Sosoma Jr
JF-Expert Member
- Aug 7, 2020
- 312
- 281
THE IMAGE OF GOD.
Some people believe that humans are only animals. If this idea is true, then we have only animal wants and death to look forward to. But if we were created in the image of God, then we have more to hope for. Glory and happiness may be ours forever.
DIVERGENT STORIES.
The Bible asks a question that we all ask in some way at some point in our lives:
"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him? (Psalm 8:3-4).
Here, King David is amazed at the size of the universe. He feels quite small when he compares himself with it. And yet, he also feels that he is very valuable in God's eyes. The questions David has are simple, yet deep. What is our identity as human beings? And why is Good interested in us?
There is a popular story about human identity. It starts like this: Once upon a time, there was nothing. There was no time, no space, no matter. Then, about 13.9 billion years ago, there was a huge explosion from the nothingness. Then from nothing came everything. We came from the nothing too.
Life is just something that happened to happen. It came through the unplanned work of evolution. There is no meaning or value in life. We live by the law of selfishness. We grab what we can. We die, and that's that. At some point, humans and all other life forms will go extinct. Everything will go back to the nothingness it was. The end.
Not such a happy ending or middle, or beginning, for that matter.
The Bible tells a very different story. You might find it more believable too. More believable because it is in tune with something we sense inside of us. We sense we are more than just animals. We are struggling people. We have fallen from some place of goodness. But we are filled with potential for a special happiness. This happiness is found in friendship.
So what does the Bible teach about humanity's identity?
" In the beginning God created the heavens and earth" (Genesis 1:1). That's how the story begins. In the first chapter, we find a personal God creating with purpose. As the creation story of Genesis happens over six days, a beautiful world takes shape. Then, at the high point of it all, we read:
"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply'" (Genesis 1:27-28).
Here we see that the image of God is made of both the man and the woman. They are made as a friendship unit with ability to create other humans. These humans form new friendship units. Together they all form a growing community. This makes total sense because of what we read before. God is a circle of friendship rather than a single self. In other words, "God is love" (1 John 4:16). This truth means that God is self - giving and other - centered. So when the Bible says that human beings are creatures of the divine image, it means that we are able to love like God loves.
Think this through: as God began creation, He only had three options. He could create (1) machines, (2) slaves, or (3) free moral creatures. Only the third option would make sense with the goals of love. And so, here we are. We are beings of amazing significance. We have the power to create real effects by our choices. These effects move on with a never - ending impact. We are creatures with the incredible gift of being unique people.
Read the following verses to find how truly special each of us is to God.
"O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways" (Psalm 139:1-3).
"You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in You book? (Psalm 56:8).
" The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you" (Jeremiah 31:3).
"Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows" (Matthew 10:29-31).
"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, through He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring'" (Acts 17:26-28).
Talk about what it means for God to be paying attention to our every thought and action with interest. Talk about what it means for God to notice all our tears. Talk about what it means for Him to have every hair on our heads numbered. Talks about what it means for Him to arrange key events of our lives with the hope that we would seek Him and find Him.
Each human being's life carries what Paul calls "an eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17). Our good and bad choices have an effect on others and the world. Our friendships have affects on the world as well. These effects can only be measured by eternity. We will never be able to measure the full influence of our lives. Rather, they will keep having an effect forever.
We've learned that we are humans made in God's image. As such, we can make events happen and have friendships that are beautiful. The things wouldn't happen through without our own choice. Every act of love you do makes a difference in the course of history and in eternity itself. If you speak a word of kindness to someone who's sad, it matters in a huge way. If you visit a sick person and show love, that deed has extreme value. If you feed a hungry child, you show that child generosity. This is crucial. It is also crucial for God since He loves that child as Himself. It is an amazing and weighty thing to be a human created in the image of God.
BUT AREN'T WE MERE ANIMALS?
Atheism is growing very popular with some people. This growth is due to the story of evolution being told by secular science.
But does it make sense to say God doesn't exist? And what does that mean when we do?
If God does not exist, then human beings are nothing more than animals. We would simply be creatures driven by the desire to take care of ourselves first. The ones who survive are those who put themselves first. Our lives would have no purpose. We are here today and gone tomorrow. To accept this view would be to accept that life has no bigger meaning. We would have to accept that good and evil do not actually exist. We would have to believe that all our ideas of justice and goodwill are things we've made up. Kindness would be a joke. Love could only be a powerful lie.
