“Whose image and inscription is this?”

 

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. – Genesis 1:26 (ESV)

God created us human beings in His image and after His likeness; but how many of us reflect His image and express His nature? The truth is, we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). But even more than that, we humans have perpetually created God in our own image and our own likeness. We have made God a reflection of ourselves.

Jesus said to those sent to entrap Him, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” (Matthew 22:21 NLT) but we give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and we give to God what belongs to Caesar when we redefine His image and likeness.

At the Palace of Versailles in Versailles France, there is a long room with a mirror-covered wall from ceiling to floor on one side. It is an incredibly overwhelming sight that assaulted my eyes and scandalously impressive with all its gilded ornamentation, artistic renderings on the ceiling, marble columns, chandeliers and golden statues.

This one room is regarded as an architectural masterpiece, while the entire palace was once considered a symbol of absolute power.

The mirrors reflect the view of a well-watered, cared-for garden which can be seen through large arched windows that stand directly opposite the mirrored wall.

The palace, along with its well-watered, cared-for garden at Versailles are of human creation. God’s Word tells us that you will be like a well-watered garden (Isaiah 58:11), however, this promise carries certain stipulations which you can read for yourself in chapter 58. You and I, as well-watered gardens, are not of our own creation or invention, we are God-stamped, it is he who made us, and we are his (Psalm 100:3 NIV) – we belong to God.

Sadly, we have constructed our own hall with mirrors that reflect, not a well-watered garden but an image of God that has been distorted by our own misguided beliefs, biases, prejudices, excuses, ideas of justice, skewed religious morals and limitations.

We create a false image of God with a likeness that suits our fancy; a god that never takes us out of our comfort zones, a god who approves of all our preferences, a god who is perfectly aligned to us.

We, meaning Christians, have taken the infinite, transcendent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, the Alpha and the Omega Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty Creator of the universe and reduced Him to our human level of existence.

“Whose image and inscription is this?” 

In our arrogance, we who claim to be godly followers of the Word, do not know the God of the Bible. We have become religious narcissists who compromise rather than stand firm, choosing to conform rather than transform and in our failure to embrace the full reality of the God of Scripture, we offer to others an image of God who is inscribed with human characteristics.

 Beloved, we have become adept at anthropomorphism; humans crafting God after their own image and nature is not new, for Isaiah responding to a people who had replaced God with idols made in their own image said to them then and us today,

How foolish can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay! Should the created thing say of the one who made it, “He didn’t make me”?
Does a jar ever say, “The potter who made me is stupid”? (Isaiah 25:16 NLT)

We condemn these ancient people for creating idols of worship, yet in our modern day, when we engage in creating God in our image, we are doing exactly what they did by redefining God into a deity we seek to control and manage, a god who will conform to our way.

They did not have Jesus as we do, so even if we say that they were at a disadvantage, certainly in this day and age, we are not, a fact that Philip learned when he said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” To which Jesus responded, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14:8-9 NIV).

When you take a hard look at Jesus, who do you see? You must honestly answer the question, “Whose image and inscription is this?”.

By our creating God in our own image and likeness, we find ourselves at the foot of Mt. Sinai, worshipping a god crafted by our own human hands.

It’s time for us to open our bibles and get to know the God of Scripture in all His glory.

Amen †

 

Shelley Johnson “Whose image and inscription is this?” © 2026 August 18, 2026