The Image of The Invisible God, part 3

Back On the Horse…
In the last post in this series, part 2, we ended with this quote by Owen:

Mankind seem to have always had a common apprehension that there was need of a nearer and more full representation of God unto them, than was made in any of the works of creation or providence.

Owen’s statement here, I believe, could offer us some insight into the idolatrous bent and affection found in man. If man has within him a natural desire or need of knowing God, though corrupted by the fall, then man’s desire to worship someone or something would certainly be another evidence of God’s self exposition to reveal His image. What I find so wonderful about all of this, is that God, even after the fall, still seeks to reveal Himself in an innumerable amount ways to a world full of fallen, unthankful creatures.

But in the pursuit hereof they utterly ruined themselves; they would do what God had not done. By common consent they framed representations of God unto themselves; and were so besotted therein, that they utterly lost the benefit which they might have received by the manifestation of him in the works of the creation, and took up with most foolish imaginations. For whereas they might have learned from thence the being of God, his infinite wisdom, power, and goodness—viz., in the impressions and characters of them on the things that were made—in their own representations of him, they “changed the glory of the invisible God into an image made like unto corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things:” Rom. i. 23.

Although…

…… it is granted, that God hath placed many characters of his divine excellencies upon his works of creation and providence—many [characters] of his glorious presence upon the tabernacle and temple of old—but none of these things ever did or could give such a representation of him as wherein the souls of men might fully acquiesce, or obtain such conceptions of him as might enable them to worship and honour him in a due manner. They cannot, I say—by all that may be seen in them, and learned from them—represent God as the complete object of all our affections, of all the actings of our souls in faith, trust, love, fear, obedience, in that way whereby he may be glorified, and we may be brought unto the everlasting fruition of him. This, therefore, is yet to be inquired after.

Until Next Time…

All this is done in the person of Christ. He is the complete image and perfect representation of the Divine Being and excellencies.

(All quotes taken from - The Works of John Owen, Volume 1, The Glory of Christ)

The Image of The Invisible God, part 2

“…The whole earth is full of His glory!”
In part one of this series, we mused briefly about shadows, not pointing to themselves but rather to what they represent. We can tell a shadow by its border and boundary. But when we see shadows of things representing God, we cannot find the borders, for the glory of God covers the whole earth, the whole universe, and in fact extends infinitely. But it is evident to the creature that there is a creator, for His glory is manifest in them and in all things around them.

Owen…

It is evident, therefore, that our conceptions of God, and of the glorious properties of his nature, are both ingenerated in us and regulated, under the conduct of divine revelation, by reflections of his glory on other things, and representations of his divine excellencies in the effects of them. So the invisible things of God, even his eternal power and Godhead, are clearly seen, being manifested and understood by the things that are made : Rom. i. 20. Yet must it be granted, that no mere creature, not the angels above, not the heaven of heavens, are meet or able to receive upon them such characters of the divine excellencies, as to be a complete, satisfactory representation of the being and properties of God unto us. They are all finite and limited, and so cannot properly represent that which is infinite and immense. And this is the true reason why all worship or religious adoration of them is idolatry. Yet are there such effects of God’s glory in them, such impressions of divine excellencies upon them, as we cannot comprehend nor search out unto perfection. How little do we conceive of the nature, glory,and power of angels! So remote are we from an immediate comprehension of the uncreated glory of God, as that we cannot fully apprehend, nor conceive aright, the reflection of it on creatures in themselves finite and limited. Hence, they thought of old, when they had seen an angel, that so much of the divine perfections had been manifested unto them that thereon they must die: Judges xiii. 21, 22. Howbeit, they [the angels] come infinitely short of making any complete representation of God; nor is it otherwise with any creature whatever.

So What Then?…
If it seems so impossible, why are we concerning ourselves with this course of study? Why is this even worth our time and investment to consider? Also, what questions are we hoping to answer in this endeavor? As Christians, every aspect of who we are finds its worth and validation in the person of Christ, who He is, what He has done, and who we are in Him. When the Bible says in Colossians 1:15, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” and again in Hebrews 1:3, “who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person,” it should be cause enough for us to stop and meditate, pondering what this means and what God is saying about Himself. If Christ is the express image of the person of God and we are conformed to the image of His Son, then we cannot find answers about ourselves by looking at ourselves, but rather by losing ourselves in an all-consumed seeking after Christ. Where is a bride to find her fulfillment except in her husband? And when she cannot see her husband, she is longing after him. Is this not the way it should be with the bride of Christ? Trying to learn about ourselves without looking at God is like trying to see what we look like without using a mirror. But we are made to be the reflection of His glory. We can only find Him when He is looking at us and we are made to seek after Him.

Until Next Time…
In the quote below, Owen begins his discourse on why man is so idolatrous, which we have touched on previously. But you can see where this leads….

Mankind seem to have always had a common apprehension that there was need of a nearer and more full representation of God unto them, than was made in any of the works of creation or providence.

The next time we will look at examples from Scripture of when God has revealed His uncreated glory. Stay tuned!

