Man Is Made In The Image Of God

Using the ancient church father Athanasius of Alexandria, we continue our study of Christ's coming among us in human flesh and blood. We continue to ask, Why did the eternal Word of God, by whom and for whom all things were and are made become a man?

As noted above, we children of Adam and Eve are not merely highly developed animals. We are made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26; Eph. 4:24). It was His original intention that through this gift of God-likeness in ourselves we might be able to perceive Him who is the very Image of God in all its fullness, namely the Lord Christ. This is what Paul writes as he speaks of Christ.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. - Col 1:15-17 ESV

To know Christ is to know our Maker and Creator. And through knowing and believing in Christ we come to know His Father, for to see Christ is to see, to know and rejoice in the Father. And to be in fellowship with the Father is what a happy and blessed life is all about. So Jesus taught His disciples that He came to reveal the Father.

. . . not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. - John 6:46 ESV 

Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. - Jhn 14:8-11 ESV

But what do we foolish men do? We invent other gods to worship. We worship the creature rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:25). Primitive men worship objects of wood and stone to this very day. Sophisticated, scientifically oriented men worship objects they themselves have made, like powerful cars, airplanes, computers and ultimately themselves. They kneel before great athletes, pop stars, physicians, wise men, scientists and—yes—even politicians to offer their children and their wealth. These idols are the guides and source of wisdom. And when they fail men turn to astrology, palm readings and tarot cards to unlock the future and to learn how to live.

Seattle Indians Offer Psychic Readings

Yet while all this goes on the very heavens above us declare by day and by night the glory and wonder the God who spoke His Word and called all this into existence, as the King David said.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. - Psa 19:1-4 ESV

However, as is the rule rather than the exception, men study the sky, the weather, the stars and the immensity of the universe, but do not worship and honor the Creator. Surely such study should lead them to recognize the eternal Creator who brought it into being and continues to rule over it (Rom. 1:20), but it does not. Instead, many who ponder it's wonder, merely celebrate its complexity and refuse to give thanks to the Creator of it all. They reject even the idea that there is a Creator. As one atheist puts it, "The truth is that an atheistic worldview is at least as compatible with the human sense of spirituality as any religious worldview is." What the author means by spirituality is unclear.

Beyond that the Creator has given us His Law, written first on human hearts. Our philosophers and law makers speak about natural law. They claim that there is a rule of right and wrong written in our hearts and natures, a law that accuses and excuses our actions. Many wise men, dating back to the days of the ancient Greeks, have written about it. Much can be learned from their writings. Thousands of laws are wisely based upon these writings. But do these laws lead men to the true God? Does natural law cause men to ask who put it into human hearts and lead men to humble worship and obedience? Obviously not, because our world bulges with law breakers.

To make His will even more clear God revealed His Law through His prophets. The Jews were entrusted with such oracles (Rom. 3:1-2; Gen. 17:4-5) They were not to keep them to themselves, but to spread them throughout the world. They were commissioned to lead men to worship the one true God and Father of all.

Three ways are thus open to all men to obtain the knowledge of God.

1. The harmony and wonder of creation should lead men to know the Creator, the Word of the heavenly Father who rules over and guides all things. To know Him is to know the Father. 
2. Wise men know about natural law. It is written in men's hearts. Surely men should acknowledge that a Creator has put His Law within us.  
3. Finally God has revealed His holy Law through Israel's prophets. They offer us all a sacred school of the knowledge of God and how to live a spiritual life. 

In spite of all this the Word of God is not acknowledged and honored. The worship of idols, the pursuit of pleasure and power and the love of the creatures continues to this very moment. And yet every man, woman and child on this earth is made in the Image of God, created to reflect the Word of God in all they say and do. Granted, the Image is clouded and the knowledge of God is hidden, but the fact remains. Men are not mere animals. They are made in God's Image. How then should God free His children from this slavery to the lies of all the multitude of idols and the deception of evil spirits led by the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4)? Men cannot, for they are only made after the Image. They are not the Image Himself. Angels cannot do it, for they are not made in the Image of God. So who is left? Only He who is the very Image of the heavenly Father (Col. 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-4). Only He can recreate man after the Image.

I will take up the process of re-creation in my next post.  


  

The Formidable Unity Among Us Christians

In his introduction to the modern translation of an ancient book by St. Athanasius (On The Incarnation), C.S. Lewis wrote, 

"We are all rightly distressed, and ashamed also, at the divisions of Christendom. But those who have always lived within the Christian fold may be too easily dispirited by them. They are bad, but such people do not know what it looks like from without. Seem from there, what is left intact despite all the divisions, still appears (as it truly is) an immensely formidable unity."

