Tag: imago dei

  • A rockhound looks at the church

    two pails of rocket

    I love rocks. Since I was a small child, I have gone  through many phases of collecting and working with stones and minerals. 

    I can’t imagine how many shiny stones my mother must have dug out of my pants pockets on laundry days. If I’m honest, it can still happen today.

    Rock collectors range from the casual to the obsessed, from the small child bringing a few shiny stones home in their pocket to those who travel the world to collect the perfect piece.

    A collector might collect pieces that catch their eye while out walking. Someone else might spend vast sums of money purchasing rare and unique specimens. One person might bring home common pieces, while another might collect only a particular type. Everyone’s tastes and circumstances are different.

    I have found that rock collectors are very willing to talk about what they collect and often share their collections. I have had great conversations with perfect strangers on beaches, gravel bars, or even in the landscaped sections of parking lots about rocks. The rock bug seems to bite early in life and never goes away for most people.

    A conundrum for rock collectors (or collectors of anything else, for that matter) is “what to do with them when you have brought them home?” How do you display them? How do you make room for more?

    Of course, there will never be enough room. There will always be more or bigger specimens to collect. The variety of stone is virtually inexhaustible. Many are found in only one location worldwide. Others are common, but they come in an infinite array of colors, shapes, and patterns.

    Unlike a rock collection, there is a collection that is guaranteed to be complete in time. That is the church. I don’t mean the outward manifestation of denominations and groups, or buildings, or even the gathering of believers. I am referring to everyone throughout time that God has ordained to be saved.

    True believers are a gift to Christ from the Father.

    “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.” John 17:6-10

    If we are a gift from the perfect Father to his precious Son, we will not be lost. Everyone, from everywhere and in any era included in the gift, will be saved.

    God won’t be displaying us in a basket. We will be transformed into everything he made us to be and will be in His presence for eternity to come.

    He elected His followers before the beginning of time to complete His work in them.

    For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Romans 8:28-29

    Believers are chosen by a perfect God for a holy, eternal purpose. My piles of rocks might be pretty enough, but they will never compare with the wonder of the assembled, glorified church in the presence of their God.

    I can hardly wait to see it.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

    A bucket of rocks

    Why no one can say they didnt know

    Why read the Bible

    How was worship today? A matter of awe!

    Thundereggs – hidden beauty

  • Created and Being Shaped Into His Image

    Genni the wonder dog - a border collie basset hound cross

    My desk has a clear glass top. Under that, I keep various pictures of family and some of our pets over the years. Among them is this shot of Genni the Wonder Dog.

    Genni was a border collie, basset hound cross we got at eight weeks. It was an accidental breeding, and the owner was en route to the SPCA with them. Genni adopted me on the spot and lived with us for many years until she passed.

    They say (whoever the great “they” is) that dogs resemble their owners. I saw this image of Genni and realized that the saying has some truth. There is a lot of truth in that saying. She’s long in the body, short in the legs, and has big fat feet. We’re three for three there. Fortunately, I’m the taller of the two and walk on two legs so that people can tell us apart.

    The resemblances between us got me thinking about the fact that we’re created in the image of God.

    Then God said, “Let us make man[a] 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

    What does that mean? It doesn’t mean we look like Him, since we have physical bodies, we all look different and God doesn’t have a physical body. So it must refer to something else.

    We’re unlike all the other things or beings that God created. 

    We’re the only beings that Scripture describes as being created in His image (imago dei). We were made with a higher purpose, to rule over all the earth. Being created in His image is both an honor and a huge responsibility. When creation looks to people, it should see the image of God.

    What part of Him were we designed to reflect? His character and His personality. We were created to walk in holiness and righteousness. We were designed to walk in faithfulness and integrity. We were to have passion and compassion, loyalty and levity, love and light, and more. We were designed to be wise and selfless.

    Since the time of the Garden of Eden, we’ve been sinful people with sinful nature in a sin-filled world. We don’t reflect much of the image of God. Yet, for the believer, there are ways we can begin to resemble the one in whose image we were created.

    But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

    When we begin to exhibit the fruit of the spirit, we start in a small way to show the image of the Creator.

    That fruit comes with maturity (as indeed does all fruit). We mature in our walk through testing and trials, through worship, through giving, and through service. We mature when we spend time communing with Him in prayer, and in meditating on and studying the Word. The fruit doesn’t just happen; it must be nurtured.

    Until next time, rejoice in the fact that you were designed in His image and open your heart to being more like Him.

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

    Created and Being Shaped Into His Image
    Reflections on the image of God
    God sees the big picture