What Does "God's Image" Mean?

       In discussing spiritual things, to be right, no one can' go beyond the word of Scripture. The Bible tells us that God gave to man a living soul. In this sense he was in the image of his Maker in his dispositions, temperament and desires, and in his obedience to the divine will; but this condition was forfeited through sin. It could only be said thereafter of those who walked uprightly before God and were inspired of him, that they were "his offspring." (Matt. 13:38; Mark 7:10. See John 12:36; Acts 13:10; Col. 3:6.) Jesus himself drew the distinction when he told the wicked scribes and Pharisees that they were the children of the evil one, and this is the actual condition of every one living in sin, unrepentant and unforgiven. Thus while in his perfect condition man was like his Maker, in a condition of sin he is no longer so, nor has he any of the spiritual attributes and qualities that belong to the perfect condition, or even of the pardoned sinner, who has the hope through Christ of reconciliation and restoration. The Bible nowhere declares that man is of himself and inherently immortal. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." When sin entered, then came physical decay and death; man's first condition was lost and with the continuance of sin, and unrepentant and unforgiven, he also forfeited spiritual immortality. Eternal life is the gift of God. Paul declares that Jesus, through .his Gospel, brought life and immortality to light for fallen man and showed the path to restoration through repentance, forgiveness and acceptance.

What did Jesus look like?

        Jesus had human flesh that reflected the colors of the people he lived with. He had no remarkable human appearance apart from his own relations. In other words, unless he was speaking, he could not be picked out from the crowd of those he was with. He looked Aramaic/Jewish, from the lands of the Bible. He was and still is often represented in art to look like the people who love him or who wish to use His authority to motivate someone else. The Germanic depiction of Jesus is the most common today. Although, this is due to the preferential choices of publishing companies. They hire the illustrators that they prefer. It has always been true that Western painters portray Jesus as they relate to him. For this reason it is entirely acceptable to paint him as any race that you prefer as long as it is NOT done with the intention to HARM others in any way. However, we live in a fallen society (i.e. the world) and this seems unavoidable at times.

• Read my response here after watching the YouTube video.

Who were Philip's daughters?

        Philip's daughters (Acts 21:9) were the four unmarried daughters of the evangelist Philip. They seem to have had the honor of knowing and working for and with the great Christian men and women of their time in Jerusalem, Samaria, and Caesarea. Their father helped to administer the business affairs of the apostles and the growing Church in Jerusalem and to distribute relief to the poor.
       They probably assisted him in the latter and were with him when he preached and healed at Samaria and when he led Simon the sorcerer to become an active believer in Christ.
       Their mission as prophetesses is mentioned in the narrative telling that Paul's company entered the house of Philip at Caesarea on the Mediterranean. Luke probably stopped at their house also, and it is thought he may have written parts of his Gospel and the Book of Acts there.
       Because of their association with the greatest Christian leaders of their time and their own rare spiritual endowments, they became illumined expounders of God's words.

Who is the unbelieving wife?

       The unbelieving wife (I Cor. 7:14), says Paul to the Corinthians, is sanctified by her husband. Though he is a Christian and she is not, his belief sanctifies the union. Paul goes on to say that the faith of one Christian parent gives to the children a near relationship to the Church, just as if both parents were Christians. The children are regarded not as aliens to the Christian faith but as sharers in it. Paul presumed that the believing parent will rear the child in the Christian principles.
       He makes the same point in regard to husbands, saying that "The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife."  I Corinthians 7:14

Who was the wife that was to be sold for a debt?

       The wife who was to be sold for debt (Matt. 18:25) appears in Jesus' parable of the unforgiving servant and illustrates the principle of the Lord's Prayer, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.''
       Here Jesus is comparing our heavenly Father to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. One was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents (approximately ten million dollars). When the servant could not pay, the king ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had. The servant begged the king to have patience with him, and the king, moved with compassion, loosed his servant and let him go.
       But the servant went forth and cast into prison a fellow servant who owed him a very small debt. Then the king called back the servant he had forgiven of his large debt and asked why he had not showed the same compassion to his fellow servant that had been shown to him. The man was then jailed until he should pay all that he owed.
       Jesus, concluding the parable, said, "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." Matthew 18:35
       The Old Testament tells of selling people into slavery to pay a debt (Amos 2:6; 8:6; Neh. 5:4, 5), but this is the only reference of a woman's being sold, along with her children, to pay a debt.

