FROM OUR BRETHREN... A CHRISTIAN DENOMINATION THAT IS IN UNION WITH US IN OPPOSING THE FALLACIES OF THE RH/RP "LAW": “His Image in the People of God"

“His Image in the People of God"

 

February 10, 2013

 

The 5th Sunday of the Christian Season of Epiphany

 

Exodus 34: 29 – 35/Psalm 99/1 Corinthians 12: 27 - 13: 13/Luke 9: 28 – 36

 

His Eminence

The Most Reverend Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines D.D.

 

Archbishop of Manila

and 

Primate 

of the 

National Church in the Philippines 

and 

the Territorial Church of Asia

International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church

 

 

The Season of Epiphany may come to an end, but the presence of Christ with us does not end. It does not matter where you go; it does not matter what you do.  He is there with you; He cannot leave you; He cannot forsake you.  This is His character – who He is. 

The beauty of God we see made manifest to man is that God, in His times of planning, desired and wanted someone that He could have relationship with.  He wanted someone who would be like Him; someone who would set order in their life; someone who would stand for good; someone who would love; someone who would stand upright in holiness and righteousness.

The desire of God He manifested in His choice.  “Let Us make man in Our image.”  Man was the one He chose.  Man is the one He created to be like Him.  Genesis 1:26 shows the consensus of the Godhead in communicating together, “Let Us make man in Our image according to Our likeness.” Here was the character that God was creating.  Here was the plan of God.  Here was the desire of God. Verse 27, “And God created man in His image.”  God did the work and yet we still want the image of God to be made manifest in our lives.  We sing it in our songs; we say it in our words, “Make Your image in us.” 

We were created in that image.  From the very beginning, this was the pattern of our lives – the very model that we were created to be.  If God does something, He does it well.  He doesn’t make mistakes.  Genesis 1:31 says, “And God saw all that He made and behold, it was very good.” In our minds and own lifestyle, we see ourselves less than what God created us to be.  We struggle with life.  We struggle with circumstances, when in reality, God created us in His image and His likeness. 

In the Greek, the word “image” involves two ideas.  One, representation; two, manifestation.  You could be something, but if you don’t manifest it, what you are loses its value.  You may get a degree in a university for being a doctor or a lawyer, but if you don’t manifest what you have the degree for, what you’ve done is worthless. 

The representation, God gave us; but the manifestation is up to us.   In Genesis 2:7, when God breathed the breath of life into man, man became a living soul – an image with a soul.  Perhaps, the image is the representation; the soul is the manifestation.  Man is the only creation of God that was given a soul.  He was the only one given choice.  Nothing else had a soul; only man.  Man was to use that soul to manifest the image He was given; the representation of God.  This is the potential and the ability in our lives that God has given to us. 

We see this shown to us in Matthew 22:20 when it talks about the coin of Caesar.  Jesus asked, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”  They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”  Then He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God that things are God’s.” The coin, the representation; the manifestation was a choice to take that coin and use it to buy or to gain what you needed or what you wanted for yourself.  Obviously, this has a lot to speak to us because we see it also in Mark and Luke.  It was repeated in the three gospels – the manifestation and the representation. 

In our own lives, we practice this every day.  We have a peso bill.  We have the manifestation but if we don’t take that manifestation and use it in representation, we may starve because we do not use what has been given to us.  1Corinthians 11:7 says, “For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God.” God is telling us that we have been created in His image and likeness. 

Colossians 3:10, “Having put on the new self, being made to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him.”  Having put on the new life – this is the manifestation of the representation.  We have to put it on.  We have a choice we make.  Are we going to manifest what we are or are we going to choose to do something else?   Are we going to have a different image in our lives rather than the image of God? 

Romans 8:29, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.” This was His will, His desire, His purpose; but He gave man a soul and that soul was under the control of man.  We might say it is natural.  It wasn’t natural but it helps us understand man was the one to control and the spirit was God.  The spirit and the soul had to be in unity to manifest that which was given by God. 

Ephesians 1:22-23, “He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Here is the potential that He has given to the Church.  Here is the potential that He gives to you and I.  But are we choosing something else?  Are we choosing to be like the world rather than like God?  Are we choosing to let our image that which is of failure, of defeat? 

Through history, the ways of man have failed over and over again.  It doesn’t matter how perfect they may seem for a moment of time.  They all have failed like Babylon, Persia, Rome.  God has given to us that choice.  What do we choose?  Do we choose to let that image that He has given to us be brought forth in our lives or do we choose to let it lie idle and not be made manifest through us? 

