In the Image of God

By Shirley Mayhood

We were created in the image of our Creator! It was a perfect and loving relationship, but when Adam and Eve chose evil over that relationship with their Creator, that image of God we were created with was lost to us.In our world today, many Christians are more attuned to the world than to God's Word. Many seem to have the attitude that because they are in the world, they must be like the world. But this world is not anything like God, and Christians need to come to the certain knowledge that they are in the world, but not of the world. We as God's kids are not to live in the image of a lost world careening into a dark and bottomless pit of pure evil.Jesus Christ became our atoning sacrifice so that you and I can return to that original image of God that we were created to be. This ought to be our goal in life: to be like God, to do our very best to live in the image of God.This book is a daily devotional of biblical attitudes, characteristics of Jesus Christ, the deep meaning and example of God's amazing precepts and loving actions.God gave us a book to show us His right and loving law, but when Jesus came, He condensed all of the Father's law into just two:Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40)It is my sincere hope that this book of devotions will help all who read it to know God better, to love Him more, and to understand what the true image of God means.451

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685703301

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New Year/ New Beginning/ New Life

January 1

This week begins the start of a new year and a perfect time to reflect on new beginnings. Our old year is gone. Behold, a new year is upon us. This should be a better year! Better spiritually, better mindfully, and better emotionally than the year just passing away. No matter what happens to us in this new year, we should all strive to grow closer to God’s standard of goodness.

For this reason, I, too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exits among you, and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while mentioning you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart my be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe, which are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might, brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in heavenly places. (Ephesians 1:15–20 NASB)

What new things do we have in Christ Jesus?

First, we have a new covenant: Jeremiah writes in chapter 31,

Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant, and in the covenant which I will make, I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.

The Lord Jesus said, This is My body which is given for you: do this in remembrance of Me, and this cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.

Jesus’s death has brought us a new way and has done away with the old! This new way changes us from living under disobedience and judgment to living in obedience and love.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20)

The old deeds of the flesh are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, angry outbursts, disputes, dissention, divisions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have before, that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the new ways are the fruit of the Spirit of God which are, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; there is no law against these things. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit of God, let us also walk in the ways of the Spirit of God. (Galatians 5:19–25; paraphrased)

New life is also ours through a new birth!

Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot understand the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born? Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:1–8 ESV; paraphrased)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3–5 ESV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

The new covenant brings about a new birth, which in turn brings us a new life. If our new birth does not bring about change in us, to a new life, it simply is not real. New birth must bring about new life.

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter 2:21–25 ESV)

In Christ, we have new eternal life. We have always had eternal life. We will live forever someplace, either in heaven with our God and Father, our Lord and Savior, or we will exist eternally in hell, a place away from our Creator and God! We will exist eternally in a dark, evil place, a fiery eternity in a place of bitterness, hate, and loneliness.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16–17)

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:37–40 ESV)

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. (Colossians 3:1–4)

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4–7 ESV)

It is a new year! New understanding! New beginning!

New Year’s Resolutions

January 2

What New Year’s resolutions will you make this year? We all know that there are changes we need to make in our lives: terrible attitudes, bad habits, flawed characteristics, ugly thoughts and actions that are corrupted by the evil nature within us.

The changes that we want to make in our lives are extremely hard for us to alter. As a matter of fact, our own human nature makes it impossible to change on our own.

Jesus died on the cross at Calvary to redeem us from our defective nature, from our humanity that has been damaged by wickedness. His blood has paid for and covered over all of our ugly sinfulness. When Father God, who is holy and perfect, cannot look upon evil, sees us, who have accepted Christ’s payment for our sin, He no longer sees our sin! He looks at us through the blood of His only begotten Son, like looking through a window glass that separates us from the person on the other side of the glass.

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:9–11)

Christ is called the propitiation for our sins. Here, the Greek word used is hilasmos. Christ is the propitiation because He became our substitute in the punishment Father God demanded for sin. That is, He expiated our guilt, covered it, by taking the punishment which Father God required. He endured God’s wrath for us.

So we understand that our sin is already paid for, and we can no longer be punished for it because Jesus stood in for us when He died on the cross at Calvary, and we are free from punishment for our sins.

