In His Image

New Year’s Eve at Disneyland is crowded but the people watching is fantastic. I was there yesterday and saw a lot of interesting people.  I was taken back by the Gothic-ly dressed man with green hair, eyeliner and his head shaved on one side but then he smiled and held the door open for an elderly couple and I saw God’s love in action. A small child blissfully twirled in her polka-dotted skirt; perfect and wonderfully made. I’m sure God was delighted in her whimsy!! I wasn’t digging the gal in hot pink stretchy pants with leopard Mickey Mouse ears but then I heard God speaking the verse, “Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world…”Romans12:2.  

 

There they were, almost a million people, all of them so different yet all of them made in His image and all them loved by God as His own.  As I watched these people, I found myself judging them based on my personal preferences for clothing choices, what they talked about while standing in line, attractiveness, and thinking they were idiots for coming to a dead stop while walking in a crowd.  As I looked into the crowds I was struck with the fact that each one of these people carries with them a part of who God is. Green hair, unique clothing patterns and whimsy – they are all who God is as well.  A new connection to these people was built in me immediately. These quirks were aspects of God I hadn’t known personally but realizing they are a part of Him I could see God in them because they are made in His image.   

"So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:27 NIV)

What does this knowledge, that every single person (normal by our definition or not) is made in the image of God, do to our ability to love others? I can tell you that I thought I always had this ability but a new freedom came over me with this experience. Liberated to just love them with no worries about their look, speech, attitude, or manners. It’s a radical change in our way of thinking as we tend to be drawn to others that are most like us.  That’s what we look for when making friends or choosing a mate as we are urged to do from the verse in 1st Corinthians 6:14-16.

 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial or Mohammad? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.”

Yoked is an old farming word meaning two or more attached together by a device so they can serve a single purpose.  To love others doesn’t mean you agree with their clothing style, religion or life choices, it can just be as simple as finding a small piece of God’s image in them and loving God in them.  I can imagine Jesus using this technique to love the controversial people he was known for breaking bread with such as the prostitutes, tax collectors, and the unclean banished from the temple. Jesus is our example of love. Even though the apostle Paul met Jesus after he rose from the dead and never saw Him demonstrate this kind of love with others, he is used by God to deliver a clear message noted in his letter to the church at Ephesus:

“I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”  Ephesians 4:1-5 (NIV)

 ** Lord, thank you for making me in your image.  Thank you for making others in your image.    I ask that you continue to show me who you are in others. Help me to look beyond appearances to see what you hand to see who you are as you shine through others.  I love every part of you and look forward to discovering more and more about you and your attributes we all personify. ** 

click here for a music video – “I See Jesus In You” https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3jgVx0fSb0c