John 1 Verse 27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.
The next time you are in a room full of people, look around. Look at the person in front of you, now turn around and look at the person behind you. Look at the people on each side of you. What do you see?
A human being? Arms, legs, body, head. All made in the same basic form…. Right?
Then… take a closer look…. Look around the room until you see someone with dark hair…. Now light hair….. Look at the person next to you, do they have blue eyes or brown eyes? Or some other color eyes all together…..
Look again… Who’s tall, who’s short… Look around and see the differences in everyone in the room.
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder then who is beautiful and who then is ugly?
Close your eyes for a moment. Visualize in your mind the ugliest person you have ever seen in your life… See them very clearly in your mind. While you are visualizing that person think these word to yourself…..
God created man in his own image.
How do you see that person you are visualizing in your mind…. Are you rethinking your position on beauty…. If that person is in God’s image how can they be ugly? Think about it…..
So where does that leave us…….. God created man in his own image……. Does then God become ugly? No…. of course not….
Close your eyes again and visualize in your mind a Chinese person…… Next see in your mind an African…. Change again and see a Spanish person….. Keep your eyes closed and look at the images passing through your mind. An American Indian….. Next a Pygmy…… The line is moving and now it’s a Norwegian….. Now an Eskimo….
Repeat in your mind again…. God created man in his own image.
So at last, we’ve dug up the foundation question…. Which one of us is in his image…. Who has an answer to that question…..
Over the years there have been many answers and people have died defending those answers.
When King James had the Bible retranslated according to the English perception of the time, Jesus was a beautiful white skinned, blue-eyed Englishman with light brown hair. And that is the image we have grown up with. I bet every one of you can visualize Michelangelo’s Jesus, I surely can.
But is that the image of the Lord? Maybe……
But then again, the Hebrews on the other hand have translated Him into a swarthy dark hair Jew while the Moslems portray Jesus as a nearly black messenger from God. Some of the New Age UFO seekers think He came in a spaceship which would probably make Him visually a little gray alien.
The point I’m trying to make here is a simple one.
IT DOESN’T MATTER…… IT….. DOES…. NOT….. MATTER….
What a person looks like is just that. A superficial image….. It’s what’s inside that counts…. Is a person good…. Are they generous….. are they helpful… are they truthful…. ARE THEY HONEST AND JUST?
Close your eyes again and think of a beautiful person and for the sake of discussion let’s suppose that beautiful person is mean to the core. They lie, they cheat, they hit little kids and dogs, but they are still very beautiful to look at. I bet everyone of you knows someone like that.
Now let’s go back a moment to that ugly person you visualized a few moments ago. And for the sake of discussion let’s suppose that he is very kind and gentle. He’s always there when you need someone to talk to, he always has a helping hand to offer. He is the one you know you can always count on in a crisis.
So…. here we have them side beside. The beautiful and the ugly….. The good and the bad….
IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOUR IMAGE IS –
IT’S WHAT’S INSIDE THAT COUNTS.
How many of you remember that little child’s song. “Jesus Loves The Little Children.”
Jesus Loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in his sight.
I think we ought to change that a little bit. Let’s change little children to people.
This is how I think it should go.
Jesus loves all of the people,
All the people of the world,
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in his sight.
Let that be a daily reminder to us of one of the greatest and best promises the Lord has given us.
HE LOVES US ALL, NO MATTER WHAT WE LOOK LIKE.
Isn’t that a joyous thought. We are precious. No matter what we are, we were made in His image and He loves us. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and so is God. It doesn’t matter what you imagine Him to be…… only that you do His divine will.
Everyday strive to do good and just. Make honesty your policy. Follow the commandments. Allow no prejudice in your daily encounters.
Follow the greatest of the commandments.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you…..
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