September 11

Duplicate vs Replicate

Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  ––Genesis 1:26-27, ESV

Bladerunner (1982) is one of my favorite sci-fi films, and along with 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Alien (1979), it was way ahead of its time. In all three films—and like many science fiction movies—the future is painted in dark, bleak colors. Also in all three, life-like (but non-human) life forms wreak havoc on mortals. In Bladerunner, for instance, manufactured humanoids are called replicants, and they are so hard to tell apart from the regular human population trying to survive in a storm-soaked future version of Los Angeles.

I have always tripped over the term “replicants” in Bladerunner because the humanoids are technically not replicas of humans, but duplicates. Here’s the difference: a duplicate is one copy among many, but a replica is a one-of-a-kind creation made in the image of something else.

Sound familiar?

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  ––Ephesians 2:10

Each of us is a “rendering” of our Father in heaven—an authentic, one-of-a-kind, gift-wielding image-bearer of God. You may say, “Wait Kenny, there’s no way I am anything like God!” Well, read the opening verse again: We are made in His image, after His likeness. It’s pretty clear—you are not a duplicate (noun), and no one can duplicate (verb) who you are or why you were put on the planet. Whether you realize it or not, you are the only YOU in this world. People may look like you, have similar gifts, and have a personality like yours, but they are not you. In particular, each of us is created with an eternal spirit—unique, and created to be with God through His Son.

Don’t settle for duplication when God has called you to replicate the works of His Son. You are a one-of-a-kind, unique creation—there has never been another exactly like you, and there never will be. Others may duplicate—copy—what you do, but no one can replicate your place and purpose in God’s plan.

Dear Father, sometimes I do feel like a duplicate—just a cog in the wheel of my world. Help me to recognize and embrace my full identity in Christ as a beloved child made in Your image.