God's Signature

What is identification?

To most, identification is this little card with a really bad picture of you that states your name and address. This could be showing that you are able to drive, or attend a particular school, or you work at a particular place, etc. All in all, there is a picture of you, with your name and they call it your ID.

But, that is your outward identification, what about your inward identification?

Genesis 1:26a says, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.”

This verse shows that God created us in His Image and in His likeness, but what exactly does that mean?

According to handy-dandy google, these are the definitions to Image and Likeness.

Image: a representation of the external form of a person or thing in art

Likeness: the fact or quality of being alike

Quality: the standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind

Image and likeness are often used interchangeably with each other, but ,as you can see, these two words have a different meaning that mesh together to form us. Allow me to show you.

Image: I love that this definition is an external representation of someone in ART. You are God’s masterpiece, you were/are His art project, and He called you VERY GOOD.

According to this definition, you physically look like God. You were created from His image and you are a perfect external representation of Him. Think of it like this---- God is looking into a mirror and the reflection that can be seen is you. You look like Him.

Likeness: I love that this definition gives two different words fact and quality. It is a FACT that you look like God. It’s like when I go into Walmart or anywhere around my small town and someone approaches me, and asks, “Are you Sydney’s (my dad) daughter?” To which I simply reply, yes, and is that a good or bad thing? Ha, no but really, they can pick me out across the room and know that I am his daughter because of my stature, my eyes, my mouth, the way that I carry myself, and so-on. It is a fact that I am his, a 100% copy with a little influence from my mom. The same for us and God, we can look at ourselves or anyone around us and can 100% know that they are God’s just by how they look.

My dad and I. I've always been told that I look like my dad, he is handsome so, I'll take that as a compliment!

But the quality, that’s something special. That’s something internally. When I saw the word quality, immediately my mind went to clothes. It’s like you go to a place and you see this perfect, fleece jacket. When you touch it its soft and sturdy, you think to yourself this is pretty good quality. But, I am unable to understand the quality of something just by looking at it. I have to touch it, try it on, compare with other brands, and then decide is this worth the buy. The same with us and God. The quality is based off of how it’s made. If the jacket was made without the wearer in mind, then the quality would feel cheap and rough and it would not sell; however, if the jacket was made with the wearer in mind, every stitch was sown by hand, every pocket placement and button placement would be intentional, then this jacket is very good quality. God is the designer who created every freckle and wrinkle with intent. God put in the work creating you and He made you with the perfect measurement, Himself.

But just like in the designer world, when something new and fresh takes off, then someone comes in to try and steal it and create knock-offs.

God created you. Satan created temptations for you.

Have you ever compared yourself with that girl/guy on a magazine or on Instagram/facebook? I’m sure you have, haven’t we all. For me, when I started working out again I looked-up celebrities that I wanted to look like and started doing their routines with hopes to have a body like theirs, there was just one problem, I was comparing my 6’ even physique to celebrities that were 5’9” and shorter. The devil created a temptation. God created me.

I like to think about identity in more of a biological kind of way, because of my interest in the medical field. We all know what DNA is or at least we kind of have a vague recollection of what it looks like in our high school biology books. It’s that colorful, double-helix spiral ladder-looking thing.

This molecule contains everything that makes you, you. Your hair color, your eye color, your ancestry, it’s so powerful that it can even tell you if you have a disease that can be passed down to your next generation. DNA is the “code of life” or what some scientist call it, “The book of life.” Interesting, huh. This code can be decoded and can tell you everything you’d ever want to know. God created that, He created a small molecule that lives in our cells that holds the key to who we are. DNA is the quality in which we are made of. Think of it as a signature on a painting, or a logo of a brand. This was God’s design to create us all different and unique while still having God at our core.

Now that you understand how your image was made and where it came from, now you have to walk in this truth.

But how? Firstly, do you know God as your Savior? Do you know He came to this earth as a man, died on the cross for our sins and rose again three days later? If you don’t, let’s start there. If you do, you are already walking in this truth.

How to walk even knowing God and knowing Him as your savior. This journey is different for everyone. As Christians we know the Big 3: Pray, Fast, and Read your Bible, but even seasoned Christians struggle with the concept of identity.

As you study your word, God will reveal things to you about yourself that you never knew. God starts to reveal Himself in you and you start to see yourself in Him.

I’m on this journey even today. A journey of self-discovery or should I say God-discovery. I’m here to share my little God-discoveries and tell you what I learned through them about myself. Struggling is part of the journey, but knowing Who is at your core will push you to understand the overall being.

Thanks for reading,

Em