Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”     Genesis 1:26 ESV

Generic brands are generally made to be just like the more expensive brands. Often times expensive medications come in generic brands. They work just as well as the more expensive medication or at least they should. Sometimes generic brands don’t work as well or something may be a little off. I tried to save money on a vitamin drink a few weeks ago. While it had the same ingredients as the more expensive brand, it tasted horrible. A good generic brand will function just as the more expensive brand. But sadly, some are just cheap imitations that don’t work like their more expensive counterparts. So even though they were made to be like the original, they fall short.

As human beings, we were made in God’s image, but we know from Romans 3:23 that we fall short of the glory of God because we all sin. So, even though we were made in His image, we can’t not sin under our own power. We must rely on Him to provide righteousness to us. We can strive for righteousness on our own, but can’t quite get there. We need His help to be an imitation of Him. Sadly, the devil tries to pose as a cheap imitation. He will promise things he can’t deliver and try to get us to imitate him and do his bidding. We must guard against that (1 Peter 5:8).

We were made in God’s image, but what does that really mean to us? Ephesians 5:1 says that we are to be imitators of Christ. If you think about it, we tend to imitate someone whether it be a parent, a sibling or some other relative. Perhaps we will imitate a mentor or even a character we’ve seen on television or in the movies. We tend to imitate people we look up to. Sadly, we may even unknowingly and unintentionally imitate those we don’t respect so much. We may find that even though we would rather not, we do the things they do that we detest.

Maybe it’s time we take a look at this passage and think about what it means to us to be made in God’s image. Maybe we should think about whether or not we truly strive to imitate Christ. We know that Jesus never sinned and we know that as mere mortals, we do sin. But do you strive to be like Him at least to the best of your ability? Do you treat others in a way that would be pleasing to Jesus. Do your words and your actions bring God glory, honor and praise?

We weren’t made in the devil’s image. We weren’t made in the image of an animal and no we did not evolve from one. We were made in God’s image, in the image of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This gives us awesome strength and power because this means that if we truly believe in God, we can call on Him and tap into His strength and power. We are told in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. But oftentimes we live as though sin controls us and we have no power over it.

While God made man in His image, He also gave us free will. This is where the problem comes in. We can choose to act like the devil or we can choose to imitate Jesus Christ. So, if you were to be considered a knock off of one or the other, which would it be? Would you be considered to be a generic brand of the devil or of Jesus Christ?

When you deal with people, do they see that you are filled with God’s Holy Spirit or that you are full of something else?

We are going to be imitators of someone, why not imitate the God who created you? Why not do your best to be like His Son? Why not ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit?

What makes a generic brand good is when it does the same thing that the more expensive name brand does. So, if you were a generic brand, would you be a good one or just a cheap imitation? It’s all up to you, you have free will, so you can choose which you will be.

Have a great day!