Did the apostle Peter have a wife?

       Peter's wife (Matt. 8:14; Mark 1:30; Luke 4:38; I Cor. 9:5) no doubt witnessed her mother's healing. Since Jesus probably used Peter's home as headquarters when in Capernaum his wife must have seen Jesus often. She is referred to as Simon's or Cephas' wife. She traveled with him as did the wives of other apostles.

Who was Abiah mentioned in 1 Chronicles 2:24?

       Abiah (I Chron. 2:24), wife of Hezron, who was a grandson of Judah and Tamar and founder of the family of Hezronites. She also was the mother of Ashur and the grandmother of Tekoa, neither of whom bore any special distinction. Probably Abiah's name is mentioned (I Chron. 2:24) largely because of the importance of the Judah-Tamar line, from which Christ is descended.

What is Meant by "As many as were ordained to eternal life believed"?

        This passage in Acts 13: 48 has been much discussed. Those Gentiles did not all become believers, but only those in whom the preaching of the apostles had awakened faith and who, being taken into the congregation, had striven earnestly to "make their calling and election sure." It forcibly reminds us that salvation is the gift of God and not in any sense something we can obtain by our own merit or acts; but at the same time, in order to attain this gift (which is divinely ordained to all those who comply with certain conditions), we must put ourselves in the attitude of faith and belief. Further, throughout the whole Scriptures, there is a pervading sense of the fact that many are specially called to be saints and to perform a certain work, who are obedient to the summons and yet who were not in such attitude before. The case of Paul is an illustration in point. He was called right out of the midst of his sinful life of persecution. Some commentators hold that in the case of these Gentiles, God had chosen for himself certain men to become witness-bearers and to be set apart for a special work. Still other translators make the passage read ''As many as disposed themselves to eternal life believed," referring to I Cor. 16:15. We may add, by way of further explanation, that while the call to salvation is a universal one, the call to special service is one that comes only to the few.

Did the Baptist Doubt Jesus' Messiahship?

       John's message, asking through his disciples whom he sent to Jesus, "Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?" Matt. 11:3, was the result of impatience, almost of desperation. It must have seemed hard to him that his Master should let him lie so long in prison, after having been honored to announce and introduce him at the beginning of his mission. He tried to get Jesus to speak out his mind, or at least to set his own mind at rest. The conclusion of the incident, however, shows that his transient doubts were set at rest by the message he received.

What is the parallel between Christ and Adam?

        "As by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life" Romans. 5:18. In this passage, Paul is comparing the influence of Adam and Christ. His argument begins with verse 12: "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin." (Dr. Denny says: "By Adam the race was launched upon a course of sin.") Paul goes on to state that sin was in the world before the written law was given, but declares that sin is not counted as sin where there is no law. God does not condemn a man for breaking a law of which he is ignorant. But even where sin was not imputed, death reigned, because death had come into the world as the result of Adam's sin, and became a universal experience, affecting even those who broke no specific and plainly stated command, as Adam did. But the grace that comes from Christ is even greater than the doom that came through Adam. One man sinned, and many were condemned; grace, through Christ, pardons many sins. Death reigned because of one man; now abundance of life and grace reign by one, Jesus Christ (verse 17). Verse 18 (quoted above) sums up what has gone before. Adam's disobedience made many men sinners; Christ's obedience shall make many righteous (verse 19). The law was given so that sin might be revealed. Sin was in the human heart, but men did not realize what it was till the law came. The law showed them that they were disobeying God. "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound;" there was sin for everybody, there is grace for everybody - and more grace than sin. The reign of sin brings death; the reign of grace brings eternal life.

Are any by nature "Children of God"?

        There is a large and true sense in which all mankind are children of God. Paul could say to the idolaters at Athens, "We are also his offspring." But there is a higher, closer, nearer sense in which regenerated men only are God's children. John says: "To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." Speaking pointedly to believers, he says, "Beloved, now are we the sons of  God." So there is no discrepancy between Paul and John. The one is speaking of God's children in the large human sense, while the other speaks of them in the restricted, adopted sense. We have, in fact, to recognize four grades of sonship. In the lowest grade there is the whole human family. In the next higher grade we have the regenerated children, who are really children in the spirit. Then in the next grade, we have the angels, who in the Book of Job are specially designated the "Sons of God" (38:7). Then, highest of all, in a sense absolute, unapproachable, divine, we have Jesus Christ, preeminently God's own Son. There is no need, therefore, to stumble at the doctrine of the Fatherhood of God; only we need to distinguish between what is implied in the more outward and the more inward relationship.

