Month: May 2026

I was glad to hear from you yesterday, and I praise God hearing that you had a very intense encounter with the one true living God on the topic of his sovereignty over things on this earth. I have noted that yielding to God’s sovereign will is not as hard for you as it was when you were younger. In your letter, I noted two questions. The first question was – God is? The second was – Do I need a concordance?

The Remembrance… I remember when I was in high school, I was so scatterbrained. I would sleep through class and generally pay no attention to things going on at the front of the classroom. But I remember a Literature Teacher who got my attention. She caused me to become interested in reading. Gradually, because of her, I was drawn into Jack London’s Alaskan adventures. I was able to imagine myself in Alaska and live a life inside his characters. I started reading.

In our human existence there is nothing on the face of this earth that we can compare God to. God has no equal. There’s no computer that’s big enough, there is no software that’s powerful enough, there is nothing that matches the longevity, strength, truth, and depth of God. Nothing.

One thing I remember from that class was Jack London had an absolute respect for the rules for survival portrayed in his books. If his characters did not do things right, there were consequences. In Alaska, the cold weather was the main driver for all life decisions. Because not all of London’s characters made good decisions; the narrative would follow the consequences of their poor decisions. They fought frostbite, blizzards, wolves, inability to start a fire, and a litany of troubles keeping their sled dogs out of harm’s way – all centered on trying to stay alive through the winter.

Yet, when Jack London’s characters understood the climate and followed the rules of survival, they thrived in the winters. They had few struggles. They learned the rules in their early years and then enjoyed all that Alaska had to offer for the duration of their life. This path of character growth in Jack London’s writings is similar to our gradual acceptance of God’s sovereignty. But there is more to God than sovereignty. In the Bible, God is often described with other key attributes such as:

Omnipotent: All-powerful, having unlimited power.
Omniscient: All-knowing, having complete knowledge.
Omnipresent: Present everywhere at all times.
Eternal: Without beginning or end; everlasting.
Loving: God’s love is unconditional and encompassing.
Just: God is fair and righteous in judgment.
Merciful: Compassionate and forgiving.
Holy: Sacred, pure, and set apart from sin.

This collective group of attributes tells us something about the depth and breadth of this God we worship. Of course there are more topics not on this list. This list is the beginning point. This list helps us to ease into a clear understanding of his wisdom.

First Question — God is? Clearly you have been reading Scripture, but as often happens, the Word is very gentle in revealing the grandeur of God. I first learned these things from A.W. Tozer, but time passed and then I revisited his book – Knowledge of the Holy – I was awe struck all over.

In our human existence there is nothing on the face of this earth that we can compare God to. God has no equal. There’s no computer that’s big enough, there is no software that’s powerful enough, there is nothing that matches the longevity, strength, truth, and depth of God. Nothing.

I get up in the morning and I go for my walkabout; I look at the mountains that are close by my house. They never ever look the same, yet I know they are. They are stunningly beautiful. I keep discovering new little chasms, rills, and peaks – all part of his creation. I can’t imagine thinking it all up. It’s too big. During my daily perusal of Scripture (Isaiah) I noted the following passage that seemed relevant to your quest to discover the deeper truth of who God is.

Isaiah says — Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding, no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (Isaiah 40:28–29)

Consider this, he lives in my yesterdays at this exact moment, he knows where I’ve been, what I’ve done, what I’ve said – everything! He’s received my repentance, and he’s giving me forgiveness. Yet, this is the cool part; he shields me from my past by his continued presence in that past. This negates remorse over past events from invading my present. He will never bring it up again – only the enemy brings up old news. Read that slowly my son. Read it again slowly.

Furthermore, God lives in my future, he’s already there. I haven’t got there, but he’s already there. He’s paving the way so that the things that need to happen in my life will happen.

Finally, he’s in my present. He’s here right now today even as I touch the keyboard on my laptop and create these ideas. He’s right here, involved, reminding me of a Scripture I need to review. At this exact moment – this same God is all around you – closer to you than the air you breathe. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. There’s much that can be learned about this God we serve, just open Scripture, start reading. God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) will reveal truth to you.

This is the cool part; he shields me from my past by his continued presence in that past. This negates remorse over past events from invading my present. He will never bring it up again – only the enemy brings up old news. Read that slowly my son. Read it again slowly.

