| I think the matter of being made "In His Image" is what Jesus was
referring to in the following:
Luke 20:20 And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should
feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words,
that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the
governor.
21 And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and
teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but
teachest the way of God truly:
22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no?
23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt
ye me?
24 Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They
answered and said, Caesar's.
25 And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things
which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.
Mark L.
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| > Luke 20:20 And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should
> feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words,
> that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the
> governor.
Those that came to Jesus with this question were seeking to resist
the movement of God in their generation. They didn't want to submit to
the authority of the Lord Jesus as God's messenger. They weren't
rendering to God the things that rightfully belonged to Him.
> 24 Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They
> answered and said, Caesar's.
> 25 And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things
> which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.
With this answer, Jesus not only disarms the crafty question (one
answer would be contrary to some of the Jewish teachings of the day,
and the other answer would be used as ammunition to charge Jesus with
rebelling against the Roman authorities), but He turns the conviction
back on the hearts of the questioners. The Jews were well aware that
man had been created in the image of God. Jesus' answer points out
their responsibility to God, as those created in His image.
Mark L.
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| My view on "in His image" is to add as little as possible to
what the Bible says when it speaks of being made in the image
of God.
I see two applications...
1) Genesis 1:26,27
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the
earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth.
So God created man in His own image...
Verse 28 continues to speak of subduing, dominion...
Part of the context of being made in God's image is being
given dominion of something. God gave us this entire planet to
care for. So it would seem that part of having the image of
God is having authority of something and thus obviously to be
equipped to do just that - authorize.
2) 2 Corinthians 3:2,3,18,4:2,5,6
Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of
all men:
For as much as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle
of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the
Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly
tables of the heart...
...But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory
of the Lord, are changed into the same IMAGE from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord...
...But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not
walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully;
but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to
every man's conscience in the sight of God...
...For we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord; and
ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath
shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
It would seem that to be restored to the image of God equates to
being manifestly an epistle of Christ which equates to reflecting
the character of God.
Besides the given dominion part, the reference to image I see
is being made to conform to God's character - to be a reflection
of the righteoussness of Christ. I don't really see explicitly
in the Bible any other reference to being made in the image of
God or being restored back to that image.
Tony
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| This is an interesting topic, Mark. I agree with you that many downplay this
idea that we are being made into the image of God; this is understandable
considering the rampant New Age pantheism that seeks to distort Scripture, but
we cannot go too far in the opposite direction. The Scriptures have some other
interesting things to say about this.
2 Peter 1:3f: "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and
godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and
goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises,
so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the
corruption in the world caused by evil desires."
Eph 3:17-19: "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may
have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high
and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge
-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
1 John 3:1-3: "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we
should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world
does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are
children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know
that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure."
John 17:20-23: "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will
believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just
as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may
believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me,
that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me."
Think about this. We are made "partakers of the divine nature." Paul prays
that we may be "filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." We are
in fact children of God, and when we see him, we shall be like him. Think
also about the concept of being "born of God" and "born again". Think about
being members of Christ's body -- not merely the "body [assembly] of believers"
but the "body [flesh] of Christ." And there is also the marital imagery i
Scripture, of Christ being the Bridegroom and his church the bride. If we
think on this, we are:
1) born of God;
2) made true children of God;
3) part of Christ's body;
4) made partakers of the divine nature;
5) given the glory the Father gave the Son;
6) growing in the image of Christ;
7) being filled to the measure of all the fullness of God;
8) going to be made one flesh with God by virtue of Christ's marriage and
divine union with his bride, the church.
This concept is, in Catholic and Orthodox theology, called "theosis," and is
especially emphasized by Eastern Christian thought (that is, Eastern Rite
Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy). By "theosis" we mean that we are becoming
divine by virtue of our sharing in Christ's nature through God's grace. (If
St. John says that we are going to be like Christ, and Christ was fully human
but also divine, then this is easily understood.) Of course this divinity
comes from Christ and is a consequence of our union with Christ through God's
grace: there is no concept of being independent gods like in New Age thought,
or being part of all-is-God as in pantheistic thought. But rather, by faith in
Christ and rebirth, we are made into the divine image of Christ, filled with
the fullness of God, infused with Christ's righteousness, purified from all sin
and imperfection, and made to "shine like the sun."
This will never be complete until we see Christ. Nevertheless, as we are
sanctified, we grow more and more into the image of Christ here on earth, and
hence partake more and more in the divine nature and are filled more and more
with the fullness of God, we are becoming more and more like Christ himself,
except He is God by nature and by his own merit, and we become divine solely
because of His grace and ultimately only on His merits.
This means that, ultimately, we will be far superior to the angels (and this is
why St. Paul says we will judge angels), because we can share in the divine
nature and they can never do this. They can never be children of God, but we
can.
The whole purpose of the Incarnation, of God being united perfectly with human
flesh, was God reaching down to man to raise man up: because in Christ God was
joined with human flesh, we are now able to have union with God.
Eric
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