“God is God, and you are not.” Perhaps we need that reminder every once in a while, particularly when we think we’re in control of a situation that’s well beyond our control. And it’s true. We don’t have the inherent authority, power, wisdom, or love to do what he does and rule as he rules. But as much as our humility compels us to distance ourselves from him, his own purposes compel us to come back. He has made us in his image and is relentless in his desire to restore us to his image. He wants his people to be like him.
That’s why he shares his authority (Luke 10:19; Matthew 16:19), power (Acts 1:8), wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:16; James 1:5), and love (John 13:34; 1 John 4:19) with us. He has made us to be his children, and, as the saying goes, the apples don’t fall far from the tree. And this likeness is meant to go well beyond sharing his nature. He intends for us to rule with him in his kingdom (Revelation 5:10). Our identity takes us much higher than we might have thought.
So no, we aren’t God. But we are like him, or supposed to be, anyway. We are the ultimate rags to riches story, thoroughly lost and undeserving yet thoroughly restored and favored. Never minimize that calling. You are more “in his image” than you think you are. Step into it as fully as he desires.
