Category Archives: Image

Bible, Decisions, Glory, Image, Scripture, Wisdom

BAD DEAL

ROMANS 1:23

“and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures.”

Have you ever made a bad deal, one you wish later you had never done? I sure have. I’ve sold trucks I wish I had kept. I gotten rid of tools that I needed later. Most of those decisions were made by me without seeking the advice of anyone. It is so important to weigh out important decisions before making them. We have to look at the long term implications, don’t we?

Well, these individuals which Paul is referring to in today’s verse had made a terrible deal. They “exchanged” God’s glory for a manmade idol. The Greek word translated as “exchanged” is allassó. Look how the Topical Lexicon describes it. “Strong’s embraces the idea of an exchange or change—sometimes glorious, sometimes disastrous—depending on the context in which the verb appears. Across its six New Testament occurrences the term frames two great biblical polarities: (1) the fatal trade of God’s glory for idols and (2) the gracious transformation of people, customs and even the created order under the hand of God.” Let’s take a look at and another use for allassó.

APPLICATION

Probably one of the most quoted and utilized passages using allassó is found in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. “51 Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (On a funny note, I’ve seen the last part of verse 51 hanging in a lot of church nurseries, lol) 

Change is not a bad thing if it’s done right. We will be changed one day into a glorious image which will be with the Lord forever. That’s a lot different than giving up that glory of God for an idol, isn’t it? If we give up what God has given us, we are on the wrong side of that deal. Now, I am not saying a true believer and follower of Christ can “unsave” themselves. They didn’t save themselves to begin with. But we can make horrible decisions that mar our testimony and injure our walk. Bad deals.

None of us have arrived, have we? We can all still continue to make good changes to become more like Christ. We can change behaviors that may lead us into sin. We can change friends who are not good influences. Change may mean making some hard decisions. Make sure any change you make is God-centered.

Lord, today help me make the changes I need to make to be more like Your Son, Jesus.

If the Lord should lead you to support our ministry, check out our ministry page at Trans World Radio (www.twr.org/carl-willis). 

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Bible, Christ, Conduct, Devil, Image, Mind

ACCORDING TO HIS IMAGE

COLOSSIANS 3:10

“and have put on the new self, which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created it”

 

Our grandson is the perfect image of me! Just kidding. He does have my first name as his middle name. But he really resembles his mama and dad. He is the image of them both. When he is being good it’s his mama. When he’s mad it’s his dad. Not really. Just had to get a jab in for my great son-in-law.

We are all familiar with the Genesis story. “26 Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” I truly believe this is on Paul’s mind when he penned the words in today’s verse.

APPLICATION

You see, when we get rid of that old self, God renews us in His perfect image. We gain His knowledge and stop seeking the knowledge of the world. Just think about that. We gain the mind of Christ.

Whose image and knowledge and mind do you want? Christ’s or the devil’s? What a silly question. But what does the mind of Christ allow you to do? Why would you want that? With His mind you see the world differently. You see people differently. You simply live differently.

Today, as you go through your day, remember whose mind you have. When that old self is trashed (which is what Paul has been talking about these past few verses) you walk in victory. You walk with your head up. You walk looking upward and onward.

 

Father, I desire to live in Your image and with Your mind.

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Bible, Image, Invisible, Nature, Scripture

INVISIBLE GOD

COLOSSIANS 1:15

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation:” 

If I could have any attribute of God, it would invisibility. Wouldn’t that be cool? You could walk around and no one would know you were there. You could move things around and trick people without them seeing you. Now, I’m just kidding. I don’t really want that. I had rather be seen by others. I want them to know I am there. But God’s invisibility is mentioned in Scripture several times. Let’s take a look at a few.

In today’s verse, Paul says that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God.” He was God in the flesh. That’s not to say that God looks just like Jesus did in the flesh. He was the eikon of God, which means He reflected the very form and nature of God. God Himself remains unseen because we cannot handle His glory in our human flesh. His invisibility is really for our protection.

APPLICATION

In Romans 1:20 we see the same word for “invisible” used. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” We can’t see God’s attributes, but we can see the effect. All around us we can see God’s hand at work.

1 Timothy 1:17 uses the word. “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” In this verse, Paul is giving praise to our God and King and calls Him the invisible God. Paul had been struck blind on the road to Damascus by God Himself. He knew of His glory. The brightness of that encounter left him with scales on his eyes that were only removed by God’s intervention through Ananias.

In Hebrews 11:27 we see Moses described when the writer says, “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he persevered, as though seeing Him who is unseen.” One commentator said this, “The antonym of faith is not fear – it is sight.” Through faith we see God – not the physical manifestation of Him but the effects of Him in our lives. Is God invisible? Yes! But is He seen daily in our lives? You had better believe it.

God, thank You for showing Yourself to me every day!

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