The Image of The Invisible God, part 1

Where To Begin…
Interestingly enough, the place that Owen starts to expound on the image of God, is with our knowledge of Him. Revelation and our understanding of the image of God are integrally fastened together. In other words, if we are to grasp what the image of God is, we will have to understand what God has revealed about Himself in the images and shadows of things pointing to Him. Owen asserts that there is no other way for us to know anything about God except through what He has revealed about Himself in our intellect and the created universe around us. The infinite relating to the finite through other finite things.

John Owen…

Therefore, we can have no direct intuitive notions or apprehensions of the divine essence, or its properties. Such knowledge is too wonderful for us. Whatever is pleaded for an intellectual vision of the essence of God in the light of glory, yet none pretend unto a possibility of an immediate, full comprehension of it. But, in our present state, God is unto us, as he was unto Moses under all the external manifestations of his glory, “in thick darkness :” Exod. XX. 21. All the rational conceptions of the minds of men are swallowed up and lost, when they would exercise themselves directly on that which is absolutely immense, eternal, infinite. When we say it is so, we know not what we say, but only that it is not otherwise. What we deny of God, we know in some measure—but what we affirm we know not; only we declare what we believe and adore…. We have no means—no corporeal, no intellectual instrument or power—for the comprehension of him; nor hath any other creature…. That God is in himself absolutely incomprehensible unto us, is a necessary effect of our infinite distance from him. But as he externally represents himself unto us, and by the notions which are ingenerated in us by the effects of his properties, are our conceptions of him : Ps. xix. 1 ; Rom. i. 20.

On Images…
When we see a picture of an apple, we understand that the picture is not an apple, but that it is merely an image of an apple. When we see a shadow of anything, it is not pointing to itself, but rather to what is casting the shadow. When we read that man is made in the image of God, we understand (at least we should understand) that man is not God, but that he is made in the image of God. This is truly a mystery to me, and I love a good mystery. In light of this, we should be captivated by God when we see glimpses of Him in what He is gloriously revealing about Himself. He is the endearing Father that says unto us, “Child, know Me.” And He wants His children to know Him.

Something To Consider…
It would seem that the innate desire within man to worship someone or something is an evidence that man is made in the image of God. This is, of course ruined by the fall in that man does not worship God naturally or only. However, man does in fact worship something, always. It may be God, it may be false gods, it may be money, it may also be self, but man does worship. I believe this is a proof of man’s divine engineering.

Christ, Our All

In chapter 2 of the book Don’t Waste Your Life, John Piper gets at the heart of having a passion for God. For the Christian, living is all about Christ, only for Christ and there is no other way to not waste our life if our desire is not entirely focussed on Christ and His glory. There is no other! How many of us are wanting less of self and more of Him? What gets in our way?

Here’s Piper

God loves us by liberating us from the bondage of self so that we can enjoy knowing and admiring him forever.

…then what must love do? It must rescue us from our addiction to self and bring us, changed, into the presence of God.  

God’s passion for his own glory gives birth to ours.

Christ must be explicit in all our God-talk. It will not do, in this day of pluralism, to talk about the glory of God in vague ways. God without Christ is no God. And a no-God cannot save or satisfy the soul. Following a no-God—whatever his name or whatever his religion—will be a wasted life. God-in-Christ is the only true God and the only path to joy.

There is no point in romanticizing other religions that reject the deity and saving work of Christ. They do not know God. And those who follow them tragically waste their lives.

When we embrace Christ, we embrace God. We see and savor God’s glory. There is no savoring of God’s glory if we do not see it in Christ. This is the only window through which a sinner may see the face of God and not be incinerated.

-John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, chapter 2 (to read this book, click here)

The Image of The Invisible God; intro

What We’re Doing:

The Image of the Invisible God is a series of posts that I am currently working on. It will consist of 4 to 6 posts that will principally deal with the image of God in the person of Christ. Most, if not all of the quotes I will be using will be by John Owen. The inspiration for this series of posts comes from chapter 5, volume 1 of The Works of John Owen (Banner of Truth edition). Basically, I am taking what Owen said, spreading it out, and thinking through it here.  

Here’s a Little Owen:

God, in his own essence, being, and existence, is absolutely incomprehensible. His nature being immense, and all his holy properties essentially infinite, no creature can directly or perfectly comprehend them, or any of them. He must be infinite that can perfectly comprehend that which is infinite; wherefore God is perfectly known unto himself only—but as for us, how little a portion is heard of him! Hence he is called “The invisible God,” and said to dwell in ” light inaccessible” The subsistence of his most single and simple nature in three distinct persons, though it raises and ennobles faith in its revelation, yet it amazeth reason which would trust to itself in the contemplation of it—whence men grow giddy who will own no other guide, and are carried out of the way of truth.” No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him:” John i. 18; 1 Tim. vi. 16.

Verses To Whet Our Appetites:

Gen 1:26  Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;

Exo 20:4  ”You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

2Co 4:4  whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

Col 1:15  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Heb 1:3  who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Heb 10:1  For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.

Till Part 1:

I hope you enjoy these posts as we work through them. Thank you in advance for your patience and any feedback you may have to offer.