In the Old Testament reading, Moses had been on the mountain for forty days with God.  He had been listening to God.  God had given to him direction, instructions.  He gave to him the Ten Commandments.   When he came down from that mountain, he delivered the instructions of God to the people.  Because he was manifesting what God had given to Him, his face glowed so much that he had to cover it when he was speaking to the people.

Moses took what God had said and he brought it in manifestation to Israel. Israel rejected it eventually but he brought it so that they would understand that this was how the image was going to be brought forth.  He brought the Law to them.  He commanded them, “Obey everything that God has spoken to us.”  Today, we choose to do some other things.  Therefore, we find ourselves not being what God created us to be – His image.  Moses had this bright shining face. 

John 12:36 says, “Believe in the light, in order that you may become sons of light.” God was speaking to us, giving us instructions and directions.  He wants us to be the light.   Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world.”  How do we become that light?  It is through our obedience to His commands; our relationship with Him; taking that which He has given to us and bringing it forth in manifestation.  The representation He gave; but the manifestation, we must bring forth. 

Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Here is how that world is going to know the greatness of God. Here is the message that the world is waiting for.  There is something; they know that there is something; they can feel it inside of them, but they don’t see it in manifestation.  They are hungering for this relationship, but the Church hasn’t really manifested it. 

God challenges us and gives us the instruction and the direction, but we choose to go our own way.  We choose to set our own course.  We choose to be something other than the image of God.   We think that in this world we cannot succeed if we are the image of God. When in reality, success only comes in the image of Christ. 

In the Epistle reading, St. Paul tells the Church in Corinth, “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.”  God says, “Yes, you may not have the gifts.  Maybe these gifts are not evident in your life, but if you don’t have love, even if you have these gifts, these gifts are worthless.” These gifts will not manifest what they are supposed to if love is not being manifest in your life.  We choose to live differently than what God has directed us to live.  We are to manifest this life that He has given to us, this provision that is ours. 

1Corinthians 13:1, “If you speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, you become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Is this not what has happened to the Church in the world today?   We become a noisy gong, clanging cymbals, almost, in many cases, bringing irritation to the world rather than an answer, a hope or a provision. 

Verse 3, “Even if I give all my possessions to the poor, and I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” We give of ourselves for our own professions. We put our whole intention into our doing, and in o doing, we, in some cases, destroy others or we deceive others for us to rise up, only to find failure and defeat eventually. 

St. Paul says to the Church, “Love is patient.”  This is something that we don’t find in life today.  We want everything now so much so that what used to be the family core, the very center of the family, now is replaced by fastfood because we don’t want to wait and do the work.  We don’t have the patience.   “Love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant; does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered.”  When people have done something against us, how many times have we allowed this to take away the image of God that He has given to us? 

Remember, God has forgiven us.  He does not hold anything.  He challenges us here because this is His image that we are to manifest.  We are to bring forth forgiveness.  Scriptures says, “If you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven.”   The challenge that comes to us is to let these things just die of.  So if someone said something against me, fine, that is their problem. I am not going to hold it against them. 

Love manifests itself even when it is rejected. Love is one sided.  Love does not seek a result or a return.  Love is giving and it is the source of the giver that makes the choice.  Verse 6, “He does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails.” 

Here is the manifestation of the image of God.  This is that which we, in our soul, must make a choice.  We are to put on a new garment.  St. Paul says, “Put on the new garment; take off the old.” He is talking about the soul. The image has been taken care of by God.  The soul, the independence that have received, that ability to make a choice, must be in unity with the spirit for the flesh to manifest the very character that God has given to us.  This is His provision. 

In Luke 9, we see Jesus with His three disciples going to the mountain.  As He goes to the mountain, it talks about being in prayer with the Father.  We are given instances throughout the life of Christ where it shows us the He would leave the disciples occasionally and go up to the mountain to pray.  He wanted direction from God.  He would only do the things that He had seen of God and for the things that God had told Him.  He did not do His own thing.   He did not seek His own will.  He fulfilled the will of the Father. 

Sin came into the world because Adam and Eve did not listen to God.  They chose to be disobedient.  Salvation came to man through Christ because in the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ made a decision. In the midst of His testing, in the midst of His tribulation, He asked God, “Can this cup pass from Me?”  But then, He made the choice, “Not My will, but Thy will be done.”   Here was Satan’s defeat.  Satan was not defeated on the Cross, but in the Garden.  The Cross was the manifestation of this. 

