I have come to the conclusion that many of us don’t fully comprehend what it means to be made in God’s image. It means so much more than just to differentiate us from the rest of the animal kingdom. It means more than being imbued with a conscience and knowing the difference between right and wrong. I found myself asking for God’s forgiveness for all the times I had looked in the mirror and been unhappy with the reflection staring back at me; for all the times I had been envious of other people for their looks, talent, popularity or wealth. Because the Bible says we are fearfully and wonderfully made by God: every single one of us. God made us unique for a reason. He made us different from everybody else because He was happy to do so. That means God delights in all of us, just the way we are. We may not have won a noble peace prize, we may not be a world class athlete, we may not make the cover of Vogue magazine but God created us and He knew exactly what He was doing.
I saw a video yesterday of a Romanian child with Down syndrome. There is widespread discrimination against children with learning disabilities in Romania and the father even suggested killing her as a baby. The mother refused to do so and so the father left; left his new born baby daughter and his wife to raise and look after her all by herself. But even though that child may not have the intellect or the social skills that many of us take for granted; that child is still a human being who deserves to be loved just as much as the next ‘normal’ child. There is an incident in the Gospels when Jesus’ disciples ask him, regarding a blind man, who sinned – him or his parents, to make him blind. But Jesus says neither and that the man was born that way so that the mercy of God may be revealed! God cares for and loves deeply every human life on earth.
There have been times these past few years when I have struggled with self worth – feeling unlovable and insecure. Just the other day I had a bad lesson observation at work that hit me hard. I felt like a total failure, like I was good for nothing. But that is not true and that is not how God sees me. For in God’s eyes I am exactly who I am meant to be. He created me and programmed my DNA so that who I am is who I am meant to be. It doesn’t matter whether or not I am the greatest teacher to ever grace a secondary school classroom; it doesn’t matter that I am not the most handsome man in the world with women falling at my feet and it doesn’t matter that I am not a gold medal winning Olympian. Life is made up of triumphs and failures, of peaks and troughs. We all have good days and bad days. That is the nature of life. But that doesn’t mean I am a lesser human being because of it.
As hard as I’ve tried not to let it be so, deep down I have sought validation from my work, from my relationship with my colleagues, from my service to the church and I have ultimately sought it from a prospective wife; wishing, longing that someone would look at me and think “wow he’s amazing!” But all of these are but illusory, for all a long my acceptance and validation as a human being has come from God. Being fearfully and wonderfully made by God is extraordinary. It is mind blowing. It is liberating. My physical appearance, my talents, my passions and desires all come from God. I can look at myself in the mirror and be pleased with who I see, because I know this is the person God wanted to create. None of us choose to be born. Many of us would like to choose how we die; but none of us choose to be born, which family we are born into, whether rich or poor, whether from the West or the East. No human life is an accident. God deliberately and joyfully made each and every one of us. Hallelujah!
My entire life is by the grace of God: all life is a gift. I thank God that He saw that it was good to make me. I thank God for who I am. For the Bible also speaks of salvation being by God’s design. The Bible says that it was not by human planning but by God that we are born again into a new life. For although God chose to make us just the way we are, unfortunately we are born into a world corrupted by sin. But God pre-empted the Fall. He knew we couldn’t make it by ourselves and so sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die for us. By dying for us Jesus freely and voluntarily gave his life so that we might share in Jesus’ glory. Jesus is the archetypal human being – the blue print of the ideal human person. By his blood we are cleansed from our sin, forgiven by God and redeemed. By being redeemed we are restored in God’s eyes to the mode of humanity He originally created before the Fall. That is why only Jesus’ sacrifice is sufficient for our salvation; for only Jesus was both God and Man in order to offer the perfect sacrifice. And so, restored by the blood of Christ and enlightened to my true self before God I can live positively in the knowledge that God both loves me – beyond my wildest dreams –and is also happy over me.
I am sure there will be times when the world beats down on me again and I fail in the world’s eyes. But I know that my God is for me, not against me and in His eyes I am a success! This is the most important thing in life; knowing the Father and being known by Him. When we understand that God seeks a personal relationship with each of us, because that is the reason we were born – to share a relationship and the blessings that flow from the Creator God, then we can face each day and look forward in hope to a brighter tomorrow and a future eternity in His glorious presence, our spirits free to reach our full potential.
“He is jealous for me, Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree; bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy. When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great your affections are for me.” How He Loves Us
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