APRIL 30, 2015
Image
Consultants
[You]
have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of
Him who created him. —Colossians 3:10
Read:
Colossians
3:1-11
In our media-saturated
age, image consultants have become indispensable. Entertainers, athletes,
politicians, and business leaders seem desperate to manage the way they are
perceived in the eyes of the world. These high-priced consultants work to shape
how their clients are viewed—even if sometimes there is a stark contrast
between the public image and the real person inside.
In reality, what
people need—what all of us need—is not an external makeover but an inner
transformation. Our deepest flaws cannot be corrected cosmetically. They are
directly related to who we are in heart and mind, and they reveal how far we
have fallen from the image of God in which we were created. But such
transformation is beyond any human ability to accomplish.
Only Christ offers us
true transformation—not just a facelift or an outward adjustment. Paul said
that those who have been raised to eternal life in Christ “have put on the new
man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him”
(Col. 3:10).
New! What a tremendous word full of hope! Christ
transforms us into new people in Him—people with a new heart, not just fixed up
to look good on the outside.
If anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things
have become new. —2 Corinthians 5:17
The Spirit develops in
us the clear image of Christ.
INSIGHT:
The letter to the Colossians is one of four epistles referred to as Paul’s
“prison letters.” Written during his first imprisonment (or house arrest) in
Rome, these letters also include Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon. All of
the letters were written to churches except for the one written to Philemon,
who was apparently a dear friend of Paul (Philem. 1:1,7). Paul founded the
Ephesian and Philippian churches, but there is no record in the New Testament
that Paul was ever in Colosse.
Source: Our Daily Bread 2012
