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What do we know?

Halloween was a little over a month now. Depending on how old you are, you may have dressed up or helped a sister or brother with their costume. You then went out and got candy from a bunch of peoples houses, whom you may or may not know. Or, you waited till sister or brother got home and picked through their candy. In either instance there was a candy reward at the end of the night.

What all goes into a successful Halloween? Coming up with a good costume idea, finding the things you need to put the costume together, making the costume, putting on the costume, going out and getting candy, and coming home to count all you got. Lots of candy equals mission accomplished, right?

Think about it, on Halloween, you are on a mission. You go undercover and gather all the candy reward you can before returning to your everyday life. It is a short lived mission but you get an idea of what a mission is. It takes planning, preparation, and execution.

The Big Idea

As followers of Jesus, we are on a mission. We are on a mission because He put us on a mission.

What is the mission

What is a mission? A mission can be defined as an important goal or purpose that is accompanied by strong conviction; a calling or vocation.

Jesus put us on a mission and we know this mission as the Great Commission from Matthew 28:18-20. All the things we should be doing once we give Jesus our ‘Yes’ should be based within this command from Him. When we listen to or read this instruction from Jesus, what stands out? Is it the actions we are to do? There are three things it sounds like Jesus wants us to do. However, He told us to do just one thing which I’ll explain in a few minutes.

Before we talk about the one thing, I want us to rethink, meaning we change the way we think, how we see the mission. Usually when we hear mission we think about going on a trip to a different country to share the gospel and create new relationships. These are short-term mission trips. You also hear about people moving to a different country to become missionaries. Going on short-term mission trips and/or becoming a missionary are great, kingdom-serving things. But if we are going to rethink the mission, we understand those things are only parts of the mission.

I want us to think about our mission with a specific order in mind, starting with this: WHY do we have a mission? After you think about the mission beginning with WHY, follow it with HOW and with WHAT. There has to be a reason WHY we have a mission for us to even want to be on a mission. No WHAT or HOW of the mission has any meaning without the WHY of the mission. The WHAT and the HOW of our mission should only come after the WHY of our mission. This means when we go spend a week in a different country, that is a HOW of the mission. If you go live in a different country, that too is a HOW of the mission. Our mission as a servant of Jesus does not begin with a HOW or WHAT but with WHY.

So then what is the WHY? Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:37–38. He says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” The greatest thing we can do is to love Jesus with everything we have. This is the WHY for all of our missions. Mine, yours, all of God’s children. When we get out of bed in the morning and dread the day, we remember the WHY. The WHY motivates us more in times of trial than it does when things are going well. Loving is easiest in good times but harder during challenges.

Let’s go back now and summarize the Great Commission as WHY, HOW, WHAT.

• WHY: Love and serve Jesus, following His instructions.

• HOW: Going, baptizing, teaching.

• WHAT: Make disciples.

• Result: We have friends and neighbors connected to Jesus, not separated from Him. They love and serve Jesus, following His instructions.

Earlier I mentioned it sounded like Jesus gave us three things to do but it was just one. In the WHY, HOW, WHAT idea, that one thing becomes the WHAT. As you see above, the WHAT is to make disciples.

Preparing for the mission looks different when we put our WHY at the beginning of it. We love and want to serve Jesus and He said He will equip and prepare us.

Preparing for the mission

In Ephesians 2:10, Paul tells us, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Did you hear that? We who are saved have already started to be prepared. God has our preparation outlined for what He has planned for us to accomplish. You may think, “Hey, that’s great! Can we get that outline so we can help God out?” This would deny God the glory and make the work ours wouldn’t it?

When we did the discovery exercise recently you answered a few questions. Did you think by answering “What do you enjoy most” and “What are you afraid of most” would have anything to do with the preparation of your mission? Questions have a way of nudging us to provide insight on ourselves that we may not give on our own or understand how they fit into our discipleship. Jesus definitely knows this, of course, as God. Jesus is a question asker. Jesus knows the answer. Jesus wants us to discover and understand what He has in store for us so we go and do it. We aren’t inventing things to do and getting them approved by Jesus. He has them planned and revealing them to us when he has prepared us to do them.

