Image and Power

It is hard to look anywhere and not see it. It is seen from both the rich and the poor as well as from the school dropout and school graduate. It is a flexing, an exhibition, a taunting, a display, a flaunting. It may be through speech, actions or behavior. The sole purpose is to impress and shock through displays of image and power. It may be loud. It may be crass. It may be subtle. It may be manipulative. It may be forceful. It may be humorous. It may be violent. Image and power may even be, in this cyber age, virtual.

These two, image and power, as seen by the witting and the unwitting, the impressed and the shocked are not necessarily true, typically. These are not necessarily actual or substantive. These, whether or not it is intended, merely convey the desired effect on others what is the individual's desire and notion of image and power. These two are not necessarily mutually exclusive and even though I have presented these two separate from each other they are very much intertwined. If these appear as negatively cast in this article it is not because image and power are wrong or evil. Rather, it is because this is the reality of what has become corrupt. These facades of image and power are represented and assumed as though these were real.

the image of attire and body

What are some ways by which image is conveyed? Here are two of those ways. The image of abundance, of affluence or simply having a little more than just barely enough on which to live, may be displayed through the clothes one wears. It may be the expensive brand which speaks for itself or how the clothes are worn. Clothes may be worn to reveal, (such as underwear; more on that later) to form-fit the body so as to accent the physical shape or to reveal as much flesh as the wearer wishes to expose and to elicit arrest for indecency. Image, such as through clothes, is not necessarily what one wears, but how one wears what he or she wears.

The image of rebellion such as against parents or society may be conveyed, for example, through leather, metal spikes, chains, tattoos and more. However, rebellion can and is conveyed just as well through nothing more than an attitude, speech and behavior. Additions to one's attire such as these are intended to project the desired image of being bad, a hard case, a bad-ass, or the neutral non-commitment of indifference and apathy. After all, what could be cooler in the eyes of the witting and unwitting than to project the image that, I don't care? Isn't this the shallow, empty image message of sagging pants? The exposing of one's underwear is to simultaneously reveal to the witting and unwitting the individual's great, abysmal facade and farce of an image of power. So, unlike affluence and abundance, or their seeming presence in the person's life, the image of rebellion, by its very nature, is not likely to be closely associated with clothes as much as it is behavior.

the need for image and image change

America is a consumer-driven society. Don't like your image? We'll find one for you. We'll get you one. We'll make one for you. It is not in society's interest, and quite understandably, it is not the business of society, to redirect the new-image shopper back to square one. So, why do you need an image?

What if image didn't involve succumbing to peer pressure, seasonal, annual refurbishing or reinvention? How about if it were detached, removed and free of all association with gender and the clothes you wear? Does this sound like a ridiculous and preposterous notion in our consumer-driven society? Yet, image as a reality and a discussion point appears in the dialog of the Bible in the book of Genesis, that is, the book of beginnings. It is there that after the narrative relates how God created man it also notes that God created man, that is, mankind, man and woman, and MADE them in the image of God.

This image of God in the man and woman had nothing to do with gender.

The reason it had nothing to do with gender is because whatever the image of God might be, for the moment and for later discussion, it is definitely not related to the physical features which define the male and female body. In other words, any view of the image of God which fails to account for the differences in the human male and female body is less than true to the image of God. What does this say about image?

It says that image is as embedded and is as permanent and non-removable as is our human DNA code.

The deception of image to which Eve succumbed unwittingly was not unlike women, and men, today. She desired what was 1) pleasant to the eyes (it looked good), 2) it was good to eat (it was filling), and 3) it would make her wise, or proud (something to boast about).

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6, also I John 2:16)

The reason why anyone would feel they do not have an image, that they need an image or that they need to upgrade their image like something from the American tech mall is because they either 1) never knew they were born with an image, 2) they forgot they were born with an image, or 3) they rejected the truth of the image with which they were born. Knowledge nor acknowledgment of God is not a prerequisite for anyone to ponder this reality.

