Jesus Alone Restores The Image Of God

I write this on the day that Barack Obama was inaugurated into his second term of office as the 44th president of the United States. During the ceremonies the name of Jesus was sung and invoked several times. In the closing benediction The Rev. Luis León referred to the fact that we are all made in the Image of God. In my posts last week I wrote about that Image to point out that
Jesus Christ is THE Image of the eternal God, as the Apostle wrote,

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

We humans are made in that Image. We are not the Image Himself, but we are made to reflect the Image in all we do and say, in our thinking, acting and living. We were made to worship and commune with the Triune God, our Maker and honor Him in all we do. We alone of all God's creatures are made to rule over this earth. We are made to reflect the love and mercy of God to others and to all of God's creation. Our intellect, our morals, our relationships, our choices are all
meant to be reflections of God and the likeness of God that is ours. Sadly, tragically that is not what happens. The Image of God is darkened, muddied and covered over by our idolatry, greed and lack of true faith. It must be restored.

In order to understand in depth how that is happening I invite us to listen in detail to the ancient church father Athanasius of Alexandria (c.289-272) and to what he said in his little book On The Incarnation of the Word. I will not simply repeat everything he says. I urge you to read his words yourself. Here I lift up a few of his teachings for our consideration.

After showing us that Jesus is THE Image of God, Athanasius emphasizes that He is the only one who can renew and restore the Image within us. Only the Image of the Father can recreate the likeness of the Image in us men. How is He doing that? Athanasius points out that when an artist's portrait has been wiped out by stains on a panel, the artist asks the subject of the portrait to come and sit for it again so he may repaint the likeness on the same material. Even so Jesus, THE Image of the Father, came to dwell among us in order to renew all men in Him. 

He did this first of all by living, teaching and acting as a man who is made in the Image. Many Gospel stories illustrate this. For instance, consider how Jesus related to Zacchaeus, a Jew of Jericho, a public official who collected taxes for the Romans. His countrymen considered him a traitor to his country and a blasphemer of God. Nevertheless Jesus accepted his invitation to dinner. When Jesus did so the Jericho Jews denounced Jesus for having anything to do with such an unforgivable sinner. To them Jesus said,

"Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." - Luk 19:9-10 ESV

Here we see one major reason why Jesus took on human flesh. He came to demonstrate the love and mercy of God for all mankind by His teaching, healing and relationships. Mercy flowed from Him in everything He did. That mercy transformed Zacchaeus. God's Image began to be restored within him when he met Jesus. In humble joy he offered his penance as a sign of his renewed thinking and renewed faith in God as he confessed,

"Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." - Luke 19:8 ESV

Jesus began His work of restoring God's Image in Zacchaeus, the publican. Only Jesus can do that. Our sciences, our psychologies and our philosophies are all helpless to make it happen. We cannot put straight what is warped within us. Only Jesus, the Word of God and the Image of God, can do it. In showing mercy to Zacchaeus and to thousands of others Jesus demonstrates the mercy of God for all mankind. And so the process begins. The Shepherd has come to gather his sheep (John 10:14-18).

Beyond all that, however, a debt had to be paid. God must be God. He cannot go back on His Word. The soul that sins must surely die (Ezekiel 18:20-32). Yet God in His mercy does not find pleasure in the death of anyone. He longs in the depths of His Being for us to be one with Him for all eternity. There was but one way to reconcile that tension. That was for the Word to become flesh and dwell among us. In so doing He could stand as the Man before the judgment seat of God for us all and so die upon the cross for us all. This He did it so that the power of death might vanish. The devil can no longer accuse us. We are free from condemnation (Rom. 8:1).

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. - Hbr 2:14-15 ESV

As I've said often on this Blog and at the many Christian funerals over which I presided, that is why we no longer fear death. We are no longer condemned. In God's good time we will all be freed from our mortal bodies that belong to this present age so that we may obtain a better resurrection. Like seeds planted in the spring in our gardens, we do not perish and dissolve to nothing. Like seeds, we will rise again. Mortal must put on immortality.

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. - 1Cr 15:19-22 ESV

And then a bit further, the Apostle writes,

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." - 1Cr 15:49-54 ESV

In my next post I will draw again upon our venerable father Athanasius to reflect further upon the presence and power of the living Christ who is at work renewing and restoring His Image within us.

The Mystery Of Jesus' Body And Blood

We continue our study of John 6, especially these words of Jesus:

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." - Jhn 6:51-58 ESV

The longing for immortality continues. It always will. This longing also serves as a strong entertainment theme. Last year the movie The Immortals was a big hit. Once again Hollywood drew upon Greek mythology to portray a mortal man, Theseus, chosen by Zeus to lead the fight against the ruthless King Hyperion, who is on a rampage across Greece to obtain a weapon that can destroy humanity. 

