#148 MADE BY GOD 9-17-26
Every human being possesses magnificence. Before we ever accomplished anything, before anyone praised us, before we had a name or a reputation, we possessed a dignity given to us by our Creator. “God created man in His own image” (Genesis 1:27). We were made to reflect something of God—to know Him, love Him, walk with Him, and bear His likeness in this world. Yet the beautiful image was marred by sin. And the story of redemption is the story of God restoring what sin damaged through His Son, Jesus Christ.
MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD
Genesis tells us that humanity was uniquely created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27). James tells us that human beings are “made in the similitude of God” (James 3:9). That means every person possesses a dignity that cannot be measured by wealth, intelligence, appearance, education, race, age, or social position. We belong to God by creation, and we were created for fellowship with Him. “For in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). We were made for something higher than merely surviving this life. We were made to know our Creator.
MARRED BY SIN
But something went terribly wrong. “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin” (Romans 5:12). Sin did not erase our humanity, but it corrupted our relationship with God. The mind became darkened (Ephesians 4:17-18), the heart became deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9), and humanity wandered “like sheep” away from the Shepherd (Isaiah 53:6). “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Sin stains what God created beautiful. It bends what God created straight. It takes the heart that was designed to worship God and teaches it to worship itself. Yet even in our fallen condition, God did not abandon us. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
MENDED BY CHRIST
Jesus came to restore what sin had broken. He is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), and in Him we see what humanity was intended to become. Through Christ, we are “renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created” us (Colossians 3:10). The old life can become new: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The gospel is not merely about getting forgiven and waiting for heaven. It is about being transformed into the likeness of Christ. “We all are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). What sin marred, Christ is mending. What sin distorted, grace is restoring. What was broken can be made beautiful again.
And one day, the work will be complete. “We shall be like Him” (1 John 3:2). The hands that made us in the beginning are the hands that, through Christ, are making us new.
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Lord, thank You for creating us in Your image and for loving us when sin marred that image. Make us more like Jesus every day until faith becomes sight and we see Him face to face. Amen.
BDD
