to him what rightfully belongs to him. Not just our money. But our lives.

Are you giving to God what is rightfully his?

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Proverbs

Despising our Maker

How often do we despise God?

“Despise God,” you may ask.  “I don’t despise God.”

And yet when we look down on those God has created, we do despise him.

That’s what Solomon reiterates several times in the Proverbs.  He starts by saying,

The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.

He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.  (Proverbs 14:20-21)

Every once in a while in the Proverbs, you’ll see statements like verse 20 that make you think, “Is God saying this is the way things should be?”

The answer is of course, no.  Solomon is merely stating the way things are.

When people are rich, they have many “friends.”  When they are poor, those “friends” tend to disappear.

The story of the prodigal son (Luke 15) is an example of this.

But how things are is not always how God says things should be.  And he makes it very clear that when we despise our neighbor, especially our neighbor in need, we despise God.  But if we bless them, God will bless us.

Solomon goes on to say in verse 31,

He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

A big story in the news right now is of a Miami football player bullying another and ultimatey causing the latter to leave the team.

While this passage talks about oppressing the poor, I think we could say that God looks dimly on anyone who oppresses another.

Chapter 17 in Proverbs also reiterates this idea.

He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.  (5)

How is showing contempt for others showing contempt for our Maker?

In two ways.  First, we’re telling God, “What you’ve made is no good.  It’s worth my contempt.”

Second, we’re despising someone who was made in the image of God.  When we spit at someone, we spit into very the image of God.

How about you?  Do you despise the poor or homeless you see on the street?  Do you look down upon the weak, not only the physically weak, but the emotionally weak as well?  When we despise them, we despise Jesus.

But when we show kindness to them, Jesus says we’re showing kindness to Jesus himself.  As our Lord himself said,

I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.  (Matthew 25:40)

How do you see the people around you?

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Genesis

So God created man in his own image

God's image and homeless man

I’ve read these words a thousand times, so it’s easy to just read right past them without thinking about it.

But apparently, they’re words that God thought were so important, he took the time to have it written twice in the same verse.

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

In other words, when God created the human race, he created reflections of himself.

Every time we show kindness to another, we reflect God’s image.

Whenever we show mercy and grace to another, we reflect God’s image.

Everything that is good within us reflects the image of God.

So whenever we look at another person, we should see them as images of the God who created us.

I have to admit, though, that sometimes it’s hard to see, because unlike Adam and Eve in the beginning, we are all distorted reflections of God. The brokenness that comes from sin has marred that image.

Sometimes when I’m walking in the underground mall in Umeda, I smell a horrible smell, and when I look up I see a homeless person that apparently hasn’t taken a bath in weeks. It’s hard for me to see God’s image in him.

Or sometimes when I’ve taught elementary or high school students that are disrespectful and stir up a lot of trouble, it’s hard for me to see God’s image in them.

And because of that, it’s easy in my heart to devalue them. To despise them. To see them as of little worth.

And yet, God sees these very same people and says, “They were created in my image, distorted though that image might be. What right do you have to look down on them? What right do you have to despise what I have created? I valued them so much that I sent my Son to die for them.”

And it’s not like the image of God in me is not distorted either. By judging these people and despising them, I can see that the image of God in me is clearly marred as well.

When I look at my life and all the sin that’s there, I have to wonder how people see me? How distorted is the image of God I reflect when people look at me? Honestly, I’d rather not know.

Yet God doesn’t give up on me. He keeps on working in me to renew me and make me more like himself. As it says in II Corinthians 3:18,

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

And if God doesn’t give up on me, who am I to give up on others as lost causes? Who am I to despise others?

For by the mercy that I myself have received, others may be transformed back into the likeness of the God that created them too.

So the question for me is, “How much will I reflect God’s image to those around me whose images have been marred by sin? Will I show them the same mercy that I have received?”

Lord, all I want for others to see
is a reflection of you inside of me.

Like the sun on the still water,
let me be a mirror of your heart.

I want to walk in the image of you,
like a child imitating what his Father would do.

A mirror of your heart. — Chris Christian