Shalom Talk – Respite For Weary Travelers

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

I found your letter sitting on the kitchen table this morning, I am sorry for my tardy reply. I noticed in the letter that your roommate has been having trouble with the Dormitory Monitor because of his poor attitude. This is unfortunate. I will pray that God’s wisdom prevails over the circumstances.  In your letter I found two questions from you in the letter. The first one was ‘what is a man?’ Then you asked – is there value reading early Christian writers?

The Remembrance…  recall when I was living in a ‘dormitory’ in my early military days. We had many rules that seemed a bit over the top. One of the guys I shared a room with had a difficult time keeping his clothes picked up. We were constantly receiving notes from an inspection team about not maintaining federal property in a proper manner. He would grumble, pick up his clothes for a few days and then fall back into the same pattern.

I was friends with my roomie; we played a lot of billiards (8 ball pool) together to consume the weekends. Using a pool table was free on the military base.  My roomie was a friendly guy, always willing to help others get things done. We spent time repairing people’s cars (neither of us had a car at this point).  We found things to do.  But he had this one thing – this one point of contention.  He did not like cleaning up his-half of the room we shared.  This single issue set him at odds with the people assigned to keep good order in the military dorm.

I recall how my roomie would claim it was beneath his dignity to pick up his clothes. My roomie wondered aloud, ‘How could he be a man if he yielded to the pressure?’  Picking up clothes was his mom’s task.  He would shout out in the hallway – ‘What is a man? A mere servant? I am too good for this kind of work.’  Yes, he was a bit of a dinosaur in the modern world.  But he was my roomie.

Then, one afternoon, our first sergeant came by and took my roomie to the chow hall for a cup of coffee. I am not sure what they talked about, but my roomie clearly got the message. He never left his clothes on the floor again. Later, I asked him what changed. He simply said – I cannot afford to replace my uniforms, the First Sergeant told me he ever found them on the floor again, he would pick my clothes up for me and donate them to Goodwill. He learned from my First Sergeant that being a man includes being in control of your mouth and being accountable your actions. 

We speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. (1 Corinthians 2: 10-13)

Was my roomie a man? Yes. Do men pick up their clothes? Yes. Was it his responsibility to keep his portion of the room nice and neat? Yes. Did it change his DNA (make him something other than a man) to pick up his clothes? No. Was he accountable to a larger rule of order? Yes. Had he thought out the implications of the trip hazard he created in the middle of the night? No. Was he teachable? Yes. It just took the right person with the right message.  Our ‘image’ is designed to understand abstract things like rules, honor, love, responsibility, and accountability. He just needed to be reminded of the situation.  What did I learn? Approach people the right way, get the desired result.  Selah.

First Question — What is a Man? We are created in the image of God.  It is my feeling as a believer in Jesus our image is gradually being renewed into the image of our creator. As our faith matures, our image is transformed from one degree of godliness to the next until, after death, we are standing before Jesus.

I don’t think the image of God refers to the physical attributes of our frame.  I am aware that Moses spoke about seeing the back of God, and there are references to his arms and his hands, and his mouth, his eyes. These references could push us in the direction of wanting God to look like us. But I think God is much different than us.  God made those appearances to assure us that God was present.  Moses saw his glory (a thin veil of Glory that filtered his holiness), but Moses did not see God in his fulness, his splendor and majesty.

 From my viewpoint, our ability to perceive the use of language and creativity are difficult to achieve without a body, God chose to use these descriptors.  But God is not bound by the same rules that we’re bound by. So, I would not jump on the observations of Moses to drive your thinking about how God looks without careful study of context and intent.

I think our God-like-image centers on our moral capacity, creative ability, and other areas such as our ability to think, speak, and communicate.  These are ethereal not physical attributes. I do not think it is wise to focus on the physical attributes (check out the first chapter of Ezekiel for a closer look at what God might look like).

Our image is like a receptor or a computer interface created to receive and use the attributes of God to his advantage. Consider this from Paul — This is what we speak, not in words taught to us by human wisdom but in words taught to us by the Holy Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. (see 1 Corinthians 2: 10-13)

Our sovereign God is incredibly personal, he is aware, he is present, and he is compassionately involved in every detail of our life.

This image (receptor), the embodiment we were created in, is a gift from God. We are not required to allow God to work through us. But when we choose to embrace the things of God, then cool things happen, we are transformed and able to have limited access to the mind of Christ. I am not alluding to a mystical thing, rather I am suggesting our essence, our presence is formed in the image of God.

Paul says — The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?  But we have the mind of Christ.  (1 Corinthians 2: 14-16)

We are made to be filled by the Holy Spirit. This infilling is key to understanding the nature of our image. Our response to Grace triggers (initiates) the infilling by the Holy Spirit. Our sovereign God is incredibly personal, he is aware, he is present, and he is compassionately involved in every detail of our life. God hears us when we think, when we speak, he faithfully keeps his promise to be close to us, to comfort our broken hearts, and to love us unconditionally. After all, he created us to reflect him, to thrive within the image he provided. There is much more that could be said, but it seemed best to stop here. I have included a few essays from my personal journal with this letter to help you consider those ideas and develop your Scripture-based framework.

