THE IMAGE
Imagine two connected devices like a tablet and a computer. These two devices have been set up to have screen sharing. When a sentence is typed into the tablet or a picture is drawn on its screen, a replica image is simultaneously shown on the screen of the computer as well. When the page on the tablet is changed, it changes on the computer as well. You have no ability to influence the screen on the computer but by manipulating the tablet. Also while only you and perhaps a few others who are close to you can see the tablet screen, the computer screen is visible to a host of others who are remote from you.
This is really a description of the human life. We have been created in the image of God but in physical form. What that implies is that while we have a physical body, we also have within us a spirit that reflects God and that cannot die. This spirit interacts and interplays with our physical bodies. Our decision-making is confined to the physical realm we live in. However every decision we make and every experience we go through reflects an image in the spiritual world. Our words, actions and our thoughts have consequence in the spiritual realm. This spiritual world is unseen but of much greater significance than the physical world because unlike the latter, it is eternal. And while our lives are privy only to a few, there is a huge audience in the spiritual world for all we do.
The Bible indicates this reality adequately. In Hebrews 11, we see a listing of the multiple heroes of faith from the Old Testament, who in faith saw a better world that existed and was to come. Then in Hebrews 12, we read,
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1,2)
This description is one of the spiritual world, where our actions here on earth are felt and witnessed. It calls us to look to Jesus who transcends both the physical and the spiritual realm and remains exalted above all else. It encourages us to emulate him who welcomed suffering in this world, to receive the manifold blessings that await in the spiritual world.
Let us consider the pandemic that still remains alive in the world despite the prayers of millions around the globe. While it has dragged on much to the dismay of believers, with each passing day that the pandemic remains, millions more prayers will be offered by the faithful. Just consider the amount of prayer that has been offered up so far- perhaps never before has so many people prayed with as much fervor as this year. And even though we do not see anything in the physical world for it, the impact in the spiritual world is huge and without a doubt, this period of suffering and prayer will usher in a time of healing and spreading of the word of God and of salvation like no other.
And in understanding this reality, we realize that the image, in the spiritual world, is not just an image, it is the real thing.
