"Let Us Make Man in Our Image": It's All About Relationships

   Every person that has been, is now, and will be in the future is made in God's image, albeit a very imperfect or corrupt (to degrade with unsound principles or moral values) image we have become because of sin ( I will write more about sin, it seems like a good place to serve as a reminder that the Bible says that, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". Many Christians seemingly forget this truth. We all should have the mentality of, "But for the grace of God, go I").
   Because all have been created by God we all share certain attributes of God Himself. For instance all human have been given the ability to choose to: laugh or cry, create or destroy, give or take, heal or injure, as well as the intellect to create art, music, buildings, to tell stories (fiction and non-fiction), we can look out to the far reaches of space, and inside of ourselves.
   One of the more endearing qualities we have been given is that, like God we are highly relational. The poet/pastor Donne wrote in the poem For Whom the Bell Tolls, "No man is an island unto himself, entire and complete". We are highly relational creatures because God is highly relational. We have a God given need to develop relationships with people that we call our families, and choose to develop relationships with other people we call friends, co-workers, community members (this is one of the best times to live because we can have friends from all over the world and write to them via email or Facebook, and even see and talk to them because of Skype).
    Twenty newborn infants were housed in a special facility. They had caregivers who would go in to feed them, bathe them and change their diapers, but they would do nothing else. The caregivers had been instructed not to look at or touch the babies more than was necessary, and they never spoke to them. All their physical needs were attended to scrupulously, however. The environment was kept sterile; the babies were never ill.
    The experiment was halted after four months. At least half of the babies had died at that point, at least two more died even after being rescued and brought into a more normal environment. There was no physiological cause for the babies' deaths; they were all physically very healthy. Before each baby died, there was a period where they would stop verbalizing and trying to engage their caregivers, and just stop moving, never cry or change expression. Death would follow shortly. The babies who had "given up" before being rescued died in the same manner, even though they had been removed from the experimental conditions.
   The experiments were recorded by the monk Salimbene di Adam in his Chronicles, who wrote that Frederick [II] bade "foster-mothers and nurses to suckle and bathe and wash the children, but in no ways to prattle or speak with them; for he would have learnt whether they would speak the Hebrew language (which had been the first), or Greek, or Latin, or Arabic, or perchance the tongue of their parents of whom they had been born. But he laboured in vain, for the children could not live without clappings of the hands, and gestures, and gladness of countenance, and blandishments."
   We are all are in relational trouble with God. Without Jesus' sacrifice the relationship between God and us would be in a similar deadly position. And even if you know Him as savior if the relationship doesn't go much further your life will not be the "abundant life" Jesus wants for you.
   In the end it's all about relationships.  

"Let Us Make Man in Our Image..." What is Your View of People?

   In our world human beings are viewed in 3 general ways. The first is how the western world likes to categorize people as seen through the eyes of race, sexuality, (gay, straight, transgender, bi-sexual), income, (rich, middle income, poor), politics, (Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, liberal, conservative), religion, (Christian, Catholic, Wiccan, Hindu, Muslim, New-Age, Buddhist, Spiritual, Non-Spiritual, Pagan), gender, (male, female. In truth the world has tried for years to convince us there is no difference), issues, (race, abortion, income redistribution, earth lovers/haters, animal rights, for/against gay rights/homosexual marriage, as I am writing this today in N.C. there is a public vote to decide if the residents want to legalize homosexual marriage), "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" (no it is not because God has made only beautiful people and creation, but more on that later, fat, slim, athletic, clumsy, healthy, sick, smart, dumb). People are also seen as a means to an end, a cosmic mistake, consumers, generalities not individuals.
   Lest you think that the world has cornered the market on generalizing people you would be mistaken. Often times Christians can be just as wrong as the rest of the world. Christians have a tendency to have a "us vs. them" mentality. There are the sinners, (wicked, immoral, liars, baby killers, Marxists, socialists, gay, addicts, free loaders, rapists, murderers, abusers, illegal immigrants, deserving God's wrath, liberal, tree huggers).

   In his book, Christ Among Dragons, Pastor James White makes this point: 

     "Many Christians view those outside of the faith as needing to go to hell.  They are the bad guys, the        enemy; we refer to them as "pagans, secular  humanists, liberals", and worse. Our relationship seems intensely adversarial  in nature. It's the pro-family, Christian radio listening, fish-sticker wearing, big  Bible carrying types versus the left-leaning, evolution-believing,  gay marriage supporting, Harry Potter-reading pagans."

   And then there is God's view of people; lost sheep that need a savior and shepherd, (see John 10, the Good Shepherd Discourse). People are viewed as: "Fearfully and wonderfully made, (Psalm 139), "For God so loved the world (and therefore every one in it) that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will gain eternal life. (John 3:16), "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female,(Galatians 3:28),  God forbids favoritism of any kind, (James 2:1-4), "From every tribe, every nation, every tongue" will be in the new Heavens and Earth, (Revelation 5:9, 7:9, 14).

   Because God has made every single human being that has ever lived in His image there are certain implications for those of us who call themselves a Christian. 

   Next week I will go into what being made in God's image means.