He Came To Set The Captives Free

"Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness" (Gen 1:26a)

Many have debated over this portion of scripture down through the ages. Obviously, God wasn’t talking about our physical image because He has appeared in many ways to many different people through the ages. To Abraham, He appeared as a man (Gen 18:1-2), to Moses, as a burning bush (Ex 3:4), and a cloud by day and a pillar by night (Ex 13:21). He appeared at Mount Sinai in a cloud of glory, in smoke, thunder and lightening. (Ex 19:6-8) To Paul, He appeared as a bright light (Acts 9:3), and to John, as “One like the Son of Man” (Rev 1:13)

Others believe that God made us in His image as a “mini-trinity”, so to speak. He is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and we are spirit, soul and body. Sounds logical and could well be what the Lord had in mind when He made this statement.

However, I believe there is a different type of “likeness” that our Lord referred to in this passage. It is the same likeness, or image that Paul speaks of in Romans 8:29 when he said, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son". That was God’s intention in the beginning and it is still His desire today…that we be like Jesus in character, in our thinking, in our motives and in our hearts. He desires that we become like Jesus, because that is how He created us to be in the beginning.

You may ask, “So what happened?” Way back in the Garden of Eden when man and woman first sinned, they tried to hide themselves from God and each other. Gen 3:7 records, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.” They were afraid and ashamed, and the freedom and closeness they once had known was lost forever. They began to build “walls” and to wear “masks”. Also at that time, they tried to hide from God. “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” (Vs. 8) The beautiful transparent relationship they had once so freely enjoyed with their Creator was gone. Their walls and masks began to separate them from each other and from God. 

And that’s exactly what we are still doing today. We get hurt and we build a "wall" to hide behind. We want to impress someone, so we put on a “mask” because we don’t think they won't accept us as we really are. We want to fit in with a certain crowd, so we convince them we are something or somebody we are not, and were we ever intended to be. How sad that we cover up the beautiful Christ-like person that He created by hiding inside our own self-made cocoons, wrapping ourselves up in a fake personas, and finally we come to the point that even we don’t recognize who we are, much less those who live around us.

But deep in our hearts, we are miserable, lonely and desperate for peace. We long to be accepted for who we really are. We find that we’ve spent so many years trying to be everybody’s everything, building a phony image of who we thought they would accept that we become totally strangers even to ourselves. And we want so desperately for someone to break down that wall. We are caught in our own prison, and we are absolutely helpless to get free.

I remember a time in my own life. I had been through a particularly difficult time and found that I was alone and had absolutely nobody that I could turn to. Rejection and pain had taken it's toll on my heart, but then I realized that I was finally free from all those that I had tried so hard to please all my life, and now I could find out who it was that I was supposed to be. It was a difficult struggle, but I am so glad I went through that time.

Because, you see, there is someone Who came for that very purpose. Jesus came to set us free from our walls, our masks and our poor self-images. He came to recreate us into the person that God created us to be in the first place. He designed us so that our character would reflect His love, His joy, His peace and His purpose for this life. His desire is that we learn to be content with who we are in Christ Jesus. We no longer have to hide from God. We can take our hurts, our pains and our sorrows to a place called Golgotha and we can lay them down there at the foot of the cross of Jesus. We can allow God to shatter those walls and destroy those masks that hide the very image of Christ that He wants to bring forth in our lives. And when the walls finally do come crashing down in our hearts, we can finally be FREE! We don’t have to play silly games anymore. We don’t have to avoid people, or pretend we fit, or act like something we really are not. We can become totally transparent with God, and we can be “real” with the people around us. People will love us for who we are, not who they try to make us to be. We can be completely free of guilt and shame. In John 8:31-32 Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” There is no better promise in all the world than to be free in the Lord Jesus Christ. Step into His freedom and be blessed in Him today.

Prayer: Father...I want to be free. I want to take off the mask, I want to come out of hiding, I want to be the person that You created me to be. I want to be like Jesus. I thank You Father that You sent Your Son into the world to set me free of the sin that had separated me from You for all my live. I want to remove the mask, I want to walk in freedom and I want You to take charge of my life and make me more and more like Jesus every day. Father, I repent of my sins and I ask You to remove my sins and help me to live the life that You created me to live. Thank You Lord...in Jesus' Name...Amen.