We're innocent babes in His arms!
Even though humans have been confused since eating from that ole' law (knowledge of good and evil) tree, the image of God hasn't been erased from us, and there is still that core of good humanity, worthy of dignity and love, deep within us, that 'something' within us that longs for God and longs to do good, 'delights in His will,' loves beauty and truth and naturally reaches for light, knows instinctively that we are meant to love and seeks love, seeks to find kindness and seeks to be kind, seeks understanding and seeks to be understanding, seeks good and seeks to do good. An innocence deep down within us all. I just can't look at the face of a newborn baby and think that baby is bad or even half bad - I can only feel delight, rapture and joy at the miracle of this newborn human, innocent and sweet! When I look in the face of a newborn baby, all I can see is innocence, beauty, purity and goodness.
I know our minds became confused and we were 'separated and enemies of God in our minds, doing wicked works,' but how wonderful that that was only in our minds! We were never really separated, never really enemies of God - our minds thought so through law thinking, dividing things into good and bad, seeing ourselves as bad and thus separate from the good God - but I don't believe that we really ever changed from being those basically good, decent humans that God made, one with Him deep down, for 'He is the spirit in man' as Job says - He's our core, it's His Spirit that gives us life and is in us at the core of our humanity! His Spirit, His good nature, His image, His imprint, His DNA of Love within us all!
Isn't it wonderful that Christ is revealed IN us, that the Spirit bubbles up and overflows from deep WITHIN us! Jesus didn't come to put good into us but to let it out! There was goodness inside us all along! It gets me excited to think I have always been good deep down, not evil, bad, dirty or sinful in nature! It's only that my mind didn't see this, lies poisoned me and took me captive to vain, law thinking and evil thoughts about myself, seeing myself as bad, and others too. This caused all kinds of problems and made me act so contrary to my true nature of goodness and love as God's creation. But Jesus came to be the truth that sets us free, sets our minds free!!!
He freed our minds to see our goodness, see that we have the imprint of God within, setting us free to really live as the children of God, the Spiritual beings we always were. Our latent goodness, our latent "God-ness" can pour forth, and out of our innermost being flows rivers of living water (the Holy, Pure, Good Spirit that's always been there inside) because we're not seeing ourselves as bad anymore but embracing our true identity, believing the good news, seeing ourselves as sons and daughters of the Father of Love who have that same character of Love!
I believe the image of God is still in each person and is worthy of respect and affirmation. I believe that image is still there underneath the misunderstandings and confusions, law-thinking and law-breakings. We're still His creation, all of us are his offspring/children, as Paul said. Those who believe have had the blinders of the mind removed, have had clarity restored, and can really enjoy that relationship with Papa that is the birthright of all His human babies. But I do believe every person is good, just like their Dad, deep down where it counts, as seen in the innocence of babies and children.
This has really been wonderful to ponder and think about! I am still learning about all this and may be wrong about things, but these are my thoughts right now. I really believe we are all 'good eggs' and Jesus came to redeem that goodness in men - to bring it to light.
He redeemed us! I read a great definition of redemption recently. It basically said that when something loses its sense of value and that sense of value is restored, it's been redeemed. I think that is what He did for us - He restored to us our sense of value, showed us we're worthy, valuable, good.
He justified us. What does that mean? To justify means to prove somebody is in the right. To prove their innocence. To prove they are 'not guilty.' To uphold and demonstrate and show forth their righteousness, that they are a just person. A good person! That they didn't do wrong! Christ came to vindicate and justify us in our own eyes - to prove us
righteous and good. Humanity put itself on trial through our 'law thinking' and God gave the verdict, proclaimed us
good and 'just' by the cross, for even when we did our worst and killed His Son,
Jesus was saying 'they don't know what they are doing' and calling us
innocent deep down! Wow!
He justified the ungodly by proving us worth dying for and still good at the core, still God's offspring with a right to the palace! Satan had captured our minds and made us believe lies about ourselves, that we were bad and dirty and separate from good/God. Jesus came and showed us the truth of our belovedness and goodness and belonging in God's family, His truth setting our captive minds free! We thought we were orphans, He showed us we were sons and daughters of the one true God, His very own creation, in His good image of Love! He's always seen us as His good little ones, it was our eyes that needed to be opened to this.
The enemy could never change who we were deep in our core humanity.
He could never change our paternity!
We have always been in the image of our Father.
And that image has always been 'very good!'
