Ethos,Pathos,Logos – The Image of God

Bust of Aristotle. Marble, Roman copy after a Greek bronze original by Lysippos from 330 BC; the alabaster mantle is a modern addition. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

God created man in His image.

Aristotle identified three primary areas of influence and response that comprise the mind, heart, and soul of mankind.

He called them Ethos, Pathos, and logos.

God is sovereign and all Powerful- this is Ethos

God is the author of wisdom and is all knowing- this is Logos

God is Love and so loved the world He gave His Son – this is Pathos

The Psalms puts it this way;

Psalms 139:1-4 “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways. For there  is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.”

God knows us, understands us, comprehends us altogether because He loves us.

His pathos brought His ethos and logos to our rescue.

His pathos / love bridged the gap between us and God through Christ.

God wants our love as well.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6)

The most remarkable thing about what God requires from us is that He gave all of himself for us in Christ first.

He expressed all His ethos, pathos, and logos for our benefit through the cross.

Is God not worthy of all our love in return?

Newton’s Empirical Assumption of the Known Universe and the Influence of Christian Beliefs in His Theories

The belief that God created everything

The influence of Christian beliefs in the theories of history’s greatest scientist

“Did blind chance know that there was light and what was its refraction and fit the eyes of all creatures after the most curious manner to make use of it? These and such like considerations always have and ever will prevail with man kind to believe that there is a being who made all things and has all things in his power and who is therefore to be feared.”

“He who thinks half-heatedly will not believe in God; but he who really thinks has to believe in God.”

~Sir Isaac Newton~

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v12/n3/sir-isaac-newton

Pascal on Mankind and God

“Man would desire to be great and sees that he is little; would desire to be happy and sees that he is miserable; would desire to be perfect and sees that he is full of imperfections; would desire to be the object of the love and esteem of men, and sees that his faults merit only aversion and contempt. The embarrassment wherein he finds himself produces in him the most unjust and criminal passions imaginable, for he conceives a mortal hatred against that truth which blames him and convinces him of his faults.” ~Blaise Pascal~ (Pensees)

Everything Connects to Everything Else ~ Leonardo da Vinci ~

“Study the art of science and the science of art.”

“Especially, learn how to see.
Realize that everything connects to everything else”

~Leonardo da Vinci~

This quote by da Vinci reveals the primary guiding principles of one of the great minds of art and science.

As a Christian, I can see how da Vinci had discovered that all things were connected.

Connection implies a common origin.

Scripture states that ALL things came from Christ.

In Christ all things find origin and connection.

Colossians 1:17
“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

(Colossians 1:15-20)

This big wheel of life centers on Christ. He is the one of whom all things begin and end and are held together.

Christ is the Center by which all things are connected.

God is a Father to the Fatherless

 

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. “( Psalm 68:5)

To anyone and everyone who ever had a father and for whatever reason he is no longer present,

To all who never knew what it was like to have a father there for them when they needed him,

To all who did have a father there but he only made them wish he was not there because he was not a good father,…

God is a father to the fatherless.

No matter if you are young or old, God will be the father to you that you need.

He is love,

He is ever-present,

He is all-knowing,

He is all-powerful,

Nothing is too hard for Him,

He has provided our greatest need,

He will never forsake you.

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6,7)

Perfect Freedom – We Are All Slaves to Something – A Sermon by Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church – Manhattan N.Y.

 

 

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

We are all enslaved to something.

Most of these things are a source of temporary fulfilment.

The obvious ones are sex, alcohol, drugs, and we all know people who are enslaved to such.

But the less obvious things we also seek to find our ultimate identity and fulfillment in are status, achievement, career, relationships, children, spouses, and countless other things that are not at all bad in and of themselves.

We make these things bad for us when we seek our ultimate identity and fulfillment in them in an inordinate way.

Only Christ is worthy of being the source of fulfillment for our deepest desire for identity.

“Why not give yourself to the one who gave Himself  for you?”

Tim Keller

“Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

(John 6:35)

Listen to the free audio sermon – click the link below

http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/perfect-freedom

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