If you were not created in God’s image, you would be the result of random chance. You would have no inherent value, no relationship with God, no sense of morality, love, peace, and hope. When you died, you would turn into dirt. 

The story of the birth of Christ involves a 13-year-old Nazarene girl named Mary, who was chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus. Through the miracle of the Holy Spirit, Mary became pregnant.

Luke 1: 26-33, 38 “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom, there will be no end….And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”

For a young engaged but unmarried girl to become pregnant was something that, in the culture of her day, would result in being disenfranchised for her family and your friends. Joseph knew that he was not the father of her baby and chose, thanks to the advice from an angel, to stay with her.

Near the end of her pregnancy, Ceasar Agustus said that all the world should be registered. Each person, including your wife of engaged wife, had to go to his hometown. It was a 90-mile trip that would have taken Joseph and Mary at least a week to get there in her condition. When they arrived, there was no room in the Inn, but they were offered a place close by where the animals stayed. It was not a tidy and clean place like the mangers on our tables at home. It was a dark, dirty, and no doubt smelly cave.

Mary was ready to deliver. There were no maidservants present because they were too poor to have any. There is speculation that I find intriguing: Joseph was not present when the time for her to deliver. Jewish law supports this thought. According to Jewish law, a husband should not be present during delivery. He may enter when his wife is fully draped, and with the onset of uterine contractions and membrane rupture, the husband must leave.

Who was there with Mary?

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and [she] placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them” (Luke 2:6-7).

Prophecy predicted it, scripture supported it, and God engineered it. We know that Joseph was not the genetic father of Jesus; God, the heavenly Father, is His Father. Whatever that must have looked like, maybe through shekinah glory, the presence of God was there. Yes, He is everywhere, but at this event, his presence was there to celebrate what he had been planning before the beginning of time. The Triunity of God! The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Who else was present? We know that there were angels present. “And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!’”

“When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.

“But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:8-19).

If you were not created in God’s image, you would be the result of random chance. You would have no inherent value, no relationship with God, no sense of morality, love, peace, and hope. When you died, you would turn into dirt. 

 The good news is that you were, in love, created by God! Your thumbprint, the iris of your eye and, your genetic code are each unique to you! You are not a mistake, but, instead, you were personally made by God, because he desires to have a relationship with you!

 “On the sixth day of creation, in Genesis 1:26, the Bible says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” He made us like Him mentally, morally, and socially. Anything we do, which requires a plan to design or to build something, reveals God! Any time someone writes a book, paints a picture, sings a song, dances to music, balances a bank book, or loves another person, it reflects the One who created us! 

 God made us so that we, like Him, make choices. We have been created as moral beings with a sense of right and wrong. Within all humans, God placed a conscience or “moral compass” that gives us a sense of right and wrong. 

 “They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus” (Romans 2: 15-16).

 Made in God’s image means that we, like our Creator, are relational beings. God is one Being made up of 3 persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. From all eternity past, present, and future, the Triune God is in perfect, active, and loving communion with one another. Never have they stopped loving, trusting, and communicating with each other. At the very core of God’s being is love, for “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

 God longs to be in a loving relationship with those whom He created. He knows that if we walk with Him by spending time with Him and obeying Him, no matter what this world gives us, we will be safe in Him.

 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

 God is the great I AM. He had no beginning and will have no end. He is eternal and made us with an eternal soul. God originally designed Adam and Eve to live eternally with Him in perfect harmony.  When they sinned, fellowship with Adam and Eve and, all humanity that followed, was temporally broken. Because we were created to have a loving relationship with God, restoration could only come through Jesus’ death and resurrection.  For all who believe, the eternal relationship with God has been reinstated! How could this happen? Because we were created in His image. 

 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (John 3:36)

 “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:28-30).

 For those who choose not to believe in Jesus, they will not turn into dirt, as most Humanists espouse. They will live eternally without God with no hope, no love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control. 

 “Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:44-46).

Life, both now and forever, does not work without Jesus.

“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14-15).