Joy in Christendom

Imago Dei

Imago Dei, or the Image of God, is a theological concept that is concerned with anthropology or the study of man and his origins.  We learn about man from God and His Word.  Man is Created by God and is the very image of God, both Male and Female.  The Unity and Diversity of the Trinity is therefore reflected in man.  While there is equality of being, there are different roles and functions within the diversity of genders, kinds and races of men.  This Christo-centric understanding of Man can be explained in three general concerns.   First, the Word says that the origins of man were spontaneous and creative and in His likeness:

Gen 2:7 - then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

Gen 5:1 - This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.

Man was also created separately and specially:

Gen 1:25-26 -    And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Secondly, Being a creature, Man has responsibility.  As we see here, man's most important act is to worship God and enjoy him forever.

1 Cor 10:31 - "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

Man is also to work, create, procreate and build:

Gen 1:28 - "And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

and then again, reaffirmed in the Great Commission:

Matthew 28:18-20 - "And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Finally, we learn how Man is to live with God and other Men.  Man is to live in community with others, worshiping God and serving man.

Titus 3:3-8 - "For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people."

Imago Dei has vast implications and is foundational to understanding our existence and causes our Worship to our Great God.  Our inherent worth does not generate from self or others but from God himself.  Ultimately it is life that is wholeheartedly committed to obedience and service to the Creator.  As Creatures, we are to commit all we are, all that we do, and all that we have to serve the LORD God, Creator with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength.

 

 

God's Curse as Benefit to Man

"We must also see that God's wrath and curse of man and creation was the result of Adam's sin.  Adam's desire was to be as God, to be the Law-maker for both himself and creation.  Since Adam was the Federal Head of all mankind and the head of the hierarchy of creation, his rejection of God's creative law caused God's curse to fall upon him and this world.  But this curse was not destructive.  On the contrary, God's curse was constructive.  It is constructive because man is not God.  Adam could not make the laws necessary to bring creation into existence, and uphold it.  Man is not a law-maker.  Only God is, and because only God can create law, God cursed Adam and creation as a creative and constructive act.  By cursing man and his world God forced man against his will to think God's thoughts after Him.  This was a constructive act of God, for without the curse man would have totally rejected God and destroyed himself.  But God, through the curse, forced man back upon the laws that governed him, which in turn enabled him to survive.  It must always be remembered that God cursed the ground for Adam's sake (Gen. 3:17) to prevent him from destroying himself."  -Rushdoony, Tithing and Dominion.

When was the last time you ever heard the Fall of Man described in those terms?  Praise Him - Praise the Lord and His Goodness and Kindness.  Praise all His Holy Will.  Praise Him.

 

Legislating Morality

We hear this phrase a lot, and we most often hear it in a negative sense:  "well, you can't legislate morality".  This line of reasoning has confused me ever since I heard it from my 11th-grade American history teacher describing the attempts to outlaw alcohol in the earlier part of the 20th century. Broadening the topic a bit to the concept of Law, we must understand that all Law is "legislating morality" - it's, again, one of those inescapable categories. 

".. All law is enacted morality and presupposes a moral system, a moral law, and all morality presupposes a religion as its foundation.  Law rests on morality, and morality on religion.  Whenever and wherever you weaken the religious foundations of a country or people, you then weaken the morality also, and you take away the foundations of its law.  The result is the progressive collapse of law and order and the breakdown of society."

Furthermore,

"They tell us, as they strike down laws resting upon Biblical foundations, that morality cannot be legislated, but what they offer is not only legislated morality but salvation by law, and no Christian can accept this.  Wherever we look now, whether with respect to poverty, education, civil rights, human rights, peace, and all things else, we see laws passed designed to save man.  Supposedly, these laws are going to give us a society free of prejudice, ignorance, disease, poverty, crime, war, and all other things considered to be evil.  These legislative programs add up to one thing:  salvation by law." - J. Rushdoony, Law and Liberty

This is why humanists (atheists, agnostics, etc) will always be frustrated with consistent Christians, especially politically.  For laws grounded on the Bible do not attempt to save man or usher in Utopia (world peace, disease-free and poverty-free population, or other ideals).  The purpose of Law is to punish and restrain evil (Rom 13:1-4), and to protect life and property, and to provide justice for all people.  The Biblically-based Law does not seek to save, change or reform man.

Americans today are expecting too much from the law - we are expecting nothing short of salvation of man.  We will never succeed in building this tower of Babel.  The more we build, the more we will be frustrated, and the less we will realize justice and peace.  Only when we return to the Biblical foundations for Law will we see a return to Justice and Order under law.

Ps 127:1 - Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain."

Where are the Biblically-Consistent Christians?

All Things, in, through and for God

Christian, never apologize for being a Calvinist!  These are not empty and futile thoughts.

