Life in the Gardens of God: image-bearing

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: Look to— the rock from which you were cut…the quarry from which you were hewn.”

Isaiah 51:1

As tragic as the loss of the perfection of Eden was, as redeeming as Gethsemane and Golgotha were, as eternal as the garden party in heaven will be, today we live in the garden we are planted in ladies. How best to bloom where God planted me, I ask.

Sure, I know I am created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). I know that God has endowed me with the potential of many of His qualities. But I confess that, last summer when the Womenary professor, Daniel David, drilled down on the concept of being the image-bearer of God, that thought had not crossed my mind. I was overwhelmed, honored, petrified all at once. Yet, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Created in the image of God, my ultimate purpose is to be the image of God to the watching world. Oh my! 

We first look to Jesus, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation (Colossians1:15), to know what the image of God is like. In New Testament times, image—eikon—meant a likeness on a coin, a portrait, or a statue. The incarnate Jesus was stamped all over with the likeness of the Father. The good news is that you too were stamped internally with that image on Golgotha. Put your faith in Jesus and the new self (in you)…is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator (Colossians 3:10). 

Remember, under the beauty of Butchart Gardens is a depleted limestone quarry. Stand next to the stone wall and peer down into the Sunken Garden. It took horse cart after horse cart to drag in topsoil, tall mounds of rock were stacked in terraces for flower beds, and it is rumored that Mrs. Butchart dangled over the sides to tuck ivy in every conceivable crevice, all because she loved flowers.     

Since the image of Jesus—the rock from which you were cut…the quarry from which you were hewn—is planted in you, if you earnestly pursue righteousness, you will seek the LORD. The image of the Creator will then begin to bloom on you. Rest assured the Spirit will gladly tuck love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22) into the crevices of your heart, seeding Jesus on your rockface for all to see—just because the Father loves you.

Nancy P