But we still have our old human nature to contend with. It is our nature to follow evil, but if we have accepted Christ’s payment for our sin, we have His help in living as God wants us to live. You see, God has an ideal way for us to live. His ideal is love, and His love is a true, sacrificial love. Although it is our choice to love with God’s unconditional love, it doesn’t come natural for us to do so.

When Jesus rose from the dead and left earth to go back to His Father, God, He told us that He would send the Holy Spirit of God to live in us, and the Spirit of God is who helps us make changes in our life that imitate our Heavenly Father. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

So when you make your New Year’s resolutions, see that you make those changes that God wants you to make in your life and then depend on His Holy Spirit to change you ’cause you can’t change yourself!

When we accept Christ as our Savior, God’s Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our being, and He makes us new creatures! His blood makes it possible for us to be restored to that original nature that God gave us in the beginning of time. The new has come; the old is fading away, day by day, hour by hour. The closer we come to God, that old nature fades away. Awesome!

But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:20–24)

But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. (Colossians 3:8–11)

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it. (Revelation 2:17)

Then He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. (Revelation 21:5)

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:1–3)

Happy New Year!

Holy, Holy, Holy

January 3

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come! (Revelation 4:8)

Holy, in both Hebrew and Greek has the root meaning of separateness. When describing God as holy, He is separate, not only from sin and wrong, but He is separate from all creation.

The Lord is great in Zion, and He is high above all the peoples. Let them praise Your great and awesome name—He is holy. (Psalms 99:2–3)

For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place. (Isaiah 57:15)

In God’s holiness, He is Deity above all else and infinitely more spiritually pure than all of creation. He is holy, which means He is good and pure, clean and right, through and through. God is wholesome, spotless, sacred, and indestructible. He can never be violated or desecrated with or by evil. He is unassailable and not subject to denial or dispute, nor is He vulnerable to attack. He is completely righteous, which means He always acts in accordance with what is good, proper, and just. He is completely conformed to what is reasonable and correct. He always acts appropriately and suitable for what is good. He is totally honorable, moral, and justifiable. His ways are sound and sane. He absolutely adheres to that which is moral, legal, ethical, and proper. God’s exceeding holiness is demonstrated with the teaching of His essential, fundamental character. This means that He is wholly present in His being and power in every part and moment of the created universe. He is not subject to time nor space. We can never fit Him into our mold or ideas of who He should be.

There is one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all. (Ephesians 4:4–6)

God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. (Acts 17:24–25)

God is morally spotless in character and action. He is upright, pure, untainted with evil desires, motives, thoughts, words, or acts. God is holy, and as holy, He is the source and standard of what is right! He cannot approve of any evil, has no pleasure in evil, and cannot tolerate any evil. He hates and detests evil and cannot encourage sin in any way. He is completely just in all His judgments.

For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You. (Psalms 5:4)

Holiness is God’s essence, the outflow of His nature. He always wills in accordance with His holy nature. Because He is holy, He consistently hates sin and is repulsed by all evil, without respect of persons.

So! Because our God is holy, we too are to be holy:

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:13–16)

For, I am the Lord your God, you shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. (Leviticus 11:44)

God has chosen us to be holy:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. (Ephesians 1:3–5)

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him, who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. (1 Peter 2:9–10)

Christ Jesus died to make us holy:

And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight. (Colossians 1:21–22)

We must make the choice to be holy:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (of worship). And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1–2)

Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! (Revelation 4:8)

The Creator of the Universe, Our Holy, Righteous God

January 4

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth, You have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! When I consider Your heavens the works of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You even think about him and the son of man, that you care about him at all? Yet, You make him to rule over the works of Your hand: You have put all things under his feet, all sheep, oxen and the beasts of the field, the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O Lord, Our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth! (Psalms chapter 8; paraphrased)

It is indeed awesome to me, that the Creator of the universe, The Holy and Righteous God of eternity reached down to me and lifted me up to be His own beloved child. That my amazing, incredible God would count me worthy to be called His special child. That He would consider counting me as deserving of the shed blood of His Only Begotten and Beloved Son! O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!"

He made this beautiful world just for us, the crowning glory of all His creation. And what did we do in return for His love we turned our backs on Him, to go our own selfish and separate way.

