A few years ago, Time Magazine featured a story about Peter Sellers. It told about him appearing on the Muppet Show & being interviewed by Kermit The Frog. His interview began with Kermit telling Peter Sellers, "Now, just relax & be yourself." Peter Sellers responded, "I can’t be myself because I don’t know who I am. The real me doesn’t exist." Now I suppose that Peter Sellers was trying to be funny, because he was a comedian by trade as most of you know. But on this particular occasion his words were anything but funny. In fact, they were rather sad. One of his long-time friends, commenting on those words, said, "Poor Peter! The real Peter disappeared a long time ago. What he is, is simply an amalgamation of all the stage & screen characters he has ever played, & now he is frantically trying to unsnarl that mess & find out who he really is." I don’t know if Peter Sellers was ever able to unsnarl the mess or not, for just six months later he was dead. But whether or not he did, he wasn’t alone in his feelings. I’m convinced that the majority of us go through life wondering who we are, & what we’re supposed to be doing, & where we’re going.
Today, let’s turn our attention to the words of a Psalm written by David a long, long time ago. It is the 8th Psalm, & as I read it, I can just picture young David sitting on a hillside outside of Bethlehem, gazing up at the moon & stars, his heart filled with the wonder of it all. Then taking out his harp, David begins to sing, & here are some of the words of his song:
"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children & infants you have ordained praise. . . "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon & the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, & the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels & crowned him with glory & honor. "You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks & herds, & the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, & the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the sea. "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"
As David looked up at the vastness of God’s universe, he felt his own smallness. So he asks God, "What is man that You are mindful of him?" Psychologists tell us that there are two major crisis periods in life. One comes during adolescence, & the other when we reach middle-age. During the early teens our bodies go through tremendous changes. We develop acne, & our feet seem awkward. Our voices begin to change. And as a part of the growing up process we begin thinking about who we really are, & what we’re going to do with our life. Now that’s adolescence!
Adults face some of the same problems during middle-age, & we call it the "mid-life crisis." You see, our bodies go through changes, too. Our skin no longer has acne, but it loses its elasticity & develops all kinds of wrinkles. We men begin to lose our hair, & often start fighting the battle of the bulges. The print on the page gets smaller, & the lights seem to get dimmer. But one middle-age mother came to the conclusion that there was not a whole lot of difference between some of her physical problems & those of her teen-age children. Take their eyesight, for instance. Both of her children seemed to have a real problem with their eyesight. For example, her teen-age son could look in a refrigerator full of food & say, "There’s nothing to eat." Her daughter could open a closet full of clothing & complain, "I don’t have anything to wear." Psychologists tell us that birthdays with zeros behind them are often considered either a blessing or a curse. For instance, we look forward to the birthdays of 10, 20, & 30 as stepping stones on the road to maturity. And the 70th, 80th & 90th birthdays are seen as milestones to a triumphant old age. But birthdays at 40, 50, & 60 are not seen as milestones, but as millstones around our necks because that’s when we begin to realize that the battle between youthful strength & decay is being won by decay. I really do like Snoopy, the dog in the Charlie Brown cartoon series. One day, Snoopy was on top of his doghouse saying, "I can hear my heart beating." "I can hear my stomach growling." "I can hear my bones creaking." Then he complained, "My body is making so much noise that I can’t sleep." I feel that way sometimes, don’t you? I feel as if I’m losing the battle, & decay is winning. So before it’s too late, it is important to find an answer to David’s question, "What is man that God is so concerned about us?" What are we, & where are we going?
The world gives us all kinds of answers. Some scientists tell us that we’re just by-products of nature, no more important than the cockroach that runs across the kitchen floor. But that kind of answer just doesn’t satisfy. It seems to me that the only place we can find an accurate answer is in the Word of God. And the first answer that it gives to the question, "What am I?" is this, "You are a special person created in the image of God."
