This past Sunday, we considered the beautiful reality of men and women being created imago Dei, in the image of God. Though this image has been distorted and disordered by the Fall, it has not been destroyed. Each of us and everyone we come into contact with carries a degree of dignity. While we are not God, we are also not mere animals nor worthless. Therefore, we ought to honor ourselves and others in appropriate ways.
Yet, the doctrine of the image of God, conveys even more truth than we were able to cover in one sermon. Once again, providentially, I came across the following quote in Richard Foster’s Freedom of Simplicity that speaks to one of these truths
We need to lift high the biblical doctrine of creation today, particularly our own creatureliness. We are not the captains of our souls nor the masters of our fates. We are part of the created order and hence totally dependent. Our posture is not one of arrogant acquisition, but of simple trust. What we have or ever will have comes from his gracious hand.
We are dependent upon God for even our sense of worth as individuals. Our uniqueness and dignity is rooted in our creation in the image of God. Our value is not tied to wealth, status, accomplishments or position. It is a gift. Obviously, this wonderful truth flies in the face of the modern tendency to define people by what they produce or what they have.
The terrible reality of the fall was nothing more than a repudiation of our dependence upon God…Independence always comes at a high price, and especially so when it involves a rejection of the gracious provision of God.
The Israelites who were redeemed out of slavery in Egypt had to learn this truth (Exodus 16). And so, every day, for 40 years, they woke up in the morning and gathered manna, bread from heaven. But they only gathered enough for that day. If they kept some back to provide for themselves instead of trusting God to provide, they would wake and find the remainder filled with worms. On the sixth day, they gathered double portions in order to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. And yet still, some did not trust and went out on the Sabbath day to gather and found nothing. God also was teaching them to trust Him in the way He miraculously provided water for them at times (Exodus 15; 17).
In the same way, saints, we are called to a radical dependence upon and trust in the Lord. It is why the Lord has taught us to pray, Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). Such prayer keeps us from thinking that we are the ultimate source of our provision, our protection, and even our very lives. Instead, we seek, in repentance and faith, to return to a posture of dependence. Like children we live in a spirit of trust. What we have we receive as a gift (Foster). So, saints, let us live our lives, resting and trusting wholeheartedly in the hands of our gracious God.
