Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 12:12pm
We are made in God's image, so what?
Column: God Said What?
Then God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.’/ God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them./ God blessed them, saying: ‘Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.’ (Gen 1: 26-28, NAB)
We are made in God’s own image. We, women and men, are crafted to reflect and divine to the world, to each other, and back to God. This, of course, does not mean that we are divine beings. We are neither God nor gods. We sin and hurt each other, we repent and love one another. But we carry the “imago dei,” the image of God.
We are made in God’s own image. This means that there is a special connection between us and God. After all, there was an Incarnation. God became human. God took on all of the joys and sorrows, the ugliness and beauty, the temptations and the perseverance—the mystery of being human. Incarnate as Jesus, the Holy Mystery entered definitively and uniquely into human history. The God of Life became human and took on our sin. The God of Justice and Hope, of Faithfulness and Mercy, drew near. God is utterly transcendent, beyond all our imagining. Yet God dwells closer to us than our own selves and tirelessly labors in the world. This is a God who is beyond us, yet grasps us, breathes on us, and offers us salvation.
This offer of divine salvation isn’t a “spiritualized” salvation. It is not an offer to take us to a “spiritual heaven,” away from the troubles of this world. That is not what Jesus preached. No, it is an immediate salvation in human history. It is liberation from the evils of sin. It is a redemption of God’s image in us that we mutilate through our faulty choices. It is an offer of salvation, if we have the courage to follow the Holy One of God, Jesus Christ.
This means that God calls us to convert from our own personal sins and from the larger social sins in which we participate. God demands that the oppressed be set free and the oppressors repent and reclaim their humanity. The God of Jesus Christ calls the victims to be healed and the victimizers be brought to justice.
This offer is concrete. We are called to repent from racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia. We are called to repent from killing the innocent, especially the unborn and the elderly. We are called to embrace and live a preferential option for the poor and the oppressed. We are called to become good stewards of creation, to oppose ecological devastation. We are called to resist a culture of consumerism that turns everything, even children and women’s bodies, into items to be bought and sold. We are called to build up our communities, our marriages, our schools, our families, our friends. And we are called to remember the dead victims, those whose lives were tragically taken away and who now are beyond our own power to heal.
God calls us to such repentance and conversion. Not for the sake of constant guilt, but for joy in the God who loves us and who offers the divine self for us. For we are of utmost value in the eyes of God. That’s why St. Irenaeus of Lyons observed that “the glory of God is the human being fully alive.”
Of course, God will not strong arm us or manipulate us. We have free will. But what can we have to such an offer of divine love and salvation? What is our response to such an offer?
Our response is conversion. We are called to repent and change our lives and ways of living. Especially those that injure others, directly or indirectly. We are called to the hard joy of living as if we carry the “imago dei.”
As Advent is waning and Christmas draws near, we should remember the implications of being created in God’s own image. If we had any doubt as to the power of being created as such, God’s entering into history in Jesus Christ should dispel it. It is the greatest blessing to carry God’s image, to be formed in the likeness of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of the world. It is also the greatest responsibility towards our brothers and sisters, our world, and our God.
God is coming. Again. God is always breaking into the world, constantly interrupting human history, human business-as-usual. As Jesus preached, God’s kingdom is now. As we say “Come, Lord Jesus” during advent, let us remember the response that God’s coming elicits from us. Not just “come,” but “Come show mercy and heal the sick, the lame, the mentally ill, the possessed. Come set the oppressed free, and bring the oppressors back to their humanity. Come and show us how to see, how to repent, how to love, how to live joyfully. Come give us hope for a renewed world. Come show us how to faithfully love our neighbors, ourselves, and our Creator Come show us how to be small sacraments of salvation. Come show us how to love again.”
This should be our prayer in the weeks to come. This is the prayer of those who are created in God’s own image. It is my prayer as Christ draws near in the weeks to come.
