The Ethics And Community Of Relationships

Having grown up in a church that has a strong reformed background, and now attending a similar (but less legalistic) Dutch reformed church, I have often heard sermons explaining the Ten Commandments. However, I don’t recall ever hearing or reading anything that made connections to the Decalogue as a guide for man to reflect the image of God in us. Instead, I was always taught to obey the law because God’s holiness demanded it. Recently, I heard a sermon series on the Ten Commandments highlighting both the prohibitions of the laws as well as the freedom in following these commands- which had a significant impact on how I view the Law.

In a similar way, reflecting on the Decalogue as a way to manifest the image of God in which we were created, through the keeping thereof, is already beginning to impact my theology; in time, I suspect, this will produce change in my life also. Most significant at this point is simply the realization of how permeating the image of God is, both in Scripture and life. Writing this now, I can say to myself, “Yeah, d-uh, of course”, but until reading this chapter in Mangano I guess I really never thought about it. God gave us boundaries to live within, and by living within these limits we mirror God in specific ways. There is a great sanctity to the way we live life and treat God and other human beings.

This, of course, Mangano expands in the next chapter. The image of God ought to be reflected in our relationships- with our parents, spouse, kids, siblings, community. This all sounds right and good, but as I wrote a number of weeks ago, how often do I actually reflect on this? How often is this a topic of conversation, even among Christians? I think I, and perhaps this is true across the board, tend to think mostly in terms of becoming more like Christ, of being conformed into the image of God’s Son. Speaking along these lines, while true, misses that point that I already AM made in the image of God and I DO bear that image, as distorted as I may have made it. God is now at work in me to restore that image to its intended beauty.

So where do I go from here? I really need to consciously meditate on the reality of bearing the image of God. How do the traits of knowledge, righteousness, and holiness factor in my daily walk…or not? Surely they reflect how I ought to live before God and man. Furthermore, I think it would be beneficial to talk about this issue with others, sharing what I have learned and gleaning from them what they know.