Embracing Our Uniqueness (Part Two)

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness . . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them (Genesis 1:26-27, KJV). One aspect of embracing our own uniqueness is embracing the character and nature of God. When we read the Genesis account of our creation, it would be easy to be caught up in a study on the uniqueness of man himself, which in of itself is not a bad thing. However, to fully embrace who we are destined to become and where we are going, it would behoove us to study God Himself. For example, to see what a good parent would look like, we would look to the Father. To see what it means to be a son or daughter, as well as a servant, we would look to Jesus. After all, “For whom he did foreknow (that would be us), he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29, KJV). To understand what it means to be a teacher or a counselor, I would study the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24,KJV), therefore, God gave us the Spirit. Yet all three are One, and each have the same character as the other. To know whom we are called to be means knowing God. Please understand that this is not to say we are to become little gods; rather, we take on His nature or character.

Our uniqueness is based upon God’s unique qualities. We know that God is Holy, Righteous, Just, True, Omniscient (all-knowing), Omnipresent (all places at one time), Omnipotent (all-powerful), and the list goes on. Please understand that there is not enough time or space here to go into all the qualities of God, let alone each of their characteristics. Be encouraged to study them for yourself, and in so doing make some amazing discoveries. Having said that, lets look at one characteristic of God: love. As stated in 1 John 4:8, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (emphasis added). The word love is the Greek word, AGAPE, which is perfect love that takes joy in the recipient for the recipient’s sake alone. Read 1Corinthians 13:1-8, and you will find that God is very patient (or longsuffering). He is the kindest person we will ever meet…period! He rejoices in truth and quietly covers or bears all things. God believes, hopes, and endures all things. These are all characteristics that are to be part of us, as we are called to share in his holiness. We also find that he is not envious nor vain. He is not puffed up, nor does he act indecently. He does not selfishly pursue his own things, nor is he easily provoked. He does not think evil, nor does he rejoice over wrong (nor judgment for that matter). God never fails (see “The Faith Of Jesus In The Life Of The Believer” for more details)! If you are questioning ourselves about being Christ-like, read 1Corinthians 13 and see how much you are lining up to it. This one characteristic alone sets us apart, thus, when we walk in love we uniquely point to Jesus.

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