Title: Image of God (Genesis 01:24-31)
Content The Bible testifies that man was created in the image of God. But in reality, few know what the image of God is. John Wesley understood the nature of the image of God contained in the Bible in three dimensions.
You kill all worldly desires. It is because you have put off your old man by putting off your old life, and you have changed into a new man. The new man is constantly renewed in the image of his Creator, and comes to possess true knowledge (Colossians 3:5-10). The image of God is true knowledge. Wesley defined this as the natural image of God in man. True knowledge is the knowledge of God. Humans instinctively have spiritual eyes to know God. Paul makes this point very clear.
From the time the world was created, God, through creation, revealed his eternal power and invisible qualities such as divinity, so that man could see and understand it (Romans 1:20-/JV) 1979 It happened in May. Dr. Baltheim, secretary-general of the UN General Assembly at the time, who was trying to resume inter-Korean dialogue after the interruption of inter-Korean dialogue, went to Pyongyang to visit President Kim Il-sung. But he came back with no income. At the farewell party, President Kim Il-sung asked about his impressions of Pyongyang. He replied that it was because he was thinking of chasing President Kim because the judges were not comfortable. Thanks to President Kim, the weather in Pyongyang was good, so he had a good view.
But unexpectedly, President Kim corrected the good weather in Pyongyang not because of me, but because of God. It is known to the world that in North Korea, diaries were also believed to be under the influence of the president.
However, the quality of man is that although he knows God, he does not glorify him as God, nor is he thankful (Romans 1:21). Humans have the wisdom and power to know God. This is called spirituality (spirituality). However, they neither serve God nor give thanks, but there is a sinful nature of mankind. As a result, humans came to worship idols instead of God (Romans 1:23), fell into sexual depravity (Romans 1:26), and quarreled with each other and perished (Romans 1:30). it's fate
(2) God created man in his own image, male and female, and blessed them, saying, Have children, multiply, and spread throughout the earth and rule the earth (Genesis 1:27/JK). The image of God has dominion over all things. Wesley defined this as the political image of God in man. Man has been endowed with authority by God to rule over all things. However, this is causing a big problem in modern society. It is said that this verse of the Bible justified human destruction of the environment. The main culprit of the destruction of the ecosystem is the Bible, which is strongly criticized and protested.
The word to rule means to use all things as well as to manage them. It is a privilege to use, but a responsibility to manage. Along with the right to rule over all things, humans also have a responsibility to preserve them well. As long as you use it because it is governed, you will eventually have nothing to use. In order to be able to continue to use it, it must be maintained and maintained well. Humans only used it, not managed it and preserved it. This is human error and delusion.
T. Chartin argued that human beings have three ethic of the rule of all things.
It is love, purity and self-denial. It means that those who have control over all things must love all things, not be greedy, and must learn to control themselves. Otherwise, the conquest of monopoly and infinite desire becomes dictatorship, war, and vandalism. The end of dictatorship, war and vandalism is destruction. This is the reason we are suffering from the threats of resource depletion, population expansion, nuclear weapons, and environmental pollution that we are experiencing today.
(3) There is only the truth in Christ Jesus. If you have listened to and learned his teachings as they are, you will put away your old life and put off your old personality that is corrupted by lust, and your heart and mind will be renewed and you will become a new creature created in the image of God. You have to change into a human. The new man is a person who lives a life of justice and holy truth (Ephesians 4:21-24/Cotrans.) The image of God is a life of justice and truth. Wesley defined this as the moral image of God in man. A person who ignores justice is called an unrighteous person. An unrighteous person is a person whom everyone avoids. He has lost the image of God. Anyone who opposes the truth is a liar. A false person is not trusted and respected by anyone.
He has lost the image of God.
Behold my servant whom I hold, my chosen one, whom my heart rejoices in; I have given him my god, and he will do justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry, nor raise his voice, nor hear his voice in the streets, nor break a bruised reed, nor quench a smoldering lamp, nor will he bring forth justice with the truth. The islands will wait for its lessons (Isaiah 42:1-4) Go quickly to the streets of Jerusalem, search from the wide streets, and know. If you find even one man who does justice and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city (Jeremiah 5:1). Who is the man whom God trusts, whom God chooses to save the nation and mankind? A person who practices justice and seeks the truth.
What kind of people mankind trusts, respects, and follows are those who do justice with the truth.
The Bible accuses humans of being sinners. The word sinner means one who has lost the image of God. The way out of this sin, the way to be free, is to live in the truth. If a man abide in my word, he is truly my disciple, and he will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32). This freedom means freedom from sin (John 8:34). longs for the experience of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit means the Spirit of Christ.
The Holy Spirit sent by Christ is the Spirit of truth. (John 14:17) When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth (John 16:13). (John 16:7-11) Those who are in Christ are called saints. What is the way for a person to be sanctified? A person who offers his body as an instrument of justice. You used to practice lawlessness by surrendering your whole body as a slave to unclean practices and lawlessness, but now you must sacrifice your whole body as a slave to justice and strive to become holy people (Romans 6:19-20) Existentialists are now Human beings are called non-original human beings. Therefore, he insists that he should be restored to his original human nature. The Bible calls those who are in Christ a New Being. The new creation is a person who has restored the lost image of God. Glorify God as God and be a grateful person. You must constantly cultivate your own spirituality (spirituality).
As a new creature, man must properly govern the universe and everything in it. It should be used as needed and managed and preserved well so that it can be used for generations of descendants and descendants. Human beings can be the center of the universe without losing the balance between rights and responsibilities. Otherwise, humans will be doomed together with the universe.
As a new creature, man must strive to live a life of justice and holy truth. It is a way to gain God's trust and a way to save the world and one's country. Humanity believes and follows those who lead a holy life of justice and truth. Learning from the unrighteous and deceitful, do not seek wisdom. This was the faith of the prophet Isaiah and the experience of Jeremiah.
Man is a being made of earth. Son and daughter of nature. The beings made of the dust were made in the image of God. Therefore, man must not lose the image of God. It returns to dust, returns to dust, and ends in dust. A man must rule all things well so that his offspring can prosper.
Man can restore the image of God by practicing justice and seeking truth. When we give in or compromise with injustice and lies, we give up on being human. It is renunciation of the soul. (Solzhenitsyn) A man who has given up his soul and given up on becoming a human is merely a person who lives after the body. All flesh is grass, and its glory is like a flower of grass (Psalm 103:15).