I’ll confess that prior to attending seminary, the depth of the meaning of the image of God was not on my radar. It is definitely worth differentiating from the “Divine spark.”

Take care and do have a most joy-filled and lovely day that the Lord hath made each today.

I’m sorry that my post came across sharply. My point is not that the image of God is unimportant but that this post quickly got off the main subject. Your questions are valid. I hope you recover quickly and completely. I commend you for using your recovery time so redemptively.

Have a lovely day, all.

James 3:9
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.

Let’s not split hairs but love people as Jesus commanded. Thanks for this exhortation.

2 Corinthians 4:4
Colossians 1:15
Romans 8:29

Did Adam and those that follow by physical and spiritual birth(actually death) in Adam…lose the image of God? And is that what those born of God regain? Does an unregenerate individual have a “spark” of God’s image or are they totally depraved, the natural man, with a genuine void? In Adam, in sin, in the flesh, children of the night, children of Satan, in bondage, etc.

OR

in Christ, in God’s righteousness, in the Spirit, children of the day, children of God, free in Christ, etc.?

OR

an unbeliever with a touch of what is given a saint in Christ? Image marred or removed and locked in total depravation? Aspects of image(conscience, for example) intact and marred yet spirit image totally removed and thereby all other aspects that remain are in total bondage and not “able” concerning anything(seeing, considering, understanding, acting, glorifying God, etc.) of the Spirit of God?

So desire to yield to the mind of Christ on this;
I’d like to see this teaching go deeper(even if in another post). Am so very grateful for the Pulpit Magazine. God has been working mightily in me through this place.

:-)

How do you interpret this verse?
“For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God”. 1 Cor. 11:7

This was a fine study, and needed exhortation.

“Your enemy is made in God’s image and therefore deserving of your respect and kindness.”

And yet our love calls us to preach the gospel, doesn’t it. In fact, this is the greatest love we could ever show to our enemies, whether they receive god’s mercy or not. And that’s something that is entirely between them and God.

One of Jesus’ main points in that parable was this: we’re not to love our own brethren and fellow believers to the exclusion of strangers and unbelievers. God’s image was placed in humanity at creation, not redemption. Although the image of God was seriously marred by Adam’s fall, it was not utterly obliterated. The divine likeness is still part of fallen humanity; in fact, it is essential to the very definition of humanity. Therefore every human being, whether a derelict in the gutter or a deacon in the church, ought to be treated with dignity and compassionate love, out of respect for the image of God in him.”

A man went down from Jerusalem. He was a Jew. Two Jews passed him and a third, called a Samaritan tended to the Jewish man in need. The Samaritan was a Jew, a brother ostracized by own. The Samaritan was willing to do for a fellow Jew being an outcast what the Law keepers were not. It really pays not to repeat traditions, Phil. There were no strangers pictured hear, only brothers. The second great commandment is taken from passages that refer expressly to the children of Israel and those accepted strangers who had submitted themselves to the ordinances of the Law. There was another group of “strangers” that are talked about sometimes known as soujourners, and then there were those who were not in covenant and were dwellers in the land. The Law makes a clear distinction about how the members of the covenant community were to deal with their brothers and the “accepted” members of Israel. And, they had another set of standards for dealing with “strangers in the land.”

The image of God is so effaced in humanity as to be none existent. Calvin would say that if you think that the image is just marred you have not yet come to know the depth of your depravity.

Got to go, but let it be known that in fallen man the only part of the image of God that is left in tact in fallen man is that same image that remains in Satan! “Get thee behind me Satan, for the things of God are not in your heart.” Though we treat our neighbors as men, we must never forget, that as Jesus said they are of their father the devil.