A Great Gospel Illustration - How is Man Like a Glove?

     Have you ever thought that man is a lot like a glove?  That may be a bit of a stretch for your imagination.  But you need to look at it this way--a glove is made in the image of a hand with the purpose of containing a hand.  Its very image declares that it has a purpose. Something has to fit it!

When I was talking to a college student in February this classic illustration was in the tract  that I was reading with her.  I told her, let’s say you saw a glove but you couldn't figure out its use so you put it on your ear or on your foot.  You’d think that was pretty silly, right?

    Of course, she got it.  It's a no brainer. The very design of a glove tells you something must match it. 

    Then I told  her  what Genesis 1:26 says     And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness….  Before we received the Lord, we probably didn’t get that we were made in the image of God to contain God; I know I didn't.  Sometimes I don’t know why we fight it so hard. 

    We try to fill our “glove” with a job, education, a relationship, a new sport, a better car—the list is endless.  The fact is we were made in the image of God, and nothing will satisfy us until we contain God!    I smiled when Chelsea told me that she had never heard it explained like that before.

      In Chapter 58 of the Life-Study of Luke that I read yesterday Witness Lee spoke about how the glove is such a good illustration because the glove is meaningless and empty without the hand: 

 “If a glove is not filled with the hand, the glove will be empty.  The hand is both the content and reality of the glove…We may say that we are a “glove” designed to contain God as our content and reality...Human love for example is a shell that should contain the divine love”  (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Luke. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1984, Print).  

 When we receive the Lord, He is  finally able to express Himself through our human virtues.  God designed us this way--do you not find that amazing? 
  I have always loved this quote of Augustine's about God's creation of man-- 

You have made us, O Lord, for yourself, 

and our heart is restless until it rests in You. 

Blog Update 7/30/13:  As I was listening to this song called There's a Gospel of Today on Youtube, it made me think of how the Gospel of Luke shows the Savior God reaching man in love.

Other blogs on the Life Study of Luke:

You can listen to excerpts from the Life Study of Luke along with excellent commentary by tuning into the Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.

What Kind of Savior is Revealed in the Gospel of Luke?
Have You Seen Jesus the Friend of Sinners in Luke 5?
Who Did the Samaritan Find on His Journey in Luke 10:33-37?
Why is Persistent Prayer Important in Luke 18:1-8?
A Great Gospel Illustration - How is Man Like a Glove?
From the Life-Study of Luke - Not Reading the BIble Superficially