The impudence of blatant consumerism! The business of image has gone, in the vernacular of technology, from the hardware upgrades of attire to the software alterations of gender image in complete oblivion as to the ramifications. The desire for mistaken notions of image by women and men today is no different than Eve's complete oblivion to the ramifications of her disobedience. The embrace and allowable peddling of image by therapists and surgeons is akin to accepting without question the salesman's pitch for a new computer when a simple removal of temporary files would have improved speed and performance.

made in the image of God

What is it about the image of God which can not be found, will not be found and can not be made in the American tech mall? How could a believer who once knew the image of God forget it? Why would he or she reject the image of God? The salient point of the human response to these questions is as understandable as it is undeniable. For example, a Ford does not cease to be a Ford with a new paint job. swapping an icon or by calling it a Chevrolet. These things do not change the fact that it is a Ford which has been altered to look like a Chevrolet. It would not take much for even a casual observer to discern that despite all efforts and appearances the car is, in fact, a Ford. Amazingly enough, what holds true of a metal and plastic car holds equally true of a flesh and bones human being.

It is not as though altering one's image hurts anyone else, as is so often heard, but what is it and how is it then, that image can be obscured and overlooked in favor of an American mall-purchased image? How is it that the image of God, that is, love, in which God made the man and the woman and which is certainly not available or found in the shopping mall, has come to be obscured and overlooked? Simply but truthfully stated it is a matter of looking of acceptance and love in all the wrong places.

This love is not to be mistaken for being loving which God is that, too. What the scriptures reveal is that it was the will and purpose of God to make the man and woman with this same love. It was his will to imbue the man and the woman with his love. It was this love which it pleased God to see in the physical love affection between the man and woman; the husband and wife. It is the love of God and towards God which becomes a far greater reality between the man and the woman when they reclaim the image of God for themselves and towards all mankind through faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Love, not gender, is the image of God. Love is divine and not natural.

Love is greater than what is natural, that is, what is earthly. Love is not easy because it is not the mere appearance of image or a facade. It is, on the other hand, easier to alter and call something love than to submit to love itself. Love is two different persons, two different personalities, two different genders working diligently  over a lifetime together to go past their differences and to make and display the love and unity that is the God who is one. This is the mystery and marvel; that two different human beings strive to be one like God and with God. It is the mystery and marvel seen in the human interaction and relationship of marriage. The failure and shortfall of image is that it is a facade of what has been altered. There is no glory in deceiving or being deceived by an image of what is false. There is no lasting joy in facades.

the will of power and death

The flesh, Jesus said, is weak. The reason the flesh appears to exert its power over the spirit is not because the flesh is strong. It is not because the spirit is weak. It is because the spirit calls and waits for those who hear its call to come in obedience and submission without manipulation, compulsion or coercion. This is not the way of the flesh.

Power is, even more so than image, flexed and flaunted to create the desired effect; that is, to impress and shock the witting and unwitting. It is a visual, carnal spectacle. The visual nature of power and how it reveals itself in the flesh exposes, for example, the hunger of bankers, performers, athletes and others for power. The carnal desire for power is not unlike the carnal desire for image: Eve desired what was 1) pleasant to the eyes (it looked good), 2) good to eat (it was filling), and 3) would make her wise, or proud (something to boast about).

Carnal, as in, carnival. Originally, carnival, literally, a farewell to meat, was the celebration and joy of meat and drink before the beginning of the days of fasting from meat and drink. Carnal is used in the scriptures in the representative, or symbolic sense, for what is opposed to the spirit, the Holy Spirit or a mind set on the things of this world.

This power is no more real or substantive than the image much desired and pursued by some. It is loud. It is the brash, crass, crude, rude, vulgar and a bravado of defiance in the song playing, in the workplace exchange, and even as is often displayed, between the bond of husband and wife. Children in such families are often nothing more than insignificant collateral casualties to obscenities and vulgarities. Crassness and vulgarities which were at one time indicators that the power of physical aggression was soon to follow are the stuff of casual exchanges as much between friends as between lovers. Some of the devices of power, in addition to words, of those who seek power include weapons to hurt,  maim or kill stranger, friend or family alike.

The quest for power is as old as the quest for image. The irony and the travesty of the events in the Garden of Eden is that by forgetting, neglecting and dismissing for one brief moment the image in which they were made, Eve and Adam corrupted their image. While they were obedient there was nothing to fear. There was no power over them. Yet, in the aftermath of their disobedience the immediate result was, as God himself stated, that the man and the woman had become like God knowing good and evil. However, the price they paid was heavy. The price was they acquired the association of power, but it was not to serve them. It was to lord it over them. The power was death.

