August 8, 2000
A friend of mine related a touching moment after his grown daughter had left home. She came back to tell him how insecure she felt, then cried on his shoulder. He remarked, “Even after they leave home, you never stop being a parent.”
Some human needs seem to be universal. Who doesn’t want to be significant and needed? Who doesn’t want a sense of security?
Gender differences is a controversial and blurry area but the issue of significance seems more a priority for men while security seems to be a stronger need in the hearts of women.
Some think that men and women are alike from birth and conditioned to behave differently as they grow up. Traditionally, girls were given dolls and boys played with trucks; girls were allowed emotions and boys told not to cry. Others are less concerned with the origin of those differences and more determined to eliminate them. They say men ought to stay at home with the children; women can provide the primary income. Others propose that two men or two women can be the “parents” and eliminate from a couple relationship the other gender entirely.
The Bible account sheds light on these theories. The creation story starts with God noticing that “it is not good for the man to be alone.” He created woman as a suitable mate for him. He said, “a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” God intended a united couple, one man and one woman.
But even with that in place, the differences mess up unity. For one thing, both want to be the boss. (Be honest; you know it’s true!) This is enough conflict in itself, never mind that men and women have different ideas how to do things and often misunderstand each other.
The differences were not supposed to cause problems. God knew men needed a mate suitable for them, to help them where they need help. For instance, women nurture more easily; for many it is second nature. Many men are less interested in relationships and more concerned with their work and earning a living.
However, instead of letting these differences cause conflict, God wanted gender interdependence. In my friends situation, the daughter’s need for security and the father’s need for significance came together. They illustrate, at least for me, that gender differences do not mean that we have to fight over who is the best or who is the most powerful but that we can be what the other person needs.
The Bible says God created us both in His likeness. Even though we are male or female, we are like God by creation. That likeness has been marred by our rebellion against Him, yet God has offered redemption. He promises that those who come to Him for salvation from sin will receive a new nature.
In fact, God has offered us eternal life and, “This life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
With the life of Christ we have the beginning of that restored image and getting along with the opposite gender is made easier. The complexities do not disappear nor the challenges of figuring out the differences, yet the Spirit of Christ produces a unity that is otherwise impossible. This unity is no based on being exactly the same but having the same desires and goals: to live in Christian harmony and together reflect the image of our Creator.
Showing posts with label created in God's image. Show all posts
Showing posts with label created in God's image. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Monday, September 18, 2017
Loving our children? .......... Parables 642
June 1, 1999
The man in the movie abandons his granddaughter by the side of the road. Unknown to him, a neighbor watches and fetches the child, returning her to her mother. Although the man allows his daughter to keep her baby, he mistreats both of them. First the daughter then later the little girl are forced to go to bars and lure men outside so this man can beat and rob them.
This is fiction but real life tells similar stories. What is wrong? The instinct to nurture offspring is strong in most animals and birds. A mother bear will defend her cubs. A kildeer will feign a broken wing to keep predators away from her nest. Seldom in nature are creatures callous to the helplessness of their babies. Why do people turn on their children?
Human beings are not bears, birds or snakes. According to Scripture, we were created in the image of God, both male and female. Being made in His image, we were stamped with a particular predisposition to care deeply for our family, just as God cares for His creation.
My mother used to say that no matter what, your parents always love you. When I was young, I believed her because personal experience told me it was true. Now I realize that both mom and I were naive. Some parents do not love their own children.
Parents mistreat and sometime kill their own flesh and blood. A mother drowns her toddlers or a father abuses them. Regardless of the crime or which parent does it, children are not safe in the very place they should be the most secure — with their parents. While psychologists blame it on a power trip or trapped feelings, taking out frustration on a child is not love.
We tend to say hate is the opposite of love yet the Bible indicates God’s love is less of an emotion than a decision to do right. Hate is simply not doing it or doing the opposite. Besides hurting others, doing wrong is also disobedience to God. It was through the disobedience of the first two people, that sin entered the world.
After Adam and Eve sinned, they did continue to care for their children, but the effects of sin soon began to take their toll. Their oldest son, Cain, murdered his younger brother, Abel.
