Skip to main content

人日

Yesterday was 人日, the 7th day of Chinese New Year. According to Chinese customs, this was the day humans were created. In modern times it is common to see people greet everyone "Happy birthday" on 人日.

But what exactly is 人? This is probably the first Chinese character that everyone learns.

Scripture tells us:

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Gen 1:27)

This has tremendous implications. Man was taken from dust and given the breath of life. He or she bears the divine image of the God of the Universe.

This simple verse means at least a few things for us:
(1) Because humans are made in His image, everyone bears the image of God. This includes people we don't like, or don't get along with. It includes people from a different race. It includes the disabled whom the world considers valueless. It means we should treat everyone by remembering they are a fellow image bearer.

(2) In our lives however, due to our sin, we have failed to properly bear His image. Only one person bore the image perfectly and that is of course Jesus Christ. He is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15).

(3) The Roman coin is to be given back to Caesar because it bore Caesar's image. What then is it that bear God's image which ought to be given back to Him? It is us. If we have yet to offer ourselves back to Him, let's ask how is it we are willing to give Caesar what is his but not willing to give ourselves back to Him.

If you have read until this far, happy belated 人日!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Did Jesus quote a non-existent verse in John 7:38?

So this was asked in Quora : My response below: The verse is NOT non-existent. The thing is the reference to a river flowing out occurs in a few places in the Old Testament. Thus when Jesus says "As the Scripture has said ..." He is referring to a theme that occurs repeatedly in the Old Testament. It is important to understand what "the rivers flowing out" imply in the Old Testament. They always refer to the  dwelling place of God . These occurs in a few places. As early as the Book of Genesis, we see this Scripture in Genesis 2:10 "A  river flowed out of Eden  to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers." (Genesis 2:10, ESV) Therefore, the source of the river = Eden. And Eden is none other than the very dwelling place of God. Biblical theology helps us understand Eden as a "type" of temple. Where else do we see this? We see this again in Ezekiel 47. In Ezekiel 47, in Ezekiel's vision of a New Temple, he pi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lot, Noah, Shem, the Fall - how they all combine together

In this short writing, an attempt is made to show how the accounts of Noah, Shem, Lot, as well as the events after the Fall serve to powerfully combine to reveal the character of God in those who obey Him and those that do not.  The stories of Noah and Lot seem disparate but the parallels are incredible. The first connection is the feature of “wine” in both of these accounts. The parallels follow the pattern of (A) God’s salvation act (B) The drinking of wine (C) Actions of the Children.  It is easier to see the parallels when they are juxtaposed side-by-side (see picture). The (C) parallel may be harder to observe. Lot’s daughters’ attempts to bear children by their father is in fact the “uncovering of nakedness” prohibited later in the Pentateuch in Leviticus 18:6 -20. The verse below suffices for us to develop our thoughts further: “None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord.” (Lev. 18:6) This ties back to the F...
Post a Comment
Read more

The use of Psalm 68:18 in Ephesians 4:8

  For Paul in Ephesians 4:8, clearly there are some changes from the text that Paul is supposedly citing which is Psalm 68:18. Comparing Psalm 68:18 and Ephesians 4:8, it is obvious there are differences. I believe Paul was actually using the LXX but has changed its words for the occasion in Ephesians 4. The LXX version of Psalm 68:18 and Ephesians 4:8 differs by a few words: Psalm 68:18 (it is actually Psalm 67:19 in the LXX): ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος  ᾐχμαλώτευσας  αἰχμαλωσίαν, ἔλαβες  δόματα  ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ , Ephesians 4:8 ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος  ᾐχμαλώτευσεν  αἰχμαλωσίαν,* ⸆  ἔδωκεν  δόματα ⸀ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Structurally you can see the LXX and Eph 4 is similar but for a few words changes.   The first change is from 2nd person (LXX) to 3rd person (Eph 4) with regards to who is doing the ascending in the first line.  So the English Bible rightly translates the phrase to "When  he  ascended on high" versus Psalm 68, " you  ascended" ...
Post a Comment
Read more