Second Question – Is it valuable to review the early church letters? I presumed you were not talking about Scriptures; rather you were talking about writers such as Justin Martyr and Polycarp. There is a collection of books known as the Ante-Nicene Christian Library (ANCL) that might be helpful. This 10 volume ANCL presents a solid collection of non-Scripture letters that are part of early church history. The ANCL covers the period from about AD100 to the General council at Nice in AD325 (Nicaean Creed).

My son, I really need to emphasize the ANCL is not Scripture. They are fallible. However, if you want to understand how doctrine became what it is and explore the counterpoints that were floating about the church, it is sometimes helpful to review these early writings when preparing your school papers. Any reasonable local library will have this set on hand. Additionally, they can be found in PDF form that is searchable on the internet.

I trust this provides you with some useful insight. In addition to this brief response, I have included four essays from my personal journal to assist with your quest to define the ‘image of God’ and who man is.

May 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

Frederick William Faber, a gifted song writer, published over 140 hymns in the mid 18^th century including the song titled “Souls of men why will ye scatter”    The lyrics say – Souls of men! why will ye scatter, like a crowd of frightened sheep? Foolish hearts! Why will ye wander, from a love so true and deep? Was there ever a kinder shepherd, half so gentle, half so sweet, as the Savior who would have us come and gather round his feet?     Farber tells us we are like a crowd of frightened sheep.  Trying to find our place in this world is a time-honored quest all people embark upon at some point in their life.    Eventually, we all ask the question – Self is?   This letter in this chapter to David was written by his father to provide a few clues for the outcome of the quest. Additionally, you will find four essays from the Journal of David’s father and some study questions to help search for the answer – Self is?  

Job 28: 20-24 says — Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds in the sky. Destruction and Death say, only a rumor of it has reached our ears. God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells, for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. [NIV]

The tables below are not intended as prerequisite reading; rather, they reflect my customary reading in my spare time. The works listed further complement the material presented in these notes.

Online Material – Links provided – be careful what you ‘click’
Author	Title	Description
J Vernon McGee	Through the Bible, Commentary	Insightful study for all books of the Bible. in-depth, paragraph-by-paragraph discussions of key verses and passages.  Interesting life application data.   https://www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/mcgee_j_vernon/
Matthew Henry	Complete Bible Commentary	Practical application, outstanding historical background information, devotional insight, and scholarship on the entire bible; profound insights on the content, message and nature of God’s divine revelation   https://www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/mhc/
Augustine	City of God	4th century writings are useful to anyone interested in church history, theology, and development of Western civilization thought.   https://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/0354-0430,_Augustinus,_De_Civitate_Dei_Contra_Paganos,_EN.pdf
Thomas Aquinas	The Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas	brilliant 13th century synthesis of Christian thought, has had a decisive and permanent impact on philosophy and religion since the thirteenth century. Was considered to be a summing up of all that was known about God.   https://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/1225-1274,_Thomas_Aquinas,_Summa_Theologiae_%5B1%5D,_EN.pdf
James Donaldson, Alexander Roberts (editors)	Anti-Nicene Christian Library	invaluable resource filled with the primary documents of the second generation church fathers providing early theological building blocks for the Christian Church.   https://www.holybooks.com/ante-nicene-fathers-vol-i-ix/

Influential Books – Useful Tools to Expand your Vocabulary
Author	Title	Brief Description
C.S. Lewis	Mere Christianity	Explores the core beliefs of Christianity by providing a rational case for the Christian faith.
C.S. Lewis	The Screwtape Letters	Coy and ironic metaphor portraying human life and foibles from the vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to Lucifer.
Francis Schaefer	The God who is There	Wide-ranging analysis of the intellectual and cultural climate of the second half of the twentieth century, from philosophy to art to liberal theology
Francis Schaefer	Escape from Reason	Examines philosophy, science, art and popular culture to identify dualism, fragmentation and the decline of reason
Francis Schaefer	He is there and He is not Silent	Addresses three key questions — Does God exist? Does it make sense to believe in God? Can we ever know God?
Edith Schaefer	Christianity is Jewish	Reviews the historical and spiritual significance of the Jewish history; presents the Bible as a unified document in which God has progressively unfolded the plan of salvation
Edith Schaefer	A way of Seeing	60 essays inviting us to open up his or her own way of looking at life to new perspectives and spiritual refreshment in everyday things.
Corrie Ten Boom	The Hiding Place	Her personal history of Hiding Jewish refugees in Holland during the second world war.
John Piper	Meditations of a Christian Hedonist	Discusses the implications of this for conversion, worship, love, Scripture, prayer, money, marriage, missions, and suffering.
Gene Getz	Measure of A Man	Explores twenty biblical qualities drawn from the Paul’s letters; shows how you can measure up to Christ’s fullness as a husband, father, and mentor to other men
Rick Warren	The Purpose Driven Life	Practical steps to help you discover and live out your purpose, starting with exploring three of life’s most pressing questions: Why am I alive? Does my life matter? What am I here for?
A.W. Tozer	Knowledge of the Holy	Explores the attributes of God such as wisdom, grace, and mercy with the intent to restore the majesty and wonder of God in our mind.
Josh McDowell	New evidence that demands a verdict	Prepares thoughtful Christians with historical documentation and modern scholarship bearing witness to the truth of the Bible against the harshest of critics.

