As a child I played with Play-doh. That squishy and colorful compound was not originally created for children but was originally a cleaner for wallpaper. Noah and Joseph McVicker saw the need for their then off-white dough to help children in schools in the Cincinnati area when a teacher told them of the difficulty children had with the modeling clay they were using. It wasn' t till years later the primary colors were added to the non-toxic material. Today, Play-doh is even softer to use and now children and run this material through small plastic forms to get certain designs and images from this childhood toy.
The idea of form and image is used by Paul in Philippians 2:5-7:
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
There are two different words used for the idea of form or image. The first one is the word morphe(morfey), which is used of external characteristics. Jesus is the visible image of God in both characteristics and qualities. However, Paul then uses the word, eikon(icon), which is the moral likeness of the renewed man before God. In this form of a servant, the renewed believer can understand how he is to live by looking at the image of Christ. This image or icon is seen in the blessed state of mind which Christ also possesses. This is the mind needed in this world of relationships.
So what would a servant do in regards to others? The first thing is not to think too highly of yourself. In the case of those who are angry with you, heap coal of kindness on their heads. However, most of us want to treat them as objects of scorn, ridicule and derision. Also, what about your anger? I am no different and when I lose my cool, as a servant I need to think of others and those relationships. Do you apologize to the one whom you were angry with? What about others in the fray? As having the servant mind of Christ, it is important not to imagine you have the RIGHT to be angry. Jesus had the right and authority to destroy man at the Cross but since he was equal with God he knew what needed to be done.
Remember in relationships in this world, what others many advise may sound good, but in reality it is what Jesus reveals in the eikon(icon) in the mind and actions of the renewed man which I should represent to others. Not easy, but very needed.
The idea of form and image is used by Paul in Philippians 2:5-7:
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
There are two different words used for the idea of form or image. The first one is the word morphe(morfey), which is used of external characteristics. Jesus is the visible image of God in both characteristics and qualities. However, Paul then uses the word, eikon(icon), which is the moral likeness of the renewed man before God. In this form of a servant, the renewed believer can understand how he is to live by looking at the image of Christ. This image or icon is seen in the blessed state of mind which Christ also possesses. This is the mind needed in this world of relationships.
So what would a servant do in regards to others? The first thing is not to think too highly of yourself. In the case of those who are angry with you, heap coal of kindness on their heads. However, most of us want to treat them as objects of scorn, ridicule and derision. Also, what about your anger? I am no different and when I lose my cool, as a servant I need to think of others and those relationships. Do you apologize to the one whom you were angry with? What about others in the fray? As having the servant mind of Christ, it is important not to imagine you have the RIGHT to be angry. Jesus had the right and authority to destroy man at the Cross but since he was equal with God he knew what needed to be done.
Remember in relationships in this world, what others many advise may sound good, but in reality it is what Jesus reveals in the eikon(icon) in the mind and actions of the renewed man which I should represent to others. Not easy, but very needed.
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