Horton: Michael Horton wants us to understand that “the image of God is not something in us that is semidivine but something between us and God that constitutes a covenantal relationship (123)”. Horton wants to make sure that we know that we are the image of God. The image of God is not something that we have or carry. Since we are created in the image of God, Horton believes that God has called us to be a faithful image of him and we do this by accomplishing our calling that was given to us by God. Being created in the image is a present but it is also a task for us. It is a gift because we are given the opportunity to be like Christ. But it is a task because we need to work in order to show others who God is. So by going out and doing sinful acts we were ruining the image of God. …show more content…
“There was no moment when a human being was actually a solitary, autonomous, unrelated entity (125)”. We were created to interact with others and by those interactions we should share the Word of God to others. Horton believes that the idea of being made in the image of Christ is covenantal. Since we are in a covenantal communion with God and others, it gives us a chance to become more like God in our image. “Furthermore, the emphasis on eschatology underscores the point that ‘image of God’ is not just something that human beings are in their essence, but is a public vocation - a summons to fulfill a particular calling as God’s covenant servants”
At the beginning, he calls the congregation together in a unification of the unknown and the impoverished. By including himself within the congregation using “we”, as can often be heard, he brings the group closer together as a whole, such as when he confronts the outside world who, “come in and think that they have a great deal of wisdom that they can somehow [assist] we poor struggling people here… think that they can reach down to our drab existence and lift us up. Maybe we could take you out of your drab existence and free you. ”(Jones) Empowering the group, he believes that together great feats could be accomplished, building a faith not just in himself, but with the community as well.
We have now come to the fourth and final book of Mere Christianity. In this book, the author takes us to the place in our Christian growth where we begin to rely more heavily on the power of God and less on ourselves to become the being that God originally intended for us to be — a son of God. He begins with an explanation of the difference between “making” and “begetting”.
Wright argues, “The proper response to idolatry, is therefore not dualism, the rejection of space, time, or matter … but the renewed worship of the Creator God …” (Wright 227). Even though we cannot heal creation fully, our work with should enrich our worship of God, allowing us to fully enjoy what He has given us. In this way, the farmer is like the kingdom worker in that he enjoys his work so much he keeps doing it despite all the challenges that he faces. At the same time, creation’s degradation should cause disciples, as it does farmer, to produce as much produce as possible by earnestly preaching the gospel. Deyoung and Gilbert argue, “To proclaim the inauguration of the kingdom and all the other blessings of God without telling people how they may become partakers of those blessings is to preach a nongospel” (47). Once Christ comes back to judge humanity, there will be no hope for those that are not citizens of God’s
From a Christian point of view, the early definition of personhood stemmed from Trinitarian theology. As the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each angle of God’s influence of the world works in community with each other to serve their unique purposes. By working in communion, they serve their distinct purposes, but only function perfectly as the whole. The Father serves to provide believers with a Creator and in which all things can be found divine, the Son is the Redeemer, providing closer access to the Father through repentance, and the Holy Spirit is the existence in all things, influencing the path of human life. Since from this view humans were created in the image of God, the person must live in relationship with others to realize his full potential and define his personality by determining his uniqueness from others. It is this reliance on one another that strengthens a person beyond what they can accomplish themselves.
Every believers is called to active participation in the missio dei as servants, or making earth as is in heaven. We have a very real Eschatological hope and expectation, which causes us as the church to engage the lost and pursue those in darkness in anticipation for that day. We await the “fulfillment of God’s universal love, justice, and peace on earth as in heaven,” and act as forerunners, similar to John the Baptist, preparing the way of the Lord and acting as emissaries of His Kingdom which is coming. The Bible describes us as servants who are, “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” The Discipline also agrees that servant ministry both a holy privilege and obligation. It is our privilege as believers to serve others as Christ has served us, and is our obligation to live as he commanded us, which hinges on love based service to our neighbors.
The factors or concepts that grasped my attention were that of George Fox’s views of “There is that of God in everyone”, and “Christ himself has come to teach his people”.
