RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2020-09-07	Why You Matter To God - In His Image
		Gen 1:26  Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Sometimes we just need to be reminded just how special we are to God. God made us reflect His own image. Being made this way God told us to be responsible for the fish of the sea, the birds in the air, and earth itself. What a wonderful declaration from God concerning His purpose for us. Reading this declaration we notice a wonderful promise. That is, God made us to reflect the image of God. So we are image bearers. God made us to be more like Him than anything else He made. Of all the wonderful things God created, He said we specifically bear His likeness. And there is no exception to this promise. Man, woman, rich, or poor we were all created in the image of God. Now it is true, some suppress this image, and others enhance it by the way they live their lives. Sin has certainly distorted this image. But it has not destroyed it. Our moral character has been tainted and compromised no doubt. Our intellect is polluted by foolish ideas. We have fallen prey to self-promotion rather than God-promotion. The image of God is sometimes difficult to discern. But God has not rescinded His precious plan, and we do bear the image of God, and to reflect His glory. Psychology is wrong when it says to look inside of yourself to find your value. And ads that tell you, you are only as good as you are thin, muscular, or pimple free are misleading. It is a lie when they say our value increases when our stamina or net-worth is increased. Yes, religious leaders lie when they grade you according to church attendance, or self discipline.   Though all these are true, remember God treasures you because you bear a semblance to Him. You were known by God before you were conceived by your parents (Je.1:5, speaking of Jeremiah). Jer 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations." You were loved in Heaven before anyone knew you on earth Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, Eph 1:4  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, Eph 1:5  having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, Eph 1:6  to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. You are not an accident. You are not a fluke of life. Your value does not come from the number of followers you have on Facebook. You are a precious commodity on this earth. You are even worth dying for! Let this truth sink in. And let it help define how you see others. So treat everyone with proper dignity as one who is in the image of God. God created us to bear His image. This was His idea. And He has no bad ideas. And believers in Christ reflect this image as sons and daughters in Christ. Christ stamped His name on our hearts (Ga.3:26). Gal 3:26  For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

An Independent and Evangelical Church

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