Second Question — You wondered about the benefit of adding a concordance to your quiver of research tools. Now specifically what we were talking about is an exhaustive concordance which is different from a regular concordance.
How might you ask? Because the exhaustive concordance contains every word in the translation that it was designed to document. In fact, if you go to Strong’s Concordance you will find a list of every occasion for the letter ‘a’. Why the letter ‘a’? Because it’s a word. In fact, I just used ‘a’ in the sentence you just read.

The unique thing about Strong’s concordance is it also identifies (through a number system) the Greek word or Hebrew word that lives underneath the English word.

We make life or death decisions in our interpretation of scripture. It is wise to understand the underlying language on critical verses.

You can then search for every occurrence of that Greek word and how it appears in Scripture. This is a very powerful thing. Why? Because Greek words are not always translated the same way, nor are Hebrew words translated the same way every time. It’s helpful to see the different ways that they are expressed in Scripture when you are trying to figure something out.

We make life or death decisions in our interpretation of Scripture. It is wise to understand the underlying language on critical verses. That’s why you need an exhaustive concordance such as Strong’s Concordance. Happy hunting!

May the one true living God bless you and keep you, may he place His countenance upon you, may He give you peace.

I love you, son.

Your Father, Dan

Learning From A Songwriter

Thomas Olivers created the hymn titled “The God of Abraham Praise” around 1770.  He paraphrased the lyrics from a poem by Daniel Ben Judah, a Jewish poet of the 12th century.   Olivers wrote — The God of Abraham praise, who reigns enthroned above; Ancient of Everlasting Days, and God of Love; Jehovah, great I AM! by earth and heaven confessed; I bow and bless the sacred name forever blest.  Olivers spoke of the Ancient of ‘Everlasting of Days’.  This is a clear reference to the eternalness of God.  He draws his material from the 12th century.  The line of reasoning is strong, long before the 12th century to now, and beyond any day we can imagine in the future.  God is.  Let us embark on a journey into the grandeur of God. This chapter contains a letter to David and four essays.  Buckle your seatbelts.

Job 28:25-28 says — When he established the force of the wind and measured out the waters, when he made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm, then he looked at wisdom and appraised it; he confirmed it and tested it. And he said to the human race, The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding. [NIV]

Journal Essay 1 – Dignity underpinned within our Image.

1. What does the isolation (expulsion from Eden) tell us about our need for Grace with regards to restoration of our moral and intellectual capacity? 

Journal Essay 2 – Who Am I?

• How does God use this concept (we are created in his image) to his advantage? Explain how God operates through us.

Journal Essay 3 – What Am I

• Why does this idea of our image filled with tools and attributes to achieve his plan depend upon our salvation and infilling by the Holy Spirit?  Discuss this marvelous connection with God.

Journal Essay 4 – Why am I here?

• What is the significance of the notion – we are created in the image of God? Explain why it matters. Examine issues such as our ability to love, the nature of communication, how we view each other, the arts, generating creative ideas, strategic planning, and leveraging natural resources to extend life.

This essay is the third and final part of a set of questions asked by Pepper concerning why we are on this earth. In this missive I answer her core question – why am I here? What got her to that question? She was pondering on God’s foreknowledge and started wrestling with how our free will fits into the plan. This line of reasoning quickly leads to the ‘why question’.  She is not alone in this quest. There are millions of books in the used book arena that try to address this question void of Scripture. So, what does Scripture have to say on this matter?

Scattered throughout the Bible are hints about the reasons God made us. Our first hint is in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2:15 says that God took the man He had created and put him in the garden to tend it. God had created an overseer for this earth. He gave us dominion over all things and gave us a job to do (Genesis 1:28). Our first task was naming all the animals (Genesis 2:19–20 paraphrased). At that juncture, the work was designed to be fulfilling as we yielded to accomplish God’s goals.

Don’t let observation this slip away.  God was teaching us from the very beginning. He was shaping us in his image (wisdom) pulling us towards him (faithfulness) before anyone could get to our tender hearts. He called you long before you responded.

We know from Psalms 139:13–16 that we were each formed by God. We are His masterpieces, created by Him for unique purposes (implied in Ephesians 2:10). God is intimately involved in our creation: “The word of the LORD came to me, saying: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I set you apart and appointed you a prophet to the nations’” (Jeremiah 1:4–5). Colossians 1:16 says “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.”

In Psalms 51, amidst David’s lamentation for his behavior with Bathsheba he blurts out an amazing fact about our ‘God awareness’. Look closely at this passage. David laments — Surely, I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place (Psalms 51:5-6).

