You may remember from our reading in January in Genesis 2:7 where we learn that "the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." We see Paul use the same phrase in our reading in 1 Cor 15:45 where he references the OT by saying..."And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit." Two verses later he tells us that "The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven."
Not only did God breath into Adam and breathe into us the breath of life HE did something much more amazing! We learn in Gen 1:26 that "God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” In 1 Co 15:49 Paul points out that in the same way that we bear Adams image that have been born from above will bear the image of Jesus..."And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man."
We are blessed to hear a similar theme from Paul in 2 Co 3:16-18, "Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."
So those of us that claim to be children of God are HIS image bearers! We bear the image of God, we wear the image of God, we are to be Christ incarnate, we are to be Jesus...Christ in us the hope of glory to a dark and dying World. THE MAIN THING IN LIFE IS TO KNOW HIM AND MAKE HIM KNOWN!
MY QUESTION FOR ME IS...[YOU CAN ASK YOURSELF IF YOU LIKE] HOW DO I WEAR HIS IMAGE TO THIS WORLD?
Let me close with a story that Ravi Zacharisa used in his book Can Man Live without God?
There is a magnificent story in Marie Chapian’s book Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy. The book told of the sufferings of the true church in Yugoslavia where so much wrong has been perpetrated by the politicized ecclesiastical hierarchy. That which has gone on in the name of Christ for the enriching and empowering of corrupt church officials has been a terrible affront to decency.
One day an evangelist by the name of Jakov arrived in a certain village. He commiserated with an elderly man named Cimmerman on the tragedies he had experienced and talked to him of the love of Christ. Cimmerman abruptly interrupted Jakov and told him that he wished to have nothing to do with Christianity. He reminded Jakov of the dreadful history of the church in his town, a history replete with plundering, exploiting, and indeed with killing innocent people. “My own nephew was killed by them,” he said and angrily rebuffed any effort on Jakov’s part to talk about Christ. “They wear those elaborate coats and caps and crosses,” he said, “signifying a heavenly commission, but their evil designs and lives I cannot ignore.”
Jakov, looking for an occasion to get Cimmerman to change his line of thinking, said, “Cimmerman, can I ask you a question? Suppose I were to steal your coat, put it on, and break into a bank. Suppose further that the police sighted me running in the distance but could not catch up with me. One clue, however, put them onto your track; they recognized your coat. What would you say to them if they came to your house and accused you of breaking into the bank?”
“I would deny it,” said Cimmerman.
“‘Ah, but we saw your coat,’ they would say,” retorted Jakov. This analogy quite annoyed Cimmerman, who ordered Jakov to leave his home.
Jakov continued to return to the village periodically just to befriend Cimmerman, encourage him, and share the love of Christ, with him. Finally one day Cimmerman asked, “How does one become a Christian?” and Jakov taught him the simple steps of repentance for sin and of trust in the work of Jesus Christ and gently pointed him to the Shepherd of his soul. Cimmerman bent his knee on the soil with his head bowed and surrendered his life to Christ. As he rose to his feet, wiping his tears, he embraced Jakov and said, “Thank you for being in my life.” And then he pointed to the heavens and whispered, “You wear His coat very well.”
Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God, (Word Publ., Dallas: 1994), pp. 101-102