Our Shattered Image

Have you ever felt like something inside of you is broken beyond repair?

I had a large, mirror in the foyer of my home. It was in the perfect spot to make certain my hair had some reasonable order before leaving my house. One typical day as I was running late, I slammed the front door and heard a loud crash. (The kind where you know what’s inside is not going be good.) My mirror had smashed onto the tile floor.

Thankfully, the frame confined the shards of broken glass, but as I looked at it, the separate pieces distorted my image into many fragments. My kids laughed to see their little faces in the broken mirror…I didn’t think the mess was one bit amusing.

The Bible tells us about man’s original image:

“So God created humankind in His own image; in the image of God created he created them: male and female he created them.”

~ Genesis 1:27

It’s impossible for our minds to fully comprehend what it meant to be created in the “image of God.” Have you ever wondered why God even created man? His creation of the heavens, earth and creatures was absolutely perfect. Yet, we can understand that it is more enjoyable to share a masterpiece with someone who appreciates it. So God created humans to share and enjoy his creation with him.

He designed them to share the same interests and to have the intellectual capacity to explore the Garden with him. Can you imagine the laughter God and Adam shared when God brought all the animals and the birds for him to name them? Adam had a perfect IQ, and thought of so many unique names! I’d have been stumped by the time the tenth creature stepped forward!

God made humans similar to himself to have fellowship. He wanted someone who desired to be a part of his family and who would delight in spending time with Him by their own choice, not because they had no other option.

Love cannot exist where there are no choices. Without the ability to choose to obey or disobey, they would have been robots, designed to perform. Being forced to do something isn’t love at all.

Here is where the brokenness of shame entered into the world. They made a choice to break the one rule God had given them. At that moment, the sweet fellowship they had known with God was severed, and they ran to hide.

Just like they tried to “cover up” their sin; we try to put on different masks to hide our wounds and the pain of our insecurities. We are terrified of rejection, but the irony is, we have already rejected ourselves as God’s beloved children.

We don’t understand how to receive and embrace the unconditional love of God because most of us have never been taught healthy ways to love and accept ourselves. Ever since the image of God was shattered in man, we display the broken image of Adam.

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so also we will bear the image of the man from heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:49

Before the choice to sin, when Eve saw her reflection, she saw a clear “image” of God displayed in her perfect, internal qualities. As soon as she disobeyed, the mirror image broke into many pieces, all of different shapes and sizes.

Some pieces are still clear, some don’t line up correctly and some are beyond recognition. Now each person has only pieces of God’s image, little shards of the broken reflection.

Think of it this way; I don’t understand math (at all), and I can’t draw a good stick figure, but I get fired up speaking to large audiences and I use words to paint pictures that illustrate truth.

Some of you exceed in math and are terrified of public speaking. Others love the arts and sciences, while some are leaders, caregivers or athletes. Our image “pieces,” are each broken differently. This explains why each person has unique abilities, but why no one has every gift in the way Adam and Eve were created.

The “image of God” doesn’t mean humans were created to “look” like God. Yet can you see how much God loves us? He came as a man in the form of the Lord Jesus, and he humbled himself by choosing to be in a human body and look like us.

God has made great sacrifices, including the shedding of his own blood, to make it possible for us to dwell with Him in fellowship again. Christ broke the barrier of sin so his desire for family could be restored.

Being released from shame is a process. Allow God to conform you into the likeness of His Son through fellowship with other Believer’s, Bible study, prayer, transparency and accountability.

We can get excited knowing that in heaven, we will be healed. We will have all of God’s attributes again. The shattered mirror will be put back together and all our broken places will be made new and whole again. Our damaged image will be replaced with the perfect “image of God.” That will be glory!

Yes, Cynthia is an experienced Christian counselor; a compelling speaker; and the inspiring author of “Deceived By Shame, Desired By God,”— but it’s her heart that will reach you; a heart that knows full well what it is to be broken and then restored.

Her transparency captures her listeners, speaks to their pain, and leaves them with new hope that they too can be set free. She shares what she knows firsthand: It is from broken hearts that God shapes His most beautiful mosaic masterpieces.

Learn more about Cynthia on her website!