Image-Bearing

When white light is passed through a transparent pr ism, the light is refracted into the many colors of the rainbow. It is an impressive demonstration of the beauty of God‘s design in creation.

Similarly when the Light of the world, Jesus Christ, shines through the life of a spiritually dead man, the image of God revives and becomes refracted in many differ ent ways.

As we saw last month, the concept of image can have a variety of interpretations.

Carving

An image can be a carving. God wants His imagebearers to be a carving. In Deuteronomy 6, Moses instructs Israel: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart . . . soul . . . and strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Carve them on your children.” How? “Talk about t hem when you sit at home and when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” It is not uncommon today to hear parents as well as children complain that they get too much of God and His Word—church, Sunday School, catechism and Christian School. But the truth is that we can never get too much of God and His Word. His truth must be engraved upon us so that it shapes all of our thoughts, words and action. The family altar must be strengthened in fact, revived in our homes today. Only by daily fellowship with God can the image of God be once again restored in our lives.

Copy

Image–bearing also means that we are to be a copy of our God. We are to imitate Him. “Imitation” is not a very popular concept today. Imitation stymies creativity we are told. But Ephesians 5:1 says: “Be ye therefore imitators (copies) of God as dear children.” What is there about God that we and our children must imitate?

• His spirituality in this body–oriented society.
• His knowledge in this society of distorted views of God, of man and of created reality.
• His wisdom in this warped society of twisted value judgments.
• His truth – absolute integrity in all of life.
• His goodness – the absence of evil and the demonstration of unselfish love . . .

Reflection

Image–bearers are also to be reflectors of our God. Not only are they to contain the attributes of God, but as a mirror throws back a reflection, so the believer is to throw back or actively demonstrate those attributes in daily living. The light of Jesus Christ which shines through the believer must be refracted in day by day living. acts 4:13 tells us that people marvelled at Peter and John and “took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.” Can it be said of us that we have been with Jesus? Do our lives reflect His deep, abiding presence within our hearts?

Thought

An image can also be a “thought,” a “mental image.” We are told to “think God’s thoughts after Him” as image-bearers. Why is this important? It is important because “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” The relationship between thought and action is very close. Consequently, the shaper of our thoughts is very crucial in image–bearing. Unfortunately, the most powerful shaper of thoughts in today’s world is the television set and the results are there to see. Spiritual apathy and material success are the dominant motifs in today’s world. Consciences are becoming insensitive to adultery and violence. What we desperately need as imagebearers is a housecleaning of our thoughts. Romans 12:2 says, “Be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” that you may be image–bearers of God.

Impression

An image can also be an impression. Every country has an image –high or low. Every community has an image–neat or unkempt. God has an image too and that is you and I and our children bound in covenant to Himself. We are God’s advertisements to the world. Paul says, “You are our epistle (letter) written in our hearts to be known and read by all men . . . written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” Someone has said, “The Christian is the only Bible some people will ever read.” What a responsibility we have! As image-bearers we, together with our children, are to witness, to make an impression on a godless world.

Image–bearing is the primary activity of the Christian. Training for image–bear ing is the primary task of every parent. But the world is too big and created reality too vast for the Christian parent to conquer alone. So Christian schools have been erected by Christian parents. Christian teachers have been hired who will view these children as covenant image-bearers and unlock for t hem the “treasurer s of wisdom and knowledge.” Join us next month when we explore the task of the Christian School in building image-bearers for God.