Growing up in the Church I learned early on about the sin nature. I learned that I was a sinner in need of God’s grace. This teaching helped me understand why I needed the forgiveness of Jesus and why as Paul writes in Romans 7.19, “…I do not do the good I want…” I remember watching Billy Graham on television as a kid and hearing the great evangelist remind everyone that we are all sinners in need of salvation.
Now, I am a minister, teaching Christian Theology and I still embrace much of what I learned growing up, yet inside I find myself wanting to encourage people to balance an understanding of human sin with the profound teaching from Genesis that we are all created in the image of God.
Why is this important? I think most of us know naturally that we struggle with sinful tendencies. We know that we are not always motivated to do the right thing or think the correct thoughts. The pervasiveness of human sin is obvious when we turn on the news and learn about wars, crime, and the drama of Hollywood celebrities.
How often do we hear that we are loved and valuable to God? Deep down in our DNA, we are created in the image of God. In this sense we are good, valuable, and deeply connected with the source of all life. Our truest identity can be found as God’s creation, whether we are conscious of this truth or not.
Recently, I led a group of students in Centering Prayer, a form of silent contemplative prayer. I invited them to consent to God’s presence and action within them. After experiencing the prayer time, a young woman remarked that she appreciated the invitation to rest in God’s presence within us.
I think for many people, the tendency is to look inward and only see our sinfulness. How often do we look inward and embrace our identity as God’s children, wholly and dearly loved? When you look inward do you see God’s presence making a home with you. In John 14.23 Jesus says, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” If the Holy Spirit resides in you, then maybe your sense of identity can be positive and hopeful. You can look inward and find joy rather than despair. Forgiveness rather than guilt or shame. Peace and love rather than anxiety and hate. I encourage you to embrace your identity as a child of God, created in God’s image.
