Believe: Know Who You Are in Christ
January 4, 2026
Genesis 1:1–2 (NIV) 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Genesis 1:26–31 (NIV) 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Happy New Year!
As we turn the page on the Calendar to 2026,
we have a sense of a New Beginning, Renewed Hope, Fresh Start.
Theme for 2026: Believe! The Legacy Continues…
Know Who You Are in Christ
This is a time when People make Resolutions:
Exercise at least 3 times a week, Eat more vegetables.
Read a new book every month
Read the bible in one year, Pray everyday
Pay off debts
Spend quality time with family
Spend less time on social media
People make New Year’s Resolutions based on:
what they think they should do, or
what others think they should do.
We should make resolutions based on Who We Are.
God says, we are made in the image of God and in His likeness.
Many times when Genesis 1 is read, people ask:
When was the world created?
How long has the Earth existed?
People have debated between 6000 years to Billions of years.
A more important Truth that readers should take from Genesis 1:
-God is the Creator.
-God is Awesome and Powerful.
-God Spoke Creation into existence:
Day 1 Created light and dark.
Day 2 God formed the sky and sea
Day 3 God formed land
Day 4 God created the sun, stars, moon, and meteors.
Day 5 God created birds and fish.
Day 6 God populated the land with all sorts of animals, creatures.
And he Created human beings.
Day 7 God Rested.
-You are Made in the Image of God and in His Likeness.
Genesis 1:26–27 (NIV) 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
What does it mean that:
You are Made in the Image of God and in His Likeness?
1. Let US make:
Us is plural, God’s nature is a Trinity:
This is a conversation between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Godhead is one God in Three Persons.
2. “Image”: Hebrew, tseh´-lem; means,
to be a representative, to resemble, to be like.
3. “Likeness”: Hebrew, dem-ooth; means,
To be a reflection, to be patterned after,
This means that Human Beings are made to have:
-God’s moral values, spiritual values and relational values.
-The Responsibility to Represent God on Earth.
Sin damaged God’s plan … Adam and Eve Fell: Gen. 3
Romans 3:23–24 (NIV) 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Sin hinders our ability to represent God and have God’s moral, spiritual and relational values.
Jesus paid the price to restore us back to God. Romans 3:24
Jesus calls humanity to Repentance:
Luke 5:32 (NLT) I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV) God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Paul encouraged the Christians in Ephesus:
Ephesians 1:4 (NIV) 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
v. 4. He Chose you.
“Chose”, Greek: ĕklĕgŏmai, means,
to pick out, select, to choose for oneself,
to choose for kindness, favor or love
Jesus Chose you:
Even when we are unworthy
Even when others do not choose you or want you.
Before the Creation of the world:
Jesus Knew you would be unworthy.
Jesus Knew others would not choose you.
Jesus was thinking about you—planning for you.
Jesus created you to have dominion over all things.
Knowing that we would mess up, He planned ahead for our redemption.
Most people who know their design would mess up, would change it or not make it at all.
God designed us with free will and paid a big price for it.
He designed us to think and choose for ourselves.
Most of us would have made robots that we could control.
Believe: Know Who You Are in Christ
Too many times, we listen to what,
People say, you say, or the devil says who we are.
God says, You are made in His image and His likeness.
Know Who You Are!
You are Priceless! Even when You may feel Worthless, barely human.
2026 will be a better Year if You.
Believe: Know Who You Are in Christ
In 2026, Whatever New Year’s Resolutions you make or don’t make:
Let’s Focus on:
1. Your Relationship with Jesus.
John 15:4–6 (NLT) 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.
Galatians 2:20 (NLT) 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Read the Bible
Stay in the Secret Place of Prayer
2. Discipleship:
Being a True Disciple of Jesus who reflects Jesus in your living.
Ephesians 4:21–24 (NLT) 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
Micah 6:8 (NIV) He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Colossians 3:10 (NLT) Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
3. The Mission we have in the World.
2 Corinthians 5:19–20 (NLT) 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
Matthew 28:18–20 (NLT) 18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”