Made in God's Image

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
     - 2 Corinthians 3:18

(This week we'll be looking closely at this verse. It could be a healthy spiritual practice to memorize it and reflect on it a few times during your day.  Meditation on scripture like that is an ancient tool that Christians use to grow in awareness of God)

The goal for Paul (who wrote this) was always to know Christ and to become like him. That's what it means to be "transformed into his image." The word "image" in 2 Cor 3:18 is the same word used in Genesis in the original creation story when God created humankind in his "image" and pronounced them "very good." What Paul is writing about is re-creation - getting back to our original design.

Of course, that design is different for each of us, but the perfection of it remains the same. While we each become more like Jesus Christ (who was the perfect human, after all), that also means we each become more like our individual selves. Our own personalities, interests, and gifts don't get wiped away in the process - they get accentuated. You become MORE you on this journey. Jesus isn't looking for clones; he's looking for human beings who are fully themselves, fully alive, and fully developed into the wonderful, unique persons we were meant to be. As the Turkish saint Irenaeus said over 1800 years ago, "The glory of God is a human being fully alive."

Take some time and meditate on what it means that you, yes YOU, are made in God's image. Ask God for the grace to grow more and more into that image this day.

Start exploring your Enneagram type now:  As part of our sermon series, we're encouraging people to learn about their Enneagram type, to better understand the ways God made you and is calling you to become more yourself. It's part personality test, part spiritual inventory, and it can be very helpful. There's a test that costs $12 HERE or a free version HERE.  Poke around the type descriptions, too.