The creed named after Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, reflects that "immensely formidable unity" among us Christians. Almost all Christians readily embrace the Athanasian Creed as a carefully crafted summary of what we believe about the tri-unity or trinity of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Outside the pages of the New Testament itself, Athanasius is probably the man to whom we chiefly owe the preservation of that Christian faith. The creed named after Athanasius exposes the false teachings of a popular party that taught Arianism and defends the full divinity of Jesus Christ. The Arian view is seen today most especially in the teachings of the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons, who teach that Jesus is not unique from the rest of mankind. Against the Arians the Athanasian Creed emphasizes that Jesus is of one substance with the Father (the Greek word is homo-ousios), leaving the Arians no room to teach that Jesus is merely a god or a high ranking angel then or today.

Father, Son, Holy Spirit = God

Est = is. Non est = is not.

In today's and in upcoming blog postings I intend to emphasize especially that unity we Christians have, most especially around the person and work of Jesus, Son of Mary and Son of God. To do that I invite you to step back to the 4th century to listen to what Athanasius himself taught about Jesus who is "Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood" (Athanasian Creed: 31).

This teaching is of immense importance for several reasons. Let's begin with how we of the 21st century explain the origin of the universe and our own planet. We Christians teach that the universe and our world were carefully designed and crafted by a Mind from outside and beyond our universe. Scientists who espouse Darwinian evolution and natural selection reject such statements. Neo-darwinians stress that it is a grave mistake to mix religion with science, especially since religion is a matter of feelings and blind faith in some supposed revelation whereas modern science depends upon careful observation and rational conclusions that grow out of the scientific method. Here is a chart from Concept Crucible outlining that method:

In response to these modern Darwinians a growing number of scientists stress that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause and design. They point out that intelligent design (ID) is indeed a proper scientific hypothesis or theory.

Intelligent design begins with the observation that intelligent agents produce complex and specified information (CSI). Design theorists hypothesize that if a natural object was designed, it will contain high levels of CSI. Scientists then perform experimental tests upon natural objects to determine if they contain complex and specified information. One easily testable form of CSI is irreducible complexity, which can be discovered by experimentally reverse-engineering biological structures to see if they require all of their parts to function. When ID researchers find irreducible complexity in biology, they conclude that such structures were designed.

ID scientists do not want to be identified as creationists. Their science is science and not religion. They operate with rational thinking and the scientific method. That is all fine and good, I suppose. It keeps open the dialogue. However, we who have been reborn by the power and working of God's Holy Spirit (John 3:5-6) have no choice but to teach openly that our God is not only some god above and outside this creation. We are not Deists. No indeed. The very same God who created the universe by His Word out of nothing is Jesus! Jesus IS that Word of God who became flesh and blood in the Child born of Mary (John 1:1-16). That is what our Christmas celebration is all about.

And He became incarnate flesh and blood for a specific reason, a reason tied to creation and to the universe itself. We emphasize that if our first parents had obeyed the Creator, the life of a paradise without sorrow, suffering, pain and death would still be ours today—and forever. But they threw away their heritage and birthright. They disobeyed His clear command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And so they died (Genesis 2:16-17; Gen 3:1-19). We who are the children of Adam and Eve share in that death, as does creation itself. In Adam we all died, writes the Apostle (1 Cor 15:21-22).

Life here on our planet was created with purpose and meaning. It was never to be meaningless as it so often seems, a mere matter of the undirected and mindless chance taught by the religion known as Darwinism. Everything was created with purpose and order. Note how the order of creation progresses as recorded in Genesis 1-2. At the end of each day the Creator pronounces what He either created or made as good!

But what do we see all around us? Chaos, confusion, suffering and the cessation of life. This is exactly what the Creator said would be the result. Adam, Eve and their children would all die, die  because of their disobedience. That disobedience is called sin. Death is directly related to sin. Death entered creation because of our disconnect with our Creator. And since we who bear the very image of our Creator were to rule over this world (Gen. 1:26-30) there is a disconnect between us and this created world as well. We either do not have dominion over it or we find it warring against us. As the Creator said to Adam, the earth is cursed (Gen. 3:17). Life has now become a struggle. We murder and wage war with one another. We have twisted and perverted our sexual natures. Family life breaks down everywhere. Our bodies are infected by other hostile lifeforms of the creation. We suffer from disasters brought on by the uncontrolled forces of wind and wave. Hurricanes, electrical storms and earthquakes ravish our homes and destroy our children. Everything is in confusion.

It was never to be this way. God did not want it this way, but what could He do about it? That's a topic for tomorrow.