“There is nothing
worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.”
Ansel Adams
Image
is everything. This is a phrase that has been engrained into our society. We
see the implications of this at almost every level. Businesses spend millions
to craft just the right product image. The right image can mean huge profits.
The wrong image can spell disaster. Politicians enlist teams of people to
create the right image for their campaign. In many cases, image trumps
substance. Celebrities carefully guard
their image, because if their image crumbles so does their career. Image is
everything.
In each
of these cases, image may be good or bad, accurate or a smoke screen. Some
images are a valid depiction of the substance behind them. But in many cases,
the image created is merely a façade to mask the reality that lurks behind. I
recently saw an internet post that depicted famous people without their
make-up. To say that it was shocking is to put it mildly. Some of these famous
faces are unrecognizable without the well-crafted image.
The
vast majority of us do not have a staff of people who craft and guard our
image, yet we all create our own. In some cultures, it is called “face.” We
work hard to be seen as dependable, caring, trustworthy, honest, forthright, likeable,
or attractive. We all have a vague idea of the image that we desire to portray.
We may not be obsessed with it, but we are always conscious of it. Our image
shapes the way we interact with others; the way we get along in the world. An
unattractive image puts us at a distinct disadvantage.
The
past Sunday, I heard a sermon about image. It was challenging and enlightening.
The main point was that the image that we embrace will shape our lives. Underlying
all of the images that are created by humanity is a foundational image, which
has been ignored by much of society. It is the reality that as human beings we
have been created in the image of God. At the very beginning of the Bible, in
Genesis 1, we discover that we have been stamped with the image of God at the
core of our being.
Then God said,
"Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the
fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the
earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God
created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and
female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)
This is
an image that we do not have to create ourselves. It is a given; an amazing
gift from God. We alone, as human beings, have been created in the image of
God. We alone have been given the privilege of being God’s representatives in
the world.
The
problem is that when sin entered the world, the image of God within humanity
was distorted; it was corrupted. From that point on, humanity has struggled to
create its own images. Our image is our identity. It is what gives us purpose
and meaning in life. Yet all of our self-created images fall far short of
delivering what we are looking for. All of our images, if they are not based on
the image of God, are a façade hiding the truth.
When Jesus
came into the world, He came to restore the image of God in humanity. First, He
demonstrated what that image looks like in reality. Then He invited us to have
our image restored through putting our faith in him. When we place our faith in
Christ, our life takes an entirely new direction. Paul summarizes this as putting
aside an old, corrupt life and putting on a new, enriched life. Do not lie
to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and
have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of
its Creator. (Colossians 3:9-10)
When we
place our faith in Christ, we become the recipients of a restored image. It
becomes who we really are. It identifies us. But this is new image is not
static, it is dynamic. Although inwardly we bear the image of God within our
souls, outwardly we need to constantly conform our life to that image. It is
our job, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to make our inner reality and our
outer reality match. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with
the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25) This is a daily, moment by moment process.
When we lose sight of the image of God within us, we drift. That image gets
fuzzy and hard for others to see. When we keep the image of God clear in our
hearts, our outer reality reflects it. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, And
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.
Therefore,
as followers of Christ, we need to work hard at maintaining our image. Not the
image that world applauds and strives after, but the image of God that
transforms all of life. We have been created in the image of God. We have
intrinsic value and worth. We also have the responsibility to living up to our
image. Image is everything.
Ephesians 4:1
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge
you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
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