January 4, 2019
“Made in the Image of God” is perhaps the greatest thing that can be said of a human being. We love our pets; admire the strength of a lion, the grace of a hawk soaring in the heavens, or the savage intensity of a fisher. But there is none other that bears the image of God—the ability to reason, to create, to ponder eternity.
When God created the heavens, the earth, and all therein, the Scriptures record him saying, “It is good.” The record is sparse; God spoke and it was. Only the human is given the special attention of God’s fingers, molding and shaping the Man from the dust of the ground. And when done, God said, “It is very good!”
Sin entered, and the original beauty of creation was marred, mankind included. That image, once exactly reflecting the Creator, was also marred, like a broken mirror refracting the light in bizarre patterns to yet show albeit inaccurately, the image of God. I’ve often thought that our human pursuit of excellence is but one facet of that Imago Dei. We strive for perfection in science and medicine, for excellence in the arts, for peace in the world.
A couple nights ago, I stumbled across a couple YouTube videos, first of Freddie Mercury, and then of Michael Jackson, both at the height of their careers. I am not particularly a fan of rock music, and certainly hadn’t followed either of them as they rose like shooting stars, only to flame out at the apex of their powers, but I found myself mesmerized by the sheer magnitude of stage presence these two men commanded. They strutted, danced, and sang their way into the hearts of millions before crashing in self-induced destruction. Watching their performances, I can understand the attraction they held. They pursued excellence, came pretty close to achieving it, and in the process gained an enormous following. Like John Wesley who some two hundred fifty years ago when asked why crowds of people came to hear him preach, responded, “I just set myself on fire, and people come to watch me burn.”
Sad it is that these two individuals did just that, and unsustained by the fires of the Holy Spirit, simply burned out long before their time. Their personal lives were tragic, yet the Image of God remains in their passion and pursuit of excellence. I wonder what would happen if the people of God gave themselves as completely to Him as Mercury and Jackson gave themselves to their music. D.L. Moody, the great nineteenth century evangelist, was motivated by a man who said, “The world has yet to see what God can do through a man completely surrendered to Jesus Christ.”
Moody vowed, “I want to be that man!” So do I. So do I.
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