Created (to be) in God’s image

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the ratty and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
– Genesis 1:26-27

I had an interesting (and very specific!) conversation with someone today about what it means to be created in God’s image and whether that in fact implies that we’re all God’s children, since we’re told in Genesis that we’re created (as mankind universally) in God’s image. I say ‘yes’ to this latter fact, but ‘no’ to the implication that we’re all God’s children and loved by him. It might seem harsh, but read on!

On the surface it might seem like being made in God’s image is about possessing certain characteristics of ‘God-likeness’ in our being as humans, e.g., ability to have emotions, think, etc. But in the context of Genesis chapters 1-2, I don’t think it’s saying that at all. And if you read the above verses carefully, the word ‘our’ is used by God: “in our image”, “after our likeness”. This indicates that there is something unique within the personhood of God himself that denotes this ‘image-bearing’ nature of humans.

Sarah Young puts it nicely and very clearly:

At the very least [At the core] it must mean that we can relate to him in a very unique way, unlike the rest of creation. God exists in loving relationship between the three persons of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit)—the way he has made us to relate to one another reflects this. Also God is a ruler – we reflect his image in that we we created to rule this earth in his behalf, taking responsibility for its care.

Young here makes a few interesting and important points about what it means to be made in the image of God:
1. We were made to be in loving relationship with the three persons of God, as he is in perfect loving relationship with himself.
2. We were made to be relational with each other.
3. We were made to reflect his authority on earth as stewards of his creation, taking care of it on his behalf.

The implications of what these three things mean are wide, but I just want to focus on the first point. In other words, we’re hard-wired for relationship with our Creator. That is the fundamental point, the cornerstone, the be all end all, whatever expression you can add on to this, of what it means to be created in God’s image. But our sin—our rejection of God as the Creator, and as the king of our lives—means we don’t choose to fulfill our purpose! We choose to run our lives our own way, doing what we deem best, but all the time, we don’t gain the satisfaction that we seek and yearn for because we’re just not hard-wired to function that way. Call me dogmatic, but this is what God has to say about why we have screwed up as human beings, though there are facets of things that we are and do that are beautiful; don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the physical world is evil because it isn’t. God created it and said it is good! But it is also tainted. Hopefully you’re getting the drift of this logic. All that remains to be said is: how can we be counted as God’s children if we reject to be so? How are we bearing God’s image if we’re severing all aspects of relating to him properly as our Creator and manager? Maybe you’re thinking ‘how have I said I’ve rejected him?’ Whether conscious or not, if we’re not letting the boss be our boss, but rather being our own bosses then it’s clear what we think about God’s place in our lives.

Being hard-wired a certain way doesn’t mean we’re robots. It means we would be optimally functioning if we lived in a way in line with the way we are hard-wired, but that means it is a choice. What do you choose? To be an image-bearer, as you were created to be, or to continue to seek to bear a self-made image?

On being a community church (Part 1)

I visited a church, with the intention of joining them long-term, on Sunday. It was quite a unique church with a beautiful vision that I believe is from God and aligns beautifully with his plans and purposes. You can visit their blog/site at cantrburychurchplant.wordpress.com. I was encouraged to read their vision statement to get a better sense of the bigger picture for why they exist as a church, and that definitely got lots of gears in my brain turning, and my heart pumping with excitement! (See their vision statement at: http://www.canterburychurchplant.com/our-vision.) I will explain why below.

I was very graciously invited to join them for lunch at Jonathan’s (the minister) home where I was greeted with lots of love and welcoming faces. There I met nearly almost the whole church, about 15 people, so it’s still early days for these brothers and sisters, but it seems like it’s started off with God’s behind it!

What makes this church so unique in my eyes is the fact that when they call themselves ‘Canterbury Community Church’, they really seek to be that! Unlike most community churches which have their beginnings in being a body of Christians who meet up on Sundays and live what can sometimes seem like separate lives during the week wherever they’re at, except for weekly bible studies, socials, etc., this church seeks to make the community their meeting point – instead of seeking to draw people to church, they seek to go to the people! And they really do! After lunch, they go door knocking and house visiting, seeking to establish relationships with neighbours. I got to visit an old couple with one of the team with whom they’ve been spending time with since establishing an initial relationship. I was surprised by how much this person knew about this couple’s life and their daily happenings, as we conversed. The conversations we had were generally ordinary, but I felt like we were having a relaxed catch up with old friend. In other words, it was a genuine relationship! I guess it was great for me to come in as a new guest, as it gave me an opportunity toshare a bit about my story and ask some intentional questions that would enable me to share some gospel bites. The beauty of it was that because there was an already established relationship with this couple, they didn’t shut the door in my face when I brought up something about Jesus. One of the guys on the team, Christian, said to me that he had always had negative experiences with door knocking, but since he joined this church, it has been very different. And I really got to see that for myself. It really made me think…do we as Sydney suburban Christians see our local neighbours as part of our personal community? As the community in which we seek to be a light for—and this is the important bit—as a church? If so, then how are we making them part of our personal community? I think Canterbury Community Church is seeking to answer this question by the way they have prioritised getting to know people and building relationships based on love for them.

More thoughts to come 🙂