Image Carriers

 

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

—Psalm 139:13-14

The miracle of creation is repeated countless thousands of times every day. God’s amazing plan for sustaining the human race echoes those first moments of the creation of humankind.

I can only imagine what it must have been like to witness God taking the dust of the earth and fashioning the first man, Adam. Then, God caused Adam to sleep deeply and remove a rib from which God fashioned first woman, Eve.

To me this is not some fanciful, made-up story. This is the reality of how God created humans. The Bible says that after making mankind in His own image, God breathed into humans the breath of life.

Human beings bear the image of God, what theologians call the Imago Dei. This is God’s unique and special stamp on humans. It separates humankind from all of the other creatures that God created. We humans bear the image of God and this marks us in a way that is like no other creature.

The Psalmist praises God and acknowledges the uniqueness of humankind when he writes these words found in Psalm 139:13-14:

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

We do well to remember that our very special relationship with God began when He chose to stamp us with His image. Down through the ages, we have inherited the Imago Dei from our parents. We remain to this very day the “Image Carriers”—the ones who hold within us the image of God.

As we begin another day, let us celebrate this unique place God has given us in the order of creation. Let us take seriously the responsibility we have as stewards of God’s creation. Let us also recognize that no other creature has the unique blessing and responsibility of bearing the image of God.

 

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