In Stephen Viars new book Do You Believe What God Says About You? he gives us 31 rich reminders of who we are in Christ. It is true that we are living in an era of “identity crisis” today. The Church is not immune to this. More than ever we must recover a rich, full, and biblical view of who we are. We are all wondering: Who am I?
And as Viars says, “The Bible wastes no time answering the question before us.” Genesis 1 immediately jumps into the identity of who we are. We are creatures.
There are some huge implications when we realize that we are creatures who are made to live in relationship with our Creator.
Creatures are limited and cannot be God no matter how hard they try. It is good to learn to say “no”.
Creatures are dependent and fulfill the purpose of being a creature when they live in dependency upon their Creator.
Creatures were not created sinful; Sin is foreign to us. Sin totally depraves the image although it doesn’t utterly destroy it.
Creatures will never understand who they are without understanding their God.
Creatures have one main purpose: To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. This is to our eternal happiness.
If creatures are going to be redeemed then the Creator must become creature without ceasing to be who He has always been. The Son of God must take on flesh—He emptied Himself by addition (Ph. 2)—in order to take men to dwell with God. To bridge the gap between God and Man, the Son of God must be God and Man. He Himself is the bridge (Gn. 28).
Creatures live amongst fellow creatures. The goal of creatures is to do all in their power to help each other live a life to the glory of God and enjoyment of Him.
If the above is true, being a parent who raises children or a sibling who cares for their family or a child who loves their parents or simply being a good friend is no meaningless task. The tasks that the world overlooks most today are the most cherished in our Creator’s eyes. It is backwards to care more about our careers than our children.
Creatures are made in the image of God but only Jesus is the image of God (Col. 1). If we are to be re-made into proper image bearers then we must look more and more upon Christ by faith (2 Cor. 3:18).
God does not need us but He created us to live with Him.
Creatures are to be sub-creators in this life. This means that when we only “feed” on the produced but never produce then we are missing out on our purpose.
Preaching God’s Word should remind us what it means to be creatures living life with our Creator. This can only be achieved when Christ, the true Image, is saturating our sermons.
Creatures should never treat fellow image-bearers with contempt. We should seek to love and care for others in a God-like caring way.
Creatures should not be driven by their worries but should trust their God.
Creatures are meant to take time to enjoy creation. We need to learn to put our technology down and get out into the world.
Creatures are made to live in relationship vertically with God and horizontally with each other. No one is sufficient to live life on their own.
Creatures will never be able to find all the truth by looking within. They must look without to God.
Creatures live in covenant with their God. The question is whether we are living in the covenant of works or the covenant of grace.
Creatures are not made to know the future. They are made to depend on God already being in their futures.
Creatures should never let circumstances overwhelm them to the point of them losing their fear of God. Our Creator is intimately involved in our world.
Creatures should remember that there is a Creator-creature distinction. We are not God. He is transcendent and immanent.
Creatures must realize that truth is revealed to them by God. They are not creating truth but receiving it.
Creatures should not feel bad about having limited capacity. Limited energy is good when we realize that it should keep us focused on what matters most.
Creatures are not meant to solve the world’s problems. Only God is. The Creator is also the Re-Creator.
Creatures should have a sense that life is much bigger than them. We have been graciously brought into existence. Who do we think we are when we make life all about us?
Creatures should be amazing at the glory of their God. The whole earth is full of His glory.
Creatures should cherish the lives of other creatures. Even at conception, we see biblical witness that the child is an image bearer (Lk. 1:31).
Creatures are never happier than when they shine forth God’s glory.
Image bearers are made up of body and soul. Both of which Jesus assumed and by His Person & Work we are redeemed in body and soul.
Creatures never get to the point where they don’t need God. They get to the point in heaven where they finally live in full unhindered dependence upon God.
Creatures are given mission by their Creator. Adventures and journeys are what we’re made for. But, it is only the right adventures and journeys that satisfy.
Image bearers make up two sexes and two genders both of which are male and female (Mt. 19:4). Image bearers are made up of numerous ethnicities, languages, and cultures. But, each image bearer has on unifying and primary identity: Image bearers of Almighty God. That is what must interpret and transform every other identity that an image bearer has.
Creaturely ethics only make sense when creatures remember their Creator. Ethics that forget our Creator are bound to destroy creatures.