Clothesline 321 "More than meets the eye"

What image do you project? That’s what we talked about last Sunday. We actually have two images: the one that other people see, and the one that God sees, and hopefully, as we grow into a relationship with Jesus, we will begin to see the image that God sees.

This question comes from the time the religious authorities tried to trick Jesus by showing him a coin, asking him if it was lawful to pay taxes to the emperor. Jesus response? “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God, the things that are Gods!”…which leads us to the conclusion that we—you and I—belong to God, and we are tasked to grow into that image of God that is within us, not the image known to others.

There are some people in the Bible who definitely had two images, and those images were worlds apart. God chose a pagan king to lead his people out of bondage in Babylon back to the Holy City of Jerusalem! Can you even imagine that! God chose an unbeliever to deliver the chosen people. Even God called him “God’s anointed.” People had one image of King Cyrus; God had another.

Abraham must have appeared to be delusional when, at an old age, he packed up the few possessions he had and began a journey to a place that had not yet been revealed to him. But he had faith and he followed that God-image within himself, and he knew his journey would be blessed, no matter what others saw.

Then there’s Moses. When I think of Moses, I see Charleston Heston. But the real Moses was an 80-year-old, stuttering shepherd. To look at Moses was not to see a vessel by which the Hebrew people would be delivered. But God’s image of Moses was a loving, willing heart who would listen to God, trust his direction, and lead the enslaved people of Israel out of Egypt toward the Promised Land.

And if you want to talk about the most unlikely Biblical characters… what about Noah? His neighbors surely thought he was crazy. He built an ocean liner on land with no water in sight! But God’s image of Noah was of an obedient, faithful child who was willing to risk ridicule to do God’s will, and somehow, amid all that Noah had to endure, he was able to overlook any doubt on his part and draw on God’s image of himself.

Scripture tells us that we are made in the image and likeness of God, not the world. So in order to be true to God’s intention, we must bear God’s image. And bearing God’s image means we are God’s treasure and are worth everything to Him. Nothing—nothing can take away the image that God sees when he looks at us. When we fall, he picks us up, we are forgiven, and we return to the image we were created to bear.

I believe that as we become more and more aware of the image of God within ourselves, it will be almost impossible to separate the two. We will recognize the plans God has for us, and we will join Him as He blesses our future. We will understand and embrace the possibilities ahead. Your half-empty glass will be half-full. You will see more good in people than bad. You will be able to sacrifice more than you keep to yourself. You will begin to see in yourself and in others, the person that God sees. So, I’ll ask you again: what image do you project? With God’s help… we will come to see the image of God, and others will truly see Jesus in us.