John 21:15–19 shows us an instance how Jesus gets information out of us in order to prepare us for the mission. Here Jesus is with Peter, giving him clear instructions, but the instructions aren’t the only focus of this conversation. Why is Jesus asking Peter basically the same question multiple times? Three times to be exact. Who remembers what Peter did the night Jesus was betrayed and taken to Pilate? He denied Jesus three times, just as Jesus foretold. Jesus is asking Peter three times to restore him, repairing him per se. Peter was a DIY disciple but could not DIY his relationship with Jesus. Only Jesus could fix it and this is what Jesus is doing here.

The greatest preparation, in my opinion, Jesus does for us is to show us how we have to truly depend on Him. Jesus did this for Peter by the fire, showing mercy to restore him. Go back to the beginning of John 21 and read verses 1-14. It sounds like a great fishing story, right? But here is what is going on. Remember, all these guys are professional fisherman. It is what they do for a living. Before Jesus showed up, they had not caught any fish. They had been out all night and just as the day was beginning, Jesus shows up and BAM they have fish. Jesus shows us His majesty not only in great miracles, like raising Lazarus, but also in what we would see as trivial (fishing). He is the God of all and can prepare us for all He wants for us to accomplish.

Going, Baptizing, Teaching

Reading Ephesians 2:10 again, let’s focus on the part of the verse “created in Christ Jesus for good works”. Remember our HOW from our mission? Here it is. Going, baptizing, and teaching are all good works Jesus has called us to and sends us out to do. These works don’t save us but show we have been saved; don’t forget that.

This excerpt from a commentary on Matthew’s gospel gives us a fantastic summary on our HOW:

“Disciple making is not simply what happens in a classroom for an hour or so each week; it's what happens when we walk through life together as a community of faith, modeling for one another how to follow Christ. We show one another how to pray, how to study God's Word, how to grow in Christ, and how to lead others to Christ. This is what Christ's body is to be about.”

As our HOW, going, baptizing, and teaching can sound simplistic but does it need to be complicated? No. But since it is a HOW it won’t always look the same. Going can be to your next door neighbor or a discussion with a person in the frozen dessert aisle at the grocery store. Being on a mission can be anywhere you are or directed to a specific place God is calling yo to go. Then there’s teaching. This calls us to be prepared. How’s your Bible knowledge? You able to teach in the frozen dessert aisle at the grocery store?

Now what?

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to our mission. Hours can be spent talking through details on prepping and going. Hours should be spent talking through those as you are being discipled. A couple hours on a Wednesday night and Sunday morning hearing messages does not represent the full picture of discipleship. If you had a 1,000 piece puzzle which represented your discipleship, Wednesday and Sunday would only be a couple of pieces. How do we fill in the rest of the puzzle? Only by being in the Word, relying on the Spirit to reveal the pieces to put the puzzle together over time.

What does scripture tell us?

Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

John 15:8
“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

Matthew 7:21–23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

John 21:15–19
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

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Last week we had an exercise where students answered a short series of questions that gave them a chance to reveal some things about themselves. Those students who missed last week and were here this week got to complete the questions as well. What you see in the results below are the summarized answers from 28 students.

Questions have a way of nudging us to provide insight on ourselves that we may not give on our own. Not to mention, we aren’t always the best at talking about ourselves outside of the common things we do. “I had so much homework!” or “UUUUUGGGHHHHH RRRRRRRR!” can be the most insightful we get at times. But we know students have a depth of feelings and knowledge that is greater than the common characteristics they regularly show.

Two great insights came from students when we walked through the results and got into more detail on the responses:

1. Students have a great concern for people. They want to help how they can but they don’t want to disappoint anyone, specifically their parents.

2. Though different from one another, students share in some of the same interests and fears. They have more things in common than differences.

The next step is to create an individual “mission plan” for each student to help them grow into the mission they are on.

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Question: Which of these things do you enjoy the most? Each student ranked their top 3 answers.

Discussing the answers to this revealed both what they enjoy and what feels important to the students. For the large majority, activity through sports, being outside, or video games were the primary answers. Not too shocking. Spending a significant amount of time listening and learning needs an outlet. Playing in general gives us a sense of achieving immediate results (along with fun) that learning doesn’t.

