Friday, March 3, 2006

emblematic of the unknown

ok so im taking a class in Exodus this semester. its going well. i like it. the last few weeks we've been going through the Ten Commandments (which is also know as the Decalogue, which i found out this semester). anyways, so we've been going over them in class and i basically know them off by heart because i grew up in church and i've been watching Charlton Heston throw the stone tablets at the golden calf since i was born, so you could say im familiar with them.

1. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

these are the first two. they start us off. and its as if with these commandments God is saying:
1. 'remember who I am.'
2. 'remember who you are.'

why do i sum up the second commandment as 'remember who you are'? well, i was thinking about it the other night. and i found it interesting that God tells them not to make a carved image of anything. so He didn't want them to make anything that was supposed to represent Him. fair enough. i mean honestly what finite image could justly encompass an infinite God? nothing. the answer is nothing. see all the statues of all the other gods and goddesses were lifeless. just inanimate objects that people bow down to. but the gods and goddesses themselves are without life, so it only makes sense that their images would themselves be without life. but our God is alive. so no object that we would create to represent our God would do because it would be lifeless and our God is full of life. so then my mind just keeps wandering: so God is an imageless God? because for an image to be ascribed to Him, well...it would have to be alive. and thats when it hit me. see God solved this problem... in the beginning. [Gen. 1:27] "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." we are that image. that's why the second commandment is as if God was saying, 'remember who you are, don't carve for me an image of some object, you are my image, the life you live bears my image, bear it well.'

i've been listening to this band called Thrice ALOT lately. they are amazing. the first song on their new CD is called 'Image of the Invisible' these are the lyrics:

we're more than carbon and chemicals
free will is ours and we can't let go
we can't allow this, the quiet cull
so we sing out this, our canticle
we are the image of the invisible
we all were lost now we are found
no one can stop us or slow us down
we are all named and we are all known
we know that we'll never walk alone
we're more than static and dial tone
we're emblematic of the unknown
raise up the banner, bend back your bows
remove the cancer, take back your souls
we are the image of the invisible
though all the world may hate us, we are named
though shadow overtake us, we are known

i don't know about you, but to me those lyrics are powerful. and so then the question we need to be asking ourselves is, what does it mean to be made in the Image of God? to be bearers of His image? and im starting to believe that He lays it out for us in the verses that follow Gen. 1:27. (28-31)

what do you think?

7 comments:

NathanColquhoun said...

ok. What do i think.

1. I love how you start a post with the word 'ok'

2. Your titles of your post are way cooler than any other blog i've been to.

3. i like that you use no capitals, well kinda.

4. i love thrice

5. its about time you blogged, i'll link to you so people read it because i think the time in between each posts you lose readers so you'll need them back

6. its a good thought process, it really puts us in our place i think. I love that we are the image of God himself, but how humbling is it to know that we are simply made out of dust.

Anonymous said...

ok, what I thought,

1. I love how you still have a blue jays t-shirt from when you must have been in grade 8.

2. You have well trained hair, much so more than my own.

3. I like trice.

4. It is really about time you posted again. I don’t know how many times I have read your old blog, only to be left with the despair of “wow, I can’t wait for the next.”

5. I also, like the new blog.

Anonymous said...

Hey D,
i highly recommend 'Theology in Exodus'a great book that really makes exodus come alive for those of us who have lost touch with the Hebrew scriptures.

Good seeing you on the Weekend.
Buzz me when you get a chance or send me your number so i can call you.

Phil said...

why the heck dont you post anymore?

Anonymous said...

hey darryl... you should post more :o)

Anonymous said...

snippity snap snap. pastor darryl preach my brother.
ps. im telling you, check out older thrice. phoenix ignition, deadbolt etc.

Anonymous said...

Post more, your a pastor now, I need influence.