In the covenant that God made with Noah, he laid down a law:

Whoever sheds the blood of man,

by man shall his blood be shed,

for God made man in his own image.

The basis for prohibiting murder was that it was the destruction of a person made in God’s image, so it is taught. But how do we understand image? Is it in physical appearance?

According to Scholastic theologians the image of God is the mental and rational aspects of humans. God is seen as infinite knowledge and perfect logic.

Calvinist teachings explain it as a combination of human’s ability to reason and the vice-regency of humans. That is, humans are to rule over the earth and reflect God’s manner of dealing with the world.

However, neither of these views seem very complete since it would excuse killing, say, a mentally incapacitated individual or someone who was too lazy to rule over what God had given. For, hypothetically speaking, these individuals would have potentially ceased to reflect God’s image.

There are also problems with the view that God’s image is the ability to reason, for satan is surely more intelligent in purely rational terms than humans. He must be in order to deceive them all!

I believe that God’s image is the capacity to willingly expend the self for the sustenance of the life of another–both physically and spiritually. For this reason God gave Eve to Adam; that he might sustain her in love. For this reason humans are placed over all the earth; to care for and sustain it as, through God’s providence they are also sustained through it. For support of this view we need look nowhere but to the cross, where the one act that communicates the fulness of the relationship that God desires between him and humanity was the expenditure of his own life.

Therefore, the command to not murder was not just because the murdered individual was created in the image of God, but because the act of killing was the destruction of God’s image in the murderer to the fullest possible extent (physically speaking).

Each covenant that God established revealed more than the previous about the relationship God sought to have with people. To Adam and Eve he only promised the coming of one who would crush Satans head. But now to Noah he reveals a bit more of the character of this relationship. By using the most obvious act of the taking of life, God communicates that at it’s most simple and profound, God desires a relationship of mutual self giving to nurture the life of another.

In response to Nathan’s request.

I am open to different interpretations of meaning and various understandings of the spiritual state of an infant, while remaining convinced in practice. Ok, that was nebulous. Basically; I think it’s futile to get bogged down in discussion on how one can know if a child has faith; the Bible simply does not address it. From the perspective of baptism, I don’t even like to refer to the doctrine as that of infant baptism. Rather, family baptism seems to be more scriptural.

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Contentment is the character of patience. We can force ourselves to ‘be patient and wait,’ to allow God to work his will in his time. But if this patience is not felt, or practiced with a willing spirit, then it will only lead to frustration. We can attempt to be patient, but in the very act of doing so create a restlessness of the spirit that causes us to be in fact more impatient than ever–even though we continue to wait.

For this reason Jesus teaches us not just to wait, but not to worry. The birds of the air are provided for and the flowers of the field are sustained in beauty for their appointed time, so God will also care for you. This is the message of contentment, because to simply teach waiting, or patience, is a good discipline, producing self-control, but the spirit remains unsatisfied.

Contentment is not a discipline of practice, but one of perspective. Contentment says “whatever it is that I need is already given, so what is there to wait for?”

Sometimes what is given is for the future. In this case it is hope that is given, and waiting for the fulfillment of that hope is a contentment in its gift for the future. It is not, however, a waiting for what one feels is needed in the present.

This is why it is a matter of perspective. We make plans and strive to succeed, we make goals and build hopes. In all this God is there, so we think, to help and encourage and make our lives wonderful. We feel oh so pious when we tell ourselves to wait on God; that he will give what we need. This is good and true, for it is God’s promise. But what we need is not what we are told by our culture’s dictums that “you deserve”. What we need is a joy in not having, so that our spirit is truly content with nothing.

The nothing is what the world percieves to be the essence of God’s promises. We do not understand a promise to be a thing; but rather the foreshadowing of something; its guarantee for the future. But God’s promise is spoken by his Word, through which all things were created; his Word which is the reality of the person Jesus Christ. So a promise from God is the essence in itself.

This is why it is a matter of perspective. We need what we do not have until Jesus tells us that God will provide. Then we know that we are provided for and realize that what we lacked was not the thing, but the contentment without it.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America has voted against blessing same-sex unions and ordaining homosexual ministers. As a Lutheran minister being interviewed on NPR explains, there seems to be two gospels being preached in the Lutheran church: one, a gospel of affirmation, the other, a gospel of transformation.

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In Romans 7 Paul talks about his own struggle with the flesh. He says (in my paraphrase) that he always seems to find himself doing exactly the opposite of what he desires to do, i.e. the good that he wants to do and knows he should do. Then he makes an interesting statement: “…if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”

Wow, sounds like a license to sin; hey it’s not me who does it!! Man I’m likin’ this!

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We read the book of Revelation, Jesus’ prophecies concerning the end times and Daniel’s visions as well, and we try to make some sense of it all. What we get at first is that there will certainly be judgement.

We pray that God’s kingdom comes, but do we really mean it? I mean, do we look forward to the judgement? I’ve often found myself praying that God’s kingdom come, when what I really mean is “may the present aspect of your kingdom be realized.” What I mean by the ‘present aspect’ is the reign and rule of Christ in the hearts of his people.

Now as theologically correct as this may be it is also somewhat of a subterfuge. Christ’s kingdom is most certainly here to some extent; the essence of it is realized through a communion with him through faith. But certainly his kingdom will not come fully until all sin is judged and we dwell with him in the new creation.

So is it wrong to desire not to be alive on this earth in the last days? The prophecies are full of comfort for the believers that Christ is in control and that those who remain faithful will be rewarded, but does that mean we are to look forward to it? Or perhaps the position of the believer is simply to be at peace with what is going on around, whatever the time that has been given.

Of course this seems to be the only viable answer–to the point of being almost cliche. But practically this could seem like a passivity that borders apathy. God revealed these things to us for a reason; there is real spiritual combat that does and will take place.

I suppose fear is never the right way to approach life, for I John 4:18 says that there is no fear in love. How can we be afraid of Christ’s coming? And yet will not all be in awe and fall the their knees at the sight of Jesus coming to judge the world? Whatever the case; I know that I am to pray and desire for him to come and rid this life of all the sin and pain that besets it, and to bring us to eternal joy with him. As for the judgement, that will continually shape my outlook on the future and its ramifications for life today–thought perhaps I can’t define exactly how yet.

For the Christian who sees temporal pleasures as by definition distractions from a life of godliness and therefore sinful, then for them this is in fact the case. And no one should say that he is foolish to avoid such things.

For the Christian who sees temporal pleasures as gifts from God meant to create a joyful spirit of thanksgiving to him, thereby strengthening his fellowship with him, then for them this is in fact the case. And no one should try to burden him with guilt.

For in Christ righteousness is not defined by rules but by what serves to enjoy the gifts of God, both spiritual and physical, in a way that produces a spirit of service to others.

As a Christian music group puts it: “Freedom is sometimes just another perspective away.”