One of the Christian Influencers I follow said something I thought was kind of peculiar, he said, "Because we are made in the image of God, that makes us gods here on earth."
And I stopped a minute to think.
One of the things I've been practicing in my own walk with God is my ability to "rightly divide the word of truth" and using discernment to be able to properly apply Biblical teaching/principles to my life. Part of this has been saturating and curating my social media feeds with Christian teachers, preachers, theologians and thought leaders who teach the Bible from a variety of views.
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
Even though I have grown up in church my whole life and have been a Sunday School teacher for the past 10 years (I'm just realizing this myself and it's crazy to me) I am completely aware that I do not know everything. I am always actively seeking God, His Word and resources that help me to better understand His Word as it relates to my life.
Which led me to this quote. It's not that I haven't heard the concept of humans endowing themselves with power to be the master of their own universes before, but it was my first time hearing it expressly endorsed by a self-proclaiming Christian in reference to scripture.
Genesis 1:26 says,
"And God said, Let us make man in our* image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
So from the beginning yes, God created us in His image with always His divine design in place.
The danger with identifying as a "god" is that it eliminates the need for God, by allowing ourselves to be the creators of our own universes. That is to say, if we are "gods" in our own right, what need is there for salvation? Why then would we need to to submit to God's authority? To proclaim our selves as "gods" is to participate in modern day polytheism not alike many ancient religions, most notably in Greek, Roman, and tribal African cultures.
To believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins is to submit to His perfect plan for humanity and by extension our personal lives as it relates to His divine design.
The Christian walk is a journey to a singular destination and that is the restoration of our relationship to God our Father. As believers any thoughts, practices or beliefs contrary to this truth is to deviate away from a closer relationship with Him.
The beauty of this knowledge is that because we don't have to be our own "gods" we can rely on the omniscience of our God. By simply being obedient to His Word we can align ourselves with His greater purpose in our life giving us access to His power!
Luke 10:19 says,
" Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. "
God has given us His Holy Spirit through our submission to Him and His Word to be able to conquer anything that may come against God's plan for our lives.
"Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. "
Matthew 17:21
Because we dedicate our lives back to God and His glory, there is no room for any notion that relies on ourselves.
All of this to say and to re-iterate that our own relationship with God is so important! We have to have our own understanding of who God is and what His word says, so that we don't always or immediately accept what others give to us as God's Word. If we are to be living epistles of His Word, then we have to know what it says! So that if anything we come across does not align with what His Word says we can rightly divide it.
Look, sometimes I may misinterpret God's Word, we all will at some point. The point is that our relationship with God has to be strong enough to withstand our own folly and the well-intentioned misguidance of others.
The only Bible is The Bible and the better you know it, the better you can live it for yourself.
*Understanding that when God says, "our" He is referring to the Trinity that existed before time began, as in the God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit image.