You Belong to Him

Creation of Eve, Michelangelo, 1510. Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums, Vatican City. 

“And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” - Matthew 22: 20-21

There are sometimes moments in life when I cannot help but get choked up. Singing a meaningful song, listening to stories, reading something powerful. My mind and body are so in sync and overwhelmed by the realization of the weight of what I am experiencing. That is how I felt reading on these verses in Matthew. 

I am made in God’s likeness. God has inscribed His name onto me. I belong to God. 

The overwhelm of being loved so deeply because of how intimately I am made cannot be escaped. I belong to God because He created me. He created me because He loves me and wanted me to experience everything else that He created. There is nothing that I can do or say or think that Our Lord will not be able to touch and be present there with me. It is such a gift to be like Him and the ability to become more like Him. 

I love Michelangelo’s depiction of Eve, being created from the side of Adam. Adam is asleep, unaware of the gift that He is going to wake up. He had been yearning for a partner in His work and for another to delight in the creation that God had given Him. Eve extends her hands in thanksgiving and almost jumps forward into the arms of God. The first face she sees is God’s. In Him she finds her own likeness. She finds His name inscribed in every fiber of her being. She finds her belonging, giftedness, and identity in Him alone. 

Drama is a story that is to be told through action and dialogue. It is more than just narration or simply told. The drama of our lives is that we were made to be in action and dialogue with the Creator of the Universe. That is so beyond the things of this world and what the Lord is trying to remind us in these verses in Matthew. We are made for so much more than what the world will require from us and take from us. Rulers and leaders of this world will not go away, but they do not own us, only the Lord does. The world can take all it wants from us, even our lives, but our identity will never shift from being a Child of God. 

Sin entered this world and we have lost our sight of the realities of our identity. But do not fret! There is still hope and joy. Tradition leads us to believe that Adam and Eve are in heaven. Despite them bringing sin into the world and falling from original grace, God did not let them forget their true identities. He did not abandon them in their great need and struggle. It is all part of the drama of life that we are able to grow deeper in relationship with Christ. We must remember (and be reminded) that we can give ourselves back to God. 

God will always want you back. You are made in God’s likeness. God has inscribed His name onto you. You belong to God.

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Written by Madeline Larson

Image can be found here.