You are made in the image and likeness of God
The Bible makes it clear in the very first chapter of Genesis that we are made in the image and likeness of God. But then the Bible tells story after story after story of how people have sinned and not been true to the way God created them.
Someone asked the other day: “If I’m really made in the image and likeness of God, why do I keep sinning?”
Well, that’s actually a pretty good question. It goes pretty deep, doesn’t it? And that’s what we’re going to be talking about on this episode of Freedom Friday.
Your identity is made in the image and likeness of God
In previous episodes of Freedom Friday, I’ve talked about your identity as the child of God, made in the image and likeness of God. It can be very inspiring to catch a glimpse of yourself in this way.
But then what happens when you fall back into the old patterns of thinking and acting and find yourself making the same mistakes and committing the same sins you did in the past? And all this in light of the fact you believe in Jesus and are trying to follow him in your daily life.
And then you hear me or someone else say, or you read it in the Bible, that you’re still the image and likeness of God even when you’ve sinned? How can you be a sinner and the image and likeness of God, who is sinless, at the same time? That’s a excellent question.
Washing mud off your car
Let me ask you a question. What if you just got your car washed and it’s just as shiny clean as it was when it was brand new, but the next day you were driving on a dirt road and got caught in a terrible storm. Your car is caked in mud. Are you worried that the mud will not come off? Of course not.
It’ll take some effort to get it clean again. But does that mean your car was not clean the day before? Can the mud be washed away and your shiny clean car be found underneath all that mud? Absolutely. Because the mud is not part of your car. You wash the mud away and the car is just as good as new.
You are made in the image and likeness of God. That never changes. That’s a promise. That’s a statement of fact in the Bible. It never goes away. This original “you” may get covered up by your own sins or someone else’s, but those sins are not part of your identity any more than the mud is part of your car. Underneath it all, you are still the image and likeness of God, no matter how much mud is there, no matter how much you have sinned.
Now, if you drive your dirty car around and never get it washed again, for whatever reason, it will keep getting dirtier and dirtier and be harder to clean in the long run. If you don’t acknowledge your sins and repent, but just keep sinning, it’s going to be harder to face the mess you’ve created in your life and turn things around.
It’s time to see yourself made in the image and likeness of God
But you can wash your car regularly, so it’s no big deal to keep it clean. And you can pray regularly to become more and more aware of yourself as made in the image and likeness of God. Then it’s easier to see that the sins you commit are not part of who you are, who you really are, as the child of God.
Your sins can never change the fact that you are made in the image and likeness of God. They can only close your eyes to it. Now that doesn’t mean you can just keep sinning and think you’re going to get away with it.
Because eventually you’ve got to get your car clean. You’ve got to get your life straightened out and stop the sin. How do you do that? Maybe you’ve tried. We all have.
Focus on God
One of the things I have found most helpful in dealing with my own sins is to focus more and more on God’s nature, His purity, His love, His grace, His wisdom, His power, His tenderness, all the things that are true about God, and then acknowledging that I am made in the image and likeness of God.
The more you can do that, you’ll start to see that you’re the image and likeness of His love, of His purity, of His grace, and all the other things that God is. The more you focus on who God is and admit to yourself that you’re made in God’s image and likeness, you’ll start to see yourself more in this light.
Try this. Say to yourself: “I am the image and likeness of God. These sins are not part of me.” Say that to yourself. It helps you make that distinction and realize those sins are not part of you any more than the mud is part of your car.
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Photo Credit: Andrii Solok
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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and church mentor. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by learning to think, pray, and love like Jesus. Contact him here.
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