lenten 40: day 23 - image is everything

image 23.


scriptures.
²⁷ So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
~Genesis 1:27

¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
~Colossians 3:10

¹Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children ²and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
~Ephesians 5:1-2

reflection.
remember those Sprite commercials from a few years back? "Image is Nothing - Thirst is Everything", they boldly proclaimed. "Obey your thirst. Drink Sprite." the campaign was widely successful, boosting sales that bumped Sprite up to the #4 most popular soda. The advertising subtly promoted Sprite while poking fun at the way other brands advertised their product. Sprite, in essence, sold their product by developing an identity that appeared to not care about image whatsoever. yet, this anti-image became their claim to fame, so to speak. this newly claimed image was something they cared a lot about - as it gave them notoriety. they didn't want to be like the other guys - and their promotions of being different than the rest proved to be effective.

we learn early on that God created the world, including mankind - and we know that we are made in his image... the image of God... but do we claim that image? do we understand the notoriety that comes when we claim the name and image of Jesus as our own? when we embrace the image of God - that image personified in Christ Jesus as an image of love and righteousness - we embrace a sort of anti-image, at least in the eyes of the world.

Romans 12 calls us to transform to this God-breathed image. this anti-image is an image of humility (Romans 12:3a), of sound judgment (vs. 3b), of specific gifts given to us by God himself (vs. 6-8), of sincere love (vs. 9), of joyful hope (vs. 12) and of self sacrifice and service (vs. 17-21). that is an image that is contrary to that of worldly activity.

we are called to be different... to embrace God's image and the purpose and plan that go with that image. when we do, it is a beautiful thing. it's everything.