Reflecting Glory

Before considering the meaning of the image of God in man, I think it is helpful to understand the purpose of the image. All images exist for the purpose of directing the observer’s attention and thoughts to the reality represented by that image. When we travel to historic places and see statues of famous people, we are prompted not necessarily to consider the beauty or greatness of the statue itself, but to remember the life and accomplishments of the person represented by the statue. Photographs of family and friends are quite worthless in and of themselves, but are treasured as prized possessions when they remind us of what someone was like and our time shared with them. In the same way, the image of God in man is not given for the purpose of exalting or glorifying man, but that we may learn something about the nature of God.

In the Genesis creation account, God creates animals and plant life, darkness and light, land and sea and many other things. He does not, however, bestow upon any of these elements the status of being made in the image of God. This quality is given to man alone.

Because of this, we can learn about the meaning of God’s image in man by drawing comparisons between man, who has been made in God’s image, and other elements of God’s creation not created in His image.

Part of God’s image in man means that man is able to exercise free choice. My understanding of nature is that animals do not have the freedom to choose, but are driven by instincts of self-preservation and other environmental factors. Where apparent choices are made, the animal is simply seeking to avoid pain or death, or to find food, or to reproduce. Animals do not have free choice, but are ruled by their natural instincts of self-preservation.

Humans, on the other hand, have been given freedom to choose those things that are contrary to self-preservation. Oddly enough, these choices which run contrary to self-preservation are the very choices, in many cases, which God has required from us.

A look at the Ten Commandments is very revealing on this subject. The fourth commandment (Sabbath) requires that God’s people rest on the seventh day of the week. As a result, they cannot engage in many activities which serve their need for survival. The sixth commandment (murder) prohibits man from putting to death one who would cause him harm, whether to his person or to his possessions. The seventh commandment (adultery) restricts man’s procreative desire. The eighth commandment (steal) prohibits man from taking what does not belong to him so that he may have increased security. The ninth commandment (false testimony) requires that man tell the truth even when it does not benefit him. Finally, the tenth commandment (covet) requires that man be satisfied and content with the things that he has without seeking to hoard possessions or provisions.

Now, let’s return to our discussion on the image of God and how free choice plays a part in manifesting God’s image through humans.

In Hebrews 1, it is said of Jesus that He is the “exact representation of [God’s] being.” Romans 8:29 says that the goal of the Christian life is to be conformed to this image. This means that as we seek to conform our character to that of Christ’s, our lives will more fully reflect the image of God in us.

How is this life to be pursued? How is God’s image more fully reflected in our character? Through faith! It is my contention that God’s image is most fully realized in us when we make choices not based on the desire for self-preservation as the animals do, but based on our faith in the truth of God’s Word, which many times runs contrary to our desires for self-protection and self-preservation.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes the normal Christian life, which is a life lived by faith. He says that when people strike you on the cheek, you don’t go into self-protection mode, but offer your assailant the other cheek. When someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, you give to them your cloak as well. When you are tempted to worry in self-protection, look to God who clothes the lilies of the field and the sparrows in the sky. And when you are tempted to retaliate against an enemy to protect your own interests, you love and pray for them “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”

Heresy and Humility

James 1:21

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Suffering in the Christian life is an inescapable reality. Paul said, "it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him." (Phil. 1:29) Believers suffer through the deaths of those close to us, suffer from the consequences of sin, from physical and mental illness, from persecution, from relational strife and from wars and rumors of wars, among other things.

This intense suffering can become difficult for followers of Christ to understand. If we hold to the Biblical teaching that God is good, all-knowing and all-powerful, we are presented with a dilemma in our understanding of suffering.

As Epicurus noted:Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; Or he can, but does not want to; Or he cannot and does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked. But, if God both can and wants to abolish evil, Then how come there is evil in the world?

The problem of evil. Why does God let it continue? Does He enjoy seeing His creation in pain and agony? Are the God-ordained purposes of evil worth the pain that evil brings?

One way that recent Bible scholars have attempted to reconcile this dilemma is by promoting the idea of open theism. This doctrine teaches the openness of God, that God does not know "the end from the beginning." He knows all of the possibilities, but He doesn't know which possibility will actually occur. We have 4 cards in our hands, and God has no idea which one we will play. Therefore, God is not to blame for your suffering, because He is not all-knowing. God had nothing to do with 9/11, the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina, or the 2004 Tsunami. All of these events caught Him by surprise, and He cannot be blamed for the horrific suffering that came as a result. Does this sound like a God you can trust?

Back to the verse at the top.

