Nothing to say, yet
Transcription
The speaker discusses the concept of man being made in the image and likeness of God. They explain that man is an eternal being and that our behavior does not determine our worth. They emphasize the importance of understanding our origins and how we were intended to behave. The speaker also touches on the topic of the Sabbath and how Jesus is the final Sabbath rest for humanity. They mention a story from Matthew where Jesus is accused of breaking the Sabbath and highlight the Pharisees' lack of genuine understanding of God's law. The speaker concludes by briefly discussing the creation of man from the ground and promises to delve deeper into the topic in the next session. They encourage listeners to seek righteousness and ask God for understanding. Hello, this is Philip Black once again with Voice to Humanity, and we are continuing the topic of what is man, is man in the image and likeness of God? And I think that is a question that most people may struggle with because whenever we look at the behavior of human beings, we struggle with the thought that is this something that God made? Is this the image that God is looking for? And I think it's pretty safe to say that we know the answer to that question. But the other thing is we struggle with believing when we see someone regardless of how they behave or the things that they may do, how is it possible that we can say that person is made in the image and likeness of God? So I'm going to try to explain it from this simple reason. We are an eternal being. That is how we began. We didn't begin as our body. We are initially made in the spirit realm, and I have talked about this some, but I would like to reiterate it because we need to change the focus of who we are. We need to understand our origins and how we were intended to behave in the earth. That we were intended to reflect his image and not the will of our natural man. And so that's the reason why sometimes it's difficult to see another human being regardless of how we might say vile or wicked they behave. We have a tendency to say that being is not worth anything. And we devalue that being based on its behavior. That's not the mind of the Creator. The mind of the Creator knows what man was intended to be and how man is an eternal being. So that is very important for us to understand that whenever you see another human being, regardless of how they behave, we have the potential to see the image of God. Regardless of how vile we might think they are, that potential is there because that eternal being, that spirit man, well we call it spirit man and I'm not trying to be gender specific because I know that's a sensitive area to some people, but God is not a gender minded being. What he was really wanting to emphasize to us, as he said, he created male and female in his own image and likeness. That is because of the fact gender is something that's needed in a physical body. But in the spirit realm, gender is not necessary because it is the spirit of God. So that is the thing that I want to say and hopefully to get human beings to refocus their thoughts on the eternal man, the one that will stand and give account in the presence of the living God, the one who created everything, that we may understand that potential is there regardless of what we see from a person's behavior. That is the reason why the Father finds it and desires for it to be so important for us to be redeemed. That's how much value we have to our Creator. So in the last session, which was session eight, we discussed the Sabbath and I'm going to do a brief discussion here and then we're going to move on to the creation of man from the ground. So in the last session, we read from Matthew 12 concerning the Sabbath and how Jesus was given the Pharisees an opportunity to understand the purpose of the Sabbath. Now the Sabbath, as we have read in Genesis 1, the Father rests on that day and man was not yet placed into a physical body. So to explain and understand why he says he sanctifies us and makes this day holy is because nothing is a surprise to the Creator. He knows all things before it takes place. So in him understanding his design and his creation of how he would make this physical body that would house his eternal spirit, he knew that this body, before he made it, would need rest. In his wisdom, he designed a time for man to refresh himself and have an opportunity to be in fellowship and refresh himself with his Creator. So he, in his foresight, created this Sabbath day for us to enjoy and to keep holy and sanctify for the simple reason that he wanted us to know that he had already sought before he created this human body. This would be something that was needed. So Jesus is explaining this to the Pharisees, that the Pharisees may understand the purpose of the Sabbath. So I'm going back to Matthew 10, excuse me, let me go back to Matthew 8, I think Matthew 8 is where I want to begin, yes, that's where I want to go, I'm going back to Matthew 8. Matthew 12, 8 says this, For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day. And when he was departed hence, he went into the synagogue, and, behold, there was a man with a withered hand. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day, that they may accuse him? Now there's a couple of points here that I want us to understand. First of all, Yahshua, or Jesus, says, He is Lord of the Sabbath. Now let's think about that, because how would Jesus become Lord of the Sabbath? What would make him Lord? What is the Sabbath? And I'm going to discuss this in just a general sense, I'm not going to go into too much detail. But the Sabbath, the final Sabbath rest for man is his redemption and the work that Jesus has done. I want to reiterate what I just said. The Sabbath that Jesus has become was the final Sabbath for man. That man would be able to rest in the work that Jesus Christ to redeem the image of God. This is an important understanding for any human being. And this is what he's trying to get the Pharisees to understand. I am the final Sabbath rest for all human beings, all those who are created in the image and likeness of God. So if you rest in me, in the final work, there's nothing that man can do to redeem himself. So you're looking at the final Sabbath. So I also want to make another point here that's important in this situation. Where the Pharisees are seen as someone who are not genuine about the law of God. They're not genuine because the whole point of them confronting him is so that they can accuse him. So we should be very weary when we hear people who speak highly about their observation of law and being people who are behaving according to the word of God and they're only using it as an opportunity to bring an accusation against you. That's not the purpose and the will and the mind of God concerning us understanding his word. It's to transform us first. The transformation, the renewing of the mind should take place first in the human being that who is receiving the word or who is observing and practicing the living word of God. So in this instance, it's as if the Pharisees were acting as the Satan, as the Hebrew understanding would be because they're saying they're acting like Satan because Satan is the accuser of the brethren to God. So this is the thing that we need to understand. What I always find fascinating and I'm going to say it in this sense as I had to learn and grow in the understanding of God's word is how quick we are to accuse someone of breaking the law when we ourselves have been guilty of breaking the law. I've always and I've learned to appreciate the fact and observe it. That's the reason why the scripture said, be swift to hear and slow to speak. Is that how we are willing to hear the word of God and it has no effect in our lives but we want it to have such a great and profound effect in other people's lives. And so the thing about it is that they were very eager to criminalize what Jesus was doing because he would not support or reinforce their interpretation of the law. And that is important to see. We're not here as anyone who reads the scriptures or believe or believers or whatever you want to call yourself a Christian or a believer or whatever you may call yourself. What is important is that we do not try to say that our interpretation of what we read as far as God's word is what is where we try to create law. We must understand the mind of God and make sure that we are trying to walk in harmony with him. There are things that we do that are things that humans do that there's evidence that there's been a violation of us harming someone else. That's not what this is talking about here. So I hope that whenever we read scripture, when we try to understand it, that we examine our own biases, our own reasons for trying to emphasize a certain scripture or a certain mindset of, we be careful that we're not judging something in ourselves, not allowing it to have an effect in our lives. So with that said, I'm going to briefly read Genesis 2. I'm going to verse 2 and I'm going to read verse 2-7 and then I'm just going to have a brief discussion of it, but I'll discuss this in more detail in the next session. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. And that is the King James Version and we'll talk about the word soul and all of these things in greater detail in the next session. But the purpose that it says he, the Lord had planted a garden eastward and east. And there he put the man whom he had formed and out of the ground the Lord God, and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. And the tree of life also was in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge and good and evil. Now I'm going to make a small comment here and then we'll go into detail of these scriptures. First of all, the word Adam, as most scriptures read, and ground and dust here are related words. So, it is showing us that the Adam of the ground is where the word came from. This is the body that man, God is using the clay to form the body, to place his spirit into. And once he makes this body, this body is like, for lack of a better term, it will be like someone putting on a suit of armor and you're having to test and try this armor out to see how it reacts and responds to what is causing it to operate. So this is something for the first time that would be tested. Once the spirit is put in, the body would be tested for the first time. And so, I'm going to at this moment say, we'll continue this discussion on the next session and try to get a deeper understanding of what is taking place when God breathes the breath of life into this body and causes this body to become animated. This body was lifeless, it was dust, it was just there and he formed it and now suddenly once he puts the spirit in it, it becomes alive. So until the next time that we discuss this subject, I hope that you continue to grow in the knowledge and wisdom of God and as he said, if you thirst for righteousness, he is willing to give it. All you have to do is ask. It doesn't matter what state, what position, where you may be in your life. He's willing to refresh your spirit man, that it may become alive and no longer separated from him. So in Jesus name, we always pray and we thank you for Jesus is the Greek name, but Yahshua is the Hebrew name and that's how they know them. So until that next time, God bless you and may God continue to give you insight and understanding where we may be able to try to know the spirit, whether it's the spirit of God or the spirit of his adversary. So until then, God bless you.