Those who believe they are powerful because they have power never realize and never ask themselves what is that vague, remote sense of awareness in their minds: What is the fear from which this false notion of power delivers them? What is the ultimate power from which this false power can deliver them? The lust and hunger for image and power in the unwitting Eve and Adam was that their confidence before the Lord was lost. They covered their nakedness as a result.

the power of God

The truth is the power of the flesh with all its bravado, violence, trash talk, weapons and devices may fend off momentarily the assault, but death will have the last word over those who crave and thought they had power in those false images of power. What is the purpose of an image which alters or conceals one's true identity? Why does one have a need to conceal their true identity? What is the purpose of power which is exerted over others? Is it not because they lack the power and confidence to face and confront what they fear?

Death is the great equalizer. It is the sobering agent for those who are drunk with mistaken notions of image and power. The power of death is, not unlike the image in which God made man and woman, as undeniable and non-removable. What is one to do when they come to the realization of the deceptive futility of image and power? This is the beginning, the genesis, where one examines closely the claims and fulfillment of the message of Jesus concerning his own death, burial and resurrection.

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 

15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. (Hebrews 2:14, 15)

The message (note the reference to power and the past tense of death) of this love of God, the apostle Paul wrote, is the power of God. More specifically and literally, the apostle Paul stated that the message of the gospel is the dynamite, (δύναμις, dunamis) , the power of God. The gospel has the explosive potential to transform the fearful and powerless into the image of God through the power of the gospel and the promise of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer. Be of good cheer.

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Gifts, Ministries and Effects

Some observations and thoughts came to mind from today’s daily reading of the scriptures in the New Testament section of I Corinthians 12.

The saints in Christ often think and talk about those things which they would like to live out in their daily lives. They want to do so in the knowledge and confidence that they do so in the Spirit who indwells them. One thing which is common in the apostle Paul’s teaching is that each individual is a part of a greater whole; the body of believers. What’s more Paul may sometimes be difficult to understand, as the apostle Peter himself noted, (I Peter 3:15,16) but he is never vague or superficial.

He wrote to the church in Corinth as to what the “same Spirit” “same Lord” and “same God” had done, but he also specified what they each one had done. Quite likely, some might infer from that reference to Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but that is not what I take away from the passage. Rather, it is another instance of Paul’s seemingly vague or superficial (not Paul by any means) reference on which he elaborates.

One thing with which Paul’s messages always resound is the unity from diversity. In this instance, it is the gifts, -by the same Spirit, -the ministries, by the same Lord, and -the effects, by the same God. Each one of these, gift, ministry and effect, reflects a move from the lesser to the greater; the individual to the group. Is a gift less than an effect? It is if that which one has received from the Spirit remains ineffectual in him or her as though they had not received anything or something too small and of little significance from the Holy Spirit.

What Paul notes about these is that they are for the common good, (verse 7) not a personal exaltation by the individual Then, in true form, Paul specifies how that common good of my gift in our ministry shows its effect among others. It is in that the members may have the same care for one another. (verse 25) This should be no surprise for the saints in Christ because love for one another as Jesus commanded is ultimately to care for one another.

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What Difference Does It Make?

purpose, action and acclaim

a generational thing

Every generation throughout human history has faced changes. The scope of these changes may or may not have been spectacular or good or evil necessarily. Suffice it to say that individuals were aware that some things had changed in the natural physical environment, human interaction and their own response to those changes especially as these changes affected them directly.

In this respect, life in America, our society and the world is no different. The Internet has made it possible for anyone with web access through a computer or other device to go, virtually, anywhere in the world to check things for themselves. They can get some idea about the natural physical environment as it flourishes or is ravaged in another part of the world. They can examine for themselves and gain some insight about what makes the human interaction hostile or peaceful between peoples with different beliefs. They can also determine how these things can or will affect them emotionally, psychologically, economically, politically; personally. Often this is the point where these changes become something overwhelming for some people to the point of anxiety, despair or depression. I maintain it is not necessarily that there is more evil, as is often the point of focus, in the world as much as the individual can now far exceed his/her intake of world news beyond what the evening newscast delivers to his/her living room or coffee house. Yet, what difference does it make or why should we care if we are aware of these changes?

change in our world

Why? What change has evolved in our present world which, although people who may not live in an environment in which changes such as these are manifested, can be so affected? Furthermore, every individual can look at himself/herself and see for themselves that they create and produce changes in their lives which affect other people around them, because it is as the English poet noted, no man is an island. Every individual fosters a thought in their mind. Subsequently, they  took what had come into their mind and they acted on it. This was true regardless whether it was good or evil. Then, to the degree of their soundness of mind and the worthiness of what they had done it became a matter of acclaim or shame for them or about them. Of course, let’s state the obvious: change is not good or bad, but it bears worth noting that is not always necessary.