Within a few generations, the entire human race was so sinful that “the Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” At that, the Bible says, “The Lord was grieved that He had made man . . . and His heart was filled with pain.”
Child abandonment, neglect and abuse is sin but since God says everyone has been affected by sin, then everyone needs the cure, whether they commit this sin or not. The cure is redemption.
God cures sin through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. We cannot cure ourselves but we have a part in it. We must recognize we are sick. We must repent or turn from our sin to God. We must also believe in the Great Physician, Jesus Christ and that through Him, God forgives our sin and will cure us of it.
The last book of the Old Testament shows how redemption specifically applies to child abuse. There, God promised to send a prophet who would “turn the hearts of the fathers to their children.” Later, this promise was fulfilled when the angel Gabriel told Zechariah that his son would be this prophet. He became known as John the Baptist.
John called people to turn from their sin toward God and make themselves ready for the coming Redeemer. This Redeemer would forgive them and change their lives. He would turn the hearts of both fathers and mother back to their children.
Social programs educate and urge family members to love each other, but these efforts, even with good intentions, do not do the job that is accomplished through redemption. These programs hope to turn behavior around, but faith in Jesus Christ turns hearts.
The man in the movie abandons his granddaughter by the side of the road. Unknown to him, a neighbor watches and fetches the child, returning her to her mother. Although the man allows his daughter to keep her baby, he mistreats both of them. First the daughter then later the little girl are forced to go to bars and lure men outside so this man can beat and rob them.
This is fiction but real life tells similar stories. What is wrong? The instinct to nurture offspring is strong in most animals and birds. A mother bear will defend her cubs. A kildeer will feign a broken wing to keep predators away from her nest. Seldom in nature are creatures callous to the helplessness of their babies. Why do people turn on their children?
Human beings are not bears, birds or snakes. According to Scripture, we were created in the image of God, both male and female. Being made in His image, we were stamped with a particular predisposition to care deeply for our family, just as God cares for His creation.
My mother used to say that no matter what, your parents always love you. When I was young, I believed her because personal experience told me it was true. Now I realize that both mom and I were naive. Some parents do not love their own children.
Parents mistreat and sometime kill their own flesh and blood. A mother drowns her toddlers or a father abuses them. Regardless of the crime or which parent does it, children are not safe in the very place they should be the most secure — with their parents. While psychologists blame it on a power trip or trapped feelings, taking out frustration on a child is not love.
We tend to say hate is the opposite of love yet the Bible indicates God’s love is less of an emotion than a decision to do right. Hate is simply not doing it or doing the opposite. Besides hurting others, doing wrong is also disobedience to God. It was through the disobedience of the first two people, that sin entered the world.
After Adam and Eve sinned, they did continue to care for their children, but the effects of sin soon began to take their toll. Their oldest son, Cain, murdered his younger brother, Abel.
Within a few generations, the entire human race was so sinful that “the Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” At that, the Bible says, “The Lord was grieved that He had made man . . . and His heart was filled with pain.”
Child abandonment, neglect and abuse is sin but since God says everyone has been affected by sin, then everyone needs the cure, whether they commit this sin or not. The cure is redemption.
God cures sin through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. We cannot cure ourselves but we have a part in it. We must recognize we are sick. We must repent or turn from our sin to God. We must also believe in the Great Physician, Jesus Christ and that through Him, God forgives our sin and will cure us of it.
The last book of the Old Testament shows how redemption specifically applies to child abuse. There, God promised to send a prophet who would “turn the hearts of the fathers to their children.” Later, this promise was fulfilled when the angel Gabriel told Zechariah that his son would be this prophet. He became known as John the Baptist.
John called people to turn from their sin toward God and make themselves ready for the coming Redeemer. This Redeemer would forgive them and change their lives. He would turn the hearts of both fathers and mother back to their children.
Social programs educate and urge family members to love each other, but these efforts, even with good intentions, do not do the job that is accomplished through redemption. These programs hope to turn behavior around, but faith in Jesus Christ turns hearts.
