21. The Image of God
What does God look like?Seriously, this is the central issue of the garden and the fall of man and it is the central issue behind the crucifixion of Jesus.
Which image shows us God? When God shows up inside His creation, what form does He take upon Himself?
Yet God has no image apart from symmorphy. And thus symmorphy precedes image in Romans 8:29, symmorphosed with the image of His Son.
A body, a created form in which He can appear, is the very thing God entered into covenant with us in order to obtain for Himself. What is that body and how does it appear?
In this chapter we take another look at the concept of "image," this time, at the level of Covenant.
Lesson 21.1 Perfection sets forth the critical contrast between the perfection of God and the perfection of the evil one. The Calvinist gospel places God's perfection as outward appearance. Jesus reveals God's perfection as He shares our mistakes with us and with us turns all that offends into unending goodness.
Lesson 21.2 Willing to Be Symmorphic then focuses on our willingness to allow God to be all that we are, to share all our mistakes with us. It is only such willingness, then, that also allows God to show Himself as He is through us.
Lesson 21.3 Symmorphosed with His Body then presents the absolute that the image of God is not you and me as isolated individuals, but rather many walking together as one, family, living life together, loving one another with a pure heart fervently.