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The Image of God in Humanity

God has no physical aspect, therefore Adam and Eve were not created to “look like” God in the flesh. (As Hebrews explains, when Christ came, God entered into a body “prepared for Me” that was created after the image of man. (Phil 2:6-8; Jn 1:14; Heb 2:17-18) Prior to Christ’s incarnation, God had no physical aspect whatsoever.)

Moreover, the writer stated: “So God created humankind in His own image; in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” Genesis 1:27. God created humanity as an whole, in the image of God. Male and female humanity is created in the image of God; the entirety of the species, in the maleness and femaleness as an whole, is created “in the image of God”, making a physical context of that image impossible...

According to Jesus, Who is Jesus?

Isaiah 44:6  Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and His Redeemer the LORD of hosts; ‘I am the first, and I am the last; and beside Me there is no God.’

Malachi 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not ….

John 8:56-58  ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.’

Then said the Jews unto him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’

Jesus said unto them, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.’”

Revelation 1:5-19:

5       And from Jesus Christ, Who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. To Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood,

6       And has made us kings and priests to...

What characteristics do you see in God as the creation account unfolds?

Attributes of God revealed in the Creation Account in Genesis

God pre-exists all material things: “In the beginning, God created…”

The universe did not exist; it had a beginning. “The heaven” refers to sky, outer space and beyond. “The earth” refers to the world.

The universe consists of all time, space, matter, and natural energy. All of these elements had a beginning; they did not and are unable to, exist eternally. They necessarily “came into being” at some point in past history.

God is necessarily personal. God necessarily thinks, feels, desires, knows, has abilities, values, plans, purposes, foresight, understanding, etc.

God is necessarily external to (outside of) the universe.

Therefore, God do...

Why is the God of the Old Testament so Different From the Message of Jesus in the New Testament?

Study texts:

Genesis 1 – 6

References to Jesus’ speaking about hell and about judgment, in their respective contexts

The letter to the Hebrews

Revelation 1 – 3; 11; 15-16; 19-20; 22 (read the whole book, but pay attention to the relevant content of these chapters vis a vis the proposition.)

References to Jesus speaking about hell:

Mt 5:22    But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Mt 5:29    And if thy right eye off...

Study Question:      Why is the God of the OT so different from the “message of Jesus” in the New?

“Why is the God of the OT so different than Jesus’ message in the NT? Is Jesus’ father the God of the OT? With all the revenge and blood sacrifice stuff?”

What is the main premise?

The God of the Old Testament is different from Jesus’ message in the New Testament.

What is the conflict driving the premise?

That the God of the Old Testament is guilty of revenge and requiring of blood sacrifice, which are implied to be unrighteous in some manner.

What questions must be answered in order to answer the question above?

1. Is God in the Old Testament different from Jesus’ message in the New?
2. Who is God and what is God’s nature...

Luke 15:11-32 The parable of the father with two sons, the younger of whom squandered his inheritance and returned in humiliation to his father, begging forgiveness and mercy to return as a servant, thereby escaping certain destruction (he was starving.)

First of all, the younger son chose to leave the father; he was not sent or driven away, nor did his father intend him to go. He demanded his portion of the inheritance before his father died; the father did not offer it to him, nor suggest that he could take it and take his leave. Once gone, the son’s “riotous living” was his own choice; nothing compelled him nor did Jesus give any indication that any motivating influence came from the man’s father to cause him to sin...

The gospel – good news – of salvation is that Christ took your sins upon Himself when He went to the cross. He died the death in your place, effectively serving your sentence for your sins. He rose from death on the 3rd day, as recorded in Old & New Testaments, bringing resurrection and eternal life to all who will believe on Him.

When we stand in judgment at the end of our lives, whether by death or the rapture, we will first be judged according to our response to Jesus Christ. If we trusted Him for our salvation, we wear His righteousness before the throne of judgment; we are freed from the penalty for our wrongs because He served it on our behalf. He is described as our advocate; He both defends us and serves our sentence.

If we have refused Him during our earthly life, we will s...

LOGICAL FALLACIES

2 main types: fallacies of distraction           fallacies of form

Fallacies of Distraction:

Ipse dixit:        “he said it himself”. Appeal to authority.  – Citing a source or person because they have some aspect of authority (education, position, etc) which has no bearing on their ability to speak to the issue at hand.

Ad populum:      “bandwagon” appeal to popular opinion or practice. Numbers do not make something right or wrong.

Ad baculum:        “to the stick” concede or suffer – Appealing to someone’s fear or vulnerability to influence their position.

Ad hominem:      “to the man” personal attack – Criticize the messenger instead of evaluating the message on its own merits...

Faith is not based on ‘facts’, but faith is in facts because of our faith in the Person who spoke those facts.

We can have faith before we know ‘all the facts’, but many believe they have facts that refute our faith, accusing us of having faith despite or contrary to the facts. These people need to see that facts support faith. We have not chosen faith over reason, but rather our faith is also reasonable. Reason supports faith:

2 Peter 1:16-18: “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased...

1. The nature of God’s word. God directed the writing of a very specific and detailed account of the genealogy of the universe. Why would God direct such precision of input for an analogous story? Either the statements are true, or they are of no value.

2. What could be the purpose of Gen 1:1 – 2:4, which is identified as a “genealogy of the heavens and the earth” when they were created, if it is in fact not an account of how the heavens and earth came into being?

3. Gen 1:3 identifies a separation of light from darkness, and defines both “day” and “night” by them respectively.

4. In Gen 1:3, after defining day and night, it is recorded “evening was and morning was, the first day...