Of all creation, only human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. When God looked at the oceans and mountains He had created, He said, "good" (Gn 1:12, 18). After God created human beings, He said, "very good" (Gn 1:31). We are the crown of creation. We are God's pride and joy.
Consequently, Satan, in his rebellion against and hatred of God, thought that disfiguring God's prize creation would be a prime way to offend God. So Satan seduced us into yielding to his temptations. In that way, he wounded and warped human nature. God's masterpiece seemed ruined.
Then God sent His Son to become a man. Jesus, the God-Man, is the perfect Image of the Father (Col 1:15) and the perfect man (Eph 4:13). By being baptized into Jesus and by imitating Him, we "are being transformed from glory to glory into His very image by the Lord Who is the Spirit" (2 Cor 3:18). In Baptism, our disfigured, wounded, and warped human nature is buried, and we received a new nature by which we share in the divine nature (2 Pt 1:4). Thus, as new creations in Jesus (see Gal 6:15), we are even more in the image and likeness of God than when human beings were first created. The Lord has worked all things together for the good of those who love Him (Rm 8:28). Baptized into Christ and made holy by the Spirit, we live as Christ's disciples, restored and transformed into an even better image and likeness of God. We are the crown of God's new creation. We are more than His pride and joy. We are His sons and daughters. Alleluia!
| PRAYER: | Father, thank You for adopting me as Your child. |
| PROMISE: | "God blessed them, saying: 'Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.' " –Gn 1:28 |
| PRAISE: | Every week, Jacob lights a candle in front of the Lourdes grotto in his church and offers specific intercession for a loved one. Many of the intercessions have been granted. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College