Open theism, while perhaps well-intentioned, does not "humbly accept the word..." but rather pridefully asserts it's own ideas over and against the simple truth of God's Word. How much Scripture do you have to deny to arrive at open theism? How many prophetic verses and promises of God are nullified by open theism?

This doctrine has "a form of godliness, but denying its power." It seeks to vindicate God, while at the same time making suffering unendurable for the believer. How can there be purpose, good purposes, in suffering if God has nothing to do with it? How can I "consider it pure joy" whenever I fall into trials? How do "all things work together for good" if God is missing from the equation?

Power comes when we fall into the all-knowing, strong arms of a good and loving God. We can see ourselves as more than victims, we can see ourselves as revolutionaries, entrusted with the Spirit and gospel of Christ for the purpose of world transformation. Whenever children of God are persecuted or endure any form of harsh suffering, it is an occasion for Christ, the hope of glory, to be revealed through us to a lost humanity.

One revolutionary put it this way: "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body."

Kind of hard to do if you can beat God in poker.

Ignoring Beauty

Originally posted on the Desiring God Blog, April 9, 2007





The Washington Post conducted an experiment to see if beauty could be recognized through the mundane malaise of day-to-day life. They arranged for Joshua Bell, a preeminent violinist, to play incognito in a busy corridor in D.C. one morning--a free concert from a musician who plays a $3.5 million instrument. He had his case open for donations and played the best music most of the workaday passers-by had probably ever heard. To what effect? Virtually none.
The article asks those who come into contact with street musicians: "Do you hurry past with a blend of guilt and irritation, aware of your cupidity but annoyed by the unbidden demand on your time and your wallet? ... Do you have time for beauty? Shouldn't you? What's the moral mathematics of the moment?"
Is it immoral to ignore beauty?
I couldn't help but read it as a parable:
As it happens, exactly one person recognized Bell, and she didn't arrive until near the very end. For Stacy Furukawa, a demographer at the Commerce Department, there was no doubt. She doesn't know much about classical music, but she had been in the audience three weeks earlier, at Bell's free concert at the Library of Congress. And here he was, the international virtuoso, sawing away, begging for money. She had no idea what the heck was going on, but whatever it was, she wasn't about to miss it.
Furukawa positioned herself 10 feet away from Bell, front row, center. She had a huge grin on her face. The grin, and Furukawa, remained planted in that spot until the end.
"It was the most astonishing thing I've ever seen in Washington," Furukawa says. "Joshua Bell was standing there playing at rush hour, and people were not stopping, and not even looking, and some were flipping quarters at him! Quarters! I wouldn't do that to anybody. I was thinking, Omigosh, what kind of a city do I live in that this could happen?"
She was appalled that anyone would have either the naivete or the gall to condescendingly flip a quarter at one of the world's greatest musicians. She was shocked that something as astoundingly beautiful was so easily disregarded.

Tribute to an Old Saint

Buck Holloway went home to be with the Lord last Friday, but his ministry lives on in my life and the lives of many others. This man loved Jesus and loved people, giving his life to serve others.

The church that I grew up in was begun in his home and he was my pastor's father. When my parents' roof began to leak, Buck was there to fix it, for free. In the early stages of Grace Community Baptist Church, Buck could always be found setting up or breaking down equipment for church.

His farm was full of wonder. I remember October hayrides and bonfires at his farm, and it was there that I began to understand the meaning of community. The characteristic most easily remembered about Buck is his quiet spirit of humility. He never raised his voice and never grew tired of us kids who were happy to benefit from his fun-loving nature. He had a peacock and a good-natured Rottweiler named Rosie. On occasion, Rosie had puppies and it was not uncommon to see 7 or 8 of them chasing one of us around. He also had a zipline in his backyard that us kids would take turns on.

These are my memories of one who is now with Christ and has made heaven that much sweeter.

Thank you, Buck Holloway, for a life well lived.

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=25235

A young Buck Holloway training for flight with the famed 1st Air Commando Group during World War II. He went on to serve a far greater cause: the mission of Jesus Christ.

Buck and Kitty Holloway with a boy they befriended at an orphanage in Honduras. Visiting orphans was one of Buck’s favorite ministries during multiple mission trips to Honduras in recent years.

Posted on Mar 22, 2007 by Erich Bridges

Editor's note: Buck Holloway passed away around 3:30 a.m. Friday, just hours after this column was posted

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--After the long, dark night of winter, Easter’s approach brings thoughts of new life, new hope, new beginnings. Buck Holloway, 83, is waiting for a new beginning, too. The morning light of spring washes across the bed and the nearby easy chair where he spends most of his time at home these days. Airplane models of all sizes perch, as if ready for takeoff, on his shelves. Hanging from the ceiling right above his bed is a spiffy P-40 fighter that looks just like the one Buck trained in during World War II.

