In the Image of God

Many of you know that I’ve been back in school, starting a Master’s of Divinity degree at age 59.  What I can tell you is that the mind doesn’t work as well now as it used to, but you can not improve on the subject matter.  I’ve had the joy, yes, it is really a joy, to study Biblical Hebrew.  Recently I had to translate Genesis 1 and was struck by verses 26 and 27.  Don’t worry, I’ll give it to you in English: 

Reflecting on this, it occurred to me that our God is a tri-unity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  He operates in perfect harmony and unity, in complete alignment on every matter.  There is joy in each other’s work and blessing in their every interaction.  And then the last phrase hit me.  This is how he created male and female and I thought about my wife.  Boom!  Mind blown, head exploding!

How many of us who are married have the kind of relationship that exists between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?  But that is exactly how Genesis says man and woman, husband and wife were created.  Of course, there are all the disclaimers, hey, God is infinite, we are finite, God is perfect but sin has corrupted us.  But on the other hand, Christ has reconciled us to God and in Christ, and through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, we are more and more restored to our original God-glorifying creation.  So, the way we were created is still the ideal.  And I know this will be a shock to you all, but my marriage doesn’t quite look like the ideal.  Still, by God’s grace, I am working on it.  You can check with my wife, Sharon, to see how I’m doing.

And by the way, this ideal is not limited to husband and wife.  According to Paul in Ephesians 5, this same calling belongs to Christ and the church.  So even if we are not married, the perfect unity and harmony of our triune God are expected within the church.  It’s possible that we may have some work to do.  Just saying.

What does this have to do with our men at GRC?  Pretty much everything because we have been charged by God to be leaders.  And without a solid grounding in God’s word, we are tossed by the winds of our society.  We are often blown about by the wisdom of the world rather than the wisdom of God.  Only through study and the encouragement of our brothers do we have any chance of absorbing God’s truth and His direction for us as men.  How do we get to the point of loving others as Christ loved the church, giving his life for her?  Only by being completely possessed by his word and instruction.  And that only comes with real study and reflection.

I am encouraged by the number of men engaged in Bible study throughout GRC.  We currently have five different groups of guys meeting throughout the week opening Scripture together.  If you’d like to get connected, drop a line to men@graceredeemer.com and we will work to plug you in.  We probably have some work to do!