How does this relate to the gospel and growing in relationship with Jesus? What students can take away from this is to see how every interaction with their teammates and friends is a mission opportunity. The playing field/court/course/etc is a mission field. Whatever we enjoy doing, wherever we enjoying doing it is a chance to build relationships to share the gospel.

Going to make disciples and teaching doesn’t have to take place on Wednesday nights or Sunday mornings. Matter of fact, the relationships being built that lead to gospel conversations may not lead to immediate opportunities to invite to church. Some may. God puts many chances in our lives to share with people. Some friendship connections happen quickly and others take time. Just remember, the things you enjoy are chances Jesus gives you to let someone know about Him.

Question: Which of these things are you afraid of most? Each student ranked their top 3 answers.

This question is so important, and not just for students, because it helps us to identify the things that hold us back from taking action. Looking at the 2 highest selected answers, the students fear has to do with a response from someone else. Disappointing people and being embarrassed requires someone to give us a response for something we did that was either disappointing or embarrassing. Either way, we would have had to do something no so good.

We could probably sum up several of these fears into one and everyone would select it: I’m afraid of looking stupid. We don’t like to look stupid. We don’t like being wrong. We don’t like to look anything less than the best we can. You know what? This isn’t a bad fear, nor does it have to stay a fear. This idea, this fear, can be turned into a discipline that helps us create good expectations.

Scripture tells us over 300 times to not be afraid. Why? Well, who is it that is telling us not to be afraid? God. So if God tells us hundreds of times to not be afraid, He must know something, have something greater in store, and helping us set an expectation that we shouldn’t be afraid. This and other expectations are given to us all throughout scripture.

Knowing God’s word helps set good expectations. When we are equipped with the word, we can be prepared for almost anything. Then, fears won’t stay fears but will turn into actions we take.

Question: Which of these statements encourages you the most? Each student ranked their top 3 answers.

Each of the options given for this question were all outcome-based encouraging statements. When you think about the top options students chose, what appears consistent is the response is in relation to something the student has come up with. “Great idea” and “I like how you think” doesn’t come from getting a math problem correct or getting chores done, but from creating something and/or voicing it.

This is one of those instances where we look at the answers and infer some things from them. We have a number of students that look to have creative and leadership aspects about them. Creativity isn’t always art and leadership isn’t always a title. Thinking about different ways to solve problems is being creative. Bringing people together for good reasons is a trait of leadership. Understanding the traits of students helps to guide them on the mission they’ve been called to.

Question: Which of these options describes you with other people? Each student selected up to 2 answers.

Question: What kind of Bible knowledge do you think you have? Each student selected up to 2 answers.

Question: What kind of Bible knowledge do you want you have? Each student selected up to 2 answers.

Below is the original questionnaire.

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We have been in a series called ‘You Are’ where we have been learning about our relationship to God. Like our current Sunday series ‘We Are’, teaching us about our collective relationship as a church body to Jesus, ‘You Are’ aims at the individual.

The lesson in week 1 taught about the value we each have because God gave us our value. Our ultimate value was sealed when Jesus came and sacrificed Himself on the cross, forever removing our sin, making us brothers and sisters in Christ. In week 2, we put focus on the fact that even though Jesus saves us as individuals, He puts others in our lives to help us out.

This week we did an exercise in self-discovery. Students gave answers to several questions that revealed a little bit about who they are. Day-to-day life for students can feel monotonous answering questions on a number of different subjects, but rarely getting the chance to say “this is me”. Not only that but how often do students get the chance to better understand themselves, start to identify their gifts, and then start using their gifts to serve Jesus?

The apostles Paul and Peter both speak of gifts that we are given. Those gifts are revealed to us in time and are for the mission God has called us to. When you give your “Yes” to Jesus, your mission begins. How Jesus will use you for this mission will look different for many, but we are all called to be on that mission.

Using the results from each student, an individual “mission plan” will be created for every student to help them grow into the mission they are on.

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The Big Idea

You are surrounded by helpers

What do we know?

Our value begins with what God gives us, which is that we are made in His image and the knowledge we are given by Him is priceless. Hearing this, does it sound like we should be proud of ourselves? I hope you don’t. Pride keeps us from growing with the help of others and can make us selfish.

