The gospel of Christ meets us in all of these realities. The single woman who longs to be married. The married woman who longs to have a husband who loves her as Christ loves the church. The divorced woman whose marriage ended in betrayal. The widow who feels the hole in her heart daily.
The truth for all of us is that the fall of man has marred the image of God in us. We are not who He created us to be. And the fall of man has marred the environment in which we live. Others around us are not what He created them to be, either. Loved ones betray. Loved ones die. And sometimes loved ones simply never show up. But in Christ, we start to see the reclamation of His image in us through redemption.
In Ephesians 1 and 2, the apostle Paul lays out for us all that Christ’s death on the cross has accomplished for us. He expounds on it more in Ephesians 3 and 4. Then he opens Ephesians 5 with the amazing phrase, “Therefore be imitators of God” (NKJV). Finally, we have the tool for bridging the vast gulf between our created image in Genesis 2 and the fall of Genesis 3!
Now, in Christ, we start to reclaim His image in us, and Paul fleshes out what this looks like across the board—husband, wife, parent, child, co-worker, boss and every relationship within the church.
I can’t fully articulate in this short article how exactly the gospel does this for us. Paul sets the foundation for how God does it in six chapters in Ephesians, and I have spent much time studying it there. But living it out daily will require a lifetime of gospel meditation and transformation until finally I see Jesus face to face in perfection.
Today, I am simply asking God in prayer how the gospel equips me to reclaim His image in my life and what it looks like to live it out as a strong helper in my relationships. I trust He will meet us all in this prayer with wisdom for this day’s struggles as a women after God’s own heart.
Wendy Alsup is an author and blogger. She is also a wife, mom and college math teacher who loves ministering to women. Check out her blog at www.theologyforwomen.org.