But we sense in the deepest parts of our hearts that this is not the case.
Think about what the Bible says about not believing in God:
"The fool has said in his heart, 'The is no God'" (Psalm 14:1).
This text isn't meant to be a rude jab at the atheist. Rather, it's meant to show how atheism doesn't quite make sense. Of course, many smart people refuse to believe in God. This unbelief is usually because religion often makes God appear ugly. Then He is only worthy of unbelief. But here in Psalm 14:1 the Bible is saying that it doesn't make mental sense to deny God's existence. It is foolish to say, "There is no God." It's foolish because if God did not exist it would never occur to us to wonder if He does.
The fact is, the only things humans can think up are things which already exist in some form. We can't think a think that has absolutely no connection with our world. It's impossible. We can't say, "............doesn't exist," without hinting at something else that already exists. Sometimes we make up the strangest stories. But even then we're only putting together pieces of things that already exist. The fact that we think of God at all is evidence that a God of some sort does exist.
It also doesn't make sense in our minds to deny the existence if God because we all know life has meaning. Everyone wants something to live for. So people look for an amazing job or the perfect husband or wife. Or maybe they get a fancy degree. But they're still empty and wanting more.
We also no good and evil do exist. We see it in the wars that are fought everyday. We see it in all the children that go hungry. But we know life shouldn't be this way. Something tells us there's more.
We also know long for a totally trustworthy quality of love. Just look at all the movies where the hero saves the day . Or we read books about people who sacrifice themselves. We want the love that we can't seem to find in our hurting world.
We long for more.
Therefore, atheism is illogical. It requires our minds and hearts to move from what we know we're supposed to be.
We all have a thought that just won't go away. This divine thought is that we are meant to be creatures of greatness. We feel that evil and death were never meant to be. We can't help but wonder if the reason we keep longing for something more is because there is something more.
God "has planted eternity in the human heart" (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
We have inside us this sense that there is an eternal reality. And it's hard to shake off this sense .We've learned we were made in God's image. So we can never be truly satisfied unless and until we return to God. Only He can fill the God - shaped hole in our hearts.
God Bless You!!
Some people believe that humans are only animals. If this idea is true, then we have only animal wants and death to look forward to. But if we were created in the image of God, then we have more to hope for. Glory and happiness may be ours forever.
DIVERGENT STORIES.
The Bible asks a question that we all ask in some way at some point in our lives:
"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him? (Psalm 8:3-4).
Here, King David is amazed at the size of the universe. He feels quite small when he compares himself with it. And yet, he also feels that he is very valuable in God's eyes. The questions David has are simple, yet deep. What is our identity as human beings? And why is Good interested in us?
There is a popular story about human identity. It starts like this: Once upon a time, there was nothing. There was no time, no space, no matter. Then, about 13.9 billion years ago, there was a huge explosion from the nothingness. Then from nothing came everything. We came from the nothing too.
Life is just something that happened to happen. It came through the unplanned work of evolution. There is no meaning or value in life. We live by the law of selfishness. We grab what we can. We die, and that's that. At some point, humans and all other life forms will go extinct. Everything will go back to the nothingness it was. The end.
Not such a happy ending or middle, or beginning, for that matter.
The Bible tells a very different story. You might find it more believable too. More believable because it is in tune with something we sense inside of us. We sense we are more than just animals. We are struggling people. We have fallen from some place of goodness. But we are filled with potential for a special happiness. This happiness is found in friendship.
So what does the Bible teach about humanity's identity?
" In the beginning God created the heavens and earth" (Genesis 1:1). That's how the story begins. In the first chapter, we find a personal God creating with purpose. As the creation story of Genesis happens over six days, a beautiful world takes shape. Then, at the high point of it all, we read:
"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply'" (Genesis 1:27-28).
Here we see that the image of God is made of both the man and the woman. They are made as a friendship unit with ability to create other humans. These humans form new friendship units. Together they all form a growing community. This makes total sense because of what we read before. God is a circle of friendship rather than a single self. In other words, "God is love" (1 John 4:16). This truth means that God is self - giving and other - centered. So when the Bible says that human beings are creatures of the divine image, it means that we are able to love like God loves.
