A Reflection on Works, the Christian Life and Reflecting the Image of God

Last Sunday Pastor George spoke on “Reflecting the Image of God.” He asked what image we were reflecting. Is it our own, the worlds, or God’s? He appealed to those who were there to not see the Christian faith as merely “fire insurance.” It is much more than that. God has made us a new creation to reflect his image. I have been thinking about works in relation to the Christian life and this sermon has caused me to reflect even more on this.
Tom Wright says, “Human beings were made to know, worship, love, and serve the creator God. That always was and always will be the way to healthy fruitful human living.” By doing this, we learn how to reflect the image of God not only back to God but to the whole world. When Christians see works in this way, it does not become burdensome. Because Protestants believe in justification by faith alone, some can at times be afraid of hearing the word “works” in relation to our faith. However, works are a necessary part of the Christian life and dare I say without them, there is no Christian life. Christianity is not “fire insurance” as Pastor George said. Perhaps, if Christians focused more on the salvation of the whole person, instead of saving souls from hell, that may help to dissolve the misunderstanding of this “fire insurance faith.” New Creation as Pastor George mentioned, is a step in the right direction. We “are” a new creation in Christ Jesus created in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2:9). This implies that we “are” new creation so that we may “do” new creation. We are a new creation, a new humanity and are learning a new way to be human. We are saved to “do” something. As Paul says after explaining the climax of new creation being the resurrection of our bodies, he says that we are to “do” the work of the Lord for our faith is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15).
What is interesting and also amazing is that our life, humanity, and works are very closely tied to the image of God. Humans have always been meant to reflect God’s image (this goes back to Adam) and though we have missed the mark on this, thank God for the one who is truly human, Jesus Christ. Now humans can begin to learn what it means to truly be human, which is to reflect the image of God. This requires humans not to be God’s puppets controlled by the Holy Spirit but God has enable us by the Holy Spirit to finally be his new creations and new humans, who are able to think, choose, and do the work of the Lord.

Thanks for reading,

Marcelino