YOU ARE A VERY SPECIAL PERSON CREATED IN GOD’S OWN IMAGE
In Genesis 1, God reaches down & takes the dust of the ground. He forms it into a human body, & breathes into its nostrils the breath of life. Adam blinks his eyes, begins to breathe, & becomes a living human being. God realizes that it is not good for man to be alone, even though surrounded by the beauty of paradise. So God puts Adam to sleep & takes a rib & forms woman. God causes her to live & breathe & become a part of Adam’s life. For some time, we’re not sure how long, Adam & Eve live in God’s created paradise, walking & talking with Him in the cool of the evening, enjoying the purpose for which they were created, to have fellowship with the Lord God Almighty, to honor Him with their lives. And we’re told that they’re created in His image. Not that they look like Him, but that they think like Him. They can make decisions like He makes decisions, & they’re responsible for their decisions. They can love in the same way that God loves. They can hate the things that God hates. They are mirrors of God Himself because God created them in His own image. He created them to be the objects of His love. It is important, I think, in those lonely, frantic moments, that we recognize first of all that we are created by God & that we’re important to Him. Therefore we must not think too lowly of ourselves. As David started to praise the majesty of God, he realized this great truth, "God, You’ve made me just a little bit lower than Yourself, & that is pretty high on the ladder of things. You crowned me with glory & with honor. You’ve made me ruler over all of the works of Your hands."
BUT DON’T THINK TOO HIGHLY OF YOURSELF
But then the Bible teaches us, "Don’t think too highly of yourself, either, for your sins have scratched & marred the image of God in which you were created." Adam & Eve did the very thing that God told them not to do. They had all these things they could do, & only one thing they shouldn’t do, but they chose to do what God told them not to do. They yielded to Satan’s temptation, & all the world trembles & groans because of it. All of us suffer the consequences. Adam & Eve suddenly realize that they are naked, & are ashamed to be in the presence of God. So they cover themselves up & try to hide from Him. But they find that you can’t hide from God, & soon they are no longer in paradise. They have children, & their children learn to argue & fight. And the first thing you know, Cain kills his brother. Why? Because they are the products of a sinful environment. They learned it from their parents. We see that in our offspring, in our children & our grandchildren. They learn from us. The very thing we were created to do we don’t do. We were created to walk with God. We were created to talk with Him. We were created to have fellowship with Him. But now we can’t because there is a great chasm between us. And that chasm is created by sin. So the 2nd thing we need to learn is, "Don’t think too highly of yourself, either." You see, there is danger there. If we think too much of ourselves, pretty soon we think, "I am not just created in the image of God. I am God. I will control my own life, & my own destiny." On the other hand, we can become so focused on our sins that we are totally defeated, & walk around feeling that we’re worth nothing at all. So there is this happy medium that must come from this. "I am created in the image of God, but my image is scarred by my very own sin."
JESUS CAN RESTORE THAT ORIGINAL IMAGE AND BRILLIANCE
The third point is found in Colossians 2:9, "In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, & you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power & authority." Paul is telling us, "Christ is fully & completely God. There are no empty crevices in Him, no empty parts, nothing that needs to be filled." Here we are, walking around wondering who we are, trying to fill the empty places in our lives, searching, & making foolish mistakes, trying to stuff something into the empty parts of our lives. But Paul says, "You don’t have to live that way. You’re created in God’s image, & the image has been marred. But you can once again reflect the glory of God. Through Christ you can be made full & complete." Who am I? Of all the other labels that I may give myself, the one that counts the most is this, "I’m a Christian." I have been born again in Jesus Christ. "Born of the water, born of the Spirit." I have a new life. I have been bought & paid for by the precious blood of Jesus Christ,& I am His. That gives me identity. That is who I am. Bob Russell preaches at the Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY. His Chairman of Evangelism a few years ago was a medical doctor. Dr. Sumi never took a course in evangelism. He just loves God & loves people, & can’t stand to see people lost in their sins. So he goes out to tell people the good news about Jesus Christ. One day they went calling together in an apartment complex. They went from apartment to apartment, ringing doorbells, passing out tracts, witnessing to people, sharing their faith. Dr. Sumi was so enthusiastic in what he was doing that Bob was almost embarrassed. Bob said, "Here was this fine medical doctor who was just compelled to tell people about Jesus." After they completed their time of calling & were heading home, Dr. Sumi looked over at Bob & said, "Preacher, you know what? The church has so much more to offer than we have to offer at the hospital where I work." Bob Russell asked, "What do you mean?" He said, "Well, at the hospital I can perform surgery. I can make an incision & remove diseased parts of the body & sew it back up again & give people a few more years of life. But," he said, "here we’re talking eternal life. We’re talking about eternal life."
by Melvin Newland
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