We are meant to be in community. When God created all things, and then created Adam, He said it was not good for man to be alone. He created Eve specifically to be with Adam and then they were told to multiply and fill the earth. (You know this doesn’t mean to do math problems, right?)

From the beginning, God’s design was as a community where we would help and serve each other. Israel, though slaves in Egypt, was a community who shared in common struggles. Israel was also kept as a community when they wandered in the desert for 40 years. Then we saw God’s intent for us to grow together when Jesus brought together the disciples, then sent the disciples out to proclaim what He taught. When Jesus brings us to Him, He brings us into His family and puts us in His community.

Today we are going to talk about the idea that you (we) are surrounded by helpers. To start, let’s look at Romans 12:4-8: ‘For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.’

One body in Christ: Jesus leads

First and foremost, we must praise Jesus for the gospel which He fulfilled. His sacrifice on the cross is why we are here today and how we become a community. Look back at the Romans passage in verse 5 where Paul says “one body in Christ”. All of us who believe in Jesus and call him Lord, no matter our age, skin color, education, etc. are united in Christ. We are all connected through Jesus.

Paul, the writer of many of the New Testament epistles, uses the body as an example of the church multiple times in his letters. He tells us in Ephesians 1:22-23 again how we are the body and Jesus is head. It says, “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” Jesus’ as the head means He is the one with all the authority and rules over all things. This includes us and how He works in us.

We are a community which has a leader who is our Lord and Savior. At home, your family is a community and your parents lead that community. Think about the role they play. I bet they tell you what to do and what not to don't they? I bet you don’t always like being told what to do also. Let me let you in on a secret, none of us like authority we don’t pick. Sin messed that up and makes us want to be the authority. We want to tell others what to do. If you have younger brothers or sisters, you know what I’m talking about. But what changes our idea of and feelings about authority is Jesus.

Jesus as our leader, as the Ephesians passage says, is over all. What He says goes. When we say yes to the grace and mercy He gives, we say yes to whatever Jesus says. He says we should love our neighbor. Are we? What about honoring our mothers and fathers? We don’t when we back talk them, or disobey them. We sing a song called ‘You Hold It All’. It’s not ‘You get some of what I have but I still want to make the rules’. It’s ALL. We don’t have a God who reigns over some of creation but ALL.

We are part of a community: The body of Christ

Let’s go back to the Romans passage in verse 5, where Paul says ‘individually members one of another’. What do you suppose this is about? I am pretty confident you are familiar with sports like football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. What do they have in common, besides using a ball? They are team sports. Teams are groups of individuals that require us to depend on other people in order to do well. They are made up of people from different backgrounds, who have different abilities, and have different responsibilities depending on their position. A team, like a family, is a community.

In 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 we hear something similar to the Romans passage. Paul talks about the multiple parts of Christ’s community, again using the body as an illustration. It says, 'For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.'

So what are we? We are the body of Christ, His community. We are made up of people from different backgrounds, who have different abilities, and have different responsibilities. Sounds like what I said a team looks like right? We are all brought together because of Jesus, not because we picked one another to hang out with.

Let’s think about the disciples for a minute. They got to spend their time and witness all Jesus did because Jesus picked them. They were regular people, nothing too special about them. Some were fishermen, one was a zealot, one was a tax collector. Do you remember what was said about tax collectors? They were compared to sinners and prostitutes, meaning to society in that time they were the lowest of the low (Matthew 9:10-11; Mark 2:16).

Now I said there wasn’t anything too special about them, but I was wrong. You know why? Jesus chose them. Those of you who have said I believe in Jesus and put your faith in Him are also chosen to be part of His team, His body. We are chosen because Jesus is great, not us.

Jesus gave me a role to play. When He said “You are Mine” I became part of His body. I can sit here and talk to you today because others Jesus chose used gifts He gave them to help me. He’ s given me gifts, and you have been given gifts as well. Like me, you play a role with the gifts you were given. Look once again at the Romans passage in verses 6-8, where Paul talks about the different gifts we are given. It says, ‘Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.’ These are only some of the gifts we are told about in scripture. The point is we are given gifts and we are called to share them.

The help we are given doesn’t stop with the people around us, but continues with the Spirit God puts within us.

