So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27
One of the opportunities Team BLING has had while in Cambodia is to teach a Bible class each night to any of the students from our English classes that are interested. BLING is split up in to two groups of three as we alternate who teaches the class each night. The class may range anywhere from 5 to 20 students depending on the night. It is a class for new believers but all are welcome which leads to great questions and in depth conversations most every night. A couple of nights ago Kristen, Shannon, and I were teaching on Identity and who we are in Christ. Kristen and Shannon taught the bulk of the lesson and the whole time they were teaching Genesis 1 was on my mind.
I am a lover of the outdoors. I love to go hiking, camping, to the lake or beach; really I just love to be outdoors. I look at the mountains and see God’s fingerprints all over them. I could stare at the stars for hours and hours constantly reassured of how awesome their creator is. As I watch the beauty of a sunrise or a sunset I am in awe at how anyone could look at one of these and not believe in a creator. Basically everywhere I look in nature I remember that there is someone who spoke all that I see into existence in 6 short days. That’s POWERFUL!
However, as I was sitting in class that night all I could think about was the fact that although mountains, stars, sunsets, animals, and trees are magnificently beautiful, only one of God’s many creations was created in His image. As it says in Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him…” As the Lord continued putting this on my heart, I wasn’t sure if it was a good reminder for me to hear or something to share with the class. As it came to the end of the class, it was still heavy on my heart so I ignored the part of the lesson that was mine to teach and simply got up and drew a picture of the many words I have explained here. I repeated the words Kristen and Shannon had already shared with them, that they are beautiful in the eyes of the Lord in so many ways. And all I really added was the significance in knowing that we are the only thing in all of God’s creation that got a little piece of His image.
I am still unsure if this lesson was a reminder for me or a new word for one of the students, but that really doesn’t matter. The Lord has laid it on my heart over and over this week in a way that I have been able to really feel His love poured out all over me allowing me to claim proudly that I am a daughter of the most high king. And just as my earthly father put part of his image in me, my heavenly father CREATED me in HIS image, in the IMAGE of God I was created. Praise God!
