Renewed Reflection

I have taken the title of this blog, "Neos Eikon," from a passage in Colossians that reads, 

"Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him" (Col 3:10).

"Neos" in the context of the scripture, means "new," expressing the idea of "renewal," and "eikon" means "image" or "representation" (think Nikon). The idea is that through Christ, we can be made new, and then the process of renewal results in our becoming a new image of our Father in Heaven. Think about it, He originally created us to be in his image; to be representations of Himself (Gen. 1:26-27). When man sinned, they ceased to fulfill this created role. Sin caused man to become a distorted image, like the mirrors at the carnival that make you look super short or super tall. They distort your reflection, which is exactly what sin does to the reflection of God in mankind. 

Sin distorts, but Christ has renewed.

Through His life, death, and resurrection, He has defeated sin and has given us the opportunity to be restored, and be allowed to fulfill our created task: reflecting our Father's image.

By God's grace I am being renewed day by day. I am not perfect, and I make more mistakes than I would be happy to share, but each day I hope and expect to be more like Christ than the day before. I have days like everybody else that feel like everything is going wrong, and I often succumb to the bad attitudes that present themselves at such times. But as the Lord works those things out of me, I expect to rise above them and arrive at a place where I can say that in every situation, I will praise the Lord. That is my goal, and as I continue to put on my new nature, the Lord will continue to lead me there.