Prayer
My Lord and my God, Yet I am still with you, you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and after you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And the earth has nothing that I desire, beside you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but you are the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. Whom have I in heaven but you? And the earth has nothing that I desire, beside you. Send forth your light and your truth let them lead me. Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. I’m a stranger on earth, do not hide your commandments from me, and my soul fills with longing for your word, at all times. Be merciful to me, O Lord, according to your unfailing love. This I pray, that your name may be exalted in my life this day. All glory be to your name on high. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Reading
Gen 1:24-31.
“And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29. And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”
Meditation
We all understand something of the various parts of bodies. We have a skeletal structure, and a system of veins carrying blood around our body. In our bodies we have lungs, arms, legs, a heart, a brain, and so on. When it comes to your spirit, one of the most basic categories is personality. Our personality is actually an aspect of our spiritual nature. God is Spirit, and God is personal – and so personality is an innately spiritual reality. Being personal beings is an aspect of what it means to be made in God’s image.
Building on this, we can say that all the qualities of personhood are spiritual faculties as well. We have an intellect, emotions, the will to act – these are all creaturely, finite reflections of God’s infinite personal nature. God made us to learn wisdom and be wise, while God himself is all-wise; we were made to love and be loved, while God himself is love (1 Jn 4:8); we could multiply many more such examples. If you lose a limb, you are very keenly aware of that. Too often we are not so much keenly aware of our spiritual nature, and yet our personality is a central aspect of our spirituality. Let me establish the case for this further from some other parts of scripture.
In John 11:33, when Jesus came to the tomb of Lazarus, listen to what we read: “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.” The text here describes Jesus’ deep emotional response as a movement of his spirit, which shows us that our emotions are primarily a spiritual reality. We find another example in 1 Corinthians 2:11: “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him?” Just as the emotions of a person are spiritual, so too with our thoughts. Our thoughts are primarily a spiritual reality, for they are a reflection of God’s spiritual nature.
So then, it’s not that we’re not aware of our spiritual nature, it’s just that, in our materialistic age, we usually classify that which is primarily spiritual as being merely physical. Scientists will describe our emotions in terms of chemical realities, and so too our thoughts are conceived as being purely a function of the brain. It’s not that those things are not true, they are – as far as they go. But as we’ve been created in God’s image, we find that our emotions, thoughts, and decisions are not merely chemical realities of the body. These are spiritual realities. This is a central and significant aspect of what it means for us to be made in the likeness and image of God.
Be ye doers of the word…
Here is an application arising out of this meditation: guard your heart. In Proverbs 4:23 we read: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Why must we guard our hearts? Because it is in the heart, our inner spiritual life, that God has most centrally imprinted his image upon us. Our bodies are part of who we are, they are part of our nature as images of God. But, as we know, God does not have a body for he is spirit (Jn 4:24). It is therefore in our spirits that his nature is most clearly seen. You’re actually more in touch with your spiritual nature than you might think at first – as you live in light of your thoughts, your feelings, your desires and decisions. And so we must guard our hearts and, above all, realise that the way we do that is by abiding in the Word of God so that our minds – our inner spiritual man – will be renewed after the image of God. To neglect God’s word is to deface God’s image in your soul. SDG.
Prayer of Confession & Consecration
Lord God, I confess that I am constantly guilty of neglecting the spiritual upkeep of my heart. In my twisted, selfish, sinful ways I have daily smeared filth upon your image in me. I have not kept my heart with all vigilance. I am in constant need of having my heart washed with the washing of the water of your word. So wash my heart, O Lord, I pray. Every time I read, and bring your word to mind in my days that I may not sin against you. O Lord, I long to be delivered from this body of death. I long for sin’s defiling effects to be gone from my life. I am weak, you are strong. Save me, I am yours. Please help your people in my local church today, wash their hearts by the washing of the water of the word of God. To you alone be the glory. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Day 31: We are personal images of heavenly glory (Gen 1:24-31).