Did you know that all of the chemical, mineral, and skin elements that make up the average human body are only worth about $4.50? I often felt like I was worth about $4.50. Sometimes I still do. One of our greatest struggles is self-hatred (and a lot of times we’ve made mistakes in our lives that seem to prove our point). We hear voices from the past and the present saying: “You’re no good.” “You’ll never amount to anything.” “You are so ugly.” “You don’t matter.” We bear a heavy load of guilt and failure that drags down our view of ourselves.
After becoming a Christian, I spent several years wrestling with forgiveness, trying to remove all those negative voices from my head. I could forgive others, I could even believe that God had forgiven me, but I could not forgive myself. One day I heard someone teach from this passage: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Afterward I hurried out and went to a quiet place. As I reflected on God’s amazing love, it finally sunk in that the primary thing was not my love for God or my love for myself. The primary thing was and is God’s love for me. What God thinks of me matters infinitely more than what I think of me. That is what defines the greatest love of all. And from that love I respond to God as one deeply flawed, yet unconditionally adored.
The Bible teaches that we are all created in the image of God. This knowledge is where our worth begins, but we often take it for granted, not realizing the power in this truth. As I studied the Bible I was surprised by how radical this message was in its ancient context. The Hebrews who first received the message knew what it meant to feel lost and confused about who they were. For forty years they roamed the wilderness while headed to the Promised Land. They had been slaves for generations before this, and that was still a powerful force in how they viewed themselves. It was to this group of ex-slaves that God revealed the first five books of the Bible—and the story of His loving creation of humankind—through Moses.
We can hardly grasp the mind-blowing nature of the claim that everyone is made in the image of God. In the ancient Near East, people were seen as an afterthought, created primarily to serve the needs of the gods. The gods’ main need was food, and people were expected to provide for this need. Only kings were said to be in the image and likeness of the gods. Everyday people such as shepherds, farmers, and construction workers were merely human, slaves to the gods.
Understanding this opened my eyes to why the book of Genesis emphasizes God’s unique creation of humans: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). Three times in one verse it states God “created” and twice it emphasizes “in his image.” This pattern is virtually repeated in Genesis 5:1 and the following verses. How can we so easily dismiss ourselves and deny our value when God has been screaming for thousands of years that we all matter?
The image of God points to the elements within us that reflect his character, glory, and goodness. It means we have the ability to think, love, and make moral choices. He’s created us with His unique stamp on our lives, and He will provide for our needs. We are not simply slaves! We are royalty, sons and daughters of the King! God’s image gives us worth precisely because of His greatness, not ours. He is the one who is worthy, and it is His image—and His worthiness—we bear.
When I realized the value I have in God’s eyes, it changed me. I began to re-imagine myself as one loved deeply by God, irrespective of what I felt. I am loved before, during, and after my sin. I am loved when I feel unworthy. I am loved in spite of myself. I realized I was searching for what I already had. I wanted approval from others to validate my worth, I wanted to show everyone I could make something of myself, I wanted to become someone. That day I realized I would never find what I searched for because I already had it. I had to personally embrace God’s grace in a life-transforming way.
Bono, lead singer of U2, captured the radical nature of God’s grace when he said: It’s a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between grace and karma.… Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.… I’d be in big trouble if karma was going to finally be my judge.… It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity.11
I’m holding out for grace as well.
Grace offers us relief from the crushing weight of the past. And this frees us to hope for a better future. One weekend at Central we had a dozen people write a few words of what God had done in their lives on pieces of old cardboard. One person took a piece of paper and did her own reimagining. She dropped it off at the front desk on her way out (see image). On the paper she described her present with terms like “loneliness, broke, prostitute, kleptomaniac, angry, bitter…” What moved me was how she envisioned her future: “Healthy, wealthy, whole in spirit, married with four children.”
Was she just pie-in-the-sky dreaming? No. God’s grace can truly change a future. He can heal and work and transform a person in the most profound way. There is hope for her and for all of us because of Him.
Yet this grace is not for the faint of heart. This is not feel-good-about-yourself psychobabble. This is real, hard work. Living in this grace, reimagining yourself, requires dealing with sin in your life, confessing that sin, and coming clean before God and others. Bearing God’s image is a serious responsibility.
In the ancient Near East, kings would set up an image of themselves in the distant parts of their territory. The image of the king would establish authority and dominion even in the king’s absence. In Genesis God creates man in His image and empowers him to be His royal representative on the earth. Our responsibility is to bear God’s image well.
Next time you are tempted to yell at your kids, shade the truth, cheat, or let your temper go…remember, you are not only made in the image of God, you are made to bear that image. You will fail (we all do), but God’s forgiveness will allow you to start anew and be His representative to all you meet. Through serving, using your gifts, standing up for the poor and oppressed, through mercy and defending those who need to be defended, you bear God’s image in the world.
Living in Vegas I’ve learned that God is in the business of setting people free. I’m reminded of the Israelites who lived so long in slavery. In His grace and mercy God made a way for them to be brought back from the land of captivity. Here is how one of them described the experience: “When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy” (Psalms 126:1–3).
When God delivered them, they were like people who dreamed again. Not only that, but also their mouths were filled with laughter and their tongues with songs of joy. A whole new future had opened up to them. You may feel captive to many things today—a relationship that seems lifeless, a job that no longer brings you joy, an addiction you can’t seem to kick. You may feel trapped under financial or family pressure, but God can give you the ability to reimagine your life and dream again.
Excerpt from Stripped: Uncensored Grace on the Streets of Vegas (Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2007).