As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit; The poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:10–18)

For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the perfect goodness of God. (Romans 3:23; paraphrased)

We, as fallen human beings, are hopelessly separated from God by our sinful nature. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

God, the lover of our souls, left the splendor of heaven to be born a helpless baby in Bethlehem, to live His life sinless and perfectly, to die that horrible death of crucifixion, for the sole purpose of saving me from the wrath of a holy and just God.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For, God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16–18)

For, when we were still without strength (and His enemies), in due time Christ died for the ungodly. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6–9)

God Himself became a man to pay the penalty of death for us, whom He created, so that we might be reconciled to Him. What love!

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:19)

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth!

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (1 John 3:1–2)

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

Let’s not be arrogant in our thoughts about ourselves. In ourselves, we are vile sinners, thinking only of our own needs, but our thoughts should be this:

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20–21)

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of man. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5–8)

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

In the Beginning

January 5

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the deep. Then God said, Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light day and the darkness he called night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (Genesis 1:1–5)

There are two words used here that we need to examine: (1) God created. The words used here are bara and et and means that God created in and of Himself, out of nothing, the heavens and the earth. (2) The next word we want to examine is the first day. The Hebrew word used here is yome, and when used with the number, it means a literal day, one turn of the earth’s path. So we cannot think of these days in terms of thousands of years as some scientists would like us to believe.

So let’s read that verse this way: In the beginning, God created (out of nothing) the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. So the evening and the morning were one turn of the earth’s path.

To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things. Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing. (Isaiah 40:25–26)

That they may see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. (Isaiah 41:20)

Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it. (Isaiah 42:5)

You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created. (Revelation 4:11)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made, that has been made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1:1–5)

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist (are held together). (Colossians 1:15–17)

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 1:18–25)

The world would have us believe that we came to have life by purely biological accident, a pollywog out of a mud puddle. They teach as truth the theory of evolution, that we are a mere accident of spontaneous life without thought or plan, but our whole existence screams out to us that we are created by an intelligence that planned our molecules and our DNA to a tee. The more scientists study genetics and our DNA, the clearer it becomes that we had to be created by Intelligence. Our DNA carries information to our cells which informs the cells what to do, where to go, and what to become. It is impossible for information to come from nothing, and yet our genetic codes could not develop without this information provided by our DNA. Everything we learn about ourselves tells us that we were made by an Intelligent Creator who planned us and loves us and wants to have an intimate relationship with us.

We are not mere animals tethered to our natural brute instincts. We are made in the image of God, with a hole in our souls that can only be satisfied by the filling Spirit of our God. He loves us so much that He did all that was necessary for us to be reconciled to Him and to become His special children. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to face separation from Father God so that we don’t have to be separated from Him for eternity but can be reconciled with Him just for the asking!

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For, God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16–19)

This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord. (Psalms 102:18)

In the beginning God created—everything!

In the Image of God

January 6

Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, 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 ASV)

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)

Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man, his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He created man. (Genesis 9:6)

Our inner being or soul was actually breathed into us by God Himself, which makes us who and what we are as a special creation. These verses all tell us that we have been created in the image or likeness of God. The original Hebrew ward is selem, pronounced tset’-lem, and means a shadow of or representative figure of another. Now think about yourself in that position. We are only a shadow of who God really is, but we are representative figures of our Creator! Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma (Ephesians 5:1–3).

We are in God’s image and are representatives of Him in a fallen world, where sin and evil are prevalent. We are to be like Christ, who is the exact representation of God. He brightly reflects God’s glory and is the exact representation of His being, and upholds the universe by His all-powerful word (Hebrews 1:3, 9 WNT). The people who know us should know God through their relationship with us. Do we show God and His Son, Jesus Christ, to the world? Do we live our lives in a way that will attract others to Him?

John 1:18 states,

No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom (heart) of the Father, He has declared Him.

Philippians 2:5–8 adds,

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

And Colossians 1:15–19 declares,

He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, all things have been created by Him and for Him, He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

Just as Jesus Christ is the exact representation of God the Father, we are also to be an exact representation of God the Father and of His Son Jesus Christ; although as sinful people, we cannot represent Him exactly.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that, which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. (1 Corinthians 13:9–13)

And 1 John 3:1–3 promises us,

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:18–20)

As God’s representatives, created in His own image, we are to show God to a world of people who are on their way to hell, a place of darkness, fire, and evil, a place separated from God and His love forever. How can we not do all that we can to introduce and attract everyone we know to Jesus Christ? Remember, if people know us, they should also be acquainted with Jesus Christ and the Heavenly Father.

