In His Image By Dr. Chuck Missler - February 3, 2010        Tweet

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

Satan is an expert at twisting truth. The power of his deception often lies in taking the facts and mutating them into poisonous ideas that still resemble the truth, but lead to death.

In Genesis 3:4-5, Satan deceived Eve by mixing truth and lie. "Ye shall not surely die," the Serpent told Eve. "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."

Yes, eating the fruit did open Adam and Eve's eyes to good and evil, but the price was the death of the entire human race. Our first parents did not become gods, but in fact lost their positions as close companions of the true God, the Creator of the Universe.

Satan hasn't changed tactics since the beginning when he deceived Eve. He still directly contradicts God by twisting and perverting the truth. The descendants of Adam and Eve continue to seek to be gods, all the while throwing away their true positions as God's redeemed and adopted children.

In our sinful nature, we humans constantly demand our own way, fight for high positions and insist, "We decide right and wrong. We are in control of our destinies. We are God." Deceived and deceiving, we reject the Word of God and embrace deceptive words that scratch our ears and rub our feel-good emotions.

Angels of "Light":
How to we avoid being deceived? By already knowing the truth. Plenty of New Age ideas out there come from spiritual voices that talk to people. A Course in Miracles, for instance, was allegedly dictated to Helen Schucman by an inner voice, whom she identified as "Jesus." The problem? The principles in A Course in Miracles - for instance, that God did not create the world, and that there was never a separation from God - directly contradict the Word of God. We need to study God's Word and know it so that we aren't misled.

Paul the Apostle warns in Galatians 1:8, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."

Aren't angels good? Certainly some are, but not all of them. As Paul notes, "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light," (2 Corinthians 11:14).  There are many spirits out there.

Who We Are In Christ:
The human condition is an extremely interesting one. We constantly err and do evil, and we deserve death (Romans 6:23). We are called to be servants of one another, to be meek and humble (Matt 18:4), to wash each other's feet (John 13:14). Jesus says in Luke 17:7-10:

"But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do."

Humbling as that is, it is more than we deserve. It is an honor to serve the truly pure, All Mighty God.

And yet. Yet, we are precious to God. We have absolutely tremendous value to Him, so much so that He sent His only Son to die for us. He allowed us to humiliate and slaughter Jesus so that we could be cleansed and made new (John 3:16, 1 Peter 2:23-24). One day, we will be given new bodies and will be like Him (1 John 3:2). Those who suffer with him will also be glorified with him and will reign with him (Romans 8:17, 2 Timothy 2:12).

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." - Romans 8:18 8

Here is the greatest wonder. While we are to say, "We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do," Jesus himself will come to his faithful servants and he himself, the King of the Universe, will serve them.

"Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them." - Luke 12:37

That is astonishing news.

The World demands the liberty to do whatever it likes. Christ offers us freedom from corruption. The World tells us to fight for first place, to climb to the top. Christ calls us to humility and servanthood. We are not called to be servants because we are nothing. We are called to be servants because we want to be like Christ, who is everything. 

God loves us and gives us tremendous worth.  Then, on top of loving us, He makes us able to do great things.  In Christ, we have strength and wisdom. In Christ we have power and authority over the enemy. In Him our brilliance and creativity can have eternal consequences, and He gives us passionate love that changes lives. In Christ, we have everything that it means to be made "in His image."

We human beings fail to reflect our Creator much of the time. He's perfect. We're not. He knows everything. We just think we do. He's holy. We fall on our faces. Despite all our many faults and failures, though, God can work through us to tear down any mountain and throw it into the sea. It isn't about us, it's about Him. But, God created us to be His children, to look like Him. Through Jesus, we regain what Adam and Eve lost, and so much more.

Copyright © Koinonia House Inc., Reprinted with permission.

Dr. Chuck Missler is the founder of Koinonia House ministries, or K-House as it is affectionately called.  K-House is dedicated to the development and distribution of materials for encouraging and facilitating serious study of the Bible as the inerrant Word of God.  K-House reaches tens of thousands through its monthly newsletter, radio shows, cassette tapes, and conferences. More than eight million study tapes have been distributed in the U.S. and in over 35 countries around the world.