It is bad enough when people stumble and perish by the actions of their own doing, but it is far worse when those who profess to know, are purported to know or are expected to know are themselves at a loss to understand and speak to the whirlwind of change.

Make no mistake about it. These who are expected to know and understand include those who lead, teach and preach either from the pulpit to the gathering of the saints in Christ or from the seat of government to the American electorate.

Here are just a few examples of responses from the pulpit and the seat of government to these changes when these same changes have broken the relative, short-term peace since the last break. Some are sound bites or rants, others are familiar quotations.

What difference, at this point, does it make?

We have given them space to destroy.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a boy or a girl, a man or a woman.

Repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act.

the difference it makes

I anticipate the aversion and knee-jerk reaction to want to take one of the above and run with its corresponding political banner and the rhetoric that drives and inflames but which does little or nothing towards helping the saints and the electorate understand what they are being told. What do these four messages share in common? They all began with a purpose; intentionality. All of these purposes were acted upon. All these actions were/are accurately or inaccurately acclaimed. Again, lest anyone fixate on a political or religious message the point here is that these are reflective of what is true in all things. If either the purpose, action or acclamation behind these things are at odds with any of the others it becomes, to understate it, suspect and deservedly subject to scrutiny.

The difference it makes in knowing and understanding what has changed is that with the loss of knowledge and understanding the saints in Christ and the American electorate do not know how, are unable and are unwilling to make decisions and judgments. The loss of is covered under the deception and guise of being loving, free and politically correct. Hence, for example, a call to repeal a health care measure is pushed and driven with never a comprehensive alternative to replace it. A boy lacks the foundation, universal confidence for understanding and accepting his natural masculine gender and responds with an embrace of what he believes is the safe alternative; be a girl. The same is true of a girl concerning her natural feminine gender. The truth is boys as well as girls and men as well as women, often can not bear the pressure of this change whose message is that it is wrong to acknowledge and accept who you are, but you will be accepted (and loved) if you 1) reject your natural gender, and 2) accept your new life as a bi-sexual, transgender or homosexual because anyway . . . what difference does it make?

What difference does it make in the political life of America? The saints in Christ and the American electorate are told to ignore and dismiss the law of the Constitution of the United States in favor of love and acceptance without judgment. This message itself ignores and dismisses completely the differences in some people’s attitude towards the Constitution. The church for her part following those who lead, teach and preach is more and more led to similarly ignore and dismiss the authority of the scriptures all in the name of love and acceptance. This response by the saints in Christ, that is, the church reflects a complete ignorance or disregard for the lessons by the apostle Paul concerning how the church is to respond to immorality in her midst. (see I Corinthians 5)

This same lame, anemic inability to make judgments is see in politicians, Democrat and Republican alike, whose idea of a tactical solution is to re-name actions, events or individuals in such way as to attempt to diminish the gravity of the matter.

all things come to light

The natural thing to do when one can not see something is to bring it into the light or shine some light on it. Things are often subjected to scrutiny for their legal or illegal standing or their moral or immoral standing by church and state alike. Someone may refuse to subject something to the light but that no more declares it right or wrong, moral or immoral any more than such refusal invalidates the universal physical and moral laws and nature of light to expose what darkness and ignorance conceal. Wrong can be made right, but until it is acknowledged, renounced and rejected it remains a piecemeal, patchwork solution to a real problem.