While talking to someone at work on the Sovereignty of God, I was accused of being a fatalist.  We looked up the word together and the definition stated that a fatalist believes that all things are controlled by Fate.  I've never met Fate, nor read it's book, however, I do believe in the One who lovingly controls all things and saves His people from their sins.  From the book that I'm currently reading, we see that:

"If there is one Christian who stresses belief in God, it is the Calvinist.  His first and last thought everywhere is God.  This is the golden thread that colors the whole of Calvinistic theology.  Everything depends upon God.  Religion, although it blesses man, exists not for Man, but in the last analysis for God.  'Of Him and Through and To Him are all things"'  Consider the Calvinist's view regarding the universe of created things.  Not only does he believe that it was created by God, but all that occurs in it; whether in nature or in human life, he holds to be but the unfolding of the divine plan for the ages.  Even sin does not happen as an accident.  God willingly permitted sin, lets it work according to its own inherent nature, and controls for His own Glory.  God works upon this creation in either of two ways.  He works through the normal operations of the universe.  Men, even sinful men in nature, act freely according to their own impulses or laws.  They are, however, only the secondary causes; behind them lies God, as the first cause of all things.  He, without compelling secondary causes to act contrary to their own nature and choice, brings to pass all that happens to the universe.  The second method that God operates upon this world is by miracles: special revelation, inspiration, wonders, incarnation, physical resurrection, regeneration, and sanctification.  The Calvinist does not rest content, whether he views the normal operations of nature or God's special, miraculous revelations, until he traced all events back to God and dedicated them to him." Basic Ideas of Calvinism, H. Henry Meeter

Praise God!

Genesis 20:6

6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning w against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.

Genesis 50:19-20

19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but i God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Psalm 115:3

3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.

Psalm 135:6

6 Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.

Proverbs 16:4

4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose,
even q the wicked for the day of trouble.

Proverbs 16:9

9 The heart of man plans his way,
but z the Lord establishes his steps.

Proverbs 19:21

21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Proverbs 20:24

24 A man's steps are from the Lord;
how then can man understand his way?

Proverbs 21:1

21 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
he turns it wherever he will.

Isaiah 10:5-7

5 Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger;
the staff in their hands is my fury!
6 Against a godless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take spoil and seize plunder,
and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 But he does not so intend,
and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;

Isaiah 14:27

27 For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
and who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
and who will turn it back?

Isaiah 43:12-13

12 I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.
13 Also henceforth I am he;
there is none who can deliver from my hand;
I work, and who can turn it back?”

Isaiah 46:9-10

9 remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
10 declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’

Lamentations 3:37

37 Who has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?

Daniel 4:34-35

34 At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored p him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and he does according to his will among the host of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay his hand
or say to him, “What have you done?”

Acts 4:27-28

27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your u holy servant Jesus, v whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

Romans 9:18-23

18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump d one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—

Modes of Thought within Christendom

"What are the major schools of thought within Christianity"

I found this nice, succinct list in the book "Basic Ideas of Calvinism", recommend by Rev. McAtee, over at ironink.org.

Methodist:  Places the idea of salvation for sinners in the foreground;
Baptist: Mystery of regeneration;
Lutheran: Justification by faith;
Moravian:  The wounds of Christ;
Greek: Mysticism of the Holy Spirit;
Roman:  Catholicity of the church;
Calvinism:  Places in the foreground the thought of God.

It is easy to point out that all of the above systems, have commonalities in all of these areas, however this list should highlight what is most central to these systems.  To further expand on the last one (it is, after all, a book on Calvinism), the author continues with "The calvinist does not start out with some interest of man, for example, his  conversion, or his justification, but has as his informing thought always how will God come to His rights!"

Good stuff.

Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things.To him be glory forever. Amen.

Top 10 Stupid Things Christians Say

Daddy's a hypocrite - I don't allow my own children to say "stupid" - and I still stand by that conviction.  However, as an adult, it would seem that age has afforded me the privilege. Sometimes we can use "earthy" language for emphasis. 

By "stupid" we mean without rationality or purpose and being in direct contradiction to what we hold to be true.  I have been guilty of all 10! 

1. It's all subjective
2. Depends on one's perspective
3. The Church doesn't need propositional truth
4. Well I turned out OK
5. Good luck
6. It's all going to burn anyway
7. This is evidence that proves the Biblical account
8. I believe in Intelligent Design/I believe in Evolution
9. Try Jesus
10. Top 10 Stupid Things Christians Say

Did I miss any?

Nature is not Television

"What are Christians to think about Nature and Saving the Environment?"

