So God created man
in his own image,
in the image of God
created he him;
male and female
created he them. Genesis 1:27 KJV
There was a time many years ago when I would think about God and heaven and try to picture what that reality was really like. Not being much of a picture thinker (I sometimes get confused trying to understand the icons used for public information or computer programs -- to the degree that I have gone into the incorrect restroom before...), the images that came to me were very nebulous. Most of the time I would see trees and grass and bright lights in a vague place far away. Mind you, all of this imagery was my own and not something that was being given to me by the Spirit. As I look back at these attempts to have a 'closer spiritual connection to God,' I realize that I was shy about giving God a real form to picture. This shyness was probably a proper response to the 2nd commandment (Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above... KJV) or Isaiah 40:18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? KJV.
I am certainly not advocating that we humans should make attempts at getting a clear picture of God in heaven so that we will recognize Him in some visual way. I certainly believe that the 2nd commandment has enormous importance and should be well understood as to how it impacts our lives. However, it seems to me that humans suffer from a shyness that can be well exploited by evil in that their understanding of God is founded on a deliberately nebulous picture. When God made man in His image, God revealed that, at minimum, He has a presence and physical expression that endures and that can be copied on a minor scale. As C.S. Lewis teaches, the elements of the higher medium being expressed (transposed) into the lower medium.
The point of attack of the enemy is often to leverage the issue of anthropomorphism. Theologians properly teach that God's descriptions of his activities will use picture language that we should accept with caution. The caution is that we are not allowed to think that God really has his personal arms around us when we are taught to depend on the "everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27). The enemy may use this point of view to teach that God has no arms at all and, by logical extension, should be pictured in heathen or pagan ways: cosmic fireball, infinite nirvana, rotating karma, big bang regurgitation, pre-destined reprobation, etc. The danger of the logical extension for humans is that they can easily miss the truth that Jesus Christ is God while searching for the other pictures offered.
Jesus is the full expression of God in this lower medium (II Corinthains 4:4, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 1:3). Jesus is God. On the cross at Calvary, Jesus is God.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.
in his own image,
in the image of God
created he him;
male and female
created he them. Genesis 1:27 KJV
There was a time many years ago when I would think about God and heaven and try to picture what that reality was really like. Not being much of a picture thinker (I sometimes get confused trying to understand the icons used for public information or computer programs -- to the degree that I have gone into the incorrect restroom before...), the images that came to me were very nebulous. Most of the time I would see trees and grass and bright lights in a vague place far away. Mind you, all of this imagery was my own and not something that was being given to me by the Spirit. As I look back at these attempts to have a 'closer spiritual connection to God,' I realize that I was shy about giving God a real form to picture. This shyness was probably a proper response to the 2nd commandment (Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above... KJV) or Isaiah 40:18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? KJV.
I am certainly not advocating that we humans should make attempts at getting a clear picture of God in heaven so that we will recognize Him in some visual way. I certainly believe that the 2nd commandment has enormous importance and should be well understood as to how it impacts our lives. However, it seems to me that humans suffer from a shyness that can be well exploited by evil in that their understanding of God is founded on a deliberately nebulous picture. When God made man in His image, God revealed that, at minimum, He has a presence and physical expression that endures and that can be copied on a minor scale. As C.S. Lewis teaches, the elements of the higher medium being expressed (transposed) into the lower medium.
The point of attack of the enemy is often to leverage the issue of anthropomorphism. Theologians properly teach that God's descriptions of his activities will use picture language that we should accept with caution. The caution is that we are not allowed to think that God really has his personal arms around us when we are taught to depend on the "everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27). The enemy may use this point of view to teach that God has no arms at all and, by logical extension, should be pictured in heathen or pagan ways: cosmic fireball, infinite nirvana, rotating karma, big bang regurgitation, pre-destined reprobation, etc. The danger of the logical extension for humans is that they can easily miss the truth that Jesus Christ is God while searching for the other pictures offered.
Jesus is the full expression of God in this lower medium (II Corinthains 4:4, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 1:3). Jesus is God. On the cross at Calvary, Jesus is God.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.