What kind of an ambassador are you as you represent Christ in your world? Do you attract others to Christ? Or do you repel them away from Christ? Do others look at your life and say, That person is different, and I want what they have. I want to be like them!

The apostle Paul said these words, Therefore I urge you, imitate me (1 Corinthians 4:16–17). We should live our lives in a way that we can confidently say to others, Imitate me.

How are we doing with our imitation of Christ? What does our image of God look like to the world around us?

Who Is Jesus?

January 7

Jesus is the perfect and final sacrifice for sin! He was the only one who was perfect enough to be that sacrifice because He is God, Emmanuel, God with us. He came to earth as a human for one purpose: to die for our sin. To pay that penalty God required for the payment of sinful man. He came to make you and I right with God because our sinful nature has separated us from Him for all time.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For, the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom (heart) of the Father, He has declared Him. (John 1:1–5, 14–18)

The Word is a theological phrase that expresses the absolute, eternal, and ultimate being of Jesus Christ. (The Word, in the Greek Logos, means not only the spoken word but the thought and idea behind the spoken word. Jesus Christ is the exact expression of God the Father).

The Old Testament spoke of the Word of God as the divine agent in the creation of the universe: By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made (Psalms 33:6).

Through the incarnation of Christ, God has come to dwell in our midst. Through the life and ministry of Jesus, a unique and final revelation of God has been given, one which is superior to the revelation given through the Law and the Prophets. In Christ, the Word of God, God’s plan and purpose for mankind is clearly revealed. (R. F. Youngblood, F. R. Bruce, and R. K. Harrison)

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:1–3)

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For, it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. (Colossians 1:13–22)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, 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 1:1, 26–28)

It is clear in the original language here that God was using the plural of Himself. In One God, there are three personalities, although they are One: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. We, made in God’s image, are triune, just as God is triune. We each have a mind or soul, a body, and a spirit. Three separate parts yet one person. Just like God, accept He is so much more. Jesus is and has always been the physical manifestation of God as He always will be.

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulders. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). This is a prophecy telling about Jesus, the Eternal God who has always existed as God and is the physical part of God forever. There are so many places in the Bible where Jesus claims to be God. Jesus wanted His disciples to know for sure that He is indeed God. He didn’t want them to make any mistakes about that fact. If they had seen Him, they had also seen the Father. Knowing and believing in Him is the only way to be right with God, the only way to exist with God.

Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known, Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. (John 14:6–7)

And He said to them, You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. (John 8:23–24)

Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM. (John 8:58–59)

I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:23–24)

Jesus is God! Can there be any doubt? God Himself came to earth as that tiny infant man, helpless and humble, born in a stable, hay for His cradle. He came to live that perfect and sinless life, to be the only qualified sacrifice for our sin. His sacrificial death is the only way for you and I to be reconciled to God, our Father and Creator!

Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

January 8

God requires a blood sacrifice to cover or do away with our sin! He has always required this since Adam and Eve made the decision to disobey Him, which caused the downfall of His magnificent and perfect creation.

The Lord God said to the woman, Eve, What is this you have done? And Eve answered and said, The serpent deceived me and I ate. God said to the serpent (actually possessed by Satan, the devil), I will make you and the woman and her descendant [seed] mortal enemies. He shall bruise you on your head and you shall bruise Him on His heel. Satan bruised Jesus’s heel when he perpetrated His death on the cross, but Jesus Christ bruised or crushed Satan’s head when He arose from the dead to new life. Jesus had the ultimate victory over evil through God’s plan. He killed the devil’s power when He overcame death and hell.

When God created people, He wanted them to live in a world that was moral and unpolluted with any negative thing. His desire for His people was for them to live in innocence, like a child. He never wanted us to know about evil or all the depraved things that evil concocts. His original plan was for you and me to live in a world that knew no hate, anger, selfishness, greed, egotism, self-absorption; no fighting or wars; no pain or sickness; no death, physical or spiritual. His was a perfect world! A superior place to live! But Adam and Eve chose to follow that sinister being, Satan or Lucifer; and between them, God’s world was altered.