Friday, March 31, 2017
Toward a truer self-image ................ Parables 569
September 30, 1997
Do you remember reading about Louie the cat with obnoxious habits? First she tore out her hair in two strips down her back. After she got tired of that, she began looking at her reflection in shiny surfaces. Soon she was fighting with it and howling night and day. Her owner finally had to cover every surface in their home that allowed the cat to see her own image.
I know what it is like to fight with my reflection. Bed-head mornings, black-eyed tired, zits, and “what? Is-that-another-wrinkle?” can keep me almost howling in front of the mirror, sometimes with laughter, sometimes in dismay. However, I am learning that what I see in the mirror is not the most important image to be concerned about.
One of the first things I learned as a new Christian is that God called me to be changed into the image of His Son. That goal impressed me so much that I wanted to cooperate with God. However, I soon discovered that this new image was easier to set as a goal than actually define or reach. First, I had to discover what Jesus is really like. Along with that, there was the seeming impossible task of getting rid of the things in me that did not conform to His likeness.
Difficult as it sounds, this goal ought to be a universal. The Bible says that God made everyone of us “in his own image” both male and female. However, because we tend to go against the will and character of God, we toss mud on the likeness He intended we reflect. We have difficulty seeing it in each other and it prevents us from clearly seeing Him.
As I studied this concept of self-image, I began to realize that I could not think well of myself when I was not living up to the lofty ideal for which God created me. Something deep inside was not satisfied with me — no matter where or when I encountered myself, like Louie, I was fighting with what I saw.
Thankfully, God knows the cure to a low or sensitive self-view. He began to show me that although I saw myself as a sinner, the new reality of Christ in my life was beginning to change that image. I was “a new creation” and, as 2 Corinthians says, “the old has gone, the new has come!” He wanted me to stop looking at myself from my muddied perspective and start seeing myself in Christ, as He sees me.
My self-image has also been affected by the treatment of others. Lack of love or consideration, as well as unkindnesses, leave holes in my esteem but God says those things do not need to shape my image anymore. I do not have to be the person others try to shape by their words or abuses. If I insist on looking at myself through their eyes, my view will be distorted, like looking at my face in a coffee spoon.
In Christ, I am a new person. I am forgiven and washed clean of sin, given new life and new ways to think. Right now, I may not be all that I will be, but God is at work and the Bible says He will finish what He started in me (Philippians 1:6). When I enter eternity, all vestiges of my old self will be gone. What an encouragement to change and grow, to stop basing my way of life on what I used to be or how people used to treat me. Because of Christ and the certainty of God’s promises, now I am shaped by my future, not my past.
Those days when I act like Louie are becoming fewer and farther between thanks to the marvelous grace of God. To cure me, He knew better than fill my house with magic mirrors or let me find a restored self-image in temporary things. Instead, He is at work changing the person who is looking at the images.
Do you remember reading about Louie the cat with obnoxious habits? First she tore out her hair in two strips down her back. After she got tired of that, she began looking at her reflection in shiny surfaces. Soon she was fighting with it and howling night and day. Her owner finally had to cover every surface in their home that allowed the cat to see her own image.
I know what it is like to fight with my reflection. Bed-head mornings, black-eyed tired, zits, and “what? Is-that-another-wrinkle?” can keep me almost howling in front of the mirror, sometimes with laughter, sometimes in dismay. However, I am learning that what I see in the mirror is not the most important image to be concerned about.
One of the first things I learned as a new Christian is that God called me to be changed into the image of His Son. That goal impressed me so much that I wanted to cooperate with God. However, I soon discovered that this new image was easier to set as a goal than actually define or reach. First, I had to discover what Jesus is really like. Along with that, there was the seeming impossible task of getting rid of the things in me that did not conform to His likeness.
Difficult as it sounds, this goal ought to be a universal. The Bible says that God made everyone of us “in his own image” both male and female. However, because we tend to go against the will and character of God, we toss mud on the likeness He intended we reflect. We have difficulty seeing it in each other and it prevents us from clearly seeing Him.