Consider carefully the last phrase – you taught me wisdom in that secret place.   David is telling us that we were learning about the one true living God even before our exit from our mother’s womb. We had sin awareness and we had God awareness. Don’t let observation slip away.  God was teaching us from the very beginning. He was shaping us in his image (wisdom) pulling us towards him (faithfulness) before anyone could get to our tender hearts. He called you long before you responded. He embedded free will into us, not forcing acceptance but allowing us to choose.  And, if we rejected him, he respected our right to choose. Of course, there are consequences for either path we choose. But we have free will to choose. This is how life began for each one of us. Why? To walk with God. That is why.

God created us to express his grace and beauty. You might be a framer building houses, a mechanic, a number cruncher, a stay-at-home mom or dad, a doctor, or a car salesperson. All of these things can be done in grace and beauty – Glorifying God.  Move your endgame for whatever you do to a single focus – grace and beauty – cause God to smile at your work you accomplish.

Have you ever met an artist who just loved to create? It does not matter if anyone sees their artwork or pays big money to obtain the art. They just want to create for the sake of making something beautiful and wonderful for God’s purview. Perhaps you have a classic artistic gift yourself. It could be you enjoy writing, music, painting, or sculpting. What he did on a massive scale we do on a tiny scale. Create. We take pleasure in our creation. He delights in his creation. He calls his creation “good” in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. We must be careful not to get a big head, but internally we can be pleased with our work.

God created us to be an overflow of His love. Are you familiar with something known as the dance of the Trinity? A perichoresis? It is a complicated concept that can be reduced to this — the Trinity submits to each other, communicates with each other, and loves each other. Their interrelationship is akin to a personal dance. Built upon this interaction, the Trinity created us – a mortal image of the immortal. John 17:1 says “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” John 16:14 says “He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.”

God created us to be like him. God places a piece of himself into our essence. He shows us our value by making us in his image and calling us to something far greater than self —to be more like him.

God created us for his own glory. God created us as an outpouring of his love and creativity. But certainly, we must have a larger purpose here on this earth. Let us take a look at the Westminster Catechism. “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” God created us to glorify him. God gave us fruit and gifts to build community, draw the stragglers into the flock, and strengthen relationships. We worship God because he deserves our praise. He created us out of nothing, gives us purpose, and loves us without limit. In the barest essence, our worship of God gives credit where credit is due.

God created us to be similar to Him. Genesis chapter 1 gives an indication of why God created us. Genesis 1:27: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” God created us to be like him. God places a piece of himself into our essence. He shows us our value by making us in his image and calling us to something far greater than ourselves—to be more like him. After all, God is gracious, holy, and beautiful; who would not want their creation to reflect that? The same God who crafted the universe, believed we should exist to enjoy his creation. Creation happened as an outpouring of love from the Trinity; Elohim created us in His image to glorify and enjoy him forever; He planned for us to become increasingly like him. Micah 6:8 says — “And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Make no mistake, we have a purpose — to love everyone we encounter, treat them with justice, mercy, and humility. Why are we here? To walk with God. I choose Jesus.

This essay is the second part of three questions asked by Pepper concerning why we are on this earth. This essay addresses her question What am I – what are my God given capabilities? This subject goes right to the heart of who God is and what we are to do on earth.

God is richly good, amazingly full of love, beautiful and absolutely true and these characteristics continually flow out of him. Within the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – three persons, one God), the relationship of love, grace, goodness, and beauty is so full that it overflows through the act of creation a beautiful and good world. God thought our world into existence and then, as the corner stone of this incredible work, he built us in his image so we can experience his overflowing love, grace, and goodness defined within the relationships with the Trinity.

Most interesting of all things related to us, our image in God becomes an identity, communion with the one true living God. Colossians 3:10 speaks of the great restoration that has taken place in a Christian’s salvation as the new self “is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” We know about the one true living God because creation revealed God to his image-bearers (implied in Romans 1:19). The existence of our image points us towards God “that they know you, the only true God” (John 17:3).

To move and accomplish things in this world we are given attributes (Fruits of the Spirit) and capabilities (Gifts of the Spirit). Paul says in Ephesians 4:24 that believers have been “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” What I am comprised of is God’s image revealed on earth.

When God created us, he gave us free will so that we could freely share in His love. We have the opportunity to either receive his love or to reject him. Giving us ‘free will’ emancipates our love and dignifies our moral choices. This gift of love is flanked by the rest of the Fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23 says “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”  When these attributes are operating at100% within our life, people notice, they wonder, and subconsciously know they are in the presence of someone extraordinary. Each of these qualities is important for living a life that is pleasing to God. When we seek the presence of God with humility and love, we will experience true joy and peace from living according to God’s will. The fruit of our love for others can be boundless.