What is conveyed in the statement that "God is no respecter of persons?"

       It may seem peculiar for Peter to have made this statement (Acts 10:34, 35) as to the vast majority of reverent minds it goes without saying. But to Peter, brought up as he had been among Pharisees and Sadducees and other religionists of the Old Dispensation, whose central belief was that God was a respecter of persons, the discovery of the great truth that God cares for all alike, came as a great awakening. The Pharisee who loved the uppermost seats in the synagogues and greetings in the market-places; who deliberately shunned contact with a publican, a woman or a Gentile, represented that self-righteous and exclusive Judaism in which no one else counted, but in which he was a favorite of the Most High. This exclusive Judaism Peter annihilated with the one sentence of the text, and thereby established the belief in that great, universal Fatherhood which, while it is all to all, is especially kind to the lowly and the meek; which watches even a sparrow and numbers even the hair of our heads. And because of this universal Fatherhood, everyone in every nation "that feareth him and doeth righteousness" is acceptable to him. He makes no distinctions of creeds, of theologies, of usages and customs, of observances and differences of opinions.

Who was Joanna in the Gospel of Luke?

        Joanna (Luke 8:3; 24:10), wife of Chuza, the house-steward of Herod the Tetrarch. In Luke 8:1-3 appears as one of the certain women who had been healed, either of a sickness or of an evil spirit.
       It is thought by some scholars that the centurion mentioned in Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10 might have been Joanna's husband Chuza. If so, she may have been led to attach herself to Jesus through the restoration of her servant's health, or even his life. Consequently she gave of herself and her substance to Jesus and His disciples.
       In the last mention of Joanna, in Luke 24:10, she is one of the women who went to the sepulcher to embalm the body of Jesus. She, with Mary Magdalene, the mother of James, and other women, later told the apostles that Christ had arisen.
       Though the mention of her is brief, one is convinced of the genuineness of her conversion, the depth of her love for Jesus, and the faithfulness of her stewardship.
       The knowledge she gained as she accompanied Jesus and His disciples and other women on preaching tours, gives her a firm place in this missionary group. 
       Her husband, as head of Herod the Tetrarch's household, also had charge of his personal estate. Some scholars venture that he was the nobleman of John 4:46-53.

Who was Rhoda in the book of Acts?

        Rhoda (Acts 12:13), a maidservant in the Jerusalem house of Mary, mother of Mark, who was the first to hear Peter knock at the gate after his miraculous escape from prison. Many had gathered to pray for him. Rhoda, knowing that they were now on their knees in Mary's upper room praying for Peter, gladly ran to tell them, before admitting him.
       When she announced to them that Peter now stood at the gate, they said to Rhoda, "Thou art mad." Acts 12:15. she affirmed that Peter was there. His continued knocking brought others to the door, and when they saw Peter they knew that their prayers had been answered. An angel of the Lord appeared in the prison and Peter's chains had fallen miraculously from off his hands.
       Rhoda demonstrated that she was a spiritual ally to the woman she served. Also, she was willing to serve late, for it was now long after midnight when Peter knocked and the Christians were still gathered at Mary's house.
        Rhoda showed that she was intensely interested in Peter's need and anxiety and that she rejoiced in his freedom. Thus she served not only her mistress but the larger fellowship of the Church as well.

Who are the Queens listed in the New Testament?

There are only four queens mentioned in the New Testament: 

 

 1.) Bernice - who with her brother Agrippa II heard Paul in the judgement hall in Caesarea.
 2.) Candace - (Acts 8:27), a term applied to ruling queens of Meroe, capital of the country that later became the kingdom of Ethiopia, at the junction of the Nile and Atbara. Candace was a hereditary appellation used in the same manner as was the term "Pharaoh" applying to the older Egyptian kings.
       This Candace of Acts ruled in Ethiopia in the time of Paul and the evangelist Philip. She is mentioned because the eunuch who had charge of her treasury and went from Meroe to Jerusalem to worship declared that he believed Jesus Christ was the son of God.
       Candace's eunuch was baptized by Philip and took back Christ's message to Ethiopia. It is probable that Candace was the first in high circles in Ethiopia to hear the triumphant message of Jesus Christ.
 3.) Drusilla - a wife of Felix, Roman procurator at Caesarea when Paul appeared in the judgment hall there.
4.) The Queen in Revelation - in Revelation 18:7-10, a queen is mentioned. This refers to the wicked city of Babylon and her destruction.