We have a Helper who’s always there: The Holy Spirit

What do we know about the Holy Spirit? God the Father and Jesus we speak a lot about. We hear about the Holy Spirit, and we ask for God’s Spirit to lift us up, but the idea of the Holy Spirit seems kinda fuzzy unless we look at scripture.

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, being eternal with God the Father and Jesus. Our first, but not last, exposure to the Spirit is in Genesis 1:2. In the Old Testament, the work of the Holy Spirit to bring and remove blessings was prophesied in Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Joel. But what does the Spirit do for us now? In John 14, Jesus tells us this in two parts of the chapter:

John 14:15–17

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

John 14:25-26

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.”

The primary roles of the Holy Spirit for us is to regenerate us, meaning give us new life, when we proclaim Jesus as Lord and to make the work of Jesus active in believers. Simply put, when we accept Jesus, it’s the Holy Spirit that does it. The Holy Spirit is how God works in us.

What does this mean? I don’t fully know yet. As I did some reading and research preparing this, I discovered that I need to spend more time reading and praying to comprehend the Holy Spirit. What I can tell you is if this is how God chooses to work in us, and Jesus says God the Father is going to give us the Holy Spirit, I go with what Jesus says. If the Spirit lives within me, I need to let Him work on me.

Now what?

This lesson may seem deeper and wider than we’ve covered before, but it is important for us to continue to talk about things that can seem hard to understand. We will encounter more things that challenge us as we navigate God’s word. When we learn something new, we get to add to what we’ve already learned. And when we learn we get the chance to share.

So to finish we need to remember three things: We trust in Jesus as our Lord, we rely on one another and serve one another, and we depend on the Holy Spirit to work in us to become more like Christ. Each of these say more about who we are committing ourselves to than who we are. And committing yourself to God and to one another is how we are helped.

What does scripture tell us?

John 14:15–17, 25-26
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. "These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.”

Romans 12:4-8
For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

1 Corinthians 12:12-20
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

Ephesians 1:22-23
And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

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The Big Idea

You are valuable because of the value God places in you.

What do we know?

What makes something valuable? Is it what it’s made of? Is it the price that it’s given? Is it how old it is? For something to be valuable, the value has to be given by someone. Do you know what the most expensive painting ever sold was and for how much? The painting by Leonardo da Vinci called "Salvator Mundi" was sold in an auction in 2017 for $450 million. The poster-sized painting was created by da Vinci around 1500. BTW, the painting is of Jesus and Salvador Mundi means ‘Savior of the World’.

From what you now know of the painting, how could it be $450 million? First, it was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, one of, if not, the greatest artist ever. Next, it is over 500 years old and restored to great shape. Lastly, someone wanted it very bad. They knew it’s value would only continue to grow.

So what makes you valuable? Simply put, you are valuable because of the value God places within you. Let me say that again: You are valuable because of the value God places within you. Now you say it: I am valuable because of the value God places within me.

You are valuable

So how valuable are you? The great theologian R.C. Sproul recalled when he was in high school, his biology teacher said his value was $24.37. This was determined based on the minerals in the body like zinc, potassium, and copper. That would be the equivalent for us of around $200. This is like saying you are only as valuable as your physical attributes. Then what does that mean for someone who isn’t able to walk or has other physical challenges? What about other challenges, say mental? Are they less valuable?

We are valuable because we are made in God’s image. Human beings, men and women, were made by God to represent Him. Think about that for a moment. Genesis 1:26–27 tells us, “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.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Believing we have an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent God that created all things and reigns eternally, being made as an image-bearer, His representative, can be a challenge to understand.

So how do we comprehend and understand “in our image”? We hear the word image and it makes us think “look like”. Someone has likely said to you “Oh, you look just like your mom” or “You and your dad are just alike”. God created us to be similar to Him, to represent Him on the earth. Nothing else that was created, of all that God created, was made to be similar to Him. What types of similarities could we have with God? Rationality and logic? What about a sense of morality, judgement, and justice? Let’s not forget graciousness and mercifulness. These are all characteristics we see from God throughout scripture.