We who follow Jesus know the true name of the king on a rampage across the planet. He indeed has a weapon that not only can, but is destroying humanity. Satan's weapon is sin. He tempts us all to rebel against our true King. He began to wield his weapon as the first man and first woman appeared in the Garden (Gen. 3:1-27). As a result all of us are denied access to Eden and the tree of life. Our Creator's curse is upon us (Gen. 2:16-17). We all die since we all are descended from Adam and Eve. The Apostle puts it this way,

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. - 1 Cor 15:21-22 ESV

 As in Adam all die . . . What does Paul mean when he says we are all in Adam? Is he saying that we are all descended from this one man? At this point I won't get into any discussion about evolution, etc. I've done that earlier. Indeed, Paul's point is that all men can trace their lineage back to Adam and his wife Eve. In that sense, Christ Jesus is the Second Adam. In speaking about how we will be filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit in the resurrection, Paul continues,

Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"(Gen 2:7); the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. - 1 Cor 15:45-49 ESV

We know much about DNA and genetics in our day. Consequently, it is no longer difficult to conceive of a man or woman passing on to his or her descendants various physical characteristics, as well as tendencies to develop various diseases. In that sense, I bear the image of my father. I look very much like him. I also have developed heart disease, just as he and as my maternal grandfather did. So it goes on the physical level. 

Paul writes about another level of human existence, namely the inner life of a man, his soul if you will. We are by nature sinful, inwardly filled with the desire to disobey the commands of God to love only Him and to love others as ourselves (Ps. 51:5; 58:3; Eph 2:1-3). This is the course and direction of the entire world of man. In that sense we all are children of Adam and the curse of death rests upon us as it did upon our father Adam. We bear his image.

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." - Gen 3:19 ESV

Jesus came to change all of this. He is the Bread from heaven and whoever feeds on him will live forever. As he said,

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.

What does it possibly mean to eat his flesh and drink his blood? Is this figurative or literal language? My answer is Yes! It is both, for we are dealing with a paradox, a mystery as profound and wondrous as the fact that Jesus is both God and Man! Were he but a man, his sacrificial death would never suffice as payment for the sins of the entire world. Yet Jesus himself said he came to offer his life as the ransom for all men's sins (Matt. 20:28). And Paul concludes

. . . that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. - 2 Cor 5:14-15 ESV

For this to be possible, he must also be God, very God of very God, of one substance with the Father, as the Father himself said: this is my beloved Son (Matt. 3:17; 17:5. See the Nicene creed ). He bears the image of his Father (Col. 1:15). Thus he is the Bread that came down from heaven and whoever believes on him will be saved (1 Tim. 4:10). In that sense to believe in him is to eat his flesh and drink his blood.

But there is more to this mystery. Jesus took the bread of the Passover, broke it and give it to his disciples and said,

"Take, eat; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." - Matt 26:26-28 ESV

Is this also a figure of speech? More on this profound mystery next time.

Family Matters

For Sylvia and me this has been another family summer. We drove from Texas to Illinois, accompanied by our daughter Cheryl Lee, to a family reunion on Sylvia's side of the family. My son Nathan flew in to join us for the weekend. Cousins from Alaska to Texas, Nebraska to New York and many states in between, gathered to link together and share memories. Below is an old photo of Grandma and Grandpa and their sons and daughters. All the cousins can trace themselves back to this old picture through their parents or grandparents.

As you can see, this photo dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, to a time when taking a picture was a big deal. Notice how the family members have on their best clothes, the girls in their pretty dresses, the boys in their knickers, white shirts and ties. One can just imagine the big box camera attached to a sturdy wood tripod with the photographer centering upon the front door of the porch and saying, "Everybody look my way. Hold it. Hold it. Got it!" I don't think anyone ever smiled for a photo in those days. It was too serious an event.

This and similar photos were spread out on tables for all the cousins to see. "Now let's see," John said, pointing to the old picture, "This is my dad and that is your mom."

Some of us are now writing back and forth by email, wondering how we can preserve that brief weekend together in our memories. We've started a family website on My Heritage.com. We hope to fill out the birthday, wedding and funeral dates, as well as add more photos.

Family matters. Maintaining ties to our families is a big deal. This was confirmed in our family on that weekend. God's Word emphasizes this also. Again and again we read about who was the father of whom and who married whom. The whole long, complex history of our families is foretold in the opening chapters as the LORD sends Adam and Eve out from the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:1-3:24).

They would no longer be allowed to eat from the tree of life and live forever. They made a fatal choice to disobey the command not to eat the forbidden fruit. As a result they became aware of evil, the dark contrast to the bright, good life they had known prior to their sin. A curse would now be upon the very earth from which they had come. In addition to the plants that provide food, they would have to battle thorns and thistles.

They would still have children. That promise was not removed. But all the daughters of Eve would have pain multiplied in the wondrous act. And the battle of the sexes was about to begin.

As we gathered this summer, I became aware again that our family shares this history. We smiled and laughed, recalled childhood events and told stories about family events. But beneath it are also painful memories of divorce, sickness, suffering, conflict and even murder. It was all there, but we did our best to not focus on these matters. This was meant to be a happy time

One other thing was there—or should I say One other person was there? Most of us cousins share a faith that can be traced all the way back to those fateful events in the garden when the LORD spoke a curse upon the deceiving serpent and a promise to all the offspring of Adam and Eve.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel"(Genesis 3:15). 

