You are Equipped to Resemble and Reflect God
April 13, 2017
God's Love, Life purpose, Relationship BuildingThe frequently pondered question, “Why Do We Exist?” is a multi-dimensional subject. In my last blog, I addressed a fundamental aspect of existence by discussing God as our source of life. That post also covered His intentional preparation for humankind here on earth. While there are various components to our existence, the original reason we exist is God’s desire to be a Father and raise offspring.
Created to be God’s image and likeness, every newborn is designed and birthed as an expression of our heavenly Father. He intends His offspring—every single one of us—to “be and become” His image and likeness, to reflect and resemble Him. And, our Creator Father equips us to do so.
You may wonder, “How can this be when God is eternal?” God places a part of Himself, a touch of His life-giving Spirit, into each of us at conception. The spirit of life equips and enables us to relate to Him, and become “godly” and mature into His expressions. Let’s dig into how this actually works and clarify what is meant by “godly.” Very likely, my explanation of “godly” will surprise you.
Mankind’s Existence – Biblical Perspective
Unable to fully answer questions such as “Why are we here?” humanity finds itself grasping for answers from various disciplines. Throughout history there have been conflicting viewpoints on the existence of God and eternity, of creation, and the purpose for mankind’s existence. People have developed three prominent worldviews over the centuries: pagan, philosophical, and scientific viewpoints.
In contrast, the biblical viewpoint stands apart from these. Though not always understood, the biblical perspective is articulated in Scripture, was lived in the life and expressed in the words of Jesus Christ, and is revealed by the abiding presence of God. Focused on our relationship with our Creator-Father, the biblical view also encourages godly relationships with one another.
The biblical perspective of our purpose is articulated in Scripture, was lived in the life and expressed in the words of Jesus Christ, and is revealed by the abiding presence of God.
While no one can fully know or understand God, His messages to us in Scripture provide evidence of His intentional interaction with offspring in the natural realm. Learning of His nature, we are able to understand His heart and ways, especially when approaching Him as our loving Father. You’ll read more about this in the “Made for Relational Fellowship” section of this blog.
Eternal God Initiates Relationship
The One who identified Himself as “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14.) apparently has always existed, and as the Eternal One, He always will. Yes, the Eternal God who initiates relationship with His offspring exists in the spirit dimension, a realm our natural eye cannot see.
While this natural realm is not His primary dwelling place, God is not restricted from interacting with you and me here on the earth. Created by Father as a composite of both realms, our body and spirit connect us to both realities.
To Be and Become
Mankind began as a thoughtful desire in God, and He created the natural realm where offspring are birthed to grow and develop. Fashioned by Father to provide exactly what we need, this realm facilitates our “process” of becoming. We exist, fundamentally, to “be and become” His image and likeness.
As God’s greatest creation, we are unique offspring. Amazingly, fingerprints include enough different elements to make it nearly impossible for two matching arrangements, even in identical twins! And yet, unalike as we are, God’s offspring share a mutual purpose.
Created to be God’s “image and likeness,” our specific purpose is to transition from being merely offspring into sons and daughters who seek and follow His ways. As created beings, we are not created automatically into the image and likeness of God. We exist to enjoy relational fellowship with our heavenly Father, growing more and more into His likeness-His reflective resemblance.
We exist to enjoy relational fellowship with our heavenly Father and mature into His expressions.
Made for Relational Fellowship
Planet earth provides the unique atmosphere where this can happen. After creating the natural universe, God formed a body from the natural realm and fused a touch of His eternal Spirit into the body. As the being began to animate and live, a consciousness (soul) began to develop.
Our relational composite of body, soul, and spirit equips each of us with a unique ability to partake of and interact with both the natural and spiritual realms. Because we all have a spirit that connects us to the heavenly realm, each of us can hear the promptings of God’s Spirit throughout life’s journey.
To demonstrate what we are designed to become, God came into the earth as a Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus demonstrated how our child/Father fellowship with God is designed to function. As God’s heart expression, Jesus was a clear example of God’s will for children who are learning to relate and become mature reflective resemblances of Father.