1 Corinthians 12 7-10 provides a list for Gifts of the Spirit (also see Romans 12:6-8 and Ephesians 4:11). The list of gifts (tools) includes but is not limited to apostleship, teaching, evangelism, prophecy, discerning spirits, exhortation, speaking in tongues, and interpreting tongues, helps, mercy, giving, faith, healing, and miracles. The tools enable believers to implement Gods plans. Paul says in 1 Cor 12:7 “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good”. The service of each Christian occurs in proportion to the gifts provided (1 Corinthians 12-14). All believers, as members of the body of Christ, serve together in a cohesive unit. The tools and attributes work together to enable each church.

When we seek the presence of God with humility and love, we will experience true joy and peace from living according to God’s will. The fruit of our love for others can be boundless.

The deeper truth — God is so full of all that is good, that it overflows and spills out of him. His very nature is to share his goodness, grace, and love. He created us out of love for the purpose of sharing love. Furthermore, we were created to love God and each other. Additionally, when God created us, he gave us tasks to do so that we might experience God’s how goodness feels and we might reflect his image in a way that demonstrates we care each other. We are here to love God. We are to love one another. We are to be an expression of the Fruit and Gifts of the Spirit. I choose Jesus.

After reading my thoughts on Job 28, Pepper asked me –Who am I, what does it mean to be created in the image of God? In essence she was asking, If I had never been here, would it matter to God, WHO am I that he would make me similar to him? As you might guess I started praying. Then I reached for paper and a pencil. I knew this was going to take a while to sort out.

Let us focus on — Who am I, what does it mean to be created in the image of God?

In the first chapter of Genesis, from Day 1 to Day 5, God spoke the universe into existence. But on the sixth day, he took a different path, He reached down into the clay and formed a man. He then “breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). I think we can say Adam and Eve were more like Him than anything else He had created (Genesis 1:27).

We can say the image of God is a characteristic or capacity unique to humanity, such as reason or will, the image may also be found in humanity’s capacity to have a relationship with God.

Genesis 1:27 says — “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him.” The Hebrew phrase B’tzelem Elohim means ‘the image of God’.  It speaks of the psychological and spiritual structure of humans. I find it useful to start the image discussion from the concept of “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). Within the concept that God is a Spirit (John 4:24), the image of God defines man’s rationality and spirituality, plus the capacity to know and worship God. However, the sightings of God by Moses (see Exodus 3:13-15, Exodus 24:9-11, Exodus 33:11, Exodus 33:20) suggest God is willing and able to be any form needed for the occasion. It also suggests we are created similar to the form he chose when it was appropriate to appear on earth.

We all know this image includes both the male and female form; I will discuss this specific topic another day. Suffice for now, I am comfortable with the idea men and women equally bear the image of God.

John Piper teaches our current image of God is a rational soul that imperfectly mirrors God. Following this notion of mirroring, our humanity is emotionally and morally shaped like a sculpture or painting created by an artist doing a self-portrait or self-sculpture of their inner being. Therefore, we can say the image of God is a characteristic or capacity unique to humanity, such as reason or will, the image may also be found in humanity’s capacity to have a relationship with God. This view resonates with me.

God thought our world into existence and then, as the corner stone of this incredible work, he built us in his image so we can experience his overflowing love, grace, and goodness defined within the relationships with the Trinity.

Augustine taught the image of God includes the capacities of our memory, intellect, and will. Augustine thought humanity reflects the nature of God in a diminished capability but not any less perfect. If we add in self-awareness, rational behavior, and personality into the formula, I think we have defined what it means to be created in the image of God. Augustine thought anomalies in our humanness are caused by sin (degrading our capabilities) not during the imagery creation. I respect his thoughts on this issue.

Ephesians 4:24 says “And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”  2 Corinthians 3:18 says “we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”  John 4:24 says “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Philippians 3:21 says God “will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. 1 John 3:2 says “Beloved, … it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”  Who are we? The image of God.  I choose Jesus.

It has been my observation, the notion that we are created in God’s image has important implications for our Christian worldview (a world view is a filter used to understand things going on around us). The definition from Scripture concerning how we are created says — We are living creatures made by God to bear his own image (implied in Genesis 1:26-27).

