Image Of God Essay Research Paper There

Image Of God Essay, Research Paper

There are many images of God between today s culture and the past. Some of these images are very different, from a vengeful and unforgiving God to a caring and loving God. Most of these images have been passed down through time and different sources such as the Bible.

The first image of God I have chosen to discuss is the common image of God from the Old Testament as God the creator. My first quote to support that image is from Genesis 1:1-2, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface. This is an obvious quote demonstrating that God is the creator of all. My second quote is from Genesis 5:1-2, This is the history of the descendants of Adam. When God created people, he made them in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and he blessed them and called them human . This is a quote referring to God as the creator, but this time as the creator of man. My last quote on this image is from Psalm 33:6, The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. This last quote reinstates God as creator in that he spoke and all was created. My personal experience dealing with God, as the creator, is that I truly believe that he is the creator of all that is in existence.

The second image of God that I shall be talking about is the image of a caring God. The first quote for this image is from 2Kings 4:33-34, He went in alone and shut the door behind him and prayed to the Lord. Then he lay down on the child s body, placing his mouth on the child s mouth, his eyes on the child s eyes, and his hands on the child s hands. And the child s body began to grow warm again! This is a quote referring to care given by Elisha. The important thing to note though is that Elisha prayed to the Lord and was given the power to heal. This shows that the Lord is caring of all his people because the child was healed. My second quote comes from Proverbs 15:25, The Lord destroys the house of the proud, but he protects the property of the widows. The previous quote is another justification for a caring God. He destroys the proud, but protects and cares for the widows. My final quote for this particular image of God comes from Proverbs 22:22-23, Do not rob the poor because they are poor or exploit the needy in court. For the Lord is their defender. He will injure anyone who injures them. I think this final representation of a caring God is excellent. It states that if you rob the poor or sin against some one you will be sorry. For the Lord is their (our) defender, and you will pay the consequences for your sinful actions. I really like this image of God because I see God as a caring God in my life today. I believe he understands me and can care for me as long as I don t turn my back on him. I think God was, is and always will be a caring God.

My third image of God goes along with the previous, yet is more in depth. It is the image of God as a miracle worker through Jesus Christ. The first quote to prove this image comes to us from Mark 8:5-9, How many loaves of bread do you have? he asked. Seven, they replied. So Jesus told all of the people to sit. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, broke them into pieces, and gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread. A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus blessed these and told the disciples to pass them out. They ate until they were full and put the scraps into seven large baskets. There were about four thousand people in the crowd, and he sent them home after they had eaten. This is one of the greatest miracles God performs through Jesus. He feeds a hungry crowd of four thousand with barley any food. This miracle is practically unexplainable. This is a very important miracle because these people were all hungry and God made it possible for them all to fed. My second quote is from Matthew 9:2-8, Some people brought to him a paralyzed man. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, Take heart, son! Your sins are forgiven. Blasphemy! This man talks like he is God! some of the teachers said among themselves. Jesus knew what they were thinking so he said, Why are you thinking such evil thoughts? Is it easier to say your sins are forgiven or get up and walk? I will prove that I, the Son of Man, have the authority to forgive sins on earth. Then Jesus told the paralyzed man to get up and go home for he is healed. And the man jumped up and went home. This is a very powerful miracle about the healing of a paralyzed man. God gave Jesus the power to heal and to forgive sins. When the people didn t believe that he could forgive sins he proved them wrong by healing the man and performing a miracle. My third quote is from Matthew 9:28-30, They went right into the house where he was staying and Jesus asked them, Do you believe I can make you see? They replied that they did. Then he touched their eyes and said, Because of you faith, it will happen. And suddenly they could see! Jesus sternly warned them, Don t tell anyone about this. This is also a powerful miracle because it is a healing miracle. God gave Jesus the power to heal and help people. My final quote is from Luke 6:10, He looked around at them one by one and then said to the man, Reach out your hand. The man reached out his hand, and it became normal again! This is scripture is one dealing with healing but also on the Sabbath. The people were looking to see if Jesus would heal the man on the Sabbath. Jesus asked is it better to work and heal on the Sabbath or do evil? So at once he healed the man. This is another act without explanation. God is a healing man. He gave Jesus the power to work miracles and he did. I have never experienced a miracle, but I do think that God performed them through Jesus and I think this is very special. I believe God is a miraculous God and he does good things for his people.

The source for my two outside images comes from the encyclopedia. The first of these is a once Hebrew image of God that he was anthropomorphic, or human like. They thought he promised and threatened, he could be angry and even jealous; but his primary attributes were righteousness, justice, mercy, truth, and faithfulness. They said he was represented as a King, judge and shepherd. He was thought to bind himself with his people. Such a God, even if human, is a living God. I partially agree with this image but not wholly. I think God probable did exhibit some human like qualities. Although, I do not believe he was human like. He had a human image but he in himself was not human. He did have some of the same attributes, but none of the bad ones. My second image of God is that he is beyond living beings and essentially a mystery. In this image God is conceived as supreme, or transcendent. He is seen as beyond human conception and knowing. I partially believe in this image because I do think God is supreme and almost beyond our knowing. Although, I do also think that we can know him on a certain level. I think that we can all know God and he can be a part of us.

My personal image of God is that of God as a savior. I think God saved our people. God saved us through Jesus. But most of all God saves me individually. What I mean by this is that God saved us when he created us as a people. God saved us when Jesus died on the cross for so that our sins could be forgiven. And last but not least God saves me all of the time in my life. I do not believe that I could live without God helping and saving me in my daily life.

There are many different images of God, some good and some not so good. Whether these images are true is not exactly known. It is mostly up to the person to believe them or not.