When we understand all that we are in Christ, we can form what evangelist Oral Roberts used to call a ‘faith-image’ of ourselves that will affect how we live. By reading the Scriptures and believing what they say, we can see ourselves as God sees us.
With such a faith-image, we can cope with life in a positive, confident way. We no longer regard ourselves in human terms, but in divine terms.
Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant… (2 Corinthians 3:4-6).
Whatever God calls us to do he enables us to do. We are sinners who have failed and will continue to fail from time to time. But Jesus Christ has dealt with sin.
He has redeemed us from failure.
He has restored us to the position of competence and confidence that God ordained in the beginning.
By his dreadful death and timeless resurrection, he has enabled us to regain our true identity–including our dignity as creatures made in the image of God.
To read more on this topic see Living in the Image of God, Barry Chant (Miranda: Tabor, 2012 available in eBook and Paperback) from which this edited extract is taken.