All these things just called out are within us, God-placed, and not physical attributes of us. They are things we get from God and represent Him with and nothing is mentioned of how our physical size has anything to do to exemplify God. In fact, 2 Corinthians 4:7 says that “we have this treasure in jars of clay”, meaning that God has placed within us treasure but our physical, mortal body is like fragile pottery. He has priceless things wrapped up in a thin candy shell called humans. We put a lot of focus on what we look like, what we wear, etc. God’s like, “you are how I choose for you to be to show My glory”.

One last thing about being in God’s image, which has to do with the responsibility He gave us. When someone trusts you with something, what does that say about you? A common thought is that we have earned the right to be trusted. We have done something well time and time again and deserve the right to be given more responsibility. Sound about right? Have you considered the trust being given is because of the giver and not from our earning? Look back at Genesis 1:26 again where God said “let them have dominion”. At this point, we haven’t heard about Adam and Eve yet. God had decided before Adam and Eve did a single thing they would be more valuable than anything else He created. We know this because it was them, continuing on to us, that would look after what He created.

Don’t focus on what you aren’t

What happens when we don’t like something about ourselves? We usually just deny God what He is doing through us don’t we? Wait, what?! Not the answer you thought, huh? Follow me for a minute. When we don’t like something about us, we will say how much we hate whatever it is or that whatever it is could be better. Let’s say you aren’t as tall as you’d like to be and you really want to be a great volleyball player. You create an image in your mind that only tall people can be great at volleyball and then become discouraged. Why has God done this to you? We’ll come back to you in a bit.

John 9 introduces us to a man that has been blind since he was born. Growing up in first century Israel would not have been easy for him. If he lived in areas around Jerusalem, he would have had challenges getting from place to place, even with help from others. Israel is not a flat and smooth country. It would have been quite rocky then and navigating from place to place would be difficult. We have things in our day that would be luxuries compared to ancient Israel. Sidewalks with audio cues when to cross a street? Not back then. Service dogs or guide dogs? Probably not. This guy’s life would have been rough. We are told he was a beggar, needing the constant help of others to survive. How many times do you think he prayed to God to let him see? To fix his eyes?

Enter Jesus. As Jesus and the disciples were traveling one day they encountered this blind man. John 9:2-3 tells us what was going on and verses 6-7 tell us what Jesus did. (v.2-3) “And his disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.’ (v.6-7) Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.”

Look again at what Jesus said. “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Remember all that Jesus says and does is intentional, not random. The blind man was where he was supposed to be and how he was supposed to be for the glory of God to be shown at the right time. His blindness was to show what Jesus’ authority over all things was to look like. This man, once he was given sight, had a testimony that could only claim Jesus as Lord. What Jesus did to this man’s physical blindness, he is doing to our spiritual blindness. When we are spiritually blind we can only focus on the physical challenges we don’t like. When Jesus opens our eyes, our focus should change and be changing to recognize that we are going to be His workmanship in whatever way he wants.

Now, let’s get back to you and volleyball. You were discouraged and wondered why God made you how you are. We can feel that way at times. Our plans and His don’t always align. Looking in the mirror and seeing the “jar of clay” you can do one of two things - you can use it to the full value God has given or be mad and continually ask why. Let me recommend the first option and not the second (go read Romans 9:20). You may not be tall but if a passion for volleyball is what you have and a love for what Jesus commands is what you want to live out, put them together. Become a libero, the most skilled defensive player on the team. Be tough. Be quick. Encourage your teammates. Share the gospel! Not only can you be a great volleyball player, but you will be where God placed you to bring Him glory. You will be displaying all the value that was given to you by Him. Praise be to Him!

Now what?

We get the luxury of perspective when we read what Jesus accomplished. We even get insight into what he is going to do when he returns. What we don’t get is a sneak peek of how we do on our upcoming math test, or if our volleyball team wins the state championship.

Then what do we do? We use what He has given us, recognizing the value He has put in us, and we glorify Him with what He puts in front of us. We put scripture in our minds and in our hearts. We remember the love Jesus told us to give and we give it as best we can. We don’t look at things we don’t have and say “we can’t unless…”. We see the things we do have and say “I will with all You have given”.

Remember, we were broken from sin but Jesus fixed that. Our eternal blindness was wiped from our eyes.

What does scripture tell us?

Psalm 139:14
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

John 9:2-3
And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Romans 9:20
But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

2 Corinthians 4:7
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

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