In His Image

I'm sure that all have had a moment in their life when they were dealing with feelings of inadequacy.  As men, we constantly wonder, am I good enough?  Do I have what it takes?  We fear failure simply for the fact that it shows others that we couldn't do it, we weren't enough, we didn't have what it took.  The same goes for our spiritual walk.  Every time we hit a bump in the road or take a detour and fall into sin we end up feeling like we failed.  Even Paul experienced this so much so that he went on to say, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.... For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.... What a wretched man I am!" [Rom 7:15-18,24]

How many times do we look in the mirror, seeing only the sin that seems to keep us down, and think of ourselves as wretched men?  Some of you might say not enough and others might say all the time.  While the first response might point to someone who has yet to acknowledge their sin and give it up to Christ, the latter would suggest someone stuck in a narrow view of themselves wherein they only see their sin and are forgetting that Jesus died to cleanse us of the sin in our lives.  Scripture says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." [Rom 3:23]  The problem lies in that we live in a fleshly world when we were made for a spiritual one.  Too many times I think we don't read Rom 7:18 slow enough to realize that it is through our sinful nature that good does not dwell in us.  That doesn't mean good is never found within us.

On the contrary, upon the creation of man, God called us good.  In Romans 6, Paul says that only those who forsake the flesh and walk in spirit will see God.  While it's good to recognize this and understand that without the spirits' guidance, and certainly without Christ's blood, we would have no escape from sin, dealing with this problem is usually more difficult than simply acknowledging it.  It is, however, a good starting point.  In fact, it is the only starting point.  Paul doesn't simply stop at pointing out the sinful nature but, instead he continues on , saying, "Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" [Rom 7:25]  Likewise, Romans 3 goes on to say we "are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ." [Rom 3:24]

I must clarify at this point that my purpose in writing this is not to give you some three step program on how to resist the flesh.  Anyone who tries to box the walk of faith into a system is missing the point.  Rather, my hope is that you will gain some perspective into who you are, or can be, through Christ by taking a look at what man was created to be.  The enemy would love it if we simply got stuck at looking at how far we fall short of the life we were created for that we fail to ever actually take so much as a glimpse at that life.  Many times we get so caught up in how much of a wretch we are and how much sin this flesh of ours has caused us to do that we neglect to remember one big important factor.  We were made in His image!  HIS!  As in the God almighty of the universe.  The creator of all things.  The alpha and the omega.  The great and wondrous hosts of hosts.

What are the implications of truly accepting this and holding on tightly to that fact?  Consider a sculptor who sets out to create his masterpiece.  Upon completing his work I would imagine he would take much pleasure in admiring it.  Now say shortly after he makes it, someone else comes along and places a scratch on it.  Would it no longer be his masterpiece?  Would he still not love it?  I would venture to say yes.  After all, the sculpture is a reflection of the work of the artist and not the vandal.  In the same way we are a reflection of our creator's work in us.  We were not made to sin but rather to reflect God's grace to the rest of the world much like Moses did upon being in the presence of God.  Therefore, I urge you to view yourselves as masterpieces of the one true God.  While we are full of scratches from this fleshly world, God still saw His original design as good and us as worth redeeming.  Thus, we have Christ, of whom we should hold on to, who is continually restoring us to our intended condition so that we may truly be the image of God for which we were created to be. 

The Self Centered Life

In his book, Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis points out the following: 

There is a difference between a life that is selfish and one that is self centered: for in a selfish life my mind could be directed toward a thousand things, not one of which is myself. The distinction is not unimportant. One of the happiest men and the most pleasing companions I have known was intensely selfish. On the other hand I have known people capable of real sacrifice whose lives were nevertheless a misery to themselves and to others, because self-concern and self-pity filled all their thoughts. Either condition will destroy the soul in the end. But till the end, give me the man who takes the best of everything (even at my expense) and then talks of other things, rather than the man who serves me and talks of himself, and whose very kindnesses are a continual reproach, a continual demand for pity, gratitude, and admiration.

This quote struck me because in my experience I have found that it is terribly easy to fall into a self centered life that is not selfish at all. For example, take a man who spends every minute of his life doing things for others. It would not appear that such a man was living a self centered life. However, he would be if he was thinking of himself the entire time he was doing those things. It is important to note that this is NOT the kind of life that Jesus lived or that he wants us to live. Yes, he did live his life doing things for others. But no, his mind was not fixed on himself, but on God the Father the entire time. It wasn't a selfish life, AND it wasn't a self centered life. And THIS is the life that he calls us to as well when he commands us to, "Follow me". So I encourage you to reflect on your life. Who/What is it that dominates your thoughts? How would you classify your life? Selfish? Self centered? Or Christ-like?

And I believe that the true question is not whether your life is self centered or not because lets face it, to a certain extent we all live a self centered life. The better question would be whether your life is becoming a more self centered or less self centered kind of life. Do you find that God is on your mind more than he was before, or less? Do you find yourself more concerned with what God thinks of your actions and less concerned with what other people think or the opposite. Are you becoming more like Christ or less like him? As Lewis pointed out the selfish and self centered lives will inevitably end in ruin. However, Jesus himself demonstrated that the Christ-like life will endure and flourish even beyond the grave.