Who was Damaris in the Book of Acts?

        Damaris (Acts 17:34), a woman of Athens, who believed in the message of Paul. That one word "believe" presents a whole sermon in itself. Paul had just preached to the Athenians on Mars Hill, but many of them did not believe, for many were ignorant of God. But Damaris and a man, Dionysius, had the spiritual receptivity to receive Paul's message based on the theme, "For in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28).
       Damaris must have been a woman of distinction or she would not have been singled out with Dionysius, one of the judges of the great court.
       In all probability she was one of the Hetairai, constituting a highly intellectual class of women who associated with philosophers and statesmen. This may be the reason she was in the audience when Paul delivered his address on Mars Hill.
       We learn from Acts 17:18 that he had spoken before certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, who "took him, and brought him unto Aeropagus."
       Some commentators have suggested that Damaris was the wife of Dionysius; however, this is rather improbable for the Greek wife lived in seculsion. The Hetairai were the only free women in Athens. If Damaris had been a wife, her presence would not have been recognized in that concourse on Mars Hill. If the wife of Dionysius, she would have been, according to oriental custom, mentioned as such. Instead of "a woman named Damaris," we would have "and his wife Damaris." Or more likely still, her name would have been omitted.

Who was Claudia in The Book of II Timothy?

       Claudia (II Tim. 4:21), a woman in the Christian Church at Rome, who sent her greetings through Paul to Timothy. Scholars have made several conjectures about this Claudia.
       She appears in the same passage with Pudens and Linus. Some scholars are of the opinion that she was a wife of Pudens and a mother of Linus, bishop of Rome, who was mentioned by Irenaeus, Greek Church father, and Eusebius, "father of church history." 
       Martial, Latin poet born in Spain, but a citizen of Rome from about A.D. 64 to 98, writes in an epigram of Claudia and Pudens. Some scholars conclude that they are identical with the Claudia and
Pudens mentioned in Timothy, though others question why the name of Linus comes between them.
       H. S. Jacobs, writing in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (p. 666), says that the Apostolica Constitutions (VII, 21) name Claudia as the mother of Linus. He further comments that a passage in the Agricola by Tacitus, Roman historian, and "an inscription found in Chichester, England, have been used in favor of the further statement that this Claudia was a daughter of a British King, Cogidubnus." But Lightfoot in The Apostolic Fathers argues against the theory that Claudia and Pudens were husband and wife and that Linus was their son.
       Some authorities, with little justification, have identified this Claudia with Pilate's wife, to whom tradition has given the name of Claudia.

What is the lesson taught about persistent prayer?

        'The importunate widow (Luke 18:3, 5) appears in one of Jesus' parables. When the widow went to the judge begging him to avenge her of her adversary he refused. She continued to plead with the judge to help her. Finally he yielded to her plea for he feared that "by her continual coming she weary me."
       Jesus used the parable of the importunate widow to teach his disciples the need for persistent prayer.

Who was the one designated mother in the letters of Paul?

       Rufus' mother (Rom. 16:13) one of those to whom Paul sent salutations in his letter to the Romans, written from Corinth and probably carried by Phebe, a deaconess of the Church at Cenchrea near Corinth.
       "Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord," Paul wrote, "and his mother and mine." The last phrase referred, of course, to his spiritual relationship in the early Christian Church with Rufus' mother. The phrase shows us that she was a spiritually minded woman, probably one of the most faithful workers in this early church.
       In Paul's long list of salutations in this chapter, this is the only woman designated as a mother.

Did Paul's intimate family plot against him?

       Paul's sister was the mother of a son, who seems to have resided with her, probably in Jerusalem. He gave information to the chief captain of the plot to kill Paul, so that he might avoid the ambush. It may be inferred that Paul's sister was connected with some of the more prominent families. 

"But Paul’s nephew—his sister’s son—heard of their plan and went to the fortress and told Paul." Acts 23:16 NLT