Commentary: A life that images God

We are all sinners on earth; we all grieve and quench the Holy Spirit. But we are all made in the image of God, and we should very much desire to act like it.”

Doctors Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears (Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe) said, “A life that images God is one in which we are increasingly sanctified by the Holy Spirit to be more and more like Jesus, thereby enabling us to mirror the glory of God in a way that is akin to how Moses radiated the glory of God after meeting with Him on Mt. Sinai.”

A life that images God always must begin with sincere belief in Christ as God’s Son, repentance of sin, and calling on Christ for forgiveness and salvation. It then involves living in a humble, repentant, and personal relationship with God. A good Christian has learned to live with a constant awareness of God in his life. As someone once said, “A good Christian does not think less of himself; he just thinks of himself less.” That is why the Apostle Paul tells us to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). In a secular and ungodly world like ours, we must constantly remind ourselves that we represent Christ wherever we are. Bible study, prayer, and Christian fellowship are essential tools for this.

We image God by submitting to God’s authority. This includes wives submitting to husbands, children submitting to parents, church members submitting to church leaders, citizens submitting to governmental authority, and laws that do not violate God’s laws. Our society has become very ungodly in general today. Many women do not accept submission to their husbands, and many children fail to even respect their parents. We commonly see child rebellion in all areas.

Those who image God look for opportunities to serve Him. We are commanded to love God first and foremost. We do that best through obedience to His will. We are also commanded to love others as ourselves. So many people in our society today endorse the heinous sin of abortion. They try to excuse this form of murder by claiming that life only starts after birth. Some are evil enough to think that it is alright to even kill babies after they are born. As a teacher of anatomy and physiology, I insisted on my stance that abortion was murder because human life begins at conception. That tiny once-celled zygote is a living human being with complete potential to develop into an adult human being in time. Often, we hear that a woman has the right to do as she pleases with her body. But the truth is that an embryo, or even a zygote, is not her body. It is a new person developing inside her body.

To love others, we must associate with them. This means attending church and other fellowship activities. God tells us, “No forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

As Christians, we want to deserve the title. We want to have a close relationship with our Heavenly Father. The Bible says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). James also tells us, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). We are all sinners on earth; we all grieve and quench the Holy Spirit. But we are all made in the image of God, and we should very much desire to act like it.

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Ralph Fudge is the pastor of Big Ochlocknee Baptist Church in Coolidge, Ga., and has a Master’s degree in theology from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.