Psalms 139:13-16 For Thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them (KJV).
Each of us may also say, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” The reason is stated in the same verse, “Marvelous are Thy works.” This is especially true for believers, which you see why shortly. God’s works are marvelous because He is marvelous. You are wonderfully made because He is wonderful. Everything that God makes will be according to His nature; therefore, He did not make anything contrary to His nature. Everything God does is holy because He is holy. Now consider this, the Father said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26, KJV). We go onto read in Genesis 1:27, So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them (KJV). Being made in His image underscores that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Regardless of how you came into this world, God knew you and loved you before you were even born. The Word clearly states you were already written in His book, which also means He has wonderful plans for your life. It also declares that you were planned! Know this, that the Lord takes great care in His plans, which means that He was very careful and intentional in your making. The more confident you are that God is good, the more confidence you will have toward the works of His hands. The more confident you are that His works are marvelous, the more confident about yourself you will be. The counterfeit to this principle is self-confidence. Instead of being confident in the Lord that dwells in you, you are solely confident in yourself. Proverbs warns against having such an attitude: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18, KJV). Nonetheless, there is a confidence that comes with knowing that God is good, and we are made in His image.
Jeremiah 18:1-6 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear My words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in Mine hand, O house of Israel (KJV). While Jeremiah 18 primarily centers on Israel, there is picture we can take from these opening verses. God as the Master Potter formed man from the dust of the earth, or clay as in this case. When He made man, He made him perfect, but when sin entered, he became as the marred clay. Like the potter in this passage, the Father did not see fit to leave us marred, or in our sinful condition. Instead, He decided to make man new. However, there is a major difference. Unlike the clay in this passage, every individual can make the decision to be made new or continue in sin. For us who said yes to the Potter, we experience the new birth from His Spirit, and find ourselves being conformed into the image of Jesus (see Romans 8:29). Thus we read in Ephesians 2:10, For we are His workmanship (masterpiece), created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (KJV).
The question is: do you believe you are His masterpiece? Take in consideration that sin entered into the world by questioning God. The enemy of our souls introduced rebellion by a question: “Did God really say?” As you read Genesis 3, you will find that not only did Satan bring to question what God said, but His very character. He has been using this method ever since. He has sought to deceive many into believing that God does not exist, which in of itself has many implications. One being that if we are not made in His image, there is nothing wonderful about us. If God is not there to make us good, then we have to make something of ourselves, good or bad. No matter how successful a person becomes with that perspective, deep down he will never believe he is good enough. If the devil cannot get us to believe there is no God, he will accuse Him. For example, “How can God be good if there is so much evil in the world?” Even though, he was the one who introduced evil. The earlier he can get people to question God, the better in his view, because he knows that the earlier a lie is planted in the person, the longer it will have time to grow deep roots. The deeper the roots, the harder it is to remove. If a person believes that God is not good, then he will also believe nothing that God makes is good as well; thereby, turning the wonderful news that we are made in His image into something to distain. Furthermore, the enemy seeks to get us to dishonor God by dishonoring one another. Thus, slander enters the scene. He tries to goad us into judging other people for their shortcomings or even tell all out lies about them. He seeks to deeply wound children by those they should be able to trust, so that when they grow up they are broken and hard to reach by the Good News that God loves them. The devil needles them with their sins, so that they will turn away from God instead of turning to Him. In those he succeeds in planting his poison, is the belief that they are worthless. In many cases, he succeeds in getting them to belittle or disapprove of their selves. They cannot wrap their mind around the idea that they are made in His image. Sin has wreaked havoc, but there is wonderful news for those who will receive.
God knew the ending before the beginning, and made a perfect plan to redeem us and truly make us into His image through Jesus Christ. Thus, we read, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17, KJV). In 2Corinthians 5:21 it says, “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (KJV). That new creature is the new man who is made after His nature. Ephesians 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness (KJV). Only a good God would do that!