As I studied this concept of self-image, I began to realize that I could not think well of myself when I was not living up to the lofty ideal for which God created me. Something deep inside was not satisfied with me — no matter where or when I encountered myself, like Louie, I was fighting with what I saw.
Thankfully, God knows the cure to a low or sensitive self-view. He began to show me that although I saw myself as a sinner, the new reality of Christ in my life was beginning to change that image. I was “a new creation” and, as 2 Corinthians says, “the old has gone, the new has come!” He wanted me to stop looking at myself from my muddied perspective and start seeing myself in Christ, as He sees me.
My self-image has also been affected by the treatment of others. Lack of love or consideration, as well as unkindnesses, leave holes in my esteem but God says those things do not need to shape my image anymore. I do not have to be the person others try to shape by their words or abuses. If I insist on looking at myself through their eyes, my view will be distorted, like looking at my face in a coffee spoon.
In Christ, I am a new person. I am forgiven and washed clean of sin, given new life and new ways to think. Right now, I may not be all that I will be, but God is at work and the Bible says He will finish what He started in me (Philippians 1:6). When I enter eternity, all vestiges of my old self will be gone. What an encouragement to change and grow, to stop basing my way of life on what I used to be or how people used to treat me. Because of Christ and the certainty of God’s promises, now I am shaped by my future, not my past.
Those days when I act like Louie are becoming fewer and farther between thanks to the marvelous grace of God. To cure me, He knew better than fill my house with magic mirrors or let me find a restored self-image in temporary things. Instead, He is at work changing the person who is looking at the images.
Monday, October 17, 2016
Where is God when life hurts? .......... Parables 498
January 2, 1996
A teenage girl is beaten by her dad and screams, “There is no God.” A purse snatcher robs a senior of her savings and she sobs, “There is no God.” A man befriends a young couple, convinces them to invest in his company, then disappears with their funds. They cling to each other and cry out there is no God.
Sometimes unthinking Christians respond to these tragedies with a line from Scripture that declares, “Only a fool says in his heart there is no God.” We don’t know what is in their heart. Perhaps a kinder and wiser option is speaking and living in a way that demonstrates to them that there is indeed a God.
People can do it. According to Genesis, God created us in His own image. In some ways we are like God. We are not reflections of His physical likeness (He is spirit) and we cannot be everywhere at once nor do all things. We are like Him in our creativity, emotions, capacity to think, to love and to make decisions. Also, He intended we reflect something of His wisdom, goodness and generosity. He created us so we would magnify His glory.
It is not that people are blind to God’s glory from other revelations. The psalmist says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” Nature reveals God’s power and creativity. If cats and dogs and grass and thunderstorms can declare the glory of God, why can’t humans?
God also revealed Himself to the prophets of old. They recorded in books what He showed and told them — compiled into what we call the Bible. Scripture is a written record of everything God has revealed about Himself. Reading its pages with an open mind opens our eyes to the truth of Who He is. If we can see God in a book, why can’t we see Him in each other?
The point is, whether people believe in God or not, all are image-bearers — but not all are doing the job. The mirror is dirty. God’s image is muddied by abuse, greed, power trips, stealing, extortion, adultery, gossip, hatred, murder, jealousy and selfishness. When we look at the downside of humanity, we are almost justified in saying, “There is no God.”
Even if we take an honest look at the positive or good things people do, we have to admit the goodness in people points to a higher good. Yet we fail there too. We prefer to give ourselves credit for our goodness. In doing so, we contribute to the notion that there is no God.
With all those ways we mar the image of God, I am glad God gave a greater revelation of Himself: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son... the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being....”
The Lord Jesus Christ is God’s perfect revelation of His love and holiness. As He said, “He who sees me sees the Father.” Yet take note, God chose to reveal Himself in a human being. Jesus needed sleep, food and drink and was tempted by sin just as we are. He had all the limitations of being human but was different in that He did not sin. He proved that sin is not essential to being human because it was in being human that Jesus accomplished what we fail to do. He perfectly reflected the image of God.
Through this remarkable God-man, we are offered forgiveness and cleansing of our sin. He can polish our mirror and restore the image of God in us.