More from Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America

"What I'm trying to get at is that in the environmental movement there are some ugly, elitist, class-struggle type things operating. ... There are so many elements of class struggle lying under the attitudes of a lot of environmentalists; it's scary... their view of the natural world is so delicate and precious, terrarium-like, picture-windowish.  I know nature is precious and delicate.  I also know it is incredibly tough and resilient, has unbelievable power to respond to and flourish with kindly use.  I don't care about the landscape if I am to be excluded from it... the question isn't to use or not use the question is HOW to use it."

Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Nature, or Creation rather, is meant to conquered and used.  We are commanded to use it and civilize it.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

Man is to exercise dominion over all the earth, not a despotic dominion to be sure, but rather a responsible stewardship.

The Problem with Specialization

"What are the dangers of specialization, in a general sense?"

I'm still working through the Unsettling of America and came across a section of the book that speaks to the issue of the over-specialization of function in work.

"We then begin to see the... impossibility of an idea of community wholeness that divorces itself from any idea of personal wholeness.  The first and best known hazard of the specialist system is that it produces specialists - people who are elaborately and expensively trained to do one thing.  We get into absurdity very quickly here.  There are for instance educators who have nothing to teach, communicators that have nothing to say, medical doctors skilled at expense to cure for disease that they have no skill and no interest in preventing.  More common and more damaging are the inventors, manufacturers and salesman of devices who have no concern for the possible effects of those devices.  Specialization is thus seen to be a way of institutionalizing, justifying, and paying highly for a calamitous disintegration and scattering-out of the various functions of character:  workmanship, care, conscience, responsibility. ... Therefore the [ideal] citizen is therefore left with only two concerns:  making money and entertaining himself."

- The Unsettling of America, Wendell Berry

I've long thought that big business and big government, although they publicly hate the other, really need the other in order to exist - while at the same time taking advantage of the "small".  It doesn't have to be this way of course, but we desire it as a society in order that we may live the easy life.   We are robing the future and everyone else and it will catch up with us to devastating proportions.

Wellness vs. Effeciency

"What is the difference between living Well and living Efficiently?"

I'm 8 pages into a book and read the following quote found in The Unsettling of America, by Wendell Berry.  There is much more here in this area of the book, but the quote that made me stop dead in my tracks was the following:

"I conceive a strip-miner to be a model exploiter, and as a model nurturer I take the old-fashioned idea or ideal of a farmer.  The exploiter is a specialist, an expert; the nurturer is not.  The standard of the exploiter is efficiency, that standard of the nurturer is care.  The exploiters' goal is money, profit; the nurturer's goal is health - his land's health, his own, his family's, his community's, his country's.  Whereas the exploiter asks of a piece of land only how much and how quickly it can be made to produce, the nurturer asks a question that is much more complex and difficult:  what is its carrying capacity? (... what can it produce dependably for an indefinite time?)  The exploiter wishes to earn as much as possible by as little work as possible; the nurturer expects, certainly, to have a decent living from his work, but his characteristic wish is to work as well as possible."

What I think this boils down to is that the seeking of profit above all else is sinful and damaging to Creation.  No big shock there.  However, the truth of this has far more implications then that.  For the person who believes that this life is "throw away" or that "it's all going to burn in the end", they will tend to exploit Creation for the future - a spend now and pay later approach.  However, if one believes that we're in it for the long haul, thinking 15 to 20 generations into the future, this line of thinking becomes much more important.  It's something to think about.

Genesis 1:31: "31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day."

Genesis 2:15-20: "15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him."

Psalm 118:24 - This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

"Lord, we delight in all thy commands - to be fruitful, to domesticate and to Love thy Neighbor.  Give us a heart for the long-term, give us a mind for your Gospel and the making of disciples.  For your Glory Father, rid the land of our disposable and idolatrous hearts.  Amen"

Coexist OR ELSE!

"What are Christians to make of pluralism?"

I often laugh a little to myself every time I see those well-meaning (I assume) bumper stickers.  You probably have all seen them - blue background with white lettering stating COEXIST and the world's religion symbols constructing the letters.  There is one and most-prevalent world religion that is missing from the bumper sticker and that is the religion of secular humanism.  This is the religion that places the bumper sticker on the back of the automobile in the first place.  This is the ruling religion that is demanding that all other religions bow the knee to the ruling religion and "get along".

Now, that is not to say that peace is not a Christian value, it most certainly is.  However, it is NOT a Christian value to state that all religions are on the same, level, playing field and that we must ascend to each.  This is a value-claim of the secular humanist religion and is incompatible with Christianity. Christian, beware of these attempts.

I Timothy 2:1-3:  First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

"Father in Heaven, we pray that we would respect your name on earth, in all the earth.  Raise up worshipers to glorify your name and to proclaim your Love.  We thank you for your saving work and would humbly ask for a great reformation in the Land.  Amen"