Scribbling Theology:

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    • The Image of God: Genesis 1-11 Part V

      Posted at 9:02 am by scribblingtheology, on August 2, 2019

      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

      The Imago Dei or the image of God has been discussed at length for a long, long time. Throughout history, some have assumed that the image of God refers to intelligence and the ability to discern between moral choices. Others have thought it’s more about the soul or spirit of a human. I believe that the image is something functional (something we do) and ontological (something we have). Let’s explore.

      One of the most distinguishing characteristics of Yahweh is that He wants to be known, and He wants to know His creation as well. This is somewhat bizarre because most gods in the ancient world weren’t really concerned with the affairs of humanity unless thought they could get something out of them. Yahweh, on the other hand, is entirely driven by love, order, shalom and holiness. So what does this mean for the Imago Dei?

      In the ancient world, kings were known to be the earthly representatives of their god. In Egypt, for example, the pharaoh was thought to be the incarnation and representation of whatever major or popular god that was in at the time. Furthermore, these representative kings were to rule over their nation as though the god itself was ruling, thus displaying all of the god’s attributes and character. Other examples in the ancient world also show how the representatives of the gods also played a mediatory role; a sort of middle man between the god and the nation. In Genesis 1-2, there is a similar message. Humanity (both male and female) are created and endowed with something of the Creator God. They intrinsically possess the divine (ontology) as they were made to image or display their Creator to the rest of creation (function). According to the passage, humanity was to image Yahweh by “having 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” (Genesis 1:26) and to work and keep the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15). What does this mean for us then?

      In Genesis 3, classically entitled as the Fall, humanity meets a weird talking serpent (sin incarnate), they’re tempted, they take from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They are then exiled from the Garden because they failed in their vocation to be keepers of Eden and to rule over creation. Instead of ruling over the serpent (sin), they are ruled by it. Instead of protecting Eden (Yahweh’s dwelling space), they let chaos and sin come in and take over. So when someone does terrible at their job, they’re fired. So were Adam and Eve.

      Genesis 1-3 is unique. There are several ways one could interpret and understand the story. One way I think we should understand Genesis 1-3 is that it’s the story of all of humanity. God has tasked all of us (Christian or not) with a divinely appointed job to lovingly rule over creation, to work it and to keep it so that God can live among us. From before even the very beginning, God’s intention for His creation and humanity especially was that He would dwell and live in loving harmony with them. This is where the Imago Dei kicks in. Every single one of us has been created to reflect and show God’s very being by doing the above tasks. Reflecting or imaging is inescapable for us, it’s a part of our nature. Now, however, we image and reflect the other gods (idols) we worship, namely death and chaos. Reflect on this quote by one of my favourite scholars G. K. Beale:

      “People will always reflect something, whether it be God’s character or some feature of the world. If people are committed to God, they will become like him; if they are committed to something other than God, they will become like that thing, always spiritually inanimate and empty like the lifeless and vain aspect of creation to which they have committed themselves.”

      Now consider this passage from Psalm 115:4-8:

      Their idols are silver and gold,

      the work of human hands.

      They have mouths, but do not speak;

      eyes, but do not see.

      They have ears, but do not hear;

      noses, but do not smell.

      They have hands, but do not feel;

      feet, but do not walk;

      and they do not make a sound in their throat.

      Those who make them become like them;

      so do all who trust in them.

      If there’s one thing humanity loves more then themselves its flat out drama (chaos). We’re confusing little things. One the one hand we protest and petition for peace on earth, we desire to see the end of famine and disease, we boil and rage at corruption in government, and we weep and wail over death and genocide. Yet we send people into war (sometimes a necessary evil). We spend $50 on a shirt made in Taiwanese sweatshops. We hate sexual abuse and fight against rape culture, yet we watch porn and get excited over shows like Game of Thrones that perpetuate that culture. We “know” what’s wrong and what’s right, yet we’re in a constant struggle to live consistently. You could say that we “suppress the truth in our unrighteousness” (Rom 1:18). All the technology and scientific advancements in the world won’t give us what we need, a new heart, with new desires, and the ability to live consistently (Ezekiel 36:26). Once, that’s solved, then we can once again image and reflect God who is life and love rather than the gods of death and chaos. How do we obtain new hearts?

      Great question. Ezekiel 36:26 (cf: Eze 11:19-20; 18:31; Ps 51:10; Jn 3:3; 2 Cor 3:3), is something God wants to do to everyone in Christ to restore the Imago Dei and have them return (to greater heights) to their intended role in the cosmos. Jesus lived, died and rose from the dead as a perfect human being, as our representative (Rom 5:12-14), so that by grace, through faith (Eph 2:8-9) we can be united to this new and perfect human (1 Cor 15:22) by the Holy Spirit (Jhn 3:5-6). When we’re united, we’re then washed clean and made pure (1 Cor 6:11) – we’re made genuinely human in the Messiah Jesus. Now we’re able to truly love, rule, reflect and keep as God created us to be.