We were created to be royalty amidst the creatures made by God.  But now, because of sin, we are relegated to the position of being a servant on the earth.

In my view, this image concept could be described as a coffee cup.  If we turn the cup upside down, we see a shell, but the inside of the coffee cup (the part we cannot see) is empty.  This image was not so much a replication of how God looks but a replication of how God functions (his attributes).  The image is a collector of attributes.  When we and humans were created, our initial predecessors had the attributes – for a while…

In the beginning, things were good for us in the Garden of Eden; the image within us was intact.  But, after Adam and Eve broke God’s covenant, the Lord “drove out the man, and at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword … to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24).

We were created to be royalty amidst the creatures made by God.  But now, because of sin, we are relegated to the position of being a servant on the earth: “the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken” (Gen. 3:23). It is clear from these passages; the image of God present in us has been damaged.  We became like an empty coffee cup.  Only the aroma lingers, an aroma of what was once in place but is now damaged.

When we fell into sin, we became guilty, alienated from the one true living God, our image was corrupted by our human thoughts and desires to rebel. This being the case, the positive attributes God gave us are in disarray, they are mired in the grips of sin. We find it difficult (in some cases nearly impossible) to exemplify the nature and scope of love experienced between the members of the Trinity for each other in our human relationships. Instead, in our natural mode, we operate with a rather skewed view of the world and of God. We resist the harmony and selflessness felt within the trinity.

Though we may be aware of God, we yield to the disarray within our image, we tend to raise our fist of rebellion against him (see Romans 8:7). This overall situation, after Adam’s rebellion, points to a question: is it possible for the image of God within us to be restored? Can the coffee cup be refilled?  And if the original, glorious image of God in man can be restored, who will be the one to accomplish this restoration?  How will the restoration be accomplished?

Scripture indicates fallen man retains value in God’s eyes. Not because of what we do or how we think, but because we were created in the image of God – he loves the thing he has created.  Think about what we can learn on this topic from Genesis.  “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6). This statement was made after the fall; we may have lost control of the vital core (righteousness and holiness) of our life. But we still bear the image of God.  We still have value. In fact, we are told we can kill animals for food (see Deuteronomy 12:15) but not kill humans.  If someone harms us, they will be answering to God for their actions.  Being made in his image matters.  It demonstrates our connection to him.

We operate with a rather skewed view of the world and of God. Though may be aware of God, we tend to raise our fist of rebellion against him (see Romans 8:7).

I submit to you — a reasonable illustration for the image of God in fallen man is to consider an automobile windshield that has become scarred and is difficult to see out of when the sun shines directly on the glass. The glass remains kinda functional, it still blocks the wind, it still has some value, but the scarred glass impairs the larger capability and purpose of the glass.  We are no longer able to see clearly when we peer through the glass, especially when we are looking towards the sun. What do we do?  We need to find somebody to repair the damage.

Romans 5:13-14 (paraphrased) says –Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death became part of our world through sin, death came to all people, because of our rebellion. To be sure, rebellion was present before the law was given; Adam suffered for his rebellion. But rebellion was not held against us because of the absence of the law. Nevertheless, death, functioning as an abyss (separation from God), has existed from the time of Adam to the time of Moses and on until now. But Adam, who got us into this mess, also points us ahead to the Gift of Jesus, the one who will get us out of the mess. [NIV]

Romans 5:15-17 (paraphrased) says – Consider the impact of this gift, if one man’s sin pushed a myriad of people into the abyss, the ultimate separation from God, just think what God’s gift poured through one man, Jesus Christ, will do! The long-term impact of Adam’s rebellion has been replaced by a life-giving gift. The verdict of Adam’s rebellion was the death sentence. If death got the upper hand through one man’s wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery our life experiences when we grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right GIFT? This is the good news that the one-man Jesus Christ provides. The good news. [NIV]

This connection between ‘one man’ Adam (who was created in the image of God) and ‘one man’ Jesus with regards to sin is one of the main subjects in Scripture, it is core to the good news. There is hope for us despite our sin because of God’s gift of grace. There is a way out of the mess we are in.

This is the beginning of reconstruction.  This is how the image we have been created within is restored.  This is the beginning of the restore process, the gradual reinsertion of the attributes selected by God to cause us to be all we can be.  Who does it?  The Holy Spirit.  How?  He fills us and writes his word and his attributes upon our heart in the blood of Jesus.  The image is gradually restored by the grace and mercy of God as we yield to his will and learn to walk with God (see Micah 6:8).   I choose Jesus