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Image of God

                                                           The theology that “form of God” is referring to Yeshua’s
                                                           pre-existent state is coupled with several other passages that
                                                           seem to teach the same thing. Colossians 1:15-20 is a prime
                                                           example. Trinitarians, and those who believe in a Biune God,
                                                           argue from these verses that: 1) Yeshua is called the “image
                                                           of God” which really means God and 2) that Yeshua is called
                                                           the Creator. These are grievous errors! Don’t you think it
                                                           might be going too far to equate “image of God” with
                                                           YEHOVAH Himself? In other words, if “image of God”
                                                           means YEHOVAH Himself — then what does “God” mean?
                                                           If “God” can be described as “image of God” then what does
                                                           “image of God” describe? If you define “image of God” as
                                                           “God” then you have real problems with defining “God” —
                                                           isn’t that true? And don’t we see in Genesis 1 that man was
               Hope of Israel Ministries (Church of        created in the image of YEHOVAH God?
               YEHOVAH)
               The Berean Voice Magazine                   As you can discern in every day life, something can be a per-
               P.O. Box 6772                               fect representation of an object or person without being the
               Thousand Oaks, CA 91359-6772, U.S.A.        object or person itself. We often say about photographs, “It
                                                           looks just like him, doesn’t it?” The statement by Yeshua
               Website (West Coast):                       found in John 14:19, i.e., “if you have seen me you have seen
               http://hope-of-israel.org                   the Father” explains quite well what Paul was alluding to by
               Website (East Coast):                       the phrase “image of the invisible God” found in Colossians
               http://hope-of-isreal.net                   1. He was not teaching the pre-existence of Yeshua in some
                                                           pre-incarnate state any more than Yeshua was telling Philip
               E-mail: kiwihope@netscape.net               that he had literally seen YEHOVAH God when he beheld
                                                           Yeshua. Yeshua bore an “image,” a “form,” a “likeness to the
               Fax: (818) 878-9334                         invisible God in his character, teachings and behavior — ex-
                                                           hibited in the same way that believers are encouraged to be
               Editor and Director: John D. Keyser         ”Christlike" in their manner of life. Wouldn’t it be accurate to
                                                           refer to an individual that taught and acted like Yeshua as the
               Contributing Writers:                       “image of the invisible Yeshua”? If not, why not? How do
               Juan Baixeras                               the Greek scholars define “image”? The Trinitarian Vine de-
               Ernest Martin                               fines it thus: “EIKON (eikon) denotes an image: the word in-
               Ramon Bennett                               volves the two ideas of representation and manifestation. (d)
                                                           of Christ in relation to God, 2 Cor. 4:4, ‘the image of God,’
               Technical Advisor: Sean Keyser              i.e. essentially and absolutely the perfect expression and rep-
                                                           resentation of the Archetype, God the Father; in Col. 1:15,
               Hope of Israel Ministries --                ‘the image of the invisible God’ gives the additional thought
                                                           suggested by the word ‘invisible,’ that Christ is the visible
               Preparing the Way for the                   representation and manifestation of God to created beings.”
               Return of YEHOVAH                           Even though a Trinitarian, Vine does not equate “image of
               God and His Messiah!                        God” with “God” Himself in his definition.
                                                                                       — John D. Keyser
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