Think this through: as God began creation, He only had three options. He could create (1) machines, (2) slaves, or (3) free moral creatures. Only the third option would make sense with the goals of love. And so, here we are. We are beings of amazing significance. We have the power to create real effects by our choices. These effects move on with a never - ending impact. We are creatures with the incredible gift of being unique people.
Read the following verses to find how truly special each of us is to God.
"O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways" (Psalm 139:1-3).
"You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in You book? (Psalm 56:8).
" The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you" (Jeremiah 31:3).
"Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows" (Matthew 10:29-31).
"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, through He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring'" (Acts 17:26-28).
Talk about what it means for God to be paying attention to our every thought and action with interest. Talk about what it means for God to notice all our tears. Talk about what it means for Him to have every hair on our heads numbered. Talks about what it means for Him to arrange key events of our lives with the hope that we would seek Him and find Him.
Each human being's life carries what Paul calls "an eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17). Our good and bad choices have an effect on others and the world. Our friendships have affects on the world as well. These effects can only be measured by eternity. We will never be able to measure the full influence of our lives. Rather, they will keep having an effect forever.
We've learned that we are humans made in God's image. As such, we can make events happen and have friendships that are beautiful. The things wouldn't happen through without our own choice. Every act of love you do makes a difference in the course of history and in eternity itself. If you speak a word of kindness to someone who's sad, it matters in a huge way. If you visit a sick person and show love, that deed has extreme value. If you feed a hungry child, you show that child generosity. This is crucial. It is also crucial for God since He loves that child as Himself. It is an amazing and weighty thing to be a human created in the image of God.
BUT AREN'T WE MERE ANIMALS?
Atheism is growing very popular with some people. This growth is due to the story of evolution being told by secular science.
But does it make sense to say God doesn't exist? And what does that mean when we do?
If God does not exist, then human beings are nothing more than animals. We would simply be creatures driven by the desire to take care of ourselves first. The ones who survive are those who put themselves first. Our lives would have no purpose. We are here today and gone tomorrow. To accept this view would be to accept that life has no bigger meaning. We would have to accept that good and evil do not actually exist. We would have to believe that all our ideas of justice and goodwill are things we've made up. Kindness would be a joke. Love could only be a powerful lie.
But we sense in the deepest parts of our hearts that this is not the case.
Think about what the Bible says about not believing in God:
"The fool has said in his heart, 'The is no God'" (Psalm 14:1).
This text isn't meant to be a rude jab at the atheist. Rather, it's meant to show how atheism doesn't quite make sense. Of course, many smart people refuse to believe in God. This unbelief is usually because religion often makes God appear ugly. Then He is only worthy of unbelief. But here in Psalm 14:1 the Bible is saying that it doesn't make mental sense to deny God's existence. It is foolish to say, "There is no God." It's foolish because if God did not exist it would never occur to us to wonder if He does.
The fact is, the only things humans can think up are things which already exist in some form. We can't think a think that has absolutely no connection with our world. It's impossible. We can't say, "............doesn't exist," without hinting at something else that already exists. Sometimes we make up the strangest stories. But even then we're only putting together pieces of things that already exist. The fact that we think of God at all is evidence that a God of some sort does exist.
It also doesn't make sense in our minds to deny the existence if God because we all know life has meaning. Everyone wants something to live for. So people look for an amazing job or the perfect husband or wife. Or maybe they get a fancy degree. But they're still empty and wanting more.
We also no good and evil do exist. We see it in the wars that are fought everyday. We see it in all the children that go hungry. But we know life shouldn't be this way. Something tells us there's more.
We also know long for a totally trustworthy quality of love. Just look at all the movies where the hero saves the day . Or we read books about people who sacrifice themselves. We want the love that we can't seem to find in our hurting world.
We long for more.
Therefore, atheism is illogical. It requires our minds and hearts to move from what we know we're supposed to be.
We all have a thought that just won't go away. This divine thought is that we are meant to be creatures of greatness. We feel that evil and death were never meant to be. We can't help but wonder if the reason we keep longing for something more is because there is something more.
God "has planted eternity in the human heart" (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
We have inside us this sense that there is an eternal reality. And it's hard to shake off this sense .We've learned we were made in God's image. So we can never be truly satisfied unless and until we return to God. Only He can fill the God - shaped hole in our hearts.
God Bless You!!
