Mankind Arrives!

So God created human beings in his own image.In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 (NLT) emphasis added

'In the image of God'...

Five incredibly powerful words right there!

It is a helpful reminder, these five words, especially when these days it seems like everyone is having an identity crisis.

Identity Crises Galore

It's not a laughing matter, especially when people are turning to drink & drugs to escape problems within themselves that are not really problems in the first place, just quirks of their character.

They might have been told they are worthless, they might have been told they won't amount to much. To be honest, there's a sentence I'm still running from to this day; being told that I won't amount to much if I don't go to university by a college professor.

Peter Chambers from Oldham Sixth Form College once spoke those words over me and I will tell you that, looking back, I see that it was here that my defiant spirit truly arose as I thought to myself "I'll prove you wrong, dude!".

It is powerful words such as "in the image of God" that help me to realise that creation was purely designed to reflect the image of God and display his glory whenever and wherever. So it is a personal battle for anyone who has ever had anything negative spoken over them.

Quite a different style to previous postings, isn't this?

What can I say? Helping people to discover their true, God-given identity is something I strive to do every day.

Marking Territory? Not on My Watch!

You've heard on here some of the things that I have been through and the latest of which involved telling a friend of mine that he was out of line to say that I should not talk to or go near the fantastic young lady I've got a crush on as she'd said she wasn't into me that way.

Times change, people change, you never know what's around the corner! ;-)

It's not a territorial thing, I assure you, but if it was then people would see a brand new side to me! ;-)

Back on point...

Mankind, in arriving on the scene, we will see in next week's post arrived from the very dust of the earth highlighting an intriguing distinction in this week's reading: -

Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind..." Genesis 1:24 (NLT) emphasis added

There, right there!

What? I hear you ask...

In God stating "let the earth", He is saying that the physical bodies of all creatures are meant to perish and decay right here on earth.

The significance? Let me find a reading for you: -

For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die... 1 Corinthians 15:53-54 (NLT)

Do you think the point is important, bro's? It's mentioned three times that we are, in effect, born to die so we should be living each moment as if it is our last moment on earth!

Final Thought

So a sobering thought, then, to be reminded that every day that we are alive is a day that we are closer to our death. It's not morbid, not if you think of it as a healthy reminder that we should be making the most of every opportunity that we are given in this world to do good, to show good to our neighbour.

All of this in the hope so that when Jesus comes again, He can say to us "well done, good and faithful servant, come and share in your Master's happiness"!

Watch the skies!