Spirit of Leadership

THE LEADERSHIP SPIRIT us make man in our image, in our likeness , and let them rule [have dominion or rulership over the rest of creation].” Many of us miss the essential point here. Humans were not just made by God, but they were also drawn out of his own nature. The word “image” used in this verse means the follow ing in the original Hebrew text: selem (6754), “statue; image; copy.”...The word...means “image” in the sense of essential nature....Human nature in its internal and external characteristics.... So, too, God made man in His own “image,” reflect ing some of His own perfections: perfect in knowl edge, righteousness, and holiness, and with dominion over the creatures....in Gen. 1:26 (the first occurrence of the word) the “image” of God is represented by two Hebrew words ( selem and demut ).” 16 H UMANS WERE NOT JUST MADE BY G OD BUT WERE DRAWN OUT OF HIS OWN NATURE . The word for likeness is akin to image but embraces an additional meaning: “ demut (1823), ‘likeness; shape; figure; form; pattern.’...First, the word means ‘pattern,’ in the sense of the specifications from which an actual item is made.” 17 The verb form of likeness is the following: “ damah ( 1819), ‘to be like, resemble, be or act like, liken or compare, devise, balance or ponder.’” 18 Why is it so important to understand these words and their implications? Because these are the words that define and describe the essence of your composition, capacity,

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