The Image of God and the Image of Man

[Prayer-Soldier]

God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

Though God created man in His image, there are those who seek to create God in their image. We place upon God our own political agendas, our social ambitions. We assign to God our emotions, our desires, our understanding of His creation as we conceive it. There are some who go so far as to deny the existence of God, seeking to replace Him with some portion of His creation as an explanation that what is divine is merely accident.

We have limited observations of the world, the universe and time. We cannot see all as He sees all; therefore, how can we have understanding of all as He has understanding of all? Through our limited sphere of senses, we seek to explain everything through our simple observations of the complexities of the creation of God. In creating us in His image, He gave us the ability to reason, but where we sin is when we attempt to be wise by our own estimation and we do not seek the true understanding granted to us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Instead of deferring to God, some seek to assume the role of God in the decisions of life.

So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?� He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.� You disregard the commandments of God but cling to human tradition.� He went on to say, “How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition!� (Mark 7:5-9)

Through scripture inspired by God, through the prophets, through His angels; He has sought to teach us the ways through which we may live in peace together. Some have heeded what He has sought to teach, but others, in their arrogance, seek to follow their own wisdom which proves only to be folly. There are those who fail to understand the meaning of their own mortality or that what we do in this time will determine the eternity of our soul.

Because of His love for us, He sent His only begotten Son to teach us the true meaning of the commandments and all the prophecy that we may see the light and follow the path to the kingdom of heaven. Through parables, signs of healing and sacrifice, He taught us that if we desire to be with Him in heaven, we must first believe in Him and in that belief, we must seek to live according to the Word He taught.

To separate the children of God from their creator, the evil one will seek to confuse us in the true meaning of the Word. He will send to us wolves in the clothing of sheep that will deceive us by twisting the Word. The evil one will seek to make us hypocrites by deceiving us to use the Word as justification for divisions among us, to drive hate contrary to the the commandment of God to love one another.

Through prayer, we must ask God for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit that we may see and hear the true message of the Word, that we may join in communion with His church, that we may understand the ways our Lord and Savior sought and seeks to teach us. Through prayer, we must ask for understanding that we are not easily misled. Through prayer, we must ask for God to guide us to the light and away from the paths which only lead to darkness. Through prayer, we must ask that God sends us clergy and teachers who will help us understand the truth of the Word and will not fall to the deceptions of the evil one. Through prayer, we must seek understanding such that we do not speak of our faith with just our lips, but that we live our faith with all of our heart, all of our mind and all of our soul.

May the peace and blessings of the Lord be with you always,
Prayer Soldier