———
Kevin Considine is pursuing a Ph.D. in Theology and hopes to become a scholar/professor. He is married to a most wonderful woman who keeps him in line and makes sure his thoughts make sense. He and his wife live on the South Side of Chicago. He welcomes comments, feedback or fits of anger and can be reached at considkp@yahoo.com. © copyright 2008 by Kevin Considine
We are made in God’s own image. We, women and men, are crafted to reflect and divine to the world, to each other, and back to God. This, of course, does not mean that we are divine beings. We are neither God nor gods. We sin and hurt each other, we repent and love one another. But we carry the “imago dei,” the image of God.
We are made in God’s own image. This means that there is a special connection between us and God. After all, there was an Incarnation. God became human. God took on all of the joys and sorrows, the ugliness and beauty, the temptations and the perseverance—the mystery of being human. Incarnate as Jesus, the Holy Mystery entered definitively and uniquely into human history. The God of Life became human and took on our sin. The God of Justice and Hope, of Faithfulness and Mercy, drew near. God is utterly transcendent, beyond all our imagining. Yet God dwells closer to us than our own selves and tirelessly labors in the world. This is a God who is beyond us, yet grasps us, breathes on us, and offers us salvation.
This offer of divine salvation isn’t a “spiritualized” salvation. It is not an offer to take us to a “spiritual heaven,” away from the troubles of this world. That is not what Jesus preached. No, it is an immediate salvation in human history. It is liberation from the evils of sin. It is a redemption of God’s image in us that we mutilate through our faulty choices. It is an offer of salvation, if we have the courage to follow the Holy One of God, Jesus Christ.
This means that God calls us to convert from our own personal sins and from the larger social sins in which we participate. God demands that the oppressed be set free and the oppressors repent and reclaim their humanity. The God of Jesus Christ calls the victims to be healed and the victimizers be brought to justice.
This offer is concrete. We are called to repent from racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia. We are called to repent from killing the innocent, especially the unborn and the elderly. We are called to embrace and live a preferential option for the poor and the oppressed. We are called to become good stewards of creation, to oppose ecological devastation. We are called to resist a culture of consumerism that turns everything, even children and women’s bodies, into items to be bought and sold. We are called to build up our communities, our marriages, our schools, our families, our friends. And we are called to remember the dead victims, those whose lives were tragically taken away and who now are beyond our own power to heal.
God calls us to such repentance and conversion. Not for the sake of constant guilt, but for joy in the God who loves us and who offers the divine self for us. For we are of utmost value in the eyes of God. That’s why St. Irenaeus of Lyons observed that “the glory of God is the human being fully alive.”
Of course, God will not strong arm us or manipulate us. We have free will. But what can we have to such an offer of divine love and salvation? What is our response to such an offer?
Our response is conversion. We are called to repent and change our lives and ways of living. Especially those that injure others, directly or indirectly. We are called to the hard joy of living as if we carry the “imago dei.”
As Advent is waning and Christmas draws near, we should remember the implications of being created in God’s own image. If we had any doubt as to the power of being created as such, God’s entering into history in Jesus Christ should dispel it. It is the greatest blessing to carry God’s image, to be formed in the likeness of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of the world. It is also the greatest responsibility towards our brothers and sisters, our world, and our God.
God is coming. Again. God is always breaking into the world, constantly interrupting human history, human business-as-usual. As Jesus preached, God’s kingdom is now. As we say “Come, Lord Jesus” during advent, let us remember the response that God’s coming elicits from us. Not just “come,” but “Come show mercy and heal the sick, the lame, the mentally ill, the possessed. Come set the oppressed free, and bring the oppressors back to their humanity. Come and show us how to see, how to repent, how to love, how to live joyfully. Come give us hope for a renewed world. Come show us how to faithfully love our neighbors, ourselves, and our Creator Come show us how to be small sacraments of salvation. Come show us how to love again.”
This should be our prayer in the weeks to come. This is the prayer of those who are created in God’s own image. It is my prayer as Christ draws near in the weeks to come.
———
Kevin Considine is pursuing a Ph.D. in Theology and hopes to become a scholar/professor. He is married to a most wonderful woman who keeps him in line and makes sure his thoughts make sense. He and his wife live on the South Side of Chicago. He welcomes comments, feedback or fits of anger and can be reached at considkp@yahoo.com. © copyright 2008 by Kevin Considine