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Whose Image Do You Bear?

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So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

Why am I here? Every soul seeks an answer to this question. Every heart cries out for purpose. And yet most find the answer elusive. Many live their whole lives without discovering it.

But you don’t have to wait your whole life, beloved. I’m going to tell you today.

You exist to reveal God.

It’s true. God created you to reveal His glory—His very nature. You see, God created man and woman to reveal who He is.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…” Genesis 1:27-28

Beloved, when God repeats Himself, He wants us to take notice. God blessed mankind to multiply and fill the earth with all that He is.

We were supposed to reveal His image, dear one. His love. His joy. His peace. His patience. His gentleness. His faithfulness. His kindness. His goodness. His self-control. His unity. His life.

God created man as an earthly expression of who He is. The same oneness shared by Father, Son and Holy Spirit joined man with God in beautiful fellowship. And life flowed unhindered on earth through our perfect union with our Creator.

Until the serpent slithered into Eden and convinced Adam and Eve to separate from God by disobeying His word. Man exchanged truth for deception, and our enemy planted a new seed—the seed of sin— in man’s heart. That new seed changed the fruit we produce. Now, instead of revealing God’s character, we display His enemy’s nature.

Beloved, the fruit of God’s Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)—given by God to nourish, grow, and produce abundant life—has been replaced by sin’s fruit.

  • Love became selfishness that bred hate.
  • Sorrow overtook our joy.
  • Instead of peace, we naturally worry.
  • Instead of patience, anger erupts.
  • In place of kindness, we hurt people.
  • Evil has overrun goodness.
  • Faithfulness withers into doubt.
  • Harshness crushes gentleness, and self-control is all but lost.

God’s image on earth has been overshadowed, beloved. Instead of mankind revealing God’s loving and giving nature, we bear our enemy’s self-centered one. And devastation increases as God’s blessing over man proves itself.

You see, when God speaks, nothing can render His Word void. And God blessed man to bear fruit, multiply, and fill the earth.

So man continues to bear fruit. And that fruit multiplies and increases. But instead of giving and sustaining life in God’s image, the fruit man produces destroys it.

We see the evidence of sin’s increasing nature as violence becomes commonplace in our world. Hatred divides and separates, and terror claims innocent lives with growing frequency.

Mankind reveals our enemy’s nature with increasing measure.

But here’s the good news. God didn’t leave us alone to reap the consequences of our sin. He sent Jesus to conquer the sin in man’s heart through the cross and restore us to God’s image.

Beloved, Jesus enabled us,

…to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24

Christ has empowered us to fulfill our true purpose. We can once again reveal God’s image. Jesus restored our ability to produce godly fruit that reveals God’s character.

Beloved, only the church can counter evil’s rise on earth. Believers must submit to God’s Spirit within them and fill the earth with God’s image. His nature displaying itself on earth produces life and peace.

Only the church can counter evil's rise on earth. Let Jesus reveal His image in you. Click To Tweet

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” John 15:8

I have to ask, dear one. Whose image do you bear? Does the fruit your heart produces resemble God’s character? Or are you still overcome by selfishness, worry, anger, and sorrow?

Christ endured the cross to make your heart love again. He suffered so you could be healed. He gave you His own peace to ease your worry.

Do you experience His gifts of grace? Or have you rejected them in favor of your old nature?

Living from your old nature will only cost you, beloved. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Jesus came to restore you to life.

Don’t live the rest of your life in the desert, dear one. Let God show you who you really are. As you step into your redeemed nature, the life of God will manifest though you. And you will show the world who He is.

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe. Ephesians 1:16-19

Know who you are, beloved, so you can show the world who God is.

Wealth Without Sorrow

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The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. Proverbs 10:22

Have you ever noticed how sorrow seems to attach itself to the riches of this world? If you haven’t noticed, dear one, perhaps you should.

It’s time we get wise to the scheme and stop buying in. The prince of this world would tell us that money buys happiness. It doesn’t. When we look closely at those who have laid claim to the world’s riches, we rarely find the happiness it promises.

Instead, we find sorrow. Brokenness. Heartache. Depression. Addiction. Hatred. Loneliness.

Yet for some reason, we still believe the lie. We still long for the blessing of the world and seek its riches.

What if we just decided to stop believing it? What if, instead, we sought the blessing of the Lord?

Here’s God’s promise, dear one. His blessing will make you rich, and it comes with no sorrow attached.

The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. Proverbs 10:22

Wouldn’t you love a little wealth free from sorrow?

Jesus provides that, dear one. He longs to make us rich. But the wealth of God isn’t limited to dollar signs as the world’s is. It’s all encompassing. He desires to make your relationships rich. He wants to enrich your marriages and overwhelm them with joy. He wants to make singleness rich, and even bring joy from your work.

Whatever situation you find yourself in, dear one, God longs to enrich.

He is the fullness of joy, and He longs to enhance our lives as we experience the blessing of who He is. But His purpose is even greater than that. He wants His blessing to so overtake and fill us that it begins to flow out of us and bless others.

Beloved, God seeks to pour out and multiply blessing through His people.

You see, that’s simply who God is. He blesses. In fact, that’s the first thing He did after creating man and woman.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion . . . ” Genesis 1:27-28

Have you considered what that means for you and me, dear one? This is the evidence of God’s blessing resting upon us: His blessing prospers and multiplies.

Before we go further, I think we should consider what exactly God desires to multiply. What was God looking to accomplish with that blessing?

I believe it’s best understood through the context in which He spoke it.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

Apparently God didn’t want us to miss the fact that we were created in His image. He repeated Himself in case we missed it the first time. And this is the context in which He blessed them. “I have made you in my image. Now be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth with who I am.”

Can you even imagine it? A world in which every man and woman reflected God’s character? Where loving, giving, nurturing and selflessness were the norm?

Unfortunately, the deceiving serpent convinced Adam and Eve to step outside of God’s blessing. And when he did, he enslaved man’s heart, changing the kind of fruit we produce.

He replaced love with selfishness. Sorrow overtook our joy. Instead of peace, we naturally worry. Instead of patience, anger erupts. In place of kindness, we hurt people. Evil has overrun goodness. Faithfulness withers into doubt. Harshness crushes gentleness, and self-control is all but lost.

The fruit of God’s Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)—meant to nourish, grow, and produce abundant life—has been replaced by the fruit of God’s enemy. The image of God has been overshadowed in the hearts of the people He created to reveal it. Instead, the character of man naturally reflects the image of His enemy.

God gives of Himself. Satan takes for himself.

Beloved, Jesus went to the cross so that you and I could once again reflect the image of God. He conquered the deceiver and poured out His Spirit to all who will believe, equipping us to become who He is.

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:29

And now He asks us to take up His commission and do what we’ve been appointed to do.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last . . . This is my command: Love each other. John 15:16-17

Lasting fruit, dear one, will always find its source in love. Love drove Jesus to the cross. And if we allow it to come alive in us, love will change the world.

I think it’s time we let God fill the world with His image.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ESV