In His Image.

As I look at the world around me. Even, as I look at myself.

There are many things that pain me. And, I am sure, that pain my Creator.

But, one thing stands out, near the top. If not at the top...

It is the fact that man was created. In the image of God:

And, by his actions, denies the fact...

It matters not where I go. Whether on business to the city, or otherwise, it cuts me to the quick to see this troubling phenomenon.

See Him in that first garden. Beauty everywhere.

“Let us make man in Our image.”

Like Him. The King of the Universe...

Loving. Kind. Unselfish...

And then, look with me upon scenes which make Angels weep...

--The man who left his family for the bottle. He now lives in a dumpster.

--The child who has no family, and begs for a living.

--The soul who sells themselves, for a life of cheap tinsel & hollow adrenaline.

--The billionaire. Living for the next business deal.

--Even, the people of God, whose dress & lives testify that they are embarrassed of their Creator. They don't want to be associated with Him.

And, worse yet, to realize that I, in some ways, often am guilty of the same.

This, my friends, pains me more than most anything else.

It leaves a hollow, gut-wrenching nausea inside, to realize the love of God, that would sacrifice the Majesty of Heaven. To restore His image.

And this is what He gets?

This simply cannot be.

He deserves more than this.

He died so that, through His merits, we could deserve more than this!

But, fortunately, this is not where it must remain.

“The very essence of the gospel is restoration, and the Saviour would have us bid the sick, the hopeless, and the afflicted take hold upon His strength.”

—The Desire of Ages, pg. 824, 825.

You and I need to be restored into that image. Today, He bids us take hold of that strength.

And then bid others do the same.

It's of the utmost importance. It's my desire to be restored to that image. And, by His grace, to help others see the way to restoration...

“Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.”

--Christ's Object Lessons, pg. 69.

How long shall He wait?