God: what cannot be concealed

No matter what a person’s political or apolitical, religious or irreligious worldview the processes by which he/she lives concerning purpose, action and acclaim can not be concealed. Yes, these processes can and are suppressed by some, but, again, that does not change the universal laws of physics or morality. Similarly, no matter what a person’s political or apolitical, religious or irreligious worldview either to deny or suppress these processes; purpose, action and acclaim, they are what the scriptures reveal concerning 1) the nature of God, 2) Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and 3) the relationship of God towards man as written by the apostle Paul in his letter to the church in the Asian city of Ephesus. What he wrote is a testimony to what cannot be concealed, though it may be denied or suppressed, that is, that the universal axiom of purpose, action and acclaim which as it is true of human beings so too it should also be true of their Creator. The wording may be different, but he reader is able to judge for themselves if these things are not so as they read the passage of chapter one.

What the apostle Paul revealed is that it was not a nondescript intentionality or an impersonal entity but the Father who defined the purpose his will towards man before the foundation of the world. It was not a vague philosophical notion, but the living Son of God, Jesus, who redeemed (action) those who believed in Him according to the Father’s good pleasure. Lastly, it was the Holy Spirit who sealed (acclaimed, affirmed) those who put their faith and trust in Jesus.

There is nothing vague or ambiguous about these things. These things cannot be concealed. They are as natural as the universal laws of physics and morality and as much a part of every human being’s life whether or not they are aware and know about it; whether or not they accept it. The difference it makes as to whether we know this things is whether we purpose, act and acclaim with confidence who are are and what we do, whether as the saints in Christ or the American electorate. peace, amigos.

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God is one: On a Unitarian and Trinitarian debate

The Indwelling of Deity in the Believer by Gilbert Torres

(Checkout the amiable and great dialog in the comment section with Rabbi Yisroel Blumenthal. The article was my response to his article Christianity Unmasked. Some of his congregants contributed their thoughts too. gt)
Debate: Unitarianism vs Trinitarianism

This article is not about debates. It is not a refutation of a debate. It is an address of a single aspect of the discussion concerning deity. Debates are a great platform for grandstanding. I do not care to attend debates. I have never participated in one and I have no desire to do so. They can do little or nothing to enlighten the saints who are of the faith that is in Christ Jesus. Worse still, too often the saints are treated to a carnal spectacle between the presenters. The tactics of single word isolation in the original Hebrew and Greek languages are flashed before the audience; each presenter positing alternately what the word means and what it could otherwise possibly mean also. Of course, there is an abundance of verses, which like their word components, are isolated and listed for what they do not say as much as for what they do not say about God.

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The Image of Racism

the image of racism

Racists, despite their false bravado, live a lie which grovels in fear. Note that I refer to racists as individuals or groups and not in the formless, disembodied barroom, coffeehouse, sports field or classroom topic label of racism. It is the image touted by some who themselves are not given to talk much less think about those things they boast arrogantly. I am compelled to speak, as much as I am embarrassed and ashamed to admit it, on racism because of the act of racism which resulted in the murder of the saints in Christ in Charleston South Carolina. I do not speak because they are my brothers and sisters in Christ who were murdered. Rather, this is what I, to say nothing about anyone else, ought to do anytime I am truly moved in my heart by such acts. Even more than waiting for the next and latest act of racial violence I ought to be able to respond in the affirmative to the question which comes up at times such as in Charleston: Do we Americans engage in talk about racism? Even more, I as a Christian, need to initiate and engage in the discussion in the times in between those abominable acts of racial violence. Do not think you have acted or spoken against racism simply by keeping quiet and thereby think that everyone can and should assume that you are not racist.

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Gender Change and The Image of Male and Female

Jeopardy answer clue: The image of male and female.

what I wanna be

This is a brief article on the subject of image. Specifically, it is an invitation to discuss or to ponder the current embrace and practice involving the change of gender image. The embrace and practice of gender change, as it is purported, is counseled and prescribed in school, church and home. It is counseled not as a solution necessarily for those souls afflicted and sometimes ravished either physically by others or psychologically and emotionally by their own self-image  because of the gender of their birth. Image change is driven by mainstream media especially when a well known celebrity like Bruce Jenner declares his own decision to undergo the physically outward and inward emotional, psychological behavior change of image. Jenner recently left the male gender with which he was born for the female gender he has embraced for himself.

