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where, 'Whal is man that thou art
mindful of him, or lhe son o f man,
that thou carest for him? T ho u didst
make hím
Jor a /ittle while
lower
tha n 1he angels,
thou hast crowned
him with glory and honor,
putting
everything in subject ion under hís
feet' "(Heb. 2:5-8).
Oíd you catch that?
God
has
crowned man with glory
and
honor-now, in this lije!
And
how has H e done so? By placing
him a t the head of His creation- by
giving him dominio n over the rest of
the world. Ma n has been gíven au–
thori ty and power to rule
because
he
reft ects the image o f his ruling Cre–
ator. God is a ruler, a govemor, a
king.
Man is not an animal, because he
bears his Creator's image. Man's in–
trinsíc human quali t ies place him on
a far higher plane of existence tha n
any in the animal world. Manis the
child of God, the finest product of
the ultímate Mind. God is seen in
ma n in a way that He is seen in no
o ther aspect of the Creation.
Man was not meant to grovel.
Ma n was not meant to be subjected
to indignities at the hands of his
fellowman. Does God insult G od?
Yet man's inhumani ty to man is a
massíve insult to the image of God
which he bears.
Racl sm an Affront to
God's lmage
Racism is a n insult to lhe image of
God .
Every
race of man bears
equally the image of the Creator!
There is no "master race," Adolf
Hit ler's obscene theories notwith–
standing. In the sight of God we all
carne from that o ne blood. And a ll
of mankind was inlended to enter
into a relationship with the Creator
whose image it bears:
"A nd he
m
ade
from one [blood- KJV]
every nation
of men to live on all the face of the
earth, having determined allotted
periods and the boundaries of their
habitation,
that they should seek
God,
in the hope that they might
feel after him and find him. Yet he
is not far from each o ne o f us" (Acts
17 :26-27). God is no less d istant
from the black man than from the
white. All human beings, no matter
their skin color o r ethnic origin,
were intended by G od to ultimately
entcr into a relat ionship with H im .
The
PLAIN TRUTH December 1977
is the body of Christ, and its
doors are open to all.
The apostle Paul explained
that "there is neither
Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free,
there is neither male nor
female; for you are
all one in Christ Jesus."
God is not exclusively a God of the
Jews, or the Chris tians, or the Cau–
casians. G od is the God of the
who le universe! He is the Creator.
H e is the life-giver and the source of
salvation.
God has opened the way, th rough
Christ , for every human being, all of
whom bear H is image, to enter into
a o ne-on-o ne relationship with H im.
In Old Testament times, only the
Israelí tes were given national access
to God. Others ha d to enter the
community of Israel before th ey
could become adherents of the true
faith.
This is no longer the case.
The Church ís 1he body of Christ
(1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:22-23; Col.
1: 18).
It is the " Israel of God" (Gal.
6: 16).
And its doors are open to all.
The apostle Paul explaíned: "There
is neíther Jew no r Greek, there is
neither slave nor free, there is nei–
ther male nor female;
for you are al/
one in Christ Jesus"(Gal.
3:28).
Wha t a liberating s tatement!
All are
one
in Christ! All have
access to God through Christ- Jews,
Greeks, blacks, whites , Indians, O ri–
entals. God is a n "equal opportu–
nily salvation granter" !
God rejects
no one
from H is Kingdom. All may
enler into the body of Christ who
bear His image!
Woman Not Inferior
God does not consider women infe–
rior beings, second-class citizens.
They bear
equally
with men the im–
age of God. The huma n race was
created "male and female" (Gen.
1:27).
And God is nol concerned with
human status a nd class structures.
To Him lhere is only
one
class of
human beings- those who bear His
image. There are no slaves, no sub–
humans. Such distinctions exist only
in the human realm.
It
is man who
has subjected man to indignities.
It
is man who has made man grovel
and suffer-not God . God offers sal–
vation from suffering. God offe rs
emancipation. God offers man the
opportunity to fulfill his own incred–
ible potential.
No man has lhe right lo subjecl
his fellow to the indignity of racism,
torture or pain. No man has the
right to insult the image of God in
his fellowman. Man was crealed
with dignity, with dominion, with a
brilliant creative mind that reftects
that ofhis Creator.
Man ls Decelved
But man has degeneraled. Man has
lost sighl of who he is. Man has
groveled beca use he has listened 10
the spirit of erro r. Man has been
inftuenced by that deceplive spiril
called "the devil" (Rev. 12:9 ; 11 Cor.
4:4; Eph. 2: 1-2). Salan has sough11o
destroy man's dignity; to cause him
to lose sight of his own polential.
And to a large extenl he has suc–
ceeded. But the brilliant light of
God's truth is breaking forth into a
darkened world. The plain truth is
that man bears the image of God.
He is nol an a nimal. He was not
made for indi gnity and in su l t.
Sorneday man will rule over the an–
gels (1 Cor. 6:3). Someday man will
ascend to the height lo which his
Creator intended him to rise. Man
must bear his cross fo r a while, but
someday lhings will be different :
"Now in putting every thing in sub–
jection lo him [ma n], he left nolhing
outside his control.
As it is,
we do
not yet see everylhing in subjection
lo him" (Heb. 2:8).
Today man is crippled. Man has
not yet come into his full, glorious
potential. His progress has been
withheld. He lives in a world domi–
nated by "spiritual wicked ness in
high places" (Eph. 6: 12). The light
of God's truth aboul man has been
a ll but snuffed out. Man has Ios t
his way. He "gropes at noonday as
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