Kitty, Buck’s wife of 60 years, cares for him with help from other family members. When he feels up to it, he enjoys visits from some of the legions of folks he and Kitty have blessed over the years.Buck labors to breathe, but he still grins, still cracks jokes, still teases visitors. He even struggles out of his chair from time to time to help with chores around the house and in the rolling fields on his property. Will he be able to mow his beloved fields this spring? Just in case, his son Craig has mounted a bucket seat, salvaged from an old car, onto Buck’s trusty tractor.

Buck has good days and bad days. He doesn’t always recognize people or remember names, but that’s OK. One day soon, Buck will awake to see a face he surely will recognize. He will behold a light far brighter than the morning sun of Virginia. Buck’s heart, which I always thought was big enough and strong enough to beat forever, has just about given out. We all knew it was coming, but we didn’t want to imagine a world without him.

Buck slowed down a lot over the last few years. He stopped going on mission trips. He couldn’t ride his motorcycle (complete with sidecar) anymore, or pedal a bicycle backward, or pull laughing kids behind his tractor during the annual church hayride at his place. He endured multiple operations and hospital stays related to his weakening heart. He grew thinner as his Sunday suits hung limply on his stooped frame.And now, Buck is waiting to see Jesus –- not through a glass darkly, but face to face.

Buck’s older son is my pastor, Guy Holloway. Our church, Grace Community Baptist in Richmond, began 22 years ago in Buck and Kitty’s living room. He’s a spiritual father to everyone in the church. He’s also one of the greatest men I have ever known. Buck Holloway epitomizes that “Greatest Generation” of Americans who served the cause of freedom during the dark days of war -– and went on to serve an infinitely greater cause: the mission of Jesus Christ.Buck grew up riding a horse to school. He never lost his love for horses, but his true passion was airplanes. “As a young boy he was intrigued and mesmerized by airplanes,” Guy says. “I’ve got wooden model planes he hand-carved that look like they were made from kits.”War raged when Buck finished high school. He joined the military almost immediately. “There wasn’t much choice,” he told me with a chuckle the other day. “If you didn’t choose them, they would choose you.”

By 1944 he was flying P-51 Mustangs and cargo planes with the famed 1st Air Commando Group, ferrying supplies “over the hump” (the Himalayas) from India to Chinese troops fighting the Japanese in northern China. The day before his first scheduled mission over mainland Japan, the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

After the war, Buck married Kitty, his high school sweetheart. They settled down and started a family. He attended optometry school on the G.I. Bill and began a 51-year career as an eye doctor. Buck eventually opened his own optometry practice, became a Southern Baptist deacon at a prominent Richmond church, served punch and cookies to junior boys every week in Sunday School.“He was a nice guy. He didn’t run around with women or drink or smoke or cuss,” his pastor son relates.

But deep down, Buck wanted more. He’d made a commitment to Jesus as a 12-year-old and been baptized, but he wasn’t growing spiritually –- until he encountered a modern English version of the New Testament. He read the book of James once, then again –- and again. He began reading the Bible between eye exams. He read to his patients. “It was just going deeper and deeper, and the Holy Spirit was fanning the flames,” recalls Guy, who at the time was a college sophomore headed for the ministry. “Dad had this insatiable hunger for the Word of God. I came back at Christmas, and I thought I was going to tell him (spiritual) stuff -– and he had stuff to tell me.”

An even bigger surprise came later. It was the early 1970s, and Buck couldn’t tolerate hippies or the rebellion they represented. But the downtown church he attended was reaching out to longhairs, bikers and other non-traditional folks.“I got this picture from him after Thanksgiving,” Guy says. “All these hippies were sitting around Mom and Dad’s Thanksgiving table. Dad’s got this big smile on his face, and he’s leading a Bible study with all the people he used to detest, reject and castigate. It blew my mind. It was a fundamental value change. He had a love for anybody that had any sensitivity or interest toward the Lord –- and these guys loved him, too.”

Buck sold his optometry practice -– just when it was beginning to make some money -– and went to Bible school while continuing optometry on the side. He and Kitty later began a ministry to singles at their Richmond church; it became one of the largest Christian singles groups in the city. After finishing seminary, Guy (and his new bride, Gay) returned to lead the singles ministry his parents had launched. When Guy felt led by the Lord to start a disciple-making church designed to “raise up saints for ministry locally and internationally,” his parents opened their home.