That promise was fulfilled when Jesus of Nazareth, offspring of the virgin Mary, stepped into the family of man, to take to himself the curse we all yet bear. As a tree was involved in the story of our sickness and death, so also a tree was involved in our healing. The Apostle Peter puts it this way:

"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:21-25).

Family matters, not only to us, but especially to our Father in heaven. Because He was willing to sacrifice His Son, we look forward to celebrating all the good things about our family in the glory that awaits in the renewal of all things (1 Corinthians 2:7-10).

 

Mankind Is Unique—We Are Not Animals

During Lent we Christians urge one another to take a long, hard look at ourselves in the light of God's revealed Word. That Word, of course, is divided into the Law of God that serves primarily to reveal our sins and the Gospel, the gracious Word of forgiveness won for us by the life and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. The recent edition of The Lutheran Witness has a fine article on "Natural Law, Lutheranism and the Public Good," only partly reproduced by this link.

My friend and fellow-pastor, Rick, writes me again, this time about the above article:

What do you think of the article in Lutheran Witness concerning the Natural Law?  He has a point, but I think he goes too far with the very last statement "whom our Lord has created in His own image." The fact is the natural law in conscience in our culture has been "seared as with a hot iron." I Tim 4:2. and the "image of God" has been broken in the human heart and can only be restored in Christ "to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."  Eph. 4:24.. Question for you, "Is the moral law and conscience part of the "broken image of God" in natural man?"

 I gather that Rick wants to discuss the original image of God as it was in Adam and the image being restored in the hearts of those of us called to faith in the Second Adam, Jesus Christ. Beyond that, it seems from the referenced article that the answer to Rick's question is at least alluded to by the comment, ". . . appeals to natural law may be perceived as elevations of pagan philosophy over Christian theology, reason over revelation and Law over Gospel."

Best place to start is to review again what the image of God is—or was. Our source is Genesis 1:27:

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

This image persists even after Adam's fall into disobedience and sin:

"This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God." - Gen 5:1 ESV

"Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image." - Gen 9:6 ESV

The Hebrew word for likeness in Genesis 5 is demuwth. The prophet Isaiah says you cannot create a likeness of God. He is incomparable, unique, one of a kind. There is nothing in all creation like Him. He is the Creator and Ruler over all things created. No idol of stone or metal can be made like Him. He is above and beyond all creation. "To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One" (Isaiah 40:25). How then can Adam and the sinful children of Adam be considered to be "made in God's own image"? Hold that question in your mind.

The other Hebrew word is tselem which we translate as image (Genesis 1:27; 9:6). The pagans made images of Baal (2 Kings 11:18). Images of men were portrayed on walls (Ezekiel 23:14). The forms and people we see in our dreams are called tselem (Psalm 73:20). When we awake we realize these are not real. They are but dreams (chalowm). 

And yet Adam's son Seth was brought forth in Adam's image (Genesis 5:3). Did that mean he looked like Adam? I suppose he did, but is that all Moses wants to say? Obviously not, because he starts the chapter by saying that man was originally created (Hebrew bara) in God's likeness (demuwth), both male and female.  Then he goes on the tell us that Seth was brought forth in Adam's likeness (demuwth), after his image (tselem).

Confused? Let's review where we are.

1. Adam and Eve were originally created in the image and likeness of God. No other creature was created in God's image and likeness. In that sense, mankind is unique. We are not animals. 
2. God cannot be portrayed by any creation of man, i.e. image, likeness, idol, painting, etc. 
3. Even after the fall into sin the image and likeness of God remains in mankind. 
4. This image and likeness of God is God's continued creation in the hearts and lives of mankind. This, above all else, is what distinguishes us from all other creatures. Like God, we are unique.
5. Yet, Adam's son Seth—and all of us children of Adam—are brought forth in Adam's image and likeness.
6. Conclusion: we children of Adam and Eve bear both the image or likeness of God and the image or likeness of Adam. 

How can this be? What does this mean? Let's look at the process of birth through which Seth inherited the image or likeness of Adam. Here is what the Spirit reveals. 

"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."           —Psalm 51:5

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one." —Psalm 53:1-3 

"The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies."—Psalm 58:3

"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned?" — Romans 5:12

From this we gather that the likeness or image of Adam is sin and that we children of Adam and Eve are sinful and estranged from God from the moment of conception. This is why our Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. . . unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:3-7).

From this brief study we can conclude that Pastor Rick refers to the image of Adam when he speaks about the "broken image of God". We humans still retain the image of God in certain matters. We are able to reason and to have dominion over the creatures of land and sea. We still multiply and are about the task of subduing the earth and using the plants for food (Genesis 1:26-30). And in the hearts of men there is still some of the image of God that we call the natural law and conscience. But we are in rebellion. We are sinners who bear also the image of Adam. Our only hope is that we might be born again by the work of the Spirit in the Word and remade into the image of the Second Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45-57). This process begins already in our baptism into Christ. It will be completed on the Day of the Great Resurrection.

These are weighty matters, well worth meditating upon during these 40 days of Lent.