Render Unto God
Matthew 22:15-22 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent out unto Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that Thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest Thou for any man: for Thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest Thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye Me, ye hypocrites? Shew Me the tribute money. And they brought unto Him a penny. And He saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto Him, Caesar's. Then saith He unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.
The word image is Strong's #1504 and has this definition: from 1503; a likeness, i.e. (literally) statue, profile, or (figuratively) representation, resemblance.
#1503 - (through the idea of faintness as a copy); to resemble:--be like.
The Lord Jesus Christ said that something belonged to the person whose image and superscription it was made in.
Whose image were you made in?
Genesis 1:26-27 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.
Here we can see that all of mankind belongs to God, the Creator. He owns us by the simple fact that He created us. We are to render unto God the things that are God's. Have you turned to the Lord in repentance and faith, and received His free gift of salvation.
Whose image are you being conformed to?
If you are saved, through personal faith in Jesus Christ, then He has bought you with His precious blood, and His Holy Spirit is conforming you to the image of Christ.
Romans 8:29 For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Superscription is Strong's #1923 and has this definition: from 1924, an inscription.
#1924 - to inscribe (physically or mentally):--inscription, write in (over, thereon).
Who has written upon you?
Hebrews 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people:
2 Corinthians 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
If you are a child of God, the law of God has been written upon your heart, and you are an epistle of Christ's, written upon by the Spirit of God. All three members of the Trinity have placed their claim upon you.
Matthew 22:20 And He saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
You were made in God's image and are being conformed to the image of Christ. You have God's superscription upon your heart and spirit.
Matthew 22:21 They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith He unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.
Are you rendering unto the Lord God what is His? Have you given yourself to Him wholeheartedly in service? If not, in the inspired words of the Apostle Paul, I beseech you to do so:
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Render unto God the things that are God's.
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