Buck and Kitty, of course, had long been modeling the kind of missions-oriented discipleship their son had in mind. They ministered to survivors of the devastating 1976 earthquake in Guatemala, led lay witness renewal conferences up and down the East Coast, participated in partnership missions projects in Europe and South America. When the young church began sending volunteer mission teams to Central America, Buck and Kitty went repeatedly. They collected boxes of old eyeglasses to help needy people see clearly for the first time, taught children and adults about Jesus, handed out medicine, hugged orphans. Buck, the tough war veteran, always choked up when he came back and told church folks about his mission excursions.

Closer to home, Buck and Kitty have led scores of people to Christ, discipled hundreds more –- and taken needy folks into their own home over the years, ranging from young people desperate for direction to a couple struggling to overcome drug abuse.They have experienced many joys, including seeing their children and grandchildren become committed followers of Christ and mission volunteers. They have felt great sorrow, such as the day their youngest son, Jeff, drowned in 1976. But that tragedy enabled them to minister to many others in pain. They have led more than 40 people to Christ using the evangelistic tract Jeff had in his pocket the day he died.

I could go on and on. My point is this: Buck could have lived a very comfortable life over the last 40 or so years. Instead, he chose a meaningful one.“We need to encourage believers to live for eternity and not just for time,” Guy reflects. “We don’t have a whole bunch of models around, and a model is so much more than a sermon. Dad reminds me of what God can do through a normal person saying, ‘I’m not my own.’”

Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and He is alive today. You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within the great heart of Buck Holloway.

Buck’s heart might stop one day soon, but it will never die.

Erich Bridges is senior writer with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.

Tests of Knowing God from 1 John

Going through some paperwork the other day when I came across this gem that I put together a few years ago. This is from the book of First John and describes at least 44 characteristics of those who know God. This is helpful in discerning our own spiritual condition as well as helping us to discern whether or not others have experienced the new birth in Christ.

Those who know God:

Do not walk in darkness-1:6
Admit their sin-1:8
Keep His commandments-2:3
Have the love of God perfected in them-2:5
Walk as Christ walked-2:6
Love their brothers-2:9
Have no cause for stumbling-2:10
Walk in the light-2:11
Know where they are going, do not stumble-2:11
Remain in fellowship with God’s children-2:19
Have an anointing from the Holy One, and know all things-2:20
Acknowledge the Father and the Son-2:22-23
Practice righteousness-2:29
Are strangers in this world-3:1
Are His children-3:2
Will be like Him when He is revealed-3:2
Will one day see Him as He is-3:2
Do not continue in sin-3:9
Cannot continue in sin-3:9
Practice righteousness-3:10
Love the brethren-3:10
Are hated by the world-3:13
Have eternal life abiding in them-3:15
Love in deed and in truth-3:19
Receive what they ask from God-3:22
Keep His commandments-3:22
Do what is pleasing in His sight-3:22
Believe in the Name of His Son, Jesus Christ-3:23
Love one another-3:23
Abide in God-3:24
Have God abiding in them-3:24
Have God’s Spirit abiding in them-3:24
Confess Jesus Christ-4:2
Overcome the world-4:4
Hear the apostle’s teaching-4:6
Love one another-4:7
Have God’s love perfected in them-4:12
Know and believe the love God has for them-4:16
Have boldness in the day of judgment-4:17
Do not continue in sin-5:1
Keep themselves safe-5:18
Are not touched by the wicked one-5:18
Know that the Son of God has come-5:20
Have been given understanding, so that they may know Him who is true-5:22

Divorce

The gavel dropped today on the divorce of my parents with stark finality. 28 years, 3 children and 3 grandchildren testify to a love that is lost. This love was once strong and vibrant, but somewhere along the way, love began keeping a record of wrongs. Love is not supposed to be like that. It is supposed to conquer enemies and overcome obstacles on it's way to deeper intimacy and trust. I guess these romantic notions lose their effect when one is immersed in diapers, carpools, PTA meetings and all the rest.

Pure love was eventually eroded by selfishness. The eyes of the heart grew weary of beholding it's lover and turned to itself. The relationship descended in the direction of "unmet needs," which became as gods. There were seasons of jubilance, where love fought valiantly and God spoke clarity. These glorious seasons, however, departed and gave way to a winter of regret and hostility, where words thrash and hearts, as ice, harden.

Love is now gone. Questions abound.

What about my marriage? How will I fight? Will Christ be the center, and will He have supremacy over every thought? Or will I give in to a lustful laziness?

Each moment matters from the perspective of eternity. I am always moving in one of two directions. On one side is love for God, which includes loving my wife. On the other side is love for the world. I am always moving in one of these directions. When faced with a temptation, I can strengthen my faith and intimacy with God by remembering His promises, or I can give in to the passing pleasures of sin. Each temptation is an opportunity for me to learn obedience and to fight the good fight of faith.

