United Church of God

Letter From Dan Dowd - November 1, 2019

Letter From Dan Dowd

November 1, 2019

Sabbath Thought - Image

The history of money is an interesting one, and what a society uses for money continues to change.  Historians are not in agreement when coins began to be used in regular commerce, but many say somewhere during the 5th to 6th century B.C.  Coins were originally cast from molten metal into forms, but some societies made coins from pieces of metal struck by a hammer with an image on it.  The problem with both of these methods of production is that they are easily counterfeited as no two coins were exactly alike. 

Leonardo Da Vinci is credited with the idea of a coin press in the 1500's, but a working coin press was not created for another 200 years.  This process involved a great deal of force that would imprint greater details than could be achieved with casting or striking by hand, and this process would create a standard size coin.  Later the "coin edge" was added (the ribbed lines along the circumference edge) so the coin couldn't be shaved to remove some of the gold or silver before the coin was exchanged.  Governments also mandated standard weights so the public would trust the stated value of the coin.

Christ used the illustration of a coin when He was challenged on paying taxes.  He used a Roman coin to answer the question (Matthew 22:15-22) by asking "...whose image is on it?"  The word "image" is "eikon" (i-kone') and simply means "likeness, representation or resemblance".  The image of Caesar was on the coin, and it represented not only Caesar, but the power and authority of the Roman Empire.

The Hebrew word used in Genesis 1:26 ("...let Us make man in Our image....") has a similar meaning as the Greek word, but has the added meaning of "shade" as in something casting a shadow.  That expression ("in Our image") is interesting because the thought is that of an image struck from a die - a perfect reproduction but an opposite and reversed image.  It is a reflection, not the original.

What are we to reflect?  When we consider Genesis 1:26, it can mean our appearance physically (arms, hands, legs, head, eyes, etc. like God) but we are also given insight that part of the purpose of mankind is to reflect God's image, that is, His character, power, and authority.  We see this in 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)- "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

We are to reflect God's image!  Do others see God in us - in our words, actions, and character?  The weekly Sabbath is time God dwells in so that we come before Him to learn to become like Him so we reflect Him.  The Sabbath itself reflects God and in that way reflects the rest we can have in Him.  On this Sabbath day, I would encourage you to consider, "What do I reflect?"

I wish you a meaningful Sabbath,

Dan Dowd

1 November, 2019