Reflection of His Glory

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

Growing up in church, I have always been taught that I was made in the image of God. It was something that I was well aware of but something that did not have much precedence in my thoughts. Over the past couple days I have come to realize how important and special that makes each and every one of us.

Have you ever really considered what that means? We were made in the very image of God Almighty; in His likeness.

2 Corinthians 3:18
¹⁸And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

When we turn to the Lord and become one of His children, we are the reflection of God's ultimate, radiant glory and are gradually being transformed into the very likeness of Christ Jesus. God shows His love and His compassion through His reflection in us.
The more we allow Christ to renew and alter our mind, the more progressive the reflection of Christ becomes in us. The less we are renewed by Him, the more we hide the image and reflection of Christ in us.
We were created solely to bear the image of God. When our outward actions and feelings do not reflect Christ, we are not fulfilling our purpose in life. Without God we have absolutely no reason and purpose for living life. We are hopeless. ONLY through Christ can we fulfill our destiny and our purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11 (King James Version)
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

The Hebrew word for thoughts in that verse is machashebeth meaning designs, purposes, intentions, and plans. God knows exactly how your whole life will be like and He has the most amazing intentions and and plans for us if only we will fall head over heels after Him. If we will surrender ourselves completely to His will and inwardly and outwardly reflect God's glory we will be living our lives in the best way possible. God's ways are perfect. God knows the designs and intentions he has considered and imagined specifically for each individual person on this earth! His plans are not to bring us harm but to bring us peace and prosperity. HE KNOWS. I wish I could just shout this aloud to you. GOD KNOWS WHAT IS BEST FOR YOUR LIFE! All we have to do it surrender our fleshly desires to Him and live in His will. That's all He asks from us.

We have to spiritually die to our sinful, old self and be raised up in Christ! We become a walking, breathing testimony of God's grace and redemption when we accept Jesus into our hearts.

Colossians 3:9-12
⁹Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ¹¹Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

¹²Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Strip off your old flesh, and be restored by God! We have to make the conscious decision to bear Christ's image inside and outside of us so that the whole world can hear the good news of Christ. Renew and transform your mind by God's Word and conform to the pattern of Jesus. His footsteps are the perfect example of how we should live our life. Our job as bearer's of the image of God is to emulate His love and mercy to everyone we encounter. Bring outstanding glory to the One whose image you were created and formed in!

Your Sister in Christ,
Jessica