Dear Family,
Last week I introduced this series of new articles entitled “A Holy Corrupted God”. I did not intend to leave you hanging with such an audacious title with no explanation of why God could have been both Holy and Corrupt all at once. However, that’s just what I did! Ooops, my bad!
Anyway, many of you are familiar with my teaching on “The Image of God”.
In that teaching I detailed how God created man in His own image as Genesis states. Yet, amazingly, God commanded in one of His very first Laws that NO image be created after ANYTHING! No image. No image of a fish or bird or cow or any living thing should be made after itself.
It is truly amazing how most of the religious world, except for the most extreme sects, ignores this Law all together. According to this “anti-image” Law, every picture, movie, carving, statue, etc. is forbidden. Regarding that Law, it angers God. It is evil. God hates it. It means you have forgotten the Covenant. It is an abomination and you are cursed if you do it!
God’s Command concerning every image produced and created was that they ALL were to be utterly destroyed! One of the most telling verses about what may have been motivating God in making this command is found in Deuteronomy 4:16 “Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female.” God was saying, if you make an image after yourself you will corrupt yourself! And if you do, to end the corruption of anger and abomination, it must be destroyed!
Is it possible that God knew about the corrupting influence of creating images because He knew from whence He came? Or another way to say it might be “it takes One to know One”.
I am not one to take liberties with the Scriptures. So, obviously I don’t feel like I am here. It seems very clear to me that we can learn something about God Himself here.
Did God corrupt Himself by making man as an image, even if it was in His own image?
If by any notion anger, wrath, vengeance and jealousy are a sign of corruption, then YES, God corrupted Himself through the image-making process! Was God’s only answer to be relieved of this corruption the destruction of that image? YES it was and He did it in the person of Jesus!
The main difficulty with comprehending “A Holy Corrupted God” is our own notion that God could not possibly be corrupt AND holy at the same time. However, on this side of the Cross we now can see His work in US via the Holy Spirit and the Gospel. Regardless of our deeds and attitudes we are still holy, aren’t we?! I am not saying that God became any less holy, righteous or perfect by the corrupting effect of His making something in His image. He remained holy in spite of it.
Holiness is a state of being not a sanctioned set of actions.
One thing I do know for rock-solid-sure is that God did indeed destroy His own image, man, mankind, the First Adam at the Cross in the death of One Man, Jesus Christ. And from this arose the NEW Creation. Yes, indeed, a New Creature emerged which had never before been seen on Planet Earth except in Christ Himself.
When Jesus showed anger at the Temple money-changers or was hyper-critical or sarcastic with the Pharisees or Disciples was He any less holy? No!
This never seen being (a God-man or a Man-God—write or say it however you please) holds all of God and all of man collectively and individually in Christ. And it was ALL manifested by the work of the death, burial, and resurrection of One Man, Jesus Christ.
This news is way too exciting to try and tiptoe around any offense or defense one may have pertaining to any given aspect of it. We and God are ONE!
The God that was out there in the Scriptures is NOT out there any longer. He is in here. In where? In every single one of us! And the corruption God suffered from making man in His image was remedied at the death of Jesus. God rid Himself of this corruption, anger, wrath, judgment, vengeance and jealousy. Then relieved man of our corruption, of the sin of unbelief, AND joined us together as ONE righteous, holy, incorruptible being!
NEVER again will God be angry.
NEVER again will man know sin.
There will NEVER again be a possibility of corruption on either part.
If God did corrupt Himself and that corruption was manifested in anger, wrath and jealousy, we know it can never happen again. As we know all humanity was corrupted by the First Adam, we now certainly know we will never be corrupted by the Last Adam, Jesus Christ!
Holy God! Jesus IS Lord of Heaven and Earth!
Much Love,
Michael