While this discussion topic may upset or even stir or provoke some to anger there is no condemnation or castigation here. What I would like to bring out is the questionable integrity and honesty of the therapeutic and cultural responses given to those who face their own struggles concerning their image. This change of image is real and practically attainable for a few. However, the reality is one which eludes many others. This makes them neither poor nor victims. However, they are the ones for whom a real resolution is not only readily and practically attainable but it is the imperative option for their own peace and joy in life. The very limited economic resources at their disposal position them with the luxury of being able to take the time, if only they would, to understand image in general and their own personal image. The attainability of that peace and joy in gender is not found in the surgeon’s scalpel, anymore than weight loss is found in pills. It is found in an understanding of their own which is within their reach.

showcase examples

There is a track record of mistaken notions offered in our schools, churches and by parents as solutions or makeshift arrangements some of which were plainly wrong. Some have fostered or enabled behaviors detrimental to the individual. Still others were inconsistent and downright hypocritical with tenets of love and happiness by those who counseled, promoted and urged image change. Some of these mistaken notions include sex education programs; that social experiment in education which quickly deviated from its core to include sex techniques and sexual behavior. Although I was in grade school long before the drive to remove prayer from schools rolled through school campuses the track marks of these two, sex education and prayer, are showcase examples of an education curriculum and policies gone awry. My reason for citing these is not for any moral reasons, but rather to point out what these have produced in terms of school age pregnancies and the erosion in the emotional and mental well-being of students such that shootings have become a way of life _ and death, on school campuses whose focus on education and knowledge was lost long ago. The message from the church concerning image is often as poor and founded on mistaken notions which do nothing to enlighten and lift up those who struggle with a biblical understanding of image. Of course, the culture catch-phrase is for "everyone to just be happy." Often parents, wittingly or unwittingly, are parties to image change with either school or church, or worse yet and as a show of their detachment and lack of awareness, neither one.

You might think the above as showcase examples are laughable. Yet, we ought not think the approval of suicide as an improbable reality which would ever be encouraged and taught in school and church alike. Do not expect these things to be taught overtly at the beginning, but the message is in our society already. As Americans become more open to assisted suicide one cannot rule out the day when the likelihood of allowing and encouraging students who choose to do so to commit suicide, after all as goes the default, weak and amoral cultural response, it is their choice. Suicide was the option exercised by the 1999 Columbine students but only after they had murdered several of their peers. The suicide mold has been cast. It is neither new nor is it a stretch to mention it in the context of the discussion on image.

Anyone who can see and acknowledge this current upsurge should not rule out the real probability of change in the therapist’s counsel involving gender image. It would not be a leap to include the encouragement of those whom they counsel and encourage along with their embrace of gender change as well as to encourage suicide as just another choice option. It is not a stretch especially when one ponders the previously mentioned sex education and prayer.

no hope, no love

Here is the inconsistency, falsehood and hypocrisy behind the purported counselors' message of love for those who struggle with their gender image and those who struggle with suicide, namely, that there is no hope to cope. Suicide is as readily available and easy to embrace as to alter one’s image.

Thus far, thanks be to God and his grace, the option of suicide, particularly of our youth, has not yet come to be prescribed in the same manner as image change. What has love, as Tina Turner fired off, got to do with it? The bottom line is that the deceptive message of the counselors is devoid of love because there is no hope and in the absence of hope whatever option, whether suicide or gender change, are equally suitable and acceptable alternative responses to life’s struggles. Jesus said,

The thief comes only  to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Today, men, women, boys and girls and children as young as three and four years old are ushered and rushed along in their expressed desire for a new gender image by schools, churches, friends and family. This is what they can expect the moment they declare they have always felt or have recently come to realize they are at heart a gender other than that into which they were born. Too often in these instances even the therapeutic counseling is waived as unnecessary. It is akin to what is too often heard in crime investigations by the police. The instant the police receive a confession, never mind the tactics by which that confession is often obtained from the suspect, any further investigation is deemed unnecessary and is abandoned. How many times has the public learned afterwards about how the police ignored and refused an further investigation of the crime as unnecessary because they had a confession. It is the same as that moment when an individual, regardless of age, states he wants to be a she or she wants to be a he.

It used to be when a child was asked what did he or she wanted to be their answer might have been a profession or vocation perhaps similar to that of their parents. Even then, as those children grew up and earned their livelihood in those professions it was something which they did, not something which they had become. (More on this later*.) Their performance in their respective fields was only a partial picture of the overall meaning and fulfillment of their lives.