Everyone, including people who suffer and those who torment them, need to see that God indeed exists. The compelling evidence may not be a lecture, sermon or thunderstorm. They might see Him in someone who thinks, talks, and acts like Jesus.
A teenage girl is beaten by her dad and screams, “There is no God.” A purse snatcher robs a senior of her savings and she sobs, “There is no God.” A man befriends a young couple, convinces them to invest in his company, then disappears with their funds. They cling to each other and cry out there is no God.
Sometimes unthinking Christians respond to these tragedies with a line from Scripture that declares, “Only a fool says in his heart there is no God.” We don’t know what is in their heart. Perhaps a kinder and wiser option is speaking and living in a way that demonstrates to them that there is indeed a God.
People can do it. According to Genesis, God created us in His own image. In some ways we are like God. We are not reflections of His physical likeness (He is spirit) and we cannot be everywhere at once nor do all things. We are like Him in our creativity, emotions, capacity to think, to love and to make decisions. Also, He intended we reflect something of His wisdom, goodness and generosity. He created us so we would magnify His glory.
It is not that people are blind to God’s glory from other revelations. The psalmist says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” Nature reveals God’s power and creativity. If cats and dogs and grass and thunderstorms can declare the glory of God, why can’t humans?
God also revealed Himself to the prophets of old. They recorded in books what He showed and told them — compiled into what we call the Bible. Scripture is a written record of everything God has revealed about Himself. Reading its pages with an open mind opens our eyes to the truth of Who He is. If we can see God in a book, why can’t we see Him in each other?
The point is, whether people believe in God or not, all are image-bearers — but not all are doing the job. The mirror is dirty. God’s image is muddied by abuse, greed, power trips, stealing, extortion, adultery, gossip, hatred, murder, jealousy and selfishness. When we look at the downside of humanity, we are almost justified in saying, “There is no God.”
Even if we take an honest look at the positive or good things people do, we have to admit the goodness in people points to a higher good. Yet we fail there too. We prefer to give ourselves credit for our goodness. In doing so, we contribute to the notion that there is no God.
With all those ways we mar the image of God, I am glad God gave a greater revelation of Himself: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son... the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being....”
The Lord Jesus Christ is God’s perfect revelation of His love and holiness. As He said, “He who sees me sees the Father.” Yet take note, God chose to reveal Himself in a human being. Jesus needed sleep, food and drink and was tempted by sin just as we are. He had all the limitations of being human but was different in that He did not sin. He proved that sin is not essential to being human because it was in being human that Jesus accomplished what we fail to do. He perfectly reflected the image of God.
Through this remarkable God-man, we are offered forgiveness and cleansing of our sin. He can polish our mirror and restore the image of God in us.
Everyone, including people who suffer and those who torment them, need to see that God indeed exists. The compelling evidence may not be a lecture, sermon or thunderstorm. They might see Him in someone who thinks, talks, and acts like Jesus.
Friday, June 3, 2016
Made in God’s Image? .................. Parables 440
September 27, 1994
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Those words, the first of the Beatitudes, were framed and hanging on the classroom walls when my children were in elementary school. This famous passage from the Bible describes people who know a particular kind of blessedness. It includes great inner peace and frequently amazes others who do not have it.
“Poor in spirit” is not a description of material poverty. It is not about being weak-kneed, fearful, cowardly, or without the ability to stand up against evil.
Poor in spirit is recognizing and admitting spiritual bankruptcy. It is realizing that before God, you do not have a good deed to stand on. It is knowing that sin has the upper hand and because of it, there is nothing that can give you any merit before your Maker and Judge.
Anyone who has this quality will never boast of their own goodness. As far as they are concerned, they have none. But how can this be? Everyone knows we “all have some good in us.”
If that is true, it is because God made us in His own image. Noble thoughts or any capacity for decency is there because we were supposed to think and act like Him. Unfortunately, we seldom see God’s reflection in other people. What happened to it?
The Bible says sin has muddied His image in us and we need redemption so it can be restored. Note, however, that sin is like crossing a line. It does not matter how far across the line a person is but on which side of the line they stand. Each of us is either in the kingdom of God or the kingdom of sin.
