Quote:
Originally Posted by HERn
Beware of the false teaching in the Mystery of the Human Life.
. God’s PlanGod desires to express Himself through man (Rom. 8:29).
For this purpose, He created man in His own image (Gen.
1:26). Just as a glove is made in the image of a hand to
contain a hand, so also man is made in the
image of God to contain God. By receiving
God as his content, man can express God
(2 Cor. 4:7).
Here is what Romans 8:29 says
Romans 8:29 New International Version (NIV)
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Please note that there is no indication in this verse that God wants to express Himself through man.
2 Corinthians 4:7 New International Version (NIV)
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. Note that there is nothing in this verse about God wanting to express himself through man.
It's a good sentiment, but not supported by these verses. Maybe E, Drake, or Steel can help direct us to more pertinent versus?
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Well, an image is an expression of the thing the image represents, not just a cold, carbon copy. We gain this from the biblical meaning of the word image. I guess this is why people like taking pictures of themselves with their mobile phones, and posting on instagram or facebook - they want to express themselves.
The desire to express Himself through man is found more clearly in the next verse, Romans 8:30. Man's glorification, is the expression of God through man.
But my main reason to present the gospel tract is to show that repentance is clearly taught there. Lee also wrote a number of books on repentance.
God being expressed through man is the genuine gospel. Not the "get to heaven or go to hell" gospel. If God's only goal was to get humankind into heaven then this doesn't require glorification or being created in his image. So we ask why we are created in His image, why are we glorified. So we can get to heaven? Obviously we don't get to heaven by being glorified - justification is sufficient. And why be created in His image? We might be a lump of unformed clay and still go to heaven. No, because God wants to be expressed.