Genesis 1:27
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
People suck, but I can't forget where we began.
Like a mirror now ruined by dust and time, we once reflected our Creator. He could see His face in us, clear and plain as day, unwrapped, undistorted, unmatched to anything we could possibly imagine. What did that look like? Humanity unmarred by the void sin creates, humanity in its birth, its perfection, humanity in unhindered relationship with the God of the Universe, holy and happy? It's an image even my wild imagination can't wrap itself around, an image I'm not sure I could look upon in my current state of unholiness and sin.
To my very core I am dust, ashes, a worm and not a man (Psalm 22:6), but that is not how God created us. In His graciousness, and without any need on His part, He formed humanity in wholeness, holiness. He brought us into being because He is, by nature, creator, He brought us into being because He is, by nature, relational, He brought us into being knowing exactly what it would cost Him; the greatest suffering imaginable.
Sometimes I struggle with the idea of sin. I see death and destruction in the news, hear cruel words out of the mouths of my coworkers, know the evil thoughts of my own heart and I wonder, 'How could a loving and sovereign God allow it to happen?' It's a question everyone asks, a challenge from those who deny any sort of intelligent design much less a creator, and in my weak faith, this question often shakes me. Yet I am reminded, so graciously by this holy Creator, of the fact that no matter how sin came into existence at all, He chose to create us knowing just what it would cost Him.
Even those condemned to hell will never know what Christ suffered on the cross, for He knew perfect fellowship with the Father, He knew no sin, and yet took the justice we rebels deserved (2 Corinthians 5:21). God did not simply wave away our sin like a fog to dissipate in the air, He poured out justice upon it, upon His Son, and gave us a righteousness that is not our own…
He is pulling us back to where we began.
The dust and grime are begin scrubbed away and it hurts sometimes but one day we will again perfectly reflect our Creator, serving our true purpose yet again…
So I'm thankful to be made aware of my sin, of the grime, of the dirt, because it also reminds me that it no longer defines me, and that one day I will be what God has declared of me: His righteousness.
People suck, but I can't forget where we began. Like a mirror now ruined by dust and time, we once reflected our Creator. He could see His face in us, clear and plain as day, unwrapped, undistorted, unmatched to anything we could possibly imagine. What did that look like? Humanity unmarred by the void sin creates, humanity in its birth, its perfection, humanity in unhindered relationship with the God of the Universe, holy and happy? It's an image even my wild imagination can't wrap itself around, an image I'm not sure I could look upon in my current state of unholiness and sin.
To my very core I am dust, ashes, a worm and not a man (Psalm 22:6), but that is not how God created us. In His graciousness, and without any need on His part, He formed humanity in wholeness, holiness. He brought us into being because He is, by nature, creator, He brought us into being because He is, by nature, relational, He brought us into being knowing exactly what it would cost Him; the greatest suffering imaginable.
Sometimes I struggle with the idea of sin. I see death and destruction in the news, hear cruel words out of the mouths of my coworkers, know the evil thoughts of my own heart and I wonder, 'How could a loving and sovereign God allow it to happen?' It's a question everyone asks, a challenge from those who deny any sort of intelligent design much less a creator, and in my weak faith, this question often shakes me. Yet I am reminded, so graciously by this holy Creator, of the fact that no matter how sin came into existence at all, He chose to create us knowing just what it would cost Him.
Even those condemned to hell will never know what Christ suffered on the cross, for He knew perfect fellowship with the Father, He knew no sin, and yet took the justice we rebels deserved (2 Corinthians 5:21). God did not simply wave away our sin like a fog to dissipate in the air, He poured out justice upon it, upon His Son, and gave us a righteousness that is not our own…
He is pulling us back to where we began.
The dust and grime are begin scrubbed away and it hurts sometimes but one day we will again perfectly reflect our Creator, serving our true purpose yet again…
So I'm thankful to be made aware of my sin, of the grime, of the dirt, because it also reminds me that it no longer defines me, and that one day I will be what God has declared of me: His righteousness.
2 comments:
This reminded me of Eustace getting the dragon scales scraped off. :)
I was thinking the same thing when I wrote it!
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