Villagersonline : blogs : blksheep67 : Image Bearers of God

From: blksheep67
Date: Wed Sep  7 08:37:38 MST 2005
Subject: Image Bearers of God

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eric: Interesting (9/7/05)

blksheep67: Image Bearers of God (9/7/05)

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blksheep67: Image Bearers of God (9/7/05)
eric: Interesting (9/7/05)

I was looking at the thought posted by Eric that the simple philosophy behind the Village is that the
'Gospel, life in Christ, is not something people should be argued into, manipulated into, or fake friendship into. We simply believe that we have something good - in Christ - that is worth celebrating and should be offered to our friends and neighbors because they are image-bearers of God, we are image-bearers of God, He loves them, and so do we. If people become followers of Jesus and come to the Village: great. But if they never do, they are still our friends. We still want to hang out with them . . . we want them to be a part of us.'
I agree with that and that we are Image Bearers of God with the understanding that God's intention was we were to be created in His image but through original or inherited sin we are tainted and are in the image of Adam. Adam was originally in the image or reflection of God but due to his disobedience the image we bear is like a broken mirror with the glass cracked and shards of the mirror fallen onto the ground.
From Paul's epistles to the Romans and Ephesians I find that without Christ we are by nature children of wrath and separated from God as enemies but God reconciled us to Him even when we were evil, disobedient, and separated from Him. I mention this because of the overused pop culture phrase that 'God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.' God does love us and he does have a wonderful plan for our life but not as humanity in its selfish natural form sees wonderful.
We don't come to Christ because he offers more brownie points, benefits, or parting gifts but because He is our only hope. Mother Theresa said, 'We will never know that Jesus is all we need until Jesus is all we have.'

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From: eric
Date: Wed Sep  7 09:09:45 MST 2005
Subject: Interesting

Hey blksheep67,
Good to hear from ya. Thought you might have fallen off the planet.
I agree that sin has wrecked havoc on that image and shattered it/ruin it/etc, but it still is a reflection. People should be offered dignity when we approach them with the Gospel (the victories of Jesus). They are not pieces of meat who need Jesus. What gives them value? They were created by God. He formed them and molded them. Jesus is not a parting gift . . . he is life! The point of the post was simply to say that the Gospel is best preached by how we love one another. The parties we have at the village are designed to celebrate what God is doing in our community and the new life He has birthed. We want to include our friends and neighbors in those celebrations. For example, the party we are putting together for Cheryl is a celebration of her literal rescuing from the hands of evil. We are inviting our friends and neighbors. Not so they can hear a great testimony and "be saved," because there will be no traditional testimony . . . just her art, good food, and a cool band. We are trying to create very tangible Solomon’s Porches in our community - places where the world can come and see God worshipped, not necessarily by a good sermon and some songs, but by the way we engage each other and engage them.
Chirst in front of me, Christ to my left and right, Christ in the eyes of those who see me, Christ in the ears of those who hear me.
e

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From: blksheep67
Date: Wed Sep  7 11:23:01 MST 2005
Subject: Image Bearers of God

Sometimes we may not feel of very much value and many times there are people who act as if we and or others have little or no value but we are of great value since God values us and we have dignity as individual creations of God. Like a variety of great art that has been fashioned is how I believe God looks at us. At times the object has been used profanely and perversely by sinful humanity and not sacredly as God desires.
Years ago I learned a lesson that we need to care about others and they are not simply objects to be evangelized and then added up in a person's black book. How can we pray for another person if we don't care about them and love them. We need to look at them as God looks at them which is difficult since we see the shell but God sees the heart and nothing is hidden from Him.

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