Have you ever truly thought about why God tells us the greatest commandments are to love him with your all and to love your neighbor as yourself? I mean it makes total since why we should love the Lord with our all, He created us. But why is this second commandment just as important and like the first one?
A couple of days ago, as I was going through a devotional, The Lord brought me back to Genesis 1, back to the beginning with creation. This time however, it was very different. The same words still on that page that I have heard numerous times before, pierced my heart and shook me in a way like never before.
“Then God said, let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them: male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:26-27
The God of the entire universe, who made galaxies, clearly loves his creation, but there is something so special about mankind that He would make us into his own image. There is not another thing in all of creation that was made by God in his own image except us (Mankind). Y’all you have to see God’s heart in this. He took time to form us with his hands, an entire chapter is dedicated to him creating us.
There is nothing really confusing about this, but as I read this and even as I type this, I am almost brought to tears in my eyes and my heart. The thought going through my head as I was dwelling on this was this: God loves us so much and is so sovereign and knows all. He knew we were going to fall and that sin and wickedness would enter the world causing us to be separate from him, which was NOT his intention. He also knew that many will not ever be with him and would reject him, yet he still made us in his likeness and image and saw that it was GOOD and PLEASED him to do so. My heart just breaks and and hurts, I cannot come close to imagining God’s heart with this knowledge he has. I know I will never understand or grasp the Lord’s ways in this regard and I am ok with that because he is God and his ways and his thoughts are higher, but still it hurts to know that the creation that YOU MADE in your image would reject you. The very thing you love just dissing you. But God is so gracious and loves what he created, that he would give HIMSELF just so he could have us and want us. He desires us, Why wouldn’t he, he made us in his likeness.
And boom goes the dynamite, the realization and revelation that still has a hold of my heart. As I have thought about this and God’s second greatest command, I cannot help but feel convicted for God and his heart as well as my own lack of Love in this regard. I believe this truth can be applied to three different types of people:
1) The non believer who has yet to know the Lord. When a person rejects God or refuses to believe in him, worship him, and or follow him, they are hurting his heart in the sense of them rejecting the very creator that made them be LIKE HIM. Those who fit into this category do not realize the Love that God has always had for them. They also may not realize that their rebellion and separation from him hurts his heart and troubles him. They do not realize that the Lord is long suffering not wanting anyone to perish but all to come to repentance, as well as choose life not death.
2) The believer who does not Love his neighbor or show the Love of Christ to all. It is written in Galatians that by loving our neighbor as ourselves we are keeping the law. Jesus himself says that the world would know we are HIS disciples by the way we love one another. When we complain about another person, gossip about another person, look lustfully at another persona whether male or female, we are disrespecting the very beings that are made in the Image of God. I truly believe the reason why the second greatest command given is because of the TRUTH that we are an IMAGE of God. This also hurts the heart of the Lord, because God is love. How are others who have yet to believe going to know the Love of the Lord if God’s followers and born again believers do not show it to the homeless man who begs for money for whatever reason, The people who are in prison for whatever crime they have committed, those who live a different lifestyle such as a different religion, homosexuality, etc. What about those who have never truly known what it is like to be loved, or have the slightest clue what love feels like, so they act out and rebel, do drugs and get drunk. They too were made in the image of God and they do not realize it and or are blinded to it. We know the truth that sets men free, we know the Love of the Lord and it is our job to follow Jesus and become like him by sharing that with ALL of creation, simply because they need to know. BY the Love of Christ reflecting through us God will do what he can and does best to bring them out of darkness into his light, to bring them from his wrath and impending judgment into rest and security.
3) Finally, the people (Believers and not yet believers) who do not love themselves. God created you friends, family, strangers in very different and unique ways. to reject the personality, talents, body of the image you were created in, hurts God’s heart and is in a way rejecting him and telling him that He got it wrong and made a mistake. Guys, I have to be honest and say that I personally do this more than I care to admit. For a majority of my life, I have very much disliked the fact that I was born Mixed or two different races (black and Italian). If I were given the choice, I have a very strong preference for which race I would rather be. The root of this is due to what others think. I did not and do not want to be associated with the stereotypes that some have. Also, by the way that some people act, has made me not want to be mixed at all, In other words the actions of others have influenced my thought process in this. Do you see what I see? The common denominator between these two reasons? I am not loving God by seeing how HE made me. He did not get it wrong and there was a reason for this that is his own and HE LOVES ME. To admit this and bring this to light is hard, but I know God and He already knows this and is in the process still of Loving me and renewing me and transforming me. Will this take time, yes, AM I willing to go through what is God is doing? A little hesitant but I am.
Guys I do not know about you but I am convicted and relieved that God is showing himself to me and showing me myself and things he wants to take control over and change within me to make me more like Christ. I encourage you all to let God speak to you through this. Let him transform you from the inside out. ONly he can, and we all need him in us to actually Love him and others as we are commanded. I encourage you to thnk about God and his heart the next time you speak ill of another person, look at that naked girl or guy, cuss out someone who wronged you, judged another person regardless of what they have done, or speak ill against yourself. We are all made in his image and in his image he made us. So do not hurt The Lord and his heart by doing those things to the creation he made in his image because then you are doing it to him.
Lastly, I would love for all of you to watch and listen to this song posted at the bottom, It may not be directly talking about God but I hear it as God singing this song over me and it is written that the Lord rejoices over us with Loud singing
Please be in prayer for those who have yet to hear the message of the gospel and the love of God that my team and I will encounter this next year!!! I would invite you to actually help support me financially by clicking the donate button and donating to this journey I will be embarking on, every little bit helps, even if it is 5$. I also would like to personally invite you to join me by subscribing to my blog to get updates as well as see what God through these blogs will do in you and transform you. All for his kingdom, so please share this with all you can.
#11N11worldrace #Panama-Malaysia
