Does God Really Like Me?

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Does God Really Like Me?*



Scripture Genesis 1:26-31a

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.[1]

Devotion

Have you ever wondered whether God likes you or not? I mean sure he loves us, but doesn’t God get tired of us asking for all these impossible requests day after day. Isn’t God miffed that he has to deal with us sinful characters all the time. We do stupid stuff day after day and get ourselves into trouble. We lie to each other. We profane God’s name and disregard the sabbath. We fight with each other and sometimes kill one another for no reason at all. Well I believe that God likes us in spite of all that. Let me tell you why.

            Let us look at this scripture from Genesis carefully. God says he made humankind in our image. The word translated there as “image” is translated in the rest of the Old Testament as “idol” I suppose the translators have avoided using idol there for good reason. But we were created as an idol or image within the temple of all creation. God expects humans to care for and expand on the Garden of Eden man’s original home.

            We are still made in God’s image. Although marred by the fall. God still likes us. God likes us enough to send his only son to become one of us. So, he could experience all human faults on a personal human level rather than only experiencing them from a heavenly view. Even when Jesus was on the earth he did not hide from people. One of his first recorded miracles is turning water into enough wine to get every person at the wedding party falling down drunk had they used it all. (Not that Jesus would have approved of everyone getting sick on alcohol!) He was frequently seen at parties and not always seen with the most upright citizens. God in the form of Jesus really liked to be around people. He chose 12 men to be his inner circle to whom he would teach the secrets of the kingdom he was bringing on the earth.

            After he had been crucified, died, and was buried he was raised again from the dead. He sought out his inner circle whom he trusted to carry forth his teaching into all the world after he ascended into heaven. God likes us and even trusts us with some pretty important stuff, like the future of the world.

            God is in the people business. Through Jesus God looks to make bad people good and good people better. Even giving the promise of heaven to those who will believe in who he is and follow him as disciples. God likes us enough to want us around for all eternity!

            So, don’t give up on God as he certainly hasn’t given up on you.

Prayer

            Help us Creator God to believed that we are truly liked and loved by you. Grant us the ability to act like we are your images in flesh and blood. Treating each other with the same love and respect you treat us with. Let us be people “likers” who take pride in the accomplishments of those around us and celebrate the successes of others. Keep your image fresh in our minds that we may see it in the faces of those around us. Amen.

* Based on the book by the same title by Cyd Holsclaw
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ge 1:26–31.

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