19: Scripture and the Image of God II

Question 1

Mention the outline for the image of God in the NT

Answer 1

1. A look to James 3:9
2. That Christ is the image of God
3. The renewal of the image of God in man
4. Old man/New man texts
5. The imitatio Christi

Question 2

What is James 3:9 contribution to the image of God in the NT?

Answer 2

1. Like Gen.9:6, this text argues against functionalist reductions of the imago
   
   • “having been made according to the image of God”
   • the issue on Gen 9 was murder, on James it was slander
2. The image of God is still present in fallen man

Question 3

What is the NT foundation for Christ as the image of God?

Answer 3

1. 2 Corinthians 4:4
   
   • “who is the image of God”
2. Colossians 1:15
   
   • Christ is the visible manifestation of who God is (ontological emphasis)

Question 4

What about 1 Corinthians 7? “A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of man.”

Answer 4

• This text partners up image and glory, glory is not a thing, therefore, it cannot be an ontological emphasis.

Question 5

What about the incarnate Christ, Jesus of Nazareth?

Answer 5

• The emphasis of the NT is on the presence of the divine in the incarnation. Thus, Jesus declares, ‘the Father is in me, and I am in the Father”

Question 6

Conclusion: how is Christ the image of God?

Answer 6

1. Christ is the ontological image of God:
2. Christ is the functional image of God; he images God
   
   • because he reflects God’s glory (2 Cor.4:6)
   • because all things were made through him (Col.1:15)

Question 7

How is the renewal of the image of God in man expands our knowledge of the image of God in the NT?

Answer 7

• The image of God is a dynamic reality; needs to be restored
  
  • that they might be ‘conformed to the image of his Son’
• 2 Corinthians 3:18 (1 John 3:2; Phil.3:21)
  
  • Image of God in human is Christlikeness, not rationality
  • the human was made in God’s image for the sake of God’s mission

Question 8

Old man/New man texts #1

Answer 8

• Colossians 3:9-10
  
  • The Christian life is grounded in the saving work of God (divine passive)
  • Yet, the people of God are actively involved in the Christian life
  • Old/New?
    
    • Applying the Adam/Christ summary of the gospel.
    • Unregenerate/regenerate; A life lived in sins vs. a life lived in the power of the Spirit
  • Knowledge
    
    • not rationality per se, nor some special insight
    • It is the mind of Christ

Question 9

Old man/New man text #2

Answer 9

• Ephesians 4:22-24
  
  • Corporate and individual
  • Righteousness and true holiness
    
    • Reformation era confessions typically conflated Eph.4:24 and Col.3:10, and thus spoke of the imago dei as our being conformed to Christ in true knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.

Question 10

Old man/New man text #3

Answer 10

• 1 Corinthians 15:49 (cf. 1 John 3:2; Phil.3:20-21)

“Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man from heaven.”

* The old age has been defeated the new age has dawned.
* His resurrection is the power of the age to come

Question 11

What is the imitatio Christi?

Answer 11

1. The imitation of God in the OT (doing as God does)
   
   • God named Adam and in turn called him to name the animals.
   • God rules and directs his creation through the imitative activity of his image bearer
2. Union with Christ. “As he is so also are we in the world” (Todd Billings)
   
   • Given a new identity in Christ, called to adoption in the household of God, we are called to live into that union and live it out in the world.
   • The imago dei becomes the imitatio Christi in the NT