Certainly some have gone farther on the wrong side of the line than others. Some are good people who merely go their own way, but without Christ. Others are proud and selfish, hurting others and are not quite so popular. Still others do evil things such as tell lies, break laws, commit incest, or brutally abuse others.
The point Scripture makes is that none of us, without faith in Christ, can be on God’s side of the line. No matter how close we stand, we still do not consistently choose good. Sadly, even goodness will not get us over the line.
The people who realize this and grieve over it are called “poor in spirit.” God says they are “blessed” but this truth is not much of a blessing to everyone else. Proud people feel they are okay... or at least as good as other people. They feel no need for repentance and forgiveness. Selfish people are not interested either because crossing the line is a call from God to turn from personal cravings. No one can serve two masters. They must choose either themselves or the King of Kings.
Evil people are the least interested. For them, sin is too much fun, or too profitable. But God says no one can come to Him (in honesty) and retain their sinfulness. If they do, He will cleanse it out of their lives. For that reason, people who are the farthest distance from the line usually prefer to stay where they are.
God calls the poor in spirit “blessed” because they have discovered the lie, misconception and emptiness in pride, selfishness and a sinful lifestyle. They are no longer interested in fooling anyone with false, inflated images of themselves.
As the verse says, the poor in spirit are also blessed because they are heirs to a different kingdom, one where they are satisfied with God’s grace and never get enough of His righteousness. It is a kingdom where He restores His subjects to image He intended.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Those words, the first of the Beatitudes, were framed and hanging on the classroom walls when my children were in elementary school. This famous passage from the Bible describes people who know a particular kind of blessedness. It includes great inner peace and frequently amazes others who do not have it.
“Poor in spirit” is not a description of material poverty. It is not about being weak-kneed, fearful, cowardly, or without the ability to stand up against evil.
Poor in spirit is recognizing and admitting spiritual bankruptcy. It is realizing that before God, you do not have a good deed to stand on. It is knowing that sin has the upper hand and because of it, there is nothing that can give you any merit before your Maker and Judge.
Anyone who has this quality will never boast of their own goodness. As far as they are concerned, they have none. But how can this be? Everyone knows we “all have some good in us.”
If that is true, it is because God made us in His own image. Noble thoughts or any capacity for decency is there because we were supposed to think and act like Him. Unfortunately, we seldom see God’s reflection in other people. What happened to it?
The Bible says sin has muddied His image in us and we need redemption so it can be restored. Note, however, that sin is like crossing a line. It does not matter how far across the line a person is but on which side of the line they stand. Each of us is either in the kingdom of God or the kingdom of sin.
Certainly some have gone farther on the wrong side of the line than others. Some are good people who merely go their own way, but without Christ. Others are proud and selfish, hurting others and are not quite so popular. Still others do evil things such as tell lies, break laws, commit incest, or brutally abuse others.
The point Scripture makes is that none of us, without faith in Christ, can be on God’s side of the line. No matter how close we stand, we still do not consistently choose good. Sadly, even goodness will not get us over the line.
The people who realize this and grieve over it are called “poor in spirit.” God says they are “blessed” but this truth is not much of a blessing to everyone else. Proud people feel they are okay... or at least as good as other people. They feel no need for repentance and forgiveness. Selfish people are not interested either because crossing the line is a call from God to turn from personal cravings. No one can serve two masters. They must choose either themselves or the King of Kings.
Evil people are the least interested. For them, sin is too much fun, or too profitable. But God says no one can come to Him (in honesty) and retain their sinfulness. If they do, He will cleanse it out of their lives. For that reason, people who are the farthest distance from the line usually prefer to stay where they are.
God calls the poor in spirit “blessed” because they have discovered the lie, misconception and emptiness in pride, selfishness and a sinful lifestyle. They are no longer interested in fooling anyone with false, inflated images of themselves.
As the verse says, the poor in spirit are also blessed because they are heirs to a different kingdom, one where they are satisfied with God’s grace and never get enough of His righteousness. It is a kingdom where He restores His subjects to image He intended.
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