Hi Everyone-
I hope you're doing great. I'm guessing you're familiar with the idea that all humans were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27)? A reasonably straightforward concept at first glance, but when you think about it it's actually pretty deep and complicated isn't it? For example ... What does "image" mean? What part of us in in God's image? All of us? Just our bodies? Just our minds? Does God walk around on two legs? Does Jesus have a beard, blond hair, white skin, and blue eyes? :) ... You get the point, and the last image of Jesus is probably a good topic for a blog (or a book), but I'll wait for that one.
I found out a pretty cool historic truth with present implications the other day about the image of God. In antiquity (i.e. when the Bible was written), their where images of gods and goddesses all over (statues mainly). People believed that the way you treated said image was in fact the way you treated the god/goddess. So, if you spit on the statue, you spit on Aphrodite, or if you gave your best meat to the statue, you gave your best meat to Zeus. Now, interestingly early on God says not to make images of Him (Exodus 20:4). Why you ask? Well, perhaps it's because God already has images of Godself all over the place, us!
Now for the really cool (in my view) part. We are all God's images and like the people in antiquity thought, the way we treat the images of God is the way we treat God. And it doesn't just apply to how we treat our friends, lovers, family, etc. ... it's everyone. I heard a quote the other day that really nails this for me (this isn't verbatim, but it is the intent), "The love you show to the person you love the least, is the love you show God." Wow. That puts a whole new perspective on loving my neighbor and loving my enemy for me. It makes me want to treat others better. How about you?
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Grace and peace,
Lang
There is dignity in every human life. We are truly created in the image and likeness of God. God give us not just a body but an eternal soul. With that eternal soul we are called to be like Christ our savior, who said "Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me."
ReplyDeleteYou must also love your enemies.
But I say to you, Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you: [Matthew 5:44]
Love is not emotion or a feeling as our culture would have us believe. It is willing the good of another. Wanting what is best for them. That is how God loves us. That is how we should love every human being.
If you love those who love you, then good for you - anyone can do that. But if you can love, willing what is best for your enemy, then you have learned to love unselfishly.
Interestingly God really began to speak to me about loving my enemies before the accident and I began to wonder if in my journey to follow Christ I could both faithfully love my enemies and faithfully serve in the Air Force. Thankfully that's not an issue I have to wrestle with personally anymore. :) Have you ever thought about that?
ReplyDeleteI have thought about that. There can certainly be some contradiction where modern warfare is concerned. Especially when we engage in the types of conflicts where there is no clear objective. Much of modern warfare is muddled by geo-political interests and posturing and not really executed in order to prevent or curtail a great evil in this world. I think that the Just War doctrine that we discussed earlier is a good litmus test for whether or not Christians can feel justified in supporting or fighting in a particular conflict themselves. Certainly there are some wars that are worth fighting to protect innocent life and bring about a greater good than the war itself. In my opinion the second World War was just in stopping the atrocities of Hitler, etc. and unfortunately Hiroshima and Nagasaki crossed the line into excessive force. It is not for me to judge or try and claim that our nation did something wrong. There were many factors involved. I am only stating my opinion here. Only in hindsight do we have the luxury of picking apart examples like that one.
ReplyDeleteIt is vital though that we have people willing to stand up for what is right. WIthout the courage to serve others by defending those that cannot defend themselves, there would be no hope left. We would have all succumbed to evil forces long ago if those who would harm others were allowed to do evil things unchecked. For that reason I will always be proud of my military service, as should anyone who has served in the military.
You could say it's only because of people fighting for our freedom that we have the freedom to discuss when we shouldn't fight! Absolutely agree on being proud of the people in the military.
ReplyDelete