The Daily Word of Righteousness

Man-centeredness, #7

Thou madest him [man] a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: (Hebrews 2:7)

In order to make the image perfect and complete, God through Christ will enter us and make His eternal abode in us. The end will be a perfected revelation of God to the nations of the earth. The new Jerusalem is the Wife of the Lamb. She is the complement of Christ—the glorious enlargement and fullness of the incarnation of the invisible God.

For man to attempt to shape his own image is to introduce chaos into the universe. Man has made some strides in science and the arts. But in the realm of moral personality and behavior, man is at a loss. He is ignorant of his own composition. Satan, who has his own image to consider, strives mightily to keep man ignorant of the realities of personality and behavior—realities governed by principles of cause and effect that in turn are governed by God's requirements concerning His creatures.

For example, a psychiatrist may have a patient who is filled with rage. The psychiatrist might, for example, counsel his patient to vent his anger with a great deal of profanity. The psychiatrist, in this case, does not understand the spiritual basis of the rage and that exercising the devil does not cure anger just as taking the pressure cap off the radiator of a gasoline engine will not prevent its overheating. Both are naive assumptions based on an ignorance of the factors involved.

In the physical realm there are instances where releasing stress solves a problem, such as the release of air from an overinflated tire. But this analogy does not apply to the cooling of an engine by removing the radiator cap (the engine will boil over) or to the venting of rage by an indulgence in profanity.

One must understand the composition and governing principles of the elements under consideration.

It requires the touch of the Spirit of God to remove rage from the human personality. Prayer is the correct technique. To indulge in profanity only exercises and strengthens the unclean spirits causing the rage. It is not our point of view that there is no place for the medical doctor, the psychologist or the psychiatrist. But such professionals are dealing with God's creation and are extremely limited in their understanding of the human mechanism and the spiritual forces that influence the human personality.

Apart from the wisdom of the Holy Spirit the doctor and the psychiatrist are largely incompetent. Not only did God create people in God's image but He continues to intervene in their personality and behavior. The professional who seeks to repair or change an individual apart from the individual's Creator and Father may do more harm than good.

It appears likely that the medical and behavioral scientists increasingly will join forces with occult practitioners and with the governments of the world in the attempt to control the image of man. They will attack the determination of the churches to use the Scriptures in the shaping of man's image, especially in the education of children. We expect persecution in this arena.

To be continued.