Spiritual Surgery

God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.”   Genesis 1:26

The Bible tells us that we were made in God’s image. Adam and Eve were not like God in every respect, but if you had seen the first man and woman, you’d have seen a reflection of what God is like in them.

A woman I know named Joy was on vacation in a trailer park in the south of Europe when a gas bottle exploded, trapping her inside the trailer. Remarkably, she managed to open the door and stumble clear of the inferno, but her burns were so severe that she almost died. She was taken to a local hospital, where it soon became clear they could not give her the help she needed, so arrangements were made to fly her back to Britain.

I’ll never forget the first time I saw her. Her face was completely destroyed—she was unrecognizable. Her recovery took months, and it involved many operations. After her accident, Joy needed two things: first, she needed to get a surgeon who could help her, and second, she needed a long process of reconstructive surgery.

Joy’s story has helped me to grasp the heart of the gospel. God made Adam and Eve in his image, and they reflected his character. There were no lies to confuse their minds, no hate to pollute their hearts, and no greed to bend their wills. Even the devil would admit that the image of God was reflected in them, though it was an image he hated and was determined to destroy.

What followed was a great disaster. Sin defaced the image of God so that it was scarcely recognizable. The Bible story is about how God’s image can be restored. If this is to happen, like Joy after her disaster, we must be brought to the Physician who can restore not our faces, but our souls. We’ll need to undergo a long process of spiritual surgery in which our minds, hearts, and wills are renewed.

The process will be painful at times, but the image of God will be restored in us. That is why Jesus Christ came into the world. He came to save his people from the devastating effects of sin. He came to restore what was lost and destroyed.

For further reading, see Colossians 3