Have you ever stopped for a moment to ponder the significance of us being created in the image and likeness of God and that He has created each one of us for a unique purpose in His redemptive plan? We have a purpose, and He has gifted us with all the spiritual blessings and abilities to accomplish what He intended for us to do. We are part of God’s plan! Each one of us has significance in God’s story!! How beautiful is that!! Praise be to God!!! Now, let us dig into Scripture, meditate on His Word, and pray for a greater understanding so we can fully embrace our life and purpose in Christ Jesus.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind” (John 1:1-4 NIV). He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Col 1:15-17 NASB).
Then God said, “Let us make humankindin our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth,and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created humankindin his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 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 air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Gen 1:26-28 NRSV). “In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created” (Gen 5:1-2 NKJV).
We are created in the image and likeness of God and each one of us has been ordained for a special time here on earth. “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,I know that full well.My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Ps 139:13-16 NIV). Our days are numbered and it is “in him we live and move and have our being…We are his offspring’’ (Acts 17:28 NIV).
We are created in Christ Jesus for a very unique purpose. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; and before you were born I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jer 1:5 MEV). “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Eph 2:10 NASB).
We are created for a significant purpose in God’s redemptive plan and He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ to enable us to accomplish our purpose through Christ Jesus. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined usfor adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making knownto us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christas a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory” (Eph 1:3-12 ESV).
“Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the standard of one’sfaith;if service, in service; if teaching, in teaching;if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading,with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness” (Rom 12:1-8 HCSB).
We are the body of Christ, and He has gifted us with the manifestation of the Spirit in skills and abilities to accomplish what He has created us to do for the benefit and unity of the body. “With regard to spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed…Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different results, but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all. For one person is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, and another the message of knowledge according to the same Spirit,to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another performance of miracles, to another prophecy, and to another discernment of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.It is one and the same Spirit, distributing as he decides to each person, who produces all these things”(1 Cor 12:1-11 NET).
“I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism,one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift…The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph 4:1-13 NRSV).Praise be to God!!! What an awesome God we serve!!! We are created in His image and likeness, ordained for a significant purpose in a specific time, and gifted with every spiritual blessing to fulfill His will for our lives. Meditate on His Word and embrace every precious moment He’s gifted you with here on earth. May you invest your time wisely in Christ to be all He’s created you to be. Live your life in and through the sweetness of the glorious presence of Christ Jesus. To God be the glory!! Amen.