Reference Books – Essential Items to Grow your Understanding of Theology
Author or publishing house	Title	Description
Zondervan publishing House	Life application study Bible, New International Version	10,000+ Life Application notes, 100+ personality profiles, Introductions and overviews for each book of the Bible, In-text maps, charts, and diagrams
Zondervan Publishing House and, Dr. Frank Charles Thompson (Editor)	Thompsons Chain Reference Bible, New International Version	100,000+ references listed in the Bible’s margins, 8000+ topics. Facilitates simple search of Scripture on thousands of topics through the entire bible. This reference bible will accelerate personal research and bible study preparation.
Edward W. Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger III	NIV Exhaustive concordance (New International Version)	Complete alphabetical listing of every word in the NIV Bible, with book/chapter/verse bible references, a line of content for each of a particular word’s appearances, and the G/K number (and Strongs number) for the word translated by the NIV. Dictionary-indexes that define every Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek word in the Bible.
W. E. Vine (Author), Merrill F. Unger (Author), William White (Author)	Vines complete expository dictionary Old and New Testament	Contains 6,000+ key biblical words, describing word frequency, usage, and meaning as fully as possible; uses Strongs Concordance number system; contains a brief history of bible languages.
Chad Brand (Editor), Eric Mitchell (Editor), Holman Reference Editorial Staff (Editor)	Holman’s illustrated Bible dictionary	6,500+ articles equip the reader with competence in understanding and interpreting the Scriptures; 700+ photos, maps, reconstructions, and charts.
J. D. Douglas (Editor)	New Bible dictionary, second edition	2,000+ entries on the Bible’s books, people, places, key words, and major doctrines, Maps, family trees, charts, and illustrations, An index with 10,000 entries
Henry Thiessen	Lectures in systematic theology	Eight major sections — Theism, Bibliology, Theology, Anthropology, Soteriology, Ecclesiology, Angelology, and Eschatology. Also included are an index of subjects and an index of scriptural references

A.2  The Fine Print — What this Book is and what it is not.

How this book came to be

The essays, as presented, are not answers, rather they are examples of how to gather and assess information in a cohesive manner.  They provide a starting point, not the endpoint on a given subject.  They document my personal odyssey through the Scriptures.

Exact definition of this book

The book is a collection of my personal notes and research on the subjects listed in the table of contents.  All opinions expressed in the book are mine, gleaned from years of reading and thinking (except for the quotes). But make no mistake; I am a product of what I read.  In addition to reading Scripture, I provided a bibliography to give you, the reader of these notes, a clue as to where I get my ideas.

Who owns the rights to the information in this book

It’s complicated.  In some cases, the material in my notes are obvious quotes from Scripture, or a paraphrase or an implied statement from Scripture.  In general, I like to use NIV.  The publishers of NIV own the copyright to that data.

In some cases, there are quotes in these notes from people I respect.  The quotes come from internet scraping (locate, copy and paste) into this set of notes.  It is important for me to say I do not have to agree with somebody’s idea to respect their idea.  Accuracy of the quote is dependent upon the internet sources and my personal belief the quote properly represents the cited sources viewpoint.  I tried to find accurate sources.  I am comfortable with the results.  There may be mistakes, but none that I am aware of…  The final thought on this matter?   Trust but verify.  These are notes, not a term paper or a thesis.

The rest of the text — These notes and thoughts were collected for my personal study; they are my opinion on the topic. The 16-chapter document you have in your hands are my personal notes. They have been reproduced and shared with others as a tool to facilitate the study of Scripture at no cost to the user except for the cost of a blank 3-ring binder, some printer paper, and some printer ink. I have no interest in deriving income from the reproduction and distribution of my personal notes.  Reproduction of my notes for use in the class is accomplished by the reader on their personal printer.

However, I request all users of this material to refrain from modifying or misrepresenting the information in this document.  An official copyrighted PDF version of my notes resides on my laptop.  The official copyrighted PDF version resides no place else on the face of this earth.  This official copyrighted PDF version is protected using a simple concept.  I emailed it to Pepper.  This provides a date and timestamp for the official version verifiable by requesting Gmail to validate the transmission date, time stamp, and the attached PDF. 

Reproduction rules of engagement The official version of my notes can be reproduced for use as a bible study aid with e-mail permission from Dan Livingston.   Just ask me.