Genesis: in the beginning there was . . . image

Regardless whether or not one believes or accepts the scriptures in Genesis 1 and 2 there is a significant point of reference to examine on the subject of image. It is significant because it involves the beginning of life, or image at the time of birth. Whatever one might think or decide to do to change their image the fact stands that they were born with a particular image.

Notice that this image as it is mentioned in the scriptures has nothing to do with the masculine or feminine gender.

the image of male and female

The first reference in the account of creation in the scriptures about any attribute of man is significant. It ought at least be a matter of curiosity for the nonbeliever. There is a prior introduction of the male and female in chapter one with the flesh and bone reference spoken by Adam when his eyes first saw Eve. Yet, it is the testimony of God when the scripture declares that God,

created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him;male and female He created them

which speaks even to our present times.

Specifically, and despite the modern presumption and primary obsession of image as involves the outward physical appearance, this is not what is implied by the passage. Any inference drawn from the passage which involves a physical aspect cannot be reconciled or harmonized with the passage because whatever that image of God which man shares with God, the differences in male and female anatomy such as some of the more overt breasts and genitalia make it evident that the image of which God spoke is not primarily a physical one.

homosexuality and gender image: different and alike

In this respect image as it involves gender is similar to homosexuality in that it too is a matter-of-fact contradiction of one’s own birth; a birth, regardless of one’s beliefs, which is as undeniable as one’s gender at the time of birth. One, whether male or female, was neither conceived nor born as the result of the sexual union of male and male anymore than one was conceived or born as the result of the female and female sexual union.

Despite the claims of joy of coming out into public openness, as homosexuals once were given to saying when they declared their sexual preference, likes, choice, etc., the honesty and love are quite arguably questionable. How you might ask? It is because of the unwillingness or inability to express the convictions of their decision which cannot be coherently or comprehensively conveyed through teaching. The only resort of any attempt to explain and teach one’s decision or life-choice is existentialism. The homosexual experience is only similar to that of the existentialist; it is not existential because like the existentialist's experience it is limited to the one time experience and cannot be expressed nor repeated. It is different in that the sexual acts which typify homosexuality are repeatable and though there is some semblance of explanation it is of no significance or consequence because it is rooted in the carnal, sexual pleasures of homosexuality and is limited to self experience and a significant other who is equally unable to express coherently an experience of carnal satisfaction. In other words, anyone who wants to understand it must experience it. Explanation and teaching outside of that relationship to anyone else is as inept as it is unnecessary. More bluntly and as is heard; it's nobody's business.

the new birth

The new birth of faith in Jesus is unlike that experience. It can be coherently explained. The decision which resulted in the transformation of one's life is one which is displayed day after day. It is not a obscure mystery which cannot be understood. It is not, unlike the claim of LGBT advocates, something which the believer could not help and just allow to happen because they were just born that way. It is a transformation which began with the realization and acceptance of that believer's own sin and the decision to put their faith and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

the purpose of image

It is a popular practice for people to post online images to represent themselves which are not necessarily true; a photo of a female or an adult does not necessarily follow that the person is female or an adult. Whether for security reasons or humorous reasons some people disguise their gender or location. (Trolls are not in discussion here.) Of course, this online altering of one’s online virtual image did not begin with the world wide web. It is not limited to the internet. People have been encouraged to alter or change their actual image so as to obscure their identity through behavior, particularly if they feel threatened or they do not feel happy with themselves. It is only until recently that the practice of altering one’s physical image has been embraced by some people as a solution to struggles with which they are not able to cope.

Does image serve a purpose other than a mere visible appearance? While an image is a representation and not the actual thing or the person it represents it’s use is intended to be true. It is not intended to deceive or mislead. One of the purposes of image, such as a photograph, is to widen the awareness of the actual person beyond the limited capabilities of the person because they can only be at one place at a time.

Generally, images are imprinted on money currencies. These images serve to remind the citizens of that nation and inform others who reside or travel in that country of those things which the people of that country cherish and value as part of their origins and history. Some of those images are pronouncements of faith and unity. Some images may have vague or obscure origins and meanings such as a fish with Greek letter characters, (ichthus, from the Greek ikhthýs (ἰχθύς, "fish" [fyi: Each one of five Greek letters form a Christian theological acrostic message: Ἰησοῦς (Jesus) Χριστός, (Christ) Θεοῦ (of God) Υἱός, (son) Σωτήρ (savior)]) but often there are prominent images which are as undeniable as they are readily identifiable, for example, the images of George Washington or Benjamin Franklin.

