I agree
I disagree with this. There were not like God (“already had that”), in that they have not always been, they were created, and they didn’t know what is best for them as they were created, not the Creator. Like you said first correctly, reflected God, not like God. That was their sin, rejecting God’s way, they were basically idolaters thinking they knew better than God. The only reason we were image bearers/reflections of God, was because we did His will. So it was always a reflection of God that made us image bearers, not our human self. We were not like God, we were human. We just had the capability to reflect God, and if we did, were His image bearers.
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I guess to explain, we are mirrors. A mirror is not light, it has the capability to reflect light, but it isn’t the light. Satan tempted us by lying to us, and said that we could become light, though we never could.
I agree. I like to think of it as a ‘coveting’ sticker that gets places on the mirror. I can no longer fully reflect God, as some of my mirror is marked with this sticker or like a tv with a burn in image of coveting. I can still reflect parts of God, but everything I do outside of God, gets a new label burned into it, that limits that much more of how I can reflect God.
Like given a new mirror, have the power, or ability to reflect God, but when you look towards anything but God, you give that power, or ability to the label, whether that label is coveting, anger ect., you gave it the power to mark up your mirror.
It wasn’t till Jesus came with His pure mirror as the ultimate bearer of the Image of God. This is what our faith is in, we look towards the cross, and see the perfect mirror. Our mucked up mirrors no longer matter, we are now able to come to God through the mediation of our high priest of Jesus who lived a life as a mirror and never got one mark on it.
We still get marks on our mirror, but it no longer has authority over us. We are now under the power of Jesus. Of course we try not to mark up our mirror, as we want to reflect God the best we can out of love, but we no longer need to have a perfect mirror, Jesus did that for us.
Now in that day when we focus on Jesus, we will see waving us in, and holding the door to heaven open to us, saying “They ware will me God, they can come in”. When we get new mirrors. And again will be given a vocation to show the image of God in the new heaven and earth were there will be no more sin to mess up our mirrors.
But we must look on Jesus, all those who wither dropped their mirrors and don’t care, or who stare at themselves in the mirror, or who try to get the fewest marks on their mirrors, they are going to miss the wave in from Jesus. That is why we must be ready, always looking to Jesus, or like a thief in the night, He will call us unexpectedly, and if we are busy looking at ourselves in the mirrors, we will miss Him.
Basically saying, if in your heart, you trust Jesus, you know what He did for you, you will always looking in His direction. As it was always about your heart, and not your actions.
Which verse says this? To rule what? The physical or spiritual world?
I think when Lucifer was thrown down, he was given rule of the spiritual realm, and maintained this rule over human (that the law amplifies) until Jesus conquered Him on the cross.
Subduing the earth was just a vocation God gave us. In this vocation we could bear His image. Whatever vocation you have, you can through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, bear His image again. No need to subdue earth.
Jesus took all authority back for Him. “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me”. Not to humans, but to Jesus. And He had almost all authority anyway, except that which Satan did have, which was authority of sin over man, that’s what was what was taken back. Jesus is worthy of all authority, as He was the only One to take on sin, and conquer it. We have been given authority over sin’s reign (if we accept Jesus as our priest). But not over the heaven and the earth.
God’s purpose was never for us to subdue the earth, that was just a vocation, with which to bear His image in doing. So we do not need to re-gain the subduing the earth. But we are still called to be image bearers of God in whatever vocation we have.