A STUDY IN HUMANITY


                           Category:  Religion and Philosophy   Tuesday, December 05, 2006

 

Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

 John 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."

         So God has no image. He cannot be seen by the human eye, but creation points to His existence. His Son, Jesus testified to His existence and desire to be sought by His creatures. He also provided us with an example of how to live our lives seeking and serving God.

          If men and women are created in Gods' image and then John 4:24 states that God is a Spirit. What is the image that we are created in? What is meant by they "must" worship Him in Spirit and truth?

          If we take time to look at everything around us in our world that God has made we will see that God is an incredible artist. His creativity has no boundary. When we look at the accomplishments of men and women we also can see awesome creativity. Not nearly as complex or perfect as God has done but never the less we can see some of the "image" that is referred to in Genesis. As I said God is complex but yet very simple. That is part of the beauty of God. He is very straight forward and transparent but supreme in intelligence and beauty at the same time. So supreme that we can not even get close to His level yet He encourages us to have a personal relationship with Him. Awesome!

          When God created man and woman he built some of that complexity into His creation. If we take time to understand John 4:24 where it states we must worship God in spirit and truth we can see what that really means. I believe this is something that needs to be taught in the churches today but I will wait and get to that meaning later.

          The word psychology comes from the ancient Greek psyche ("soul," ) and -ology, "study"). Think about it! The study of the soul. Most modern psychologist do not know that.. This is what happens when man takes God out of any equation and places himself in a position claiming self reliance and independence from God. Sounds like too much education could be very damaging to your spiritual life doesn't it? That's another subject for us to discuss later.

          When God made man he built into him everything he needed for him to survive through his life. He built into him a way to attain love, happiness, peace, a sense of accomplishment, and so on. In short man (and woman) were given the opportunity to become co-creators with God. They have all they need to create their own worlds as God had created His universe. Think back to God in creation. In Genesis He spoke the world into existence. The words "God Said" were used nine times in Genesis chapter 1 during the creation process. Now I want to think about the significance of that. If God created man in His image, and if God spoke His world into existence, then I would guess that words hold great power for God and man. Check these verses out!

Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat of the fruit thereof."   Pretty powerful stuff!

Corinthians 10:5 says,
"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing captive every thought to the obedience of Christ." Sounds like a slam on gossip. Let me add to that Dave's definition of gossip. Gossip: A sin described as detestable to God as murder but one that that most Pastors do not have the courage to deal with. Pardon me, just speaking as  a victim from experience.

In James 3:6, the Bible says that the tongue is "a fire, a world of iniquity", and James 3:8 calls the tongue a "deadly poison." 

Proverbs 25:18 says, "A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow." So a lying tongue is a misuse of a deadly weapon. It can be used to harm others near at hand (a maul), a few feet away (a sword), or a great distance away (an arrow). Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44), and God said that he hates a lying tongue (Pro. 6:17). All liars will have their part in the lake of fire, according to Revelation 21:8.

"For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulcher; they flatter with their tongue." (Psalm 5:9)

Psalm 12:3-4 says, "The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?" The most annoying Christians in the world are those with proud tongues because a proud tongue usually comes with two closed ears!

Proverbs 25:23 and Romans 1:30 make mention of a backbiting tongue.

A backbiter is someone who uses their tongue against you when you aren't present, yet they will not face you with their charges when you are present. (Do you Recognize yourself here?) This is cowardly, a backbiter would rather stir up problems than solve problems.

A backbiter would much rather talk ABOUT the preacher than talk TO the preacher. A backbiter would much rather talk ABOUT some weak Christian in the church than offer some words of encouragement TO them. A back biter would gossip about another's blessing rather then be happy in the fact that one is blessed. A backbiter is of no use to anyone, and no one has ever been strengthened or edified through backbiting. The backbiter is a destructive, power seeking freak! I know several who have lost jobs, homes, and securities in life itself, because of this kind of tongue from these people. In the past, One family that I know of fell victim to the kind of people that fit into this description, and it led them to losing their job, their home, both at the same time and then eventually felt forced to leave their church because of the gossip that was created.  This was after having given 20 years of faithful membership and devoted service. But no one was willing to stand up and stop the backbiters. What a testimony to the power of the spoken word and evil thoughts. In any case if you think you may be a backbiter at all, ask for forgiveness and repent.

          It is obvious that the spoken word holds great power. Where does that word come from? I believe it comes from the mind or soul. The process of thinking. That process is also where our choices come from and so now we can see that the real creative or destructive force in our lives is our own thoughts.

Could it be that God created us in such a way that we too think our individual worlds into existence? Is it possible that would be one example of man & woman being created in Gods' image? I believe it is undeniable. 

          Now back to psychology. With all of this in mind it is easy to understand why psychology originally was defined as the study of the soul. That is until man took God out of the study and replaced Him with self reliant people who have way more education then needed. (Man! I'm on a roll here, LOOK OUT!) I believe that we as people can understand more about ourselves and others if we just take time to understand the basics of Gods' creation. Like I said earlier, God is straight forward and loves to reveal to His children through relationships. Next is defining Spirit and truth. Until Later, Dave


 


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