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Wyatt Graham

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Idolatry

Put Worship First in Your Life

March 17, 2017 by wagraham Leave a Comment

“Heart” by Marit & Toomas Hinnosaar licensed under CC BY 2.0.

“Why do what you do?”

A simple question. But with a not-so-simple answer.

“What makes you happy or fulfilled?” might be another way to ask the question. Do you work to pursue material success or work out of a fear of failure? Do the long hours that you put into work find their justification because you have a nice home, car, and electronics? Does the pursuit of happiness in your marriage and family have some purpose behind it? Or is it arbitrary?

Another way to ask the question is “What’s your goal in doing what you do?” If you cannot answer that question apart from saying, “Well, family is a good thing” or “I need to work or else I won’t have money,” then I fear that you will have missed the mark in this life and will perhaps head into ruin. [Read more…] about Put Worship First in Your Life

Filed Under: Theology Tagged With: God, Heart, Idolatry

Idolatry, the Image of God, and the Image of Christ

January 26, 2017 by wagraham 2 Comments

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Christianity forbids the use of idols, or objects that represent God as a form of worship. Probably the most famous place where Idolatry is forbidden is in Ten Commandments:

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exod 20:4–6)

God commands his people not to make images (even of the true God!) and worship them, because God is a jealous God. Probably the jealousy of God here refers to his exclusive desire to be worshipped. The simple truth here is that God prohibits idolatry because he alone ought to be worshipped, but Exodus 20 does not fill in the blanks as to why God forbids it as such.

The ideas of idolatry and image-bearing in the Bible, however, provide one helpful insight into why God forbids making images and worshipping them. By identifying how image bearing relates to idolatry, we are actually freed up to understand our life’s purpose with sharper focus.

[Read more…] about Idolatry, the Image of God, and the Image of Christ

Filed Under: Theology Tagged With: Christ, Idolatry, Image of God, Renewed Image

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Wyatt is the Executive Director of The Gospel Coalition Canada. He enjoys his family and writing. You'll generally find him hiding away somewhere with his nose in a book.

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