What is the 'Image of God'? Part 3

In the previous two posts, we explored a number of different views on the image of God and what it means. The perspective that has been adopted is that it refers to the relationship between the members of the Trinity, and how we are called to share in that relationship, both with God and with others. Jesus, in John 17, clearly calls for us to be united as one, as He is one with the Father.


So what does this look like? How can we put some legs on this idea?


One example might look like this.




The white light on the left, entering the prism, represents original humanity. The very image of God. Perfect harmony, with God and each other. As the light enters the prism, it becomes distorted. This is what happened at the Fall in Genesis 3. As the light exits the prism it is scattered, just as God scattered the people in Genesis 11 at the Tower of Babel.


At the Fall, we chose to sever our relationship with God as human beings. We became a distorted image, no longer a part of that beautiful Trinitarian relationship. We turned our backs on God.


At the Tower, although the people were working together as one, they were disobeying God, and so God came down and scattered the people to the corners of the Earth and "confused their language." The people who had once lived in the same place, shared the same language and much the same lives, now lived in different places and environments, spoke different languages, and led very different lives... much like the different colours that refract out of the prism.


Each one of us is different. We enjoy different things, we have different backgrounds, shared different experiences, different educations, emotions, personalities, skills and abilities... the list is endless. The different colours refracted out of the prism represent these differences, whether they are personality differences, cultural differences, or physical differences, etc. We even see Paul talking about different people receiving different gifts of the Spirit. These are also represented by the refracting light.


Individually, we don't reflect the image of God. We refract the image. We're not longer pure white light, but rather we are each from a different part of the colour spectrum. I might be green or blue or violet while you might be red or yellow or orange. A blue light can never be a white light, just as a red light can never be white. At least, not by themselves.


It's not until all the colours from across the spectrum are brought together in community that we begin to reflect God's image again, the original white light. The colour wheel below shows how all the colours combining together bring about the return to white light. It is in our diversity that we have unity, and diversity in our unity. The diverse colours uniting to be the white light reflection of God.



In the previous post, we discussed how we were made to be loved by God, but that's not where it ends. We were also made to reciprocate that love. We were made to love God back. Strangely, God says that that's not enough in Genesis 2. God says, "It is not good for the man to be alone." However, we know that the man, Adam, was not alone. God was with him. We know that God walked with him in the garden in the cool of the day.


This is not quite what God meant. What was being said here is that the man needed someone that was like him. He needed a companion, a partner in life. Being close to God means being relational, not just with God but with other people.


The two greatest commandments that Jesus identified, love the Lord your God and love your neighbour, could not be separated but go together. Jesus didn't make these up. He took them directly from Scripture. Love the Lord your God comes right out of Deuteronomy 6:5, and love you neighbour is taken from Leviticus 19:18. Jesus, while quoting Scripture, was explaining that you cannot be fully human, reflecting the image of God, without loving God and sharing in relationship with others.


Israel was chosen by God, called by God, to be a lighthouse to the nations. Israel was a holy nation, chosen by God, to bless the nations so that they might also come to know God. While it didn't turn out to be an overly effective strategy, the hurdles that Israel struggled to overcome were broken down by Jesus, including the barrier between the nations.


Jesus proclaims in Luke 24 that He lived and died so that repentance and forgiveness of sins would be preached to all nations, and in Matthew 28 gives a mandate to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."


Jesus is calling you to go to all the different colours refracting out of the prism, and gather together in the relationship that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit share, once again recreating the white light and reflecting God's image. We are called to live in communion with God and each other... with all those that are different from us... with all nations.


Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations...

Who Does God Use?

Had an interesting discussion in our leadership intensive with Rod Denton (pictured left) this afternoon. The question we focused on throughout was: Who is the person that God uses?

Luke 5 was used as text to work through, where Jesus is teaching a crowd and spies two boats on the edge of the water...

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."

Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

There were six characteristics that were identified throughout, and each characteristic was found within different portions of the text.

First and foremost, before digging into the six characteristics, it is important to note that the people Jesus chose were not highly educated or of any special status in society. They were simple men that Jesus saw great leadership potential for the Kingdom. They were teachable.


SO WHO IS THE PERSON GOD USES?

1. THE PERSON WITH A SERVANT HEART.

Reading verses two and three, the fishermen had been out on the boat all night. They were trashed. They didn't have a good night on the water. Caught squat. They were tired, frustrated, hungry and just wanted to clean up and get home.