Christ chose to do the will of the Father.  On the Mount of Transfiguration and as the disciples were confused and awed by what they saw, God said to them, “This is My Son, listen to Him.” How many times are we given this instruction in Scriptures, maybe not exactly the same thing as we see here? Peter, James, and John, typical of humanity, that as the things that were important were taking place, they went to sleep.   When they awoke, they saw Moses and Elijah with Christ. They were awed because the face of Christ and His garments was awesome.  When Peter woke up, so excited at the moment and did not analyze things, he says, “Jesus, this is so great.  Let us build monuments here.  Let us build temples here.   One for Elijah, one for Moses, and one for You.”  It sounded good, but who responded?  God! 

God was very kind.  He responded with diplomacy. If it were us or maybe me, I would say, “Shut up!” But God says, “This is My Son.  Listen to Him. I chose Him; you listen to Him.” Listening has the understanding that if you hear, you will obey.  Hearing may be the representation; the obedience is the manifestation.  This is the task that we face. 

This is the responsibility that is ours today: to listen to Him and obey.   It is in that obedience that victory becomes ours.  It is in that obedience that our deliverance is given to us.   Our forgiveness brings forth strength and healing.  It brings forth so much that we have allowed it to come into our lives because we have not manifested the image, the representation of God given to us. 

We were created in His image and likeness. This is our creation and who we are, but we choose to manifest something else. We choose to manifest man.  We choose to bring forth the failure, the weaknesses, and the rebellion of man rather than bringing forth the image of Christ that we were given. 

The image comes to its fullness when we walk in love. When the fullness of love is made manifest, as St. Paul tells us in 1Corinthians 13, when that love is our life, the image of God will be seen. We will be the light of the world.  The world will finally see the reality of what it means to be a Christian, of what it means to be the creation of God because we live it out.

We claim to be the people of God and yet we do not live it out.  “Love is patient, love is kind; is not jealous; does not brag and is not arrogant; does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own.  Love does not expect a return; it gives.  Love is not provoked, does not take account a wrong suffered.”

You don’t know how many people have walked out of the Church because someone offended them. Their commitment is not to God, to the Church, but their commitment is to their own feelings. This is not love.  When I meet some of them on the streets or in the mall, they would say, “Bishop, we miss you so much!” I asked, “Why did you leave?”  They respond, “It wasn’t because of the Church, but it was because of what someone said or did to me.”  There is no love there.  We don’t take into account a wrong suffered.  This is not Christian.  This is not love; this is not the image of Christ. 

This is what St. Paul teaches us in Epiphany.  Epiphany is a manifestation of Christ with us.  God is with us.  Now, we have a potential of living out that imagery.  He fills us with His all in all. We lack in nothing but our soul rejects and chooses to be self-centered.  “Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails.” 

Here is how the image of Christ is seen. This is how the world is going to change because we have become the light that leads them.  John 5:36, “The works which the Father has given Me to accomplish, the very works that I do.” Do we choose what God created us to be?  Do we find ourselves wanting to fulfill His will in our lives rather than our own will?  John 5:19, “The Son can do nothing of Himself unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things, the Son also does in like manner.” 

Do we follow the image that is ours?  Do we understand what it says, “The Son can do nothing unless He sees that is it what the Father is doing or has done.  Whatever the Father does, these things, the Son also does in like manner?”  This is our guideline.  John 5:30, “I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” 

Christ in you, the hope of glory.  This is the mystery of life, the mystery that God has revealed to us.    We can because Christ is with us! We need to renew our minds and walk in that so that the world can see Christ alive in us. 

As we come to the end of Epiphany, I remind you that Epiphany does not cease. It goes on because Christ cannot leave you.  If you go the highest heavens, He is there. If you go to the lowest hell, He is there.   If you go to the wilderness, He is there. If you go to the depth of the sea, He is there.  You can’t get away from Him at anytime.  We need to draw closer to Him rather than try to get away from Him. 

May we become the light of the world by manifesting Christ in us! It is the hope of glory!

LET US CONTINUE OUR REFLECTION 

WITH

HIS EMINENCE, THE MOST REVEREND LUIS ANTONIO "CHITO" GOKIM TAGLE  D.D.

ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA, 

CARDINAL OF HOLY MOTHER CHURCH

AND 

VENERABLE PRIMATE

OF THE PHILIPPINES

THROUGH

THE WORD EXPOSED