Light first purple candle - The Hope Candle
How many of you have a child who is your “mini-me?” You may look at a child and think, “I know who his father is!” Originating from the 1999 Austin Powers film, a “Mini-Me” is a person who resembles a smaller or younger version of another person. Our oldest grandson, Séamus, looks so much like his dad it is uncanny! We keep trying to find our oldest daughter, Mary Grace, in the youngest grandson, Gilbert, or really any Brown family trait - dark eyes, round face - because there is no mistaking who his older brother’s father is!
However, many of Séamus’ behaviors have Mary Grace written all over them! He is three-and-a-half years old, and already knows all of his letters, what sounds they make and who or what starts with each letter. It is truly impressive! But before we enroll him in a preschool for the gifted, let’s remember who is raising him. Mary Grace was reading when she was three-years-old and to this day devours all manner of literature. Obviously her love for language and the written word have been imprinted onto her son.
So what is the difference between imaging and imprinting? There is a subtle, yet important distinction between the two.
Imprinting refers to a well-researched phenomenon within animals where they form an extremely close and dependent bond with the first animal they see after being born. For example, when ducklings hatch they tend to imprint on their parent and follow them everywhere. The core purpose of imprinting is survival, which makes sense considering that young animals are dependent upon their parents for food and protection. Humans can also experience imprinting, yet because we are much more complex in our design than any other animal, imprinting in humans isn’t as simple as us forming an inseparable bond with the first human we see when we are born. Instead, human imprinting involves how we form socio-emotional bonds with others in ways that impact us throughout our lifespan. In psychology, it falls in line with the theory of attachment, wherein infants and toddlers attach to their primary caregiver, in either secure or insecure attachment styles or bonds.
* Read Genesis 1
Imaging
We were all created in God’s image from the very beginning, according to Genesis 1. It is what sets us apart as God’s most precious creations, His magnum opus, His greatest work.
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.” (Gen 1:26-27)
Can you hear the language of imaging in God’s purpose for designing humans? When God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness,” who was He referring to? He is, of course, referring to the Trinity - Father, Son and Spirit - who have existed in perfect relational interdependence since before time began. Each member of the Trinity has specific roles. Often, we are familiar with the Father’s role and even the Son’s, referred to as the Word by the Apostle John in the opening lines of his gospel writings: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.He was with God in the beginning.All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.” (Jn 1:1-3) Yet often we don’t recognize the Spirit’s role until much later, perhaps at Jesus’ baptism or even His resurrection. In reality, the Spirit makes His debut in the first verses of Genesis, clearly describing His role in creation. “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” (v 2) The Holy Spirit’s active presence played a nurturing role during the initial, chaotic state of the world, preparing the formless void for creation and bringing forth life.
The Trinity created us in their image with relational capacity and desire for relationship so that we might delight in and care for each other as well as the creation He placed us in. We image God in our desire to work, to create and build, to nurture and train. Lastly, God created humans, male and female, giving each of them unique characteristics, masculine and feminine, so that together - in marriage, in families and in church families - we would image more fully His characteristics.
It is in these intimate relationships that the imprinting takes place, however, and it is not always a positive or secure imprinting that occurs. Insecure attachments between parents and children imprint anxious, avoidant or disorganized dynamics, resulting in chaos, confusion and codependence. While created in God’s image, the imprinting that occurs in those early formed emotional attachments impacts our ability to image God greatly.
The Apostle Paul sums up imaging and imprinting beautifully in his letter to the Colossian believers, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation…For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
(Colossians 1:15, 19-20, NIV)
Jen Wilkin says it this way in her book In His Image, “Everything we say or do will either illuminate or obscure the character of God. Sanctification is the process of joyfully growing luminous. Through Christ and by the Spirit, we have regained access to God’s presence. And the result is the glorious reclamation of the image of God in man.” Gloriously reclaiming the image of God in man? That’s what I want to be about!
* Sing Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus(see page 15 for lyrics)
* Reflect
* How do you image the Trinitarian God? How have you been imprinted by your earthly parents? By your Father God? How has He left His mark on you? The fact is that we are all God’s “Mini-Me” created in His image. We each come standard with the need and capacity for relational and emotional interdependence. But the way that we grow more and more into God’s image is by imitating Him in every way. Imitating how Jesus loved and cared for others.
* How do we come to know how Jesus loves? By experiencing His love for us! Let’s spend some time with Jesus today and be imprinted by His perfect love for us!
* Pray, thanking Father, Son and Holy Spirit for their perfect, interdependent relationship and their willingness to create you in Their image, with Their imprint.
