Are You Caesar’s or God’s?
From Livestream
by Brother Brent Coltharp on April 22, 2018
And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him (Mark 12:13–17, KJV).
Jesus knew the Pharisees and the Herodians had something up their sleeves when they both approached Him. Two groups, normally at odds, were working together to create a scandal; they were trying to turn the public support from Jesus back to them. These religious groups were building up Jesus as a good man, one who always spoke God’s truth. But, after building expectations, they turned the tables and questioned Jesus about taxes.
Based on Jesus’ answer, the Pharisees and the Herodians thought they had backed Him into a corner. If Jesus embraced taxation, it would put Him at odds with His followers. But, if He denounced taxation, He would be noted as a terrorist figure.
Jesus asked to see a Roman coin of which had the face of Caesar. Whoever’s face was on currency at the time was in power. The Jews resisted anything with imagery because they were fearful of God’s law against idolatry and graven images (Exodus 20:4). But, Jesus was trying to demonstrate the authority of Caesar vs. God’s.
There is only one image we should have in our mind, Jesus Christ. He is the image of the invisible God. Whatever image is in our life is the one in which we submit ourselves to. This is why idolatry is bad: people submit themselves to an authority other than the Lord.
God created man in His image so we would have dominion over the sea, the air, and the land (Genesis 1:26–27). God created us in His image, not in Caesar’s; therefore, we should give to Caesar what’s his and unto God what’s God. We are to be in submission to God and to serve and worship Him. We have an image of Him in our life. There are some things God never intended for us to give Caesar (the world).
We struggle with the image of God in our life because it has been marred by the world. God formed us in the clay, and we are “pottery” in a sense. We become chipped, cracked, and married by the things of this world; sin has twisted the authority of God’s image in our life. We need to be restored and renewed by the Holy Spirit working in our life so people see the original image of Jesus in us again!
We must ask ourselves a critical question today: whose inscription do we bear? Caesar’s or God’s? We need to look to see what inscription is in our heart. God said He would write His laws in our mind and write them on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10). We are called to be an epistle of Jesus Christ, read by all men (II Corinthians 3:2–3). So, what do people see when they look at us? The world or Jesus Christ?
When we’re in the world, the enemy of our soul has chiseled things into us we can’t get away from. He’s put thoughts in our hearts and our mind that are evil, and inscriptions that also tear down the child of God. We’ve given someone the authority to write things in our life and engrave images that was never meant to be there! We belong to God! We bear His image! We need to render unto Him what’s His!
Inscriptions are important in our life, and this is why we need to receive the Holy Ghost. Scripture tells us we are given the Holy Spirit as a seal (a guarantee) of God’s promise (II Corinthians 1:21–22). We belong to Jesus and no one else. We were bought with a price (His blood) and sealed with the Holy Spirit. We’re His. That’s all that matters.
So today, we must ask ourselves if we bear the right image, do we have the right seal? God wants to put His imprint on our hearts today (Acts 2:38; Colossians 2:11–13). All we have to do is ask and receive that Holy Spirit of promise. We were made in His image. It’s time we start looking like Him.
