The Image
Introduction
Just before leaving for aLeaders Lunch last Friday I received an email commemorating the Coniston Massacre of 1928. After the killing of a single white man upwards of 100 Indigenous people, including women and children, were hunted down and slaughtered north of Alice Springs. Little did I realise that in a few hours I would hear a Christian speaker address some of the dynamics underlying depravities like this. And we are misguided if we think such depths of evil are no longer around us. Only when the Church unites in a much deeper way to work together can we bring widespread healing and restoration to the plagues of poverty, trafficking, racism, abortion, addiction, abuse etc. prevalent in our Australia. This will require a fundamental transformation in the way the Church sees herself.
Domination
The key speaker at the lunch, Lisa Sharon Harper, gave a detailed exposition of the themes of the “image of God” and “dominion” in Genesis 1:26-28. Uniquely amongst ancient texts Genesis attributes divine -likeness to all human beings, and not just to royalty. Similarly, “dominion” is not about crushing the earth but a gift of God to exercise care for the creation. God’s original intention was that human beings live as markers of his just and good rule everywhere. The relational “very good” at the climax of the creation story (Gen 1:31) caps a plan to fill everything with divine blessing. The Fall into sin distorted all this. Hierarchies mean the strong rule over the weak and crush down the image of God in others. Colonisation was an exercise of overpowering others and a war against God himself. (Economic colonisation continues today.) To reduce the gospel to a personal experience of forgiveness, as many Evangelicals have, is a failure to enact the image restoring dimensions of the kingdom of God. We must turn away from dominating each other and work together in the liberating power of the coming King. As I was listening to this powerful message I sensed the Lord speaking about some matters essential to its practical application. These have to do with the original and final Image of God, who is Christ. But first let’s recognise how we’re seen.
The Prevailing Image
Taking up Uber driving for a season a pastor friend was shocked by the 3 most common perceptions of Church amongst his clients. “It’s full of paedophiles.” “It’s irrelevant.” “They’re after your money”. Intriguingly, on the evening of the Leaders Lunch the ABC’s Gruen XL did a review of Hillsong promotions. The expert panellists could only see an image of clever marketing for an individualistic self-gratifying lifestyle and an appeal for money. The prevailing image of the Church in the West today is one of self-interest and not community interest. Many churches are dominated by insecure controlling leaders atop a hierarchy. We largely fail to identify the image of God in others and to strive together as one for its wholeness (Phil 1:27). This is because something far darker than human sin is at work.
Another Image
Scripture attributes the origin of hierarchy and domination not to human initiative but to Satan. The “deceiver of the whole world” (Gen 3:1; Rev 12:9) led the first humans to rebel against their Ruler-Creator so that everything to do with their call to rule was set in disarray. Titles like “thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities” used of the demonic host suggest that fallen humanity now unwittingly images an order of oppression begun in the heavenly places (Col 1:16; Eph 6:13 cf. Jude 9). Jesus said to the Jewish leaders who opposed him, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires” (John 8:44). Two images now contend within the life of humanity, the created image of God and the image of the devil; for without Jesus we are “sons of the evil one” (Matt 13:38; Eph 2:2; 1 John 3:12). Tragically, pragmatic Christian leaders influenced by pragmatic business principles cannot unite together with Jesus in his call “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). The liberation of oppressed humanity from evil powers, human and demonic, requires a profound and painful participation in the original Image of God, Christ the Lamb.
The Original Image
The Father established his original Image in eternity; “a lamb without blemish or spot…chosen before the foundation of the world….the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made” (1 Pet 1:19-20; Rev 13:8). The original Image will finally prevail and become the End Image illuminating eternity (Rev 21:23; 22:13). Because the Image of the Lamb is of one who allows himself to be ruled over, dominated, controlled, crushed and “marred beyond human semblance” (Isa 52:14). The Lamb is the perfect likeness of God (2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15) because on the cross Christ takes into himself all tyrannies, hierarchies, colonisers, racisms, bullies and dehumanising powers (Luke 22:53). This is the Image of God as suffering sacrificial Servant (Mark 10:45). Within this Image is the kingdom mystery which will rule the world forever. John the Baptist discerned this, crying, ““Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!….I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.”” (John 1:29, 33). John prophetically sees that it is through his piercings on the cross that Jesus will be filled with the Spirit beyond measure (John 3:34; 19:37; Zech 12:10). In being glorified through sacrificial service Jesus is the Image of God we are called to worship and to which we must be conformed (Rom 8:29).
Church as Image
This is the Image of the Servant who undoes all oppressive powers by sacrificial love (cf. Luke 4:18-19). As the Church is a faithful Bride submitting in all things to Christ as her Husband and Head (Eph 5:24, 32; Gen 2:24) his spotless radiance beams through her to the world (1 Cor 11:7; Eph 5:27). Through the piercings we receive in laying down our lives for others (1 John 3:16) the Spirit of Jesus fills the Church to overflowing for the glory of God. The fruit of this will be massive healing and transformation in society. The unveiling of the likeness of Christ in the Church is a wonderful but extraordinarily difficult call.
Conclusion
The downgrading of the image of the Church in the eyes of the world is a Fatherly preparation (Heb 12:5-11) leading us to empathise with the broken least, last and lost. God’s Spirit is working to release us from sinfully presenting multiple images to the world in place of the One Image of Christ. Until we are engaged in painful sacrificial service for God’s kingdom we will remain divided. Christian unity requires sharing together in the woundings of sacrificial service for Jesus. Only in the common piercings of love received in reaching out in Jesus’ name will we ever feel the urgent need of the prayers and unifying presence of our brothers and sisters in Christ (Matt 26:38). As Jesus needed to defeat the devil by prayer and fasting (Matt 4:1-11) before he entered into public ministry of suffering service we must learn how to humbly pray together if we are not to fail God’s purposes. Let’s stop looking at other churches and leaders as a mirror for our identity and look exclusively into the mirror of Christ (2 Cor 3:18). In seeing the Image of the Lamb as our likeness we will in time see God moving multitudes to repentance (Rev 1:7; Zech 12:10).