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

God first created people in the image of God and gave them everything they needed for living, plus the power over all the earth and all that lived on the earth. So what was that image of God? God is holy, as I Samuel 2:2 says, “No one is holy like the Lord for there is none beside You.” And God is loving (see John 3:16).

It did not take long, though, for Adam and Eve to fall into the deception of the serpent and be cast out of the garden. And yet, even though God cast them out of the garden, God still loved them and provided for them (see Genesis 3:21).

Humankind was lost from what God had intended for us, but God had a plan to fix all that too. He sent Jesus into the world to be the image of God for us and to suffer and die for the sins of all people of all time. As John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

This miracle is not achieved by anything that we did; it is a gift. As Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been save through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Since we have this great gift from God, we should be a gift to those who do not know of it by spreading the word of Jesus’ salvation in this world.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise and adore you for sending Jesus to the world to be the Savior of all. May you guide and direct us to spread your word while loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Daily Reading: 1 Corinthians 6

– Contributed by Paul Obermann