The Image of God

You and I are made in the image of God.  If you are lucky, you look nothing like me and may have even gotten a date while in high school!  We both have fingers and toes, etc.  But, that is not what the Bible is talking about when we are told in whose image we are made.  Each of us has a spirit and that spirit is what is in the image of God.  (Yes, I know, if you are of an American 20^th century faith system, you may well believe God has fingers and toes….  We must respectfully disagree at this point – but keep reading anyways.)

So, if we are created in the image of God, then it stands to reason this must make us as humans to have an inherent value before God – and should before one another as well.  Where am I going with this?

Well, I have been rather troubled this year over the handling by the press, talking heads and just general discussions with friends over the deaths of James Brown, Gerald Ford and Saddam Hussein.   And here are my concerns:

James Brown was a talented singer many will concede.  However, I can remember never having heard a single positive thing about this man.  Troubling thing to say, but bad press generally does get the reader’s attention.  With all of his problems revolving around drugs and violence I have read about, I would not want him for a neighbor!

Gerald Ford has been constantly lauded as the bringer of peace and closure to the Nixon era.  I wonder how many actually remember his tenure in office?  We can thank him for the assassination of the president of Chile and decades of bloody rule following American intervention there.  We can thank him for the mess in Iran and Iraq.  And let us not forget his pardoning of Nixon for obstruction of justice and letting the little guys take the fall.  Of course, he also bombed flat Cambodia over the taking of a spy ship – good job!  So, at least he did one thing right in my book.  But then he allowed the military to throw the book at the commander of the ship, for following orders!  Outside of his office work, he was on the Warren Commission which botched the Kennedy assassination investigation leaving us with more questions than answers over what really happened and why did the US government need to lie?  Yeah, quite a resume.  With his elitist attitudes and dishonesty, I would not want him for a neighbor either!

And now we reach Saddam.  There is no question he should have been brought down decades ago, maybe never even allowed into power – he could have been stopped rather easily were it not for the Cold War.  How many millions’ blood are on his hands?  We may never know.  And the press cheered his departure or at least has made the most out of it.  Definitely, I would move out of the neighborhood if he moved in!

What does this have to do with the image of God?  Well, do we honor that image when we lie about the deceased?  Man seems to want to remember well about everyone once they die – unless, of course, they have already been vilified publicly - like Hitler, Stalin or Mao.  I am sure families have shed tears, perhaps in secret, for each of these men – as well they should.  Life is precious, even for the likes of Saddam.  I do not moan the loss of life for someone like Saddam, but I do for the possible loss of their soul into eternity.

I would not claim to know the spiritual state of James Brown or Gerald Ford prior to their deaths.  Due to the culture in which they have lived, they had ample opportunity to have made their peace with God. 

And, what of someone like Hussein?  I wonder if anyone in the Army units which held him offered to speak with him about salvation.  I know this is so terribly politically incorrect of me to even think!  The world wanted him dead and they got it.  But, even a man of such destruction, as he was, still needs to hear the word of the true God and was deserving of our prayers.

Take a moment today and remember the leaders of your country, state, city, church, etc in prayer – for God’s wisdom to be theirs, for their salvation as needed, for the softening of their hearts.  Then, remember your enemies in prayer – anyone whom you dislike, pray for them!  And if you are like the many, pray for God to open you heart, to respect that image of Himself.

Remember, prayer changes things …….