Sorry about the transmission. I neither wrote the piece in blue and underlined, but it actually had paragraphs and the like. The wording is the same, however so all is not bad (apart from the paper itself).
John
In a message dated 7/27/2004 11:12:23 PM Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Bill, you wanted to see where I was going with this "image" thing. Here it is. Krugers idea regarding "fellowship" as being the very essence of God has nearly force these ideas into my thinking and the result is as follows:
(for some reason I cannot change the color of the text so I hope the transmission is ok).
Mankind and the Image of God As we develop our relationship with God, two things happen: " we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from our sins" (I Jo 1:7). A question comes to mind: why is it that "fellowship with one another" is even a consideration in this text. John could have written the passage this way: "as we walk in the light as He is in the light, we become the very image of God and share in the continual flow of the blood of the Lamb." After all, the author of Hebrews (1:3) tells us that the Son is the exact representation (the expressed image) of His [God the Father's] nature. Surely we share in that nature as we walk in the shadow of the Son, as we accept His Spirit (the Holy Spirit) into our lives. Everyday and in every way, we become more and more like Him. As true as this might be, John does not present this idea. Rather, he focuses on a most unusual conclusion, that if we walk in the Light as He (Jesus Christ) is in the light, a primary result will be the fellowship of one another; a vertical circumstance that commands a horizontal conclusion. All that we call "fellowship" can be, therefore, traced to the issue expressed in this passage (I Jo 1:7). The very possibility of fellowship is centered in our walk with God. We can do one of two things with this truth: say "Amen" and move on to the next subject or ask "why." And this paper asks the question: Why it is that "fellowship with one another" is so intertwined with our walk with God as to be a part of the dynamic conclusion of that journey? Perhaps the answer takes us to the very essence or nature of the Living God. We see Him manifested in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Although we might not pretend to understand the how of this theological reality, it is a fact that God has more than one will ("â.nevertheless not my will but yours be done") and, therefore, should be considered to be more than one person. The Hebrew writer of old presents the greatness of God as he allows for God's duplicity with these words, "Let US make man in OUR imageâ" (Gen 1:26). From the very beginning of the biblical record, then, God is a being of community (God the Father, God the Son). The apostle John declares the duplicity of God in his affirmation of Christ as the creator God ("In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him and apart from Him nothing came into being. In Him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:1-5). Isaiah gives us a prophetical description of the One we know as Jesus and in so doing, presents to us a description of God Himself: a wonderful counselor, a mighty God, an eternal Father, a prince of peace (Is 9:6). The essence of God is found in the community of all these realities. However it happens, our God is a community of personalities. Apart from mankind, before creation, God has always been what He is now -- a being whose core existence is found in community or fellowship (the Father loves the Son, the son loves the Father and the Spirit does the bidding of both). If we understand and agree with this conclusion, that the essence of God is seen in fellowship, Genesis 1:26,27 takes on a whole new meaning. "Then God ("elohim" is the plural form of the Hebrew word translated "God" in this instance) said "Let us make man[kind] in our image, according to Our likeness ââââ And God created man[kind] in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female created He them. " The divine text presents Adam and Eve as the first fruit of "mankind." But the text cited above does not specifically address that aspect of creation. Rather, it puts a Creator face on mankind itself -- "Let us make mankind in Our image â male and female created He them." And the central feature in this thing we call mankind is the reality of community or fellowship. The first fruits of that creation was the community of a man and women. God did make one type of being -- He made two. He not only created mankind, He created community. Fellowship or community began to exist with the creation of mankind. Man could have been created to wonder the earth apart from the need of others -- non-tribal in nature - single and alone but God, with community at His very center, thought that it "was not good for man to be alone." In fact, the animal world in general, is a congregtation of similar beings. If you see one locust, you may see tens of thousands. If you see a single deer, you may see a entire herd. Community is the center piece of nearly all that God has created. Where one tree now exists, a whole forest may one day spring up. Why is that? I say that it is because of the very nature of the Creator God -- His existence is one of community and all that He would create will spring from that same nature. In community we see not the design of God, the intention of God, but the very image of God. It is everywhere we look. Mankind is the very image of God (that is what the scripture says) because God is a Community of realities. The Body of Christ? A community of believers. Heaven? A community of the saved and rewarded. Mankind as a whole, and hence each individual, is given this sense of community. Wars, rumors of war, hatred, bigotry, selfishness, seeking our own way, putting ourselves above others, adultery (the sexual misuse of another for personal gratification) and on and on are all actions taken by those who would deny community as it is expressed in the existence of God. If we look to the several lists of sinful actions found in the biblical text, one thing jumps out at the reader -- the fact that all sin has its seed in the _expression_ of self to exclusion of all others. Sin is the violation of community, of fellowship with God and man. We not only disappoint God, we destroy families and bring down whole nations because of "sin." Divine instruction counters these negative desires by admonishing us to "love God and love our neighbor ...." The Old Law is fulfilled in these two commands. All of God's concern in the giving of that Law was about community, both with Himself and with others. In the garden, Adam and Eve were separated from that fellowship and the history of the biblical record since then has been about our journey back to communion with God. As Adam sinned, so have we all (Ro 5:12). Adam's separation is ours as a result. And God, the Master Mind of Community, has come into our world, seeks a home within each man and woman (the grandest act of fellowship) and prepares to take us --- as a community of believers -- into another world, one which is unknown to us in the physical sense, but one in which fellowship will be the center piece once again -- in that life the work of reconcialiation will have finality in the most wonderous of ways. John