If we look closely in these verses, Jesus asked Simon to serve at a time when he really would not have felt like serving and already busily occupied cleaning his nets. Jesus asked Simon to serve not for the benefit of either of them, but for the benefit of other people. Simon was not going to receive any recognition for his labour, and Jesus was asking him to perform a menial task... simply to put the boat out.

Jesus was putting Simon to the test to see if he had a servant heart. Simon put the boat out just as he was asked to, and passed the test.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant... (Philippians 2:5-7)


2. THE PERSON WHO IS OBEDIENT.

Verses four to seven show us how, after a long night of unsuccessful fishing, Jesus asks the fishermen to cast their nets out again. While it seemed ridiculously crazy to them, they were still obedient and let down their nets... and were rewarded for their obedience.

Jesus was asking the fishermen to do something that seemed illogical on the surface. What's more, Jesus, a carpenter by trade, was asking these expert fishermen how to fish. He was asking them to do something in an area that they were more knowledgeable and had more experience.

Jesus wasn't pretending to know more than they did about fishing, but rather seeing if they were teachable. Did they profess to know everything there was to know about their field, or were the fishermen willing to learn? Jesus was asking them to do something that He Himself would later model by completing the works that God the Father gave Him to do (John 17:4), and He was asking them to become followers, in order for them to eventually become leaders.

The fishermen were being put to the test to see if they were teachable, to see if they were willing to be obedient. It is impossible to be fully committed if you are only half-hearted. The fishermen, weary as they were, did as Jesus asked of them... and they passed the test.


3. THE PERSON WHO IS HUMBLE.

Once Simon realised what had happened, he fell to his knees and humbled himself (verses 9-10a). God uses the humble, broken and crushed people who are aware of their sinfulness and the grace of God. He uses humble people that are aware of their inadequacy and their total reliance on God. He uses the broken-spirited people that are aware that if they have God and nothing else, they have everything.

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled. And he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 14:11)


4. THE PERSON WITH A VISION FOR PEOPLE.

Jesus told Simon not to be afraid because he would be catching men, rather than fish, from now on (v10b). Simon was given a vision of God and later, after much learning and stumbling, became the great fisher of men that Christ had prophesied.

His vision was born out of perspective and intimacy with Christ. It was motivated by a love for people, and it led to a radical reorientation of his life.

Vision is no different for us. It is born out of perspective and intimacy with Christ, is motivated by a love for people and leads to a radical reorientation of our lives.


5. THE PERSON WHO IS AVAILABLE.

The fishermen made themselves available to Jesus. They did what He asked of them, and then (in verse 11) they left everything and followed Him. They didn't just leave a few things, or some things... they left everything.

The founder of The Salvation Army, William Booth, made a great statement about being available. He said this:

The secret of success for me has been that God has had all there was of me to have. There may have been men with greater opportunities, but from the day I got the poor of London on my heart, and a vision of what Jesus Christ could do, I made up my mind that God would have all there was of William Booth. If there is anything of power in the Salvation Army today, it is because God has had all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will and all the influence in my life.

It seems that the greatest lesson to be learned here is that God uses people with great availability, rather than people with great ability.


6. THE PERSON WHO IS FAITHFUL.

Finally, verse 11 also show how the fishermen gave up everything they had and simply followed. They kept following. They were faithful to Him. Bobby Clinton made a statement that "few leaders finish well." It is true. Few leaders finish well. Often, they wane and diminish... fade out, burn out, drop out.

Many leaders get to a point that they just can't take it any more and jump ship. What Bobby Clinton is saying here is that leaders have to be faithful to their calling, drawing upon God's strength and abiding by that. Leadership is a tough gig.

We were left with a short passage that described persistence as faithfulness.

Nothing can take the place of persistence
Talent will not
Unsuccessful men with talent are common
Education will not
The world has a superabundance of well education derelicts
Persistence and determination stand alone

Be persistent. Persevere. Be faithful.

Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2)

So, quickly...

God uses the person:

• With a servant heart
• Who is obedient
• Who is humble
• With a vision for people
• Who is available
• Who is faithful

We are often tested to see if we truly do have a servant heart, whether we are teachable and will be obedient, humble, available and faithful. Remember, your vision comes from God. It is God's vision. If a vision is no bigger than yourself then it's not of God. God gives God-sized visions.

Take a moment and assess yourself out of ten for each point. Better yet, get your spouse or partner or a friend to assess you. See how you are really doing. Be brutally honest with yourself. God knows the truth.

If you would like more information about Rod Denton and his leadership programs, please visit his website http://www.roddentoneng.com.au/