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them (Genesis 3:21). Here, God instituted blood sacrifice. He killed one or more of His creations to make coats of skins to cover Adam and Eve to cover not only their bodies but also the shame of their disobedience. From that time on, it became mandatory to worship God with blood sacrifice because people were no longer innocent or pure enough to come before God to meet with Him face-to-face. They had become tainted by evil. Since God is perfectly good and cannot fellowship with evil, they became separated from Him. This is the reason for blood sacrifice: to say to God, We are sorry. We repent to go Your way, to be Your children, Your people. We choose You!

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord [not God’s way]. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat [the best of the best for God]. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. (Genesis 4:1–7)

God has ordained only one way to have our sins forgiven; that is, through a blood sacrifice. Cain tried to do it his own way, like so many in the world today. People try to be right with God through their own good works or through some penitence they carry out, but God will not accept these ways any more than He accepted Cain’s offering. God will not accept anything other than the blood of a perfect sacrifice: Jesus the Christ.

Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)

You shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats. Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf. And whoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, to fulfill his vow, or a freewill offering from the cattle or the sheep, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. (Leviticus 22:19–21)

And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:22)

So we know that because God had to shed the blood of His creations to cover Adam’s sin, we as sinners must have blood shed for us to cover or pay for our sin.

So Jesus offered Himself as the final blood sacrifice for the sin of the world!

For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:13–15)

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. (Romans 5:8–9)

God Himself performed the first sacrifice! He also performed the last sacrifice! Only through His blood are we forgiven. Please accept Him as your Savior today!

Unto You Is Born

January 9

There are facts and truths about Jesus the Christ which we must all understand because these truths are our faith and hope. The first fact is that all through the Bible, this Savior is promised to us by God, the Father and our Creator.

The Lord God said to the serpent, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He (singular) shall bruise your head (fatal), and you shall bruise His heel (a temporary wound). (Genesis 3:14–15 ESV)

Throughout all the prophetic books for seven hundred years, the Messiah is promised by God:

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:10–11 ESV)

The second fact is that Jesus was not born as other men! His birth was special, unique, and supernatural.

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women! But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. Then Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I do not know a man? And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:26–36)

There was nothing natural about the birth of Jesus Christ. Mary, His mother, made Him all man; and God, His Father, made Him all God!

The third fact is that Jesus lived a sinless life. He never sinned. This was necessary for two reasons: one, He was the seed of the woman who would overcome evil and death; and secondly, He had to remain the perfect sacrifice for sin. God would not be able to accept a blemished, imperfect sacrifice for sin.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, who offers his sacrifice for any of his vows or for any of his freewill offerings, which they offer to the Lord as a burnt offering; you shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats. Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf. (Leviticus 22:17–20)

The fourth fact is that Jesus Christ was sacrificed. He did die for our sin.

I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father. (John 10:14–18)

As Jesus hung on that cross, He said these words: It is finished! Full payment had been made for all the sins ever committed of all the whole world.

The fifth fact is that Jesus died but did not stay dead. He was resurrected bodily.

Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, We have seen the Lord. So he said to them, Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe. And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace to you! Then He said to Thomas, Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. And Thomas answered and said to Him, My Lord and my God! Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. (John 20:24–29)

The sixth fact is that Jesus Christ ascended into heaven where He sits at the Father’s right hand acting as our Lawyer.

Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven. (Acts 1:9–11)

Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. (Romans 8:34)

The seventh and last fact is that Christ Jesus is coming again:

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:1–6)

On believing these truths depends our eternity!

The Christ, the Son of the Living God

January 10

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they said, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 16:13–17 ESV)

Let us ask ourselves today, Who do I say that Jesus is?

Do we believe today that Jesus is the very humanity of God?

In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him is life; and the life is the light of mankind. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it. No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is the heart of the Father, has explained Him. (John chapter 1 NASB)

The words used here for only begotten Son are two words together: huios, which means Son, and metamorphoo, which means to change from one form to another. God in man! Emmanuel, God with man!

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things,