ELDER: The image of Jesus should be seen in us

Among my various sleepwear is an old gray T-shirt. One evening I was wearing it as I was getting ready for bed when my wife noticed a small white spot on the front of it. She wondered if maybe I had gotten toothpaste on it as I had just brushed my teeth. I reminded her that this was the shirt someone had given me which originally had been emblazoned with elements from one of my favorite movies, “North by Northwest.” I informed her that if she looked closely, she could see that the little spot she pinpointed was actually the face of Cary Grant. After various wearings and washings over a period of time, everything else had faded with only the image of the actor’s face remaining visible.

This reminds me of what the Bible says about the image of Jesus being seen in us as His followers. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (II Corinthians 3:18). God’s Word tells us that part of God’s purpose for us is that we “be conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29). While we are told that such a transformation will take place more fully once we leave this earthly existence behind us, even now we should be experiencing the reality of the image of Jesus becoming more and more evident in us. Of course, we’re not talking about resembling Jesus’ physical appearance. We don’t even know what He looked like when He was here in the flesh. I doubt that He looked like handsome Cary Grant, since prophecies described Christ as not having an attractive appearance. It’s His character, qualities and spirit which should be increasingly manifesting themselves in our lives.