Defining my terms

After speaking with my wife about the former issue of egalitarianism, I see the need to define my terms and soften my language somewhat.

When I say egalitarianism, (which is a great word, meaning "characterized by belief in the equality of all people, esp. in political, economic, or social life) I am speaking of those who see no distinction of roles between men and women in the church or in marriage. Please do not misunderstand, I am fully supportive of those who are proponents of women's rights, ie the right to vote, equal employment rights, the right to fair wages, the right to bodily integrity and autonomy, etc. These rights were gained at great cost to both women and men and must be protected.

As I wrestle and think through the applicable passages of Scripture, I see the biblical role of pastor/teacher/elder reserved for men alone. Many interpret this to say that women, because they can't fulfill this role, are of less value than men. There are roles, however, filled by women that can't be fulfilled by men, the primary role being that of mother. Men can't bear children nor can they meet the needs of children who were created to be nurtured and loved by a mother. Personally speaking, I am fully aware of my own inability to love my kids as my wife does. I do not have the patience, the endurance nor the energy to see that my children's needs for love and affection are met. If, God forbid, something were to happen to her and she wasn't there to care for the kids, they would not be nearly as healthy and well-rounded as if she did care for and nourish them. Not to mention all they'd ever eat is cereal.

Roles have nothing to do with value. This is clearly seen in the doctrine of the Trinity. The Son is submissive to the Father and the Spirit is submissive to the Son, being sent by the Son and whose purpose is to glorify the Son. As the Athanasian Creed asserts, "For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal."

Lastly, I am deeply grateful and humbled by a wife who trusts me to lead, who challenges my thinking, and who listens to my endless ramblings. God is good.

Revisiting Egalitarianism

I was recently given a book by a friend entitled, "Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism?" It was a good read, and served to increase my passion for the subject. As Grudem explained, in many cases the hermeneutic that leads one to accept the position that men and women are entitled to equal roles within the church also leads one to water down the teaching on homosexuality.

For instance, Roy Clements says:

As a result, Christian homosexuals, who formerly would have remained "in the closet" protected by a conspiracy of sympathetic silence, have little choice but to "come out". For most this has been a profoundly liberating experience, in spite of the bullying hostility to which they have often been subjected. In many ways their experience has run parallel, if a little behind, that of Christian women in the last few decades. In the wake of the secular feminist movement, women have found a new confidence to claim a role for themselves within the church. They have developed a hermeneutic to deal with the biblical texts which had been used to deny them that role in the past. Of course, this was not achieved without resistance from a conservative rump mainly within the older ecclesiastical establishment, but the majority of evangelicals have now moved very substantially in the direction of welcoming women into Christian leadership. Gay Christians are using exactly the same kind of hermeneutic tools to challenge tradition in regard to homosexuality. If it is taking them rather longer to succeed than the Christian feminists did, this has more to do with the inferiority of their numerical strength than of the justice of their cause.

Amazing.

Egalitarians and homosexuals have identified that Scripture does not warrant certain things, and with increased pressure from culture to become more "tolerant" they have formulated a hermeneutic that will allow them to make God in their own image. One way this takes shape is through the "Trajectory Hermeneutic" which, according to Grudem is "a method of interpreting the Bible in which our final authority is not found in what is written in the Bible itself, but is found later, at the end of a 'trajectory' along with the New Testament was progressing at the time it was being written. This view would claim that the New Testament authors did not reach the final destination of these developments, but we can sense the direction or the trajectory along which they were moving, see where they were headed, and carry their thinking further, until we reach the destination they were moving torward but did not reach in their thinking and writing."

This hermeneutic seems to validate Scripture in that it acknowledges that one can't use the Bible to support these beliefs and one must therefore add to the word of God in order to be justified in their thinking.

Why must truth change? Or better, why do so many see the need to change truth? What is it about the spirit of this age that would lead people to reject an old truth in favor of "diversity, tolerance, creativity, progress" and whatever other buzzwords may be used to place relativistic ideas in a positive light?

I know these views can be labeled as full of pride and arrogance, but is it really arrogant to submit to what God has said rather than change the words of God to achieve a desired goal of tolerance, cultural relevance and diversity? Obviously Christians need to hold all of these attributes to a degree, and I'm not arguing against contextualization, but didn't God say that "friendship with the world is enmity with God"? (James 4:4) If we water down the truth, and then see people come to faith as a result of our watered down message, do they really have an authentic faith? If we convince people that hell isn't real, that men and women are without difference, that homosexuality is acceptable, that God doesn't know "the end from the beginning," and that Christ is not the only way, are they really followers of Christ?