As we accept God’s love and the fellowship of His Presence, we grow into His heart’s character, attitude, and personality.
And He said to him, “’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 foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39).
Expressions of Father’s Heart
In Christ Jesus, God provided the most exact reflection and resemblance of His heart in a human life, so we could more clearly understand what He desires for our lives. The greatest factor in us with the potential to reflect and resemble God, is found in the expression of our heart.
A close examination of Scripture clarifies our heart is our expressive self, which springs from our entire being—body, soul, and spirit. Heart reveals our unique significance as an individual person, who we are.
Heart expression is defined as the tri-fold capacities of character, attitude, and personality, or CAP. A result of our composite being; these qualities allow us to express a variety of perspectives, attitudes, and demeanors. Our heavenly Father desires that our character, attitude, and personality reflect and resemble His own heart expression.
CAP – Our Eternal Component
Our developing CAP identifies why we exist. These expressive features help define our heart and allow us to view and understand who we are as a person. We often confuse what we do (occupations or achievements) with who we are (our identity.)
We often confuse what we do with who we are.
Merely details of our life, things such as occupation, ministry, and family status are not our identity. What we do or have is not who we are. We are much more than what we are and do as a being.
To the degree that we become spiritually aware and open to Father’s guidance, so His Spirit becomes a prevailing influence over the natural side of our life. When we interact with the Presence of God, our spirit is fed and gains a God-ordained, guiding influence over our interactions. Our developing CAP is this eternal part of us. While this includes what we do, our doing is an extension of who we are.
Intended to Be Godly-Christlike
“What” we are controls “how” we do what we do. Our expressive heart is involved in everything we say and do, infusing the quality of our values into each of our actions. God looks beyond our composite make up to consider the quality of our expressive activity. What attitude do we project in our daily actions? Are we directed by disregard and animosity or compassion and love?
We are created to be godly-Christlike. Sadly, in some instances, Christianity has become more of a religion than a responsive faith. Godly faith is experienced when we hear God speak and appropriately respond to His direction. Designed to reflect and resemble God’s heart, we still have responsibility. Are we choosing to love, obey, and hold fast to Him?
We experience godly faith when we hear God speak and appropriately respond to His direction.
Not satisfied with knowing God as the Deity, we want to know Him personally, gradually growing into more accurate heart resemblances. Persona, our expressive heart, demonstrates our values as the person we have become and illustrates the quality of our heart. Rather than visualizing our heart as something in us, we want to see it as expression emanating from us – a countenance. The quality of our expressive countenance can indicate that we are or are not a godly person.
To visualize character, attitude and personality (CAP) as the expressive features of our heart, it would look like this.
Maturing into God’s CAP
It’s helpful to realize that adjustments in our development usually come one or two thoughts, feelings, or attitudes at a time. These changes gradually transform us. As we experience God’s loving fellowship (versus religious rules and regulations), we learn to walk in His ways as children.
Why do we exist? As God’s children, He intends us to mature into vibrant expressions of His heart, character, attitude, and personality (CAP). Equipped with the spirit of life, we can hear the inspiration God shares and become godly people during this life journey.
As we progressively grow in our understanding of His ways and intentions, we find our life filled with a greater sense of value and profound satisfaction. Our relational God is faithful to guide us into the abundant life He intends. Let’s pay attention and enjoy the abundance of His fulfilling fellowship.
Keith Carroll, Relational Gospel Founder
Resources to help
We share resources about our relational God here on our website. Both of my books, Created to Relate, Insights Into Our Design and Purpose, and The Christ Culture, A Way of Life Like No Other are available for your devotional read, and for purchase in printed or eBooks.
Many folks are finding my books to be insightful and stimulating reads, excellent for personal understanding and to share in small groups. We provide a Leader’s Guide to facilitate discussions.
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Relational Gospel – Making Sense of Scripture and this gift called life.