July 8, 2018 Galatians 3: 23-28, John 4:23-26
John Calvin, writes in his
book “Institutes of the Christian
Religion Book I, and I quote “For though the divine glory is displayed
in man’s outward appearance, it cannot be doubted that the proper image of God
can only be found in Spirit.” In Calvin’s eyes we were created man
and women, yet God is Spirit and we are all one in Spirit with God. In Galatians
3:28 We hear the Apostle Paul stating: “There
is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and
female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. We are of one mind,
body and one spirit.” When discussing man being made in
the image and likeness of God we need to understand: Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our
likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the
sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures
that move along the ground.” So God created humankind in his own image, in the
image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
male and female he created them.
May I suggest we need to
comprehend just how important a good understanding of this truth is. We were made equally both male and female, and
we were made to be like God. Equality here does not mean that our
bodies would be equal in proportion, nor does it mean that our physical
strength would be equal for we were all made to be unique, each with special gifts
and qualities. May I suggest that it means that all aspects of our spirit
are the same and they are equal in every way. This may disturb some but our
human orientation {sexuality, race, or color} has no place in this
equality. There is no male or female
when we are one in spirit with God in Christ. Do you know the lyrics to “We Are One In
The Spirit” check them out.
In order to be like God and in
the image of God, we would need to have within our human physical bodies
something of God. That something
is our spirit, something that is equal in all aspects of equality and it is
only that which is eternal. I believe
that this is what the writer meant when he says we are made in the image and
likeness of God. Unfortunately the continual use of a male reference
within the scriptures made it far to easy for men to discount the female as
somehow inferior. The use of the Parental name Father was never
meant for that purpose either. The male reference of God in
the scriptures has been a problem over the centuries and continues to be
in many modern day religions perspectives. Sorry gentlemen but God is not a man. Sorry ladies
but God is not a woman either. Therefore God being
neither male nor female but SPIRIT, God then can represent for us an
all-encompassing parent, from whom we have inherited the creators parenting
attributes, which include love, forgiveness, humility, compassion, peace, joy,
justice and hope. All these
inherit attributes are in need of cultivation. That is why we were given “the word” both in
print and in the flesh. Study of the word and putting its teachings into
action develops a reverence for God that inflames our gratitude.
Gratitude becomes the soil which
cultivates faith. We were made human, but with a Spirit in likeness
and in the image of God’s all-encompassing love. God’s unconditional love is why I believe
God will never for sake or leave you. God loves us so much that
God gave us the nature of the spirit, which is the God given factor within you. It is our spiritual nature that finds it
kinship in the Son. Jesus said you in
me, and I in the Father make us united as one. 1 Corinthians 6:17 A good question that could be asked here
is: If we are all one in spirit then who is your spirits neighbor? Why
it is your humanness, your human nature and your physical body. Your
spirit wants you to love and respect it just as the Spirit loves itself "which
is the God in you." Without
the Spirits attribute of humility, you would not have the power or
the strength to love your human nature and your physical self without falling
prey to the worldly ways of the EGO.
Jesus said in John 4:24 “God
is Spirit”. Throughout the Old Testament, the Spirit
of God repeatedly appears, beginning in Genesis 1:2 and let
us be clear it does not say he or she hovered over the waters, it
states The "Spirit" of God hovered over the waters.
The Spirit is that which gave us
life and when ignited in ordinary people, it anoints them to act as God’s
voice, to speak out for injustice among the poor and marginalized. To
act as God’s hands as we serve one another with love and compassion and to
act as God’s feet as we spread his attributes all over our world.
We can hear this in 2 Samuel 23:2
and I quote “ The spirit of the Lord spoke through me; his word was
on my tongue”. Through God’s Spirit, the way is shown to
us, the plans, purposes and desires of God are revealed to us, then through us, to others.
as unique among all creation. At conception we were given life, but our roadmap was not
yet made clear to us.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 states: “Even now we do not know the path of the wind
or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, often we cannot understand
the works of God, the maker of all things.” We are given a physical body, it comes with
the gift of life and yet it cannot be the image of God, for it returns to the dust from which it
was formed. Yet we were created in Spirit and it is that which lives forever and returns
home to its source. Conformation of this truth is found in Ecclesiastes: 7 “and the dust
returns to the ground it come from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” We
are spiritual beings temporally housed in an earthly body and we were given an eternal
spirit that will never die, only to return to its creator. Thanks be to God
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