In Chapter 3, Joe Horness sets forth an argument for contemporary music-driven worship. This style of worship has an emphasis on relationship. Horness seeks to set forth the true goal of contemporary worship. It is not just about the instrumentation; instead it focuses on the communication. Horness takes the reader personally through his journey from traditional worship to contemporary worship, including his experience with Willow Creek Church. In his chapter, Horness promotes an emphasis on connecting: connecting unbelievers with believers and ultimately, connecting all people with God. He states, “People of this generation are longing to experience the genuine presence of God. And God is longing to move in and among the hearts of his people. If we will learn to worship from hearts that are fully engaged, God will be glorified and set free to move in us and among us (104).” Horness ends his chapter with some brief warnings for those involved in the contemporary worship. He then encourages all worshipers to seek above all to bring their best to God
Wright does spend a lot more time on how communal activities and experiences are far more vital to the simply Christian life than is realized, and why vital relationships, as expressed in the church, seen as a real community, are the engine for linking understanding and experience. Wright's three common expressions of the Christian life: worship, prayer and Bible
In order to foster a concordant relationship, Christ must be the solitary source governing all aspects of the body. This is especially true in Christian discipleship since he revealed the true meaning of being a disciple. Jesus instructed the disciples and commissioned them to go and make disciples of all nations by teaching them to obey all of his commands (Matt 28:19-20). The growth of the church is dependent upon the call to discipleship and obedience to the Great Commission.
He said every one of us has a purpose in the church as every part of our body has a particular task to perform. He said those of us who are evangelist are the mouth of the church; he said those of us who are givers are the hands of the church, and those of us who have the money to sponsor the movement of the gospel around the world are the feet. This example made me and other audience member understand our
However, there is also an evangelical opportunity here to clearly explain this doctrine so that others may comprehend and appreciate it as many other devoted Christian disciples and ministers have over the centuries. A clear explanation, a renewed understanding, and an honest, consistent defense of the truth contained within this doctrine can possibly reveal over time how this doctrine seeks and calls for the unity among all Christian believers. It can also reveal the Lord God’s eternal will in gathering all believers as one flock under one shepherd, represented in the figure of the Pope, the bishop of Rome.
Human beings are “an expression of the impersonal life force” (Davis, 2009) which is where humans seek to return in absolute oneness. The sole purpose of a human in the material world is to alleviate personal suffering and return to the life force. The Christian view of a human being is based on the concept of imago dei in which God has created human beings in His image. The qualities imbue the human to provide the ability for individuals to emulate God’s attributes thereby bringing them closer and developing a relationship with the Creator. Although, these qualities were in existence before the arrival of Jesus Christ, the human was wayward. This waywardness is why Jesus Christ was sent to restore humanity’s faith and covenant with the
My interest in understanding this role grew during the first part of this module. Each author and lecturer talked about the practice of worship bringing spiritual formation. Listening to them, I would say I agreed, but I knew it was lacking in my life. I wanted to know how worship could transform me. Gregory of Nyssa (n.d) said “We imitate those qualities we can assume while we venerate and worship what our nature cannot imitate” (p. 10). I knew there was something worship could do that was beyond my own ability to do. With an interest in understanding it, also grew a desire to experience it. God began gently and lovingly inviting me into a personal worship practice. The corporate worship times during the last intensive in Burtigny were instrumental in this. A specific example of this is singing the song “Good, Good Father” by Chris Tomlin. I needed to remember that God is a good father. Each time I sang it, it was as if I knew it to be true even more. Worshipping God for being a good father grew the reality of God as a good father in my heart. I would say without hesitation that God is a good father, but in practice I was doubting His ability/desire to be a father to me and my family. I knew it was true but there was a place where that truth had not transformed me and that was presenting itself in fear. Worshipping God as a good father began to transform that part of me that could not be convinced by knowledge alone. I began to
Chapter three focuses on us becoming an image of Christ. “The image of Christ is that which brings cleansing, healing, restoration, renewal, transformation and wholeness into the unclean, diseased, broken, imprisoned, dead incompleteness of our lives.” (Mulholland, 1993, pg34) This transformation into the image of Christ comes in the areas of our life in which we are the most unlike Him. These areas of imperfection are the cross in which we must carry. However, God will not force us to this transformation, we must be open and allow Him to do a work in us in those areas of
Relational. The ministry of Jesus was focused on people and meeting their needs. Spending time with others, both individually and through corporate gatherings, is modeled throughout the Bible. Fellowship with other believers in small groups allows individuals to forge relationships and develop accountability at some level. These deeper bonds demonstrate to others their love for God and others by loving God’s Law, obeying it by God’s grace, and allowing it to lead to Jesus Christ for transformation into His image.