Once, I visited the home of the renowned Australian painter the late Pro Hart. ‘I’ll give you a painting to take home with you,’ he offered.
So he took me to his back yard to a large old corrugated iron shed, cluttered with used paint tins and tools and pieces of timber. Spider webs dangled from the ceiling and a thick film of dust covered everything. He rummaged among some sheets of chipboard and pulled one out.
From one side it looked exactly what it was–a piece of pressed wood, worth no more than a few dollars. But on the other side was a painting of the swagman in the Australian folk song ‘Waltzing Matilda’.
This painting totally transformed the worth of the chipboard. It was now an object of considerable value. Today, it is cleaned up and tastefully framed–a masterpiece.
Many of us are like that. Although made in God’s image, we may seem to be of little account. Further, our time in this dusty world has left us in need of restoration.
God does this for us in Christ Jesus. It is a new creative process. ‘We are God’s workmanship,’ says Paul, ‘created in Christ Jesus to do good works…’ (Ephesians 2:10.
When I realise who I am I can rejoice in what I am.
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.