Worshipping the Image of God
Good morning. It is a beautiful summer morning, a day of worship, and day of praise!
Worshipping our Almighty God is to worship the truth of His image. We are warned and commanded in Exodus 20:4-5, where we are given the 10 commandments of God: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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.You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,”
Clearly, the worship of any image that is not the true image of God is forbidden. As we read this command, I would say that we likely feel safe, because which of us is guilty of idolatry, of worshipping a false image? But what is the “image” of God that we worship, and is it correct to say that if we are not worshipping the true image of our creator God, we are in some way guilty of false and idolatrous worship?
Consider with me how God has revealed His image. Please bear with me as I turn this into the verb form, “imaged.” God has revealed (imaged) Himself to us through scripture, His holy Word. It is a never changing, always accurate, and powerful image of who He is.
As we follow the pilgrimage of the children of Israel in the Old Testament, we see God expressing various aspects of His nature and giving different pictures of what He is like. He revealed, imaged Himself at the foot of Mount Sinai with a powerful storm cloud and with fire. He imaged His character in the ten commandments. He imaged Himself in the ark of the covenant, placing within it the rod and the bread. The seat on top of the ark images His throne. The ark in its entirety images for us the intimate bond that God has chosen to have between Himself and His people. The ark was placed in the holy of holies where His sheknah, His glory and presence dwelt.
When Solomon finishes building the temple and engages the people in its dedication and in the initial worship within it, God images Himself in righteous power through fire and with His powerful voice. His glory filled the place. It was terrifying and thrilling. It was raw power, absolute wonder, and yet tender, loving, and intimate. All of this could only be accomplished by our mighty God as He presented His true image to the people for worship.
God images Himself with a voice of compassion, but also with a voice of discipline. He is always our God who provides what is truly needed.
And then there is Jesus. God reveals himself, images Himself in the One we know as the Son of God, our personal Savior. All of the Old Testament speaks of the Messiah and of God’s plan to reclaim and save all of mankind who will choose to love Him.
Jesus is the full disclosure of God. Jesus is the image of God’s heart. We read this at the very beginning of the letter to the Hebrews and we receive this truth. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. Hebrews 1:1-4
Even as God was burning His ten Commandments into the tablets of stone on the mountain, the Israelites below were already breaking them, already preparing a false image to worship. Even as the Israelites were engaging is such idolatrous activity, God was at work to bring His image, His Messiah, Jesus, into the world to bring them forgiveness.
Jesus is the image of God. He is the reality of God’s person and His presence. He is the embodiment of God’s love. Perhaps the greatest of all the images of God that are revealed to us in His Word comes from 1 John 4:7-10 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
God bless you today as you worship His true image, who is Jesus Christ our Savior.
Vern