The Divine Image Renewed

"Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 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

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to

which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." ~Colossians 3:1-10

"I am the image of Your unutterable glory, though I bear the scars of my stumblings. Have compassion upon me, the works of Your hands, O sovereign Lord, and cleanse me through Your loving-kindness; and the homeland of my heart’s desire bestow on me, by making me a citizen of Paradise." From The Evlogetaria for the Dead

It is a tragic thing that so many people live their lives not realizing their immense beauty and value and potential because of the fact they have been made in the image of God. Each of us though, has been stamped with the image of the Divine. We bear in us certain characteristics that identify us as the workmanship of the Creator. This image cannot be removed.

It is true that the likeness, the way in which we bear our resemblance to the Creator, is marred. It has become scuffed and sullied due to the entrance of sin in the world. But the image remains, as a beautiful masterpiece hidden beneath "the scars of my stumbling."

As we grow in Christ, we who have been raised with Christ, we put on the new life, the life that is in Christ. This is true life, to be found in Christ, to abide in him and he in us. As we commune with Christ, Divine Love begins the work of healing wounds and removing dirt, restoring more and more the likeness, the resemblance. The works of darkness, the things that are of the flesh, that scar and dirty and hide the Divine image, these things diminish, so as to enable us to put on the new life, the life lived in and empowered by the Holy Spirit. This is the process described by Saint Paul in chapter three of the letter to the Colossians.

Remember that you are made in God's own image and are beloved of God. Seek God's mercy and trust that in Him is found forgiveness and healing, light and life and love. Allow him to refashion you, because of his compassion, yield to his will as his blood cleanses you and prepares you for life in His kingdom.