The Visible Image Of The Invisible God Essay

Self discovery is at the root of many stories. It is easily limited by external and internal factors. Tales about self discovery are often called a bildungsroman. A bildungsroman, essentially, is a coming of age novel. Both Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison are considered a bildungsroman. In the case of those two novels, there is one unique concept that contributes to their examples of self discovery. Double consciousness is that idea. It emphasizes how a person may struggle to adapt to more than one varying identities in order to fill a role within society. Double consciousness is present in both novels through the mindset and actions of characters who try to conform to the gender and racial roles placed upon their lives but find themselves in conflict with their limitations.

I believe that as a Christian we should be as concerned, if not more so, than any other concerned non-believers. We as Christians, have been given the truth about God, His creation and His will. When it comes to His creation He is very detailed about His plans in creating the earth for His people and His purpose (HCSB. Genesis 1:26-30). Sadly, many Christians have fallen into the category quoted by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., “Some people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good." Their time here on earth has been fogged by the aspirations of glory. The contributors of this wasted life is ignorance, greed, and selfishness. Furthermore, our environment suffers for the cause. Nonetheless, this is a major topic of conversation

These can be simple activities such as turning off the water while brushing your teeth or simply walking to work. We can also be more mindful about how much trash we make in a week and to always recycle. Although no amount of recycling will forestall the end that God has planned for the earth, we are still called to preserve earth’s natural resources to the best of our capability. Psalm 24:1 (New International Version) states, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” This passage teaches us that although God gives people the power to utilize elements of the environment, God is still the ultimate owner of all of his creations. Therefore, we are called to respect his creations because they are not ours but God’s.

As a general term stewardship is defined as the job of supervising or taking care of something, such as an organization or property. In Courage and Calling by Gordon T. Smith stewardship is responding intentionally to our lives (p. 18). According to Gordon T. Smith we must recognize three things to be good stewards: our lives have value, we must live our lives to the fullest, and we live fully by living deeply congruent with who we are (p. 18). As Christians God defines who we are thus our responsibility and obligations in life must ultimately connect to God.

“In the God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) God existed before all of His creation, therefore He is the sovereign creator. He created all to be good in His perfect wisdom. Though God is invisible, He has several distinct characteristics; compassionate, faithful, infinite, just, wise and all-powerful.

Therefore, the individual’s responsibility is to take care of the earth they live in. for instance, taking care of family and friend and others with dignity is a way to show sign of our respect for the god, who created the earth and the human (Catholic Charities, 2016).

Historically, Christians primary focus has been on heaven and the afterlife and little focus has been placed on the health of the environment. In recent years, there has been a new movement surface called Creation Care or Evangelical Environmentalism. This movement stems from scriptures in the Bible saying that man is to keep and maintain creation. “The Lord God took the man and put him in

After reading Harvey Nowlan’s blog post on stewardship as a Christian I have to agree with many of the points he was making about everything we own and consider our possessions in the material world, we own them to God. Our house, cars, bank account a many other things we treasure do not truly belong to us. Many lose site to this and take God’s grace out of the equation and forget who is really in charge. It is our duty, as Christians to be biblical stewards in everything we do and live in a way that Christ would want use to. We are like managers in a business and our resources should be used to exalt God and his kingdom. “ Our stewardship of the Christian faith is prior to and more important than any of the other things entrusted to our care.

One of the first major points that describes who Jesus Christ is how he displays the “…image of the invisible God…” however, he is God but in human form being Christ. He reflects the nature of his father, God. His son, Jesus, is the image of God. He is “… the firstborn of all creation” meaning that

The author concludes that Christians are to live faithfully by the values of the bible. As members of society, we are expected to play a critical role in in our community rather than isolating ourselves from those opposed to Christian worldviews. There are ways for Christians to live out their faith, but still remain active parts in the community.

Some people may be confused in what responsibility even means. Does it mean be nice, make good decisions, and do what you're told? I've been taught many responsibilities throughout my life and the most important one is to try my hardest to walk in the light of Jesus. To do this I try to learn from my mistakes, treat others the way I want to be treated. Whenever I get the opportunity I bring God into the subject to try to show every one what a loving and caring father he his no matter how many mistakes you've made. I want people to know that no matter what they do or say to me, I will never deny my beliefs for God I will always shine my light and try to impact as many lives as I can. We are one Nation under God and I believe that's our responsibility to keep it that way.

Creation care is the idea that God calls Christians to care for the Earth. Even though all Christians acknowledge that God created the Earth, not everyone agrees about the responsibilities Christians have for this creation. In Genesis 1:28, “God blessed them, and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” For some, this verse means that God created this Earth so that we can use it how we wish. Even though “dominion” does imply you have control and power over the Earth, it is crucial to understand that this does not mean we are called to destroy this world. God claimed everything he made “was very good” so he would not have wanted for his creation to be destroyed (Genesis 1:31). Instead, this specific role God gives to humans requires respect and appreciative behavior. For, damaging God’s creation would mean insulting the very thing he designed for us.

Despite many Christians, such as Patriarch Batholomew from the Greek Orthodox church who states that ‘For humans to contaminate the Earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life, with poisonous substances. These are sins’ in an attempt to encourage prioritising environmental protection, climate skeptic Calvin Beisner states that “the Bible teaches that earth and all its subsystems… are the product of a God who is an infinitely wise designer”, reflecting that his personal interpretation of God’s revelation has led to his understanding of the Earth being intelligently design, so that humankind could not potentially destroy it, consequently leading to him not placing priority on the protection of the environment.

I know the biblical doctrine of stewardship defines a man’s relationship to God. It identifies God as owner and man as manager. God makes man His co-worker in administering all aspects of our life.

Around the world in Christian and secular circles we hear the word stewardship. Not only is stewardship one of the basic issues discussed in scripture, but it’s also something we neglect as something we need to concentrate on while going through our own Christian walk. We live in a society that is very individualistic, concentrating on whatever will bring pleasure and make us feel good. Stewardship definitely doesn’t fit into the way society is today. Before going to far into this, what exactly is stewardship? Stewardship is taking care of or managing every God-given resource with an attitude of responsibility directing such resources for his intended purposes. To truly understand stewardship, we need to first look at what God says in his