Being Transformed

The other day I was working on a child dedication parent meeting. I had purchased some material designed to help parents nurture their kids’ spiritual journey. Obviously I really liked the material since I purchased it. It was grounded in scripture, hands on, age appropriate, hands-on, ya de da.

As I began working with the material, I made a few changes that fit more my style and then I just stopped dead in my tracks. As a foundational point to building a Christian home, the curriculum was emphasizing the verse “we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.”

WHY? Why start with sin? Isn’t there an earlier beginning that isn’t rooted in sin? All of my recent reading, studying, and conversations with my co-worker/boss, Dave, and his current series on Genesis 1-2 about creation and the image of God came flooding in.

No, I couldn’t start with sin, because that isn’t where the Story of God began. It began with creation, when a loving God designed and formed mankind to become His “image bearers” to reflect His love. It began with an invitation to be in relationship with this awesome Creator God; a continual invitation to be part of His Kingdom work, a continual invitation to be transformed and more perfectly reflect His image.

It feels very different approaching

a creator God who already knows me

and has all along been inviting me into relationship with Him

VERSES

a God, I don’t know yet, but somehow I have already failed and disappointed Him.

Upon reflection I was surprised at how strongly I reacted against that Roman verse. Not because I don’t believe that we are sinners, but because I’m don’t feel that it’s the right place to start a conversation about God.

I’m not the same person I was four years ago. My deeper understanding of the image of God has radically changed some of my core thinking. I think I'm being transformed into a new creation!