      Posted in Scribbling Scripture | 1 Comment | Tagged Christ, Christianity, doctrine, God, Identity, Idols, Jesus, love, newlife, opinion, Spirituality, Theology
    • Identity & Idolatry: Part I

      Posted at 4:54 am by scribblingtheology, on November 20, 2015

      Introduction

      I started my pastoral-ship in March of 2015, and I have to say it was one of the most intense decisions of my life. Ever since I became a Christian, I had the strongest desire and calling to teach God and His Word. However, I think it took me a while until I started to grasp what being a teacher really meant for my life. Early in my Christian walk, I remember holding Bible studies for Christians who had been walking with the Lord 3 or 4x as long as I had been. Yet despite their experience, I always had this deep longing to share the profound mysteries that God had been revealing to me in my zealous youth. I can just imagine now that those same Christians must have been grinning from ear to ear as I grappled with things like justification by faith, and the second coming of Jesus. However, as I reflect upon the friendships, I have developed over the years with those people I realise now that those things are still being talked about like as though we are only beginning to understand what they mean. However, I digress. That is a topic, perhaps for another blog. I suppose the point that I am trying to make is that it took me some time before I came into my own and felt comfortable in certain theological topics of conversation. Over the last 6 months, one of the topics that have gripped me the most has been Identity and Idolatry (hence the title for this series). So, reader, I implore you to come on this journey with me as we start to delve into what the Bible says about these things and try to make heads and tails of something that runs deep into the hearts of every person.

      Idolatry: The Root

      “Sin is the fruit, and idolatry is the root.” This was something my Bible College lecturer continuously reminded me of in my class on Romans and Pauline Theology. This is one of those sayings I think that will last a lifetime as it will remind me of the real reason why I do the things I do (we all reap what we sow). That is, I can tend to worship things that aren’t God. These things are called idols.

      Idols saturate our culture. I’m not really talking about Hinduisms myriad of gods, or Buddha, or Allah. I’m talking about real influences that destroy our very souls. These idols can be pleasure, riches or fame. An Idol can be anything or anyone that you love more then you love your Creator. Idolatry is the root, and the sin in your life is the fruit. If you worship money (the root), you could be found overworking and not spending time with your family (the fruit). If you are worshipping pleasure (the root), you could be found caught in a range of sins from adultery, to drunkenness, drugs or any combination of these sins (the fruit). If you are found worshipping other people (the root), you usually can be found becoming obsessed, and your identity is found in whether or not that person (or thing) approves or disapproves of you (the fruit). It is important to understand that our identity is directly intertwined with whatever it is we worship. This can be seen clearly at the Fall with Adam and Eve.

      The Fall: Our Identity Lost

      In Genesis, we undoubtedly see God portrayed as the supreme ruler of the universe, and sovereign over all creation. God creates the sun, moon, stars, water, earth, birds, fish, cattle, and plants. To top it all off, God creates mankind in His image and likeness (Gen 1:26-27). Everything was good. However, something went terribly wrong. Adam and Eve were tempted into sin and were separated from God. Most people might read that and understand what happened and simply move on. However, Genesis 3 explains everything that is wrong with humanity and why we so desperately need our Creator to make us new once more. Let us explore what happened and its relevance to us today.

      Now we know that back in chapter 2, God had made it forbidden to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:16-17). The consequence of eating from the tree was death, spiritual separation from God. Unfortunately for us, that didn’t really take precedence in the minds of Adam and Eve because they were enticed with a greater promise. The serpent (presumably Satan) promised that if they were to eat from the tree, they would become gods themselves (Gen 3:4-5). Many people might rightly understand this to be a lie or a trick that the serpent had played on our original parents. However, if we continue in the story we actually see God Himself confirm that this became a reality saying, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil…” (Gen 3:22). How does this make sense though in light of idolatry and identity?

      First, it is essential to see that when Adam and Eve were tempted, they were enticed into receiving a new identity outside of the person of God. Instead of worshipping and loving God (which ultimately leads into becoming like Him), they wanted to become like gods themselves so that they could become worshipped and adored instead (I mean why else would you want to become a god right?).

      Second, though becoming a god happened in some sense, it wasn’t what they expected. The moment they put their trust or faith into the created thing (the serpent) rather then the Creator God, they recognised their shame and sin and tried desperately to cover it up using fig leaves (Gen 3:7). What this ultimately means is that the promise was empty. There is always a catch when it comes to idolatry.

      Third, because they trusted in created things instead of the Creator God, their image (or identity) was now scarred, and they reflected the image of corruptible idols (creation) instead of the image of the incorruptible God. The Apostle Paul practically writes a commentary on this in his letter to the Romans where he says,

      For although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things (Rm 1:21-23). 

      Paul has two things in mind here. Though I believe that he had Adam and Eve in the back of his mind, I also think that he has the entire state of humanity at the tip of his pen. We have all worshipped creation instead of Creator. All of us have received a different identity because we worship idols instead of worshipping God, who gave us life and purpose.

      So is there any hope?

      … To be continued

      Posted in Scribbles | 1 Comment | Tagged Christ, Christianity, God, Identity, Idolatry, Idols, Jesus, Spirituality, Theology
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