You Bear the Image

We live in a world dominated by a humanistic worldview.

That means we think we can perform all of life's tasks and meet all of life's needs on our own, without any sort of divine oversight. The ultimate outcome of humanism is that it leads to belief in humanity itself being God. Humans try to control all cultural development and rationalize their reasons for doing so. Think about it: We replace God with technology, medicine, government, economics, or any other thing that helps us feel we have control. Many of us don't even realize we're living under humanism, assuming it's a "them" problem when we are not truly trusting God as our creator and sustainer. But scripture tells us in Romans 8 that the mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God. When we choose to be our own governors and gods our choice leads to death, both physically and spiritually. But there is good news! If we stop ruling our lives and depend on the savior and rescuer of our souls, Jesus Christ, we will trade death for life. Anxiety is traded for peace. Curses are traded for promises. This is an example of bearing the image of Christ. As followers of Jesus, we identify with God's Spirit rather than the spirit of this broken world.

Check out this heavy and much-needed message from Lead Pastor Rich Ryfun as he kicks off our series "You Bear the Image."