Genesis 1:26 tells us that God made man in His image and likeness. This verse has been disputed as to its true meaning, but as a bible believer and person who by faith has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, can only take as literal this scripture. This in no way is to say that I wish to limit this verse by my understanding but hope that by the Holy Spirit, the true depth of this scripture and others like it are revealed.
In saying this, I believe this scripture relates not merely to the outer aspects of man's image but to the inner and most importantly to the characteristics of our nature as sons and daughters of God. This scripture to me therefore speaks of being made in the character of God. It is therefore imperative that the character of a follower of Christ Jesus also reflect His character.
When we look to society and our present generation it is difficult to say that it reflects Christ's character. Though society wants us to believe we have evolved and therefore increased in knowledge and wisdom, the opposite I feel is more the truth. If standards and morals are a true reflection of a societies character than we must admit that man has drastically degraded over the past decades that I have walked the earth and from what I heard from my parents a great deal more since they were born. I feel every generation can say the same of the coming generations.
If then the character of a person should reflect who we are in Christ and in God, then what we do with our lives must also. This might be a chicken or egg saga, but if man was formed firstly from the image and likeness of God then we can say the character of man preceded that which man was called to do with his time on the earth.
This is reflected in Genesis when God saw all that He had made and said it was good. It was after this that God commanded Adam (man) to subdue the earth and multiply. God created man in His character and out of this character he was to subdue the earth and multiply.
Is this what we see in society today? I think not, as man pursues his goals and dreams without much if any consideration to his character and how he might do these things based on a character centred around God's own image and likeness.
Character must precede our call or works. As a pastor and leader within the Pentecostal church for many years, I often felt pressed into a performance based ministry. That is, I had to appear to have all the goods by how I talked and walked in my ministry. But recently have realised that this was not a true reflection of God's character. As pastors we had a jovial saying which was "fake it till you make it". Whilst I am fully aware that none of us are perfect, but are being made perfect by the empowering work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we must ensure our works, calling, actions are a reflection of the character of God within us and not merely a show of morality.
Whilst the gifts of God are irrevocable, the character of God must be worked in us everyday! Therefore if our gifts of the Holy Spirit are to reflect God's love for mankind we must everyday examine our motives and true character. This I believe is what Paul is referring to in Galatians 5 when speaking about the carnal nature of man versus the fruit of the Spirit. A person who is reflecting God's character will have the fruit of the Spirit evident in all he or she does. Jesus says in Matthew 7:15 that we will know them by their fruits.
What therefore comes first? The character of a Godly person must be seen before they are given positions of authority and leadership within the church and even in society. Who they are must precede what they do and everything they do must reflect this character. This is not to say that we should not love them when they fail but do as our heavenly Father does and gently restore them when they do fail as He does with all of us He loves!
God Bless
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