People sometimes carry with them or keep photographs and other images in their home. Those images may be of themselves, such as in a driver licence, or photographs and paintings of family and friends. The purpose of images is that they be discernible even by strangers who have no knowledge of the people in those images even when the original which is represented by the image has become lost and forgotten.

the consequences of a lost image

The Genesis Bible account concerning Cain, who murdered his brother Abel, reveals the antiquity behind the current trend to embrace the alteration of one’s image. Here is a very brief account concerning the fading and fast eroding image of Cain in what is the first private one-on-one therapeutic counseling session between God and Cain. The erosion of Cain’s image probably began even before Cain became upset because God had accepted Abel’s sacrifice but God had rejected Cain’s sacrifice. The displeasure was evident in his face. God counseled Cain on the matter which was troubling Cain. The record does not reflect anything spoken by Cain. This was God’s counsel for Cain:

If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.

Clearly, God’s counseling was not accepted by Cain. Yes, the counseling session, from a human standpoint, was a failure. Subsequently, Cain rose up and murdered his brother Abel when they were out in the field. What followed immediately afterwards was that the reticent Cain was confronted by God. Cain’s reticence gave way momentarily to a flash of denial, anger and sarcasm in response to God’s question, Where is your brother?

I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?

Here, then, is Cain’s reaction to God’s punishment of Cain:

Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is too great to bear! 14"Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."

Here is God’s response to Cain’s outcry:

But the LORD said to him, "Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.

How does the account of Cain pertain or relate to the importance of image and the alteration of image? How did Cain get to the point where he lost his own image?

First, notice the distortion, despair and fear. God did not drive Cain away anywhere. Second, there is a two-fold anxiety which gripped Cain. a) He was sure that God’s face would be hidden from Cain (a mistaken notion of Cain’s own imagination) and not that Cain would hide, but that b) Cain would not be able to see God. 3) He feared being killed. Nothing of what Cain imagined and expected in the aftermath of the murder of his brother Abel is anything unknown or different than what people imagine or experience for themselves today. Cain's image of himself was a reflection of what he 1) never understood, 2) understood but forgot, or 3) understood, remembered, but rejected. What was it that Cain rejected?

conclusion: love

The Jeopardy game clue; The image of male and female. Answer: Who is God? What then is the image of God in which he created the male and female? What was the image which Adam, Eve, Abel and Cain shared? It is most certainly not a physical characteristic. It is what Adam and Eve, the male and female shared with each other and which was what made them in the image of God. It is love. Clearly, this love was so faded and eroded in Cain's heart that he was able to bring himself and allow himself to murder his brother Abel.

Love is the image of God in which God created the male and the female.

Certainly, there are various other attributes which define or which enable one to understand and know God, but love is foremost. Although love is not mentioned and does not appear in the Genesis creation passage it was the love of God by which God was able to punish Adam and Eve as well as Cain later not with ruthlessness nor mercilessness. The entirety of the revelation of the will of God as is presented in the scriptures is the love of God towards man, namely, to redeem or to free man from the bondage of sin and all manner of deception by which mankind and his image which mankind shares in common with God has been marred and damaged.

The first appearance of the word love in the scriptures in Genesis 22 is as likely to be warped, distorted and misunderstood as the love which it portends in John 3:16. What Jesus fulfilled when he came into the world goes back to what I mentioned earlier* in the section entitled, no hope, no love. Here is how the apostle Paul stated it in II Corinthians 5:21.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

When a disciple of Jesus looks into the mirror he/she may look no more like righteousness than Jesus looked like sin, but that is what he/she has become because of what Jesus was made. Clearly, this is the radical transformation, re-invigoration of image lost, not a physical image, but the image of love which is God (I John 4:16) and which male and female share with him. It is an image easily overlooked and even dismissed when our focus is upon ourselves in our outward physical bodies and not on Jesus and the love of God. This is why Jesus made it clear that if your love and concern is more about one's love of parents, brothers and sisters and even one's own life than you can not be his disciple.

Be of good cheer. Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in Jesus.

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