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We now are approaching the true core of this series' studies. Being created in the image of God is so often seen as a way of making us feel better: 'I'm not ugly, I'm made in the image of God!' 'I have the potential to do amazing things; I'm made in the image of God!' but I think that taking this route is missing one of the most amazing truths behind this doctrine of Imago Dei. To date we have looked at a variety of examples in Scripture from which we can see that we are created in the image of God in that we rule as He does and that we share some characteristics with Him, and this week we will begin looking at ways in which we reflect God's image in our relationships. As God is eternally in relationship with Himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we too have been created to be in relationship. We will begin by looking at the local church.

Brotherly love

1 Peter 1:22-23 says 'Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again…' and it is this sense of brotherly love that I would like to start with. We looked last week at the family resemblance due to the fact that God is our Father, and the natural logical conclusion of this truth is that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Peter explained that our souls have been purified (as in, upon conversion we received God's purification) for a purpose: 'for a sincere brotherly love'. Local churches are wonderful places to make friends, share food, have fun, play games and, above all, hold grudges. I would imagine that the vast majority of Christians who leave churches do so because either someone is bitter against them, or because they are bitter against someone else; this sense of a sincere brotherly love has been lost. We have been saved in order to bear with one another with a brotherly love!

Disunity

The reason this sense has been lost, I feel, is in part due to our fallen nature and in part due to our fallen society. Society today tells us to look out for number one, to pursue self-promotion and self-help. We are told that we are all unique and special and that the best ideal for life is to be served by everyone around you, but the Bible holds a different line. According to God's Word Jesus' church is not a bunch of individuals meeting up once a week, but rather a unified body with many members (Ephesians 4,1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12), each performing their unique task for the benefit of the whole. Essentially, Bible teaching is this: we are not whole until we live together as the local church!

Unity

It is my firm belief that the local church has the potential to be the hope of the whole world (see Bill Hybels, Courageous Leadership). The beauty of the church is immense when we truly leap into the promises Jesus has for us. I would like to draw our attention to two verses. Check out Nehemiah 8:1 and Judges 20:11. The two use the phrase ‘as one man’ to describe the actions of the church (i.e. the Israelites), but for two different purposes:

Unity for corporate worship

The Nehemiah reference describes the Israelites as gathering ‘as one man’ in order to worship God publicly and corporately. While worship is an individual lifestyle and certainly not a style of music as some would have us believe it is important for us to note that an important aspect of life in the local church is gathering to worship God ‘as one’ i.e. of one mind, doing the same actions together to join as one before our God and King. I am open to suggestions but I cannot think of a better medium for this than either speaking or singing truth together. If we have a paragraph of truth that we declare all together then we are of one accord and can be sure that we are worshipping ‘as one man’. The advantage of singing is that songs encourage us to participate in more ways than just vocalising words; we can use our bodies by raising our hands or dancing, and we can use our emotions by exalting God as the tune encourages us to do so.

Unity for battle

The Judges reference refers to a moment at which the men of Israel were gathered, about to attack a city of rebels. The truth is that in the local church we will always come under attack from somewhere; the non-Christian world hates Christian believers because we think they’re going to hell, and the demonic world hates Christian believers because we bring glory to the God who will one day send them to hell. As a result we receive all kinds of attack, and we are strongest when we are ‘as one man’. When I get bullied at work for being a Christian and not wanting to get drunk when we go out as a team then the best way to be encouraged in my battles is to be in regular contact with those in my local church. I can also testify that the times when the devil’s temptations have been strongest in my life have been times at which I have spent a significant amount of time away from my local church.

Conclusion

Love one another in your local churches. Really strive for unity, forgiving others quickly and never becoming bitter. Meet regularly, share everything and serve everyone, that you and they may be better equipped to worship God as one, and do battle against Satan, his demons, their works and effects.

"Today's Little Lift" from Jim Bullington

The Comfort of the Scriptures (12-20-10)