Living in the Image of God M04S01
We begin a study series to understand God’s purpose for a person in terms of individual responsibility. In the Parable of the Net and Parable of the Weeds, for example, Christ describes the basis for binary categorization of people as righteous or wicked during final judgment. He describes fishermen categorizing fish as good fish or bad fish based on their judgment of the fish as fit or unfit to fulfill their purpose. Similarly, the grain farmer categorizes farm proceeds as wheat or weed based on their judgment of the proceeds as fit or unfit to fulfill their purpose. These parables convey a message that God categorizes people as righteous or wicked based on his judgment of their living as showing themselves fit or unfit to fulfill his purpose. God’s purpose for a person defines the individual responsibility.
Our Living in the Image of God program continues this year (2023) with a study series on understanding God’s purpose for a person in terms of the individual responsibility. We will discuss Christ teaching and other human-interaction examples from the bible to understand God’s purpose in specific events in terms of the individual responsibility for a person in such events.
The series begins with understanding the basis for binary categorization of people as righteous or wicked, as Christ describes in the Parable of the Net and Parable of the Weeds. In the Parable of the Net, fishermen categorize fish as good fish or bad fish based on their judgment of the fish as fit or unfit to fulfill their purpose for fish. Similarly, in the Parable of the Weeds, the grain farmer categorizes farm proceeds as wheat or weed based on their judgment of the proceeds as fit or unfit to fulfill their purpose for wheat.
The parables convey an understanding of the basis for the binary categorization of people at final judgment. God categorizes as righteous, people that show themselves fit to fulfill his purpose for them based on his judgment of their living. In contrast, he categorizes as wicked, people that show themselves unfit to fulfill his purpose for them based on his judgment of their living. Therefore, God’s purpose for a person determines his categorization of the person.
His purpose for a person in a given event defines the person’s individual responsibility for the event. He is pleased with those that show themselves fit to fulfill their individual responsibility and displeased with those that show themselves unfit: based on his judgment of their living. The bible study series will seek to understand the individual responsibility in specific events based on Christ teaching and human-interaction examples from the bible regarding such events.
Basis for Binary Categorization
Christ teaching in the Parable of the Net and Parable of the Weeds conveys a message that God categorizes people as righteous or wicked based on his judgment of their living: as showing themselves fit or unfit to fulfill his purpose for them. As we discuss previously under Righteous or Wicked in Parable of the Weeds, he creates every person righteous and allows each a lifetime to show themselves righteous or wicked.
The Parable of the Net describes the activities of fishermen in processing their catch to separate fish they consider fit for their purpose (i.e., good fish) from fish they consider unfit for their purpose (i.e., bad fish). The fishermen deploy their net to catch all kinds of fish and return the net to shore to separate the bad fish from the good fish. They throw away the bad fish and keep the good fish [Matthew 13:47–48]: “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.”
Good fish is fish that the fishermen judge as fit to fulfill their purpose for fish. All other fish are bad fish, i.e., those that the fishermen judge as unfit to fulfill their purpose for fish. Similarly, in the Parable of the Weeds (see Righteous or Wicked in Parable of the Weeds), the grain farmer keeps as wheat the farm proceeds that they judge as fit to fulfill their purpose for wheat. They condemn all other proceeds as weed, i.e., the farm proceeds that they judge as unfit to fulfill their purpose for wheat.
The two parables convey an understanding of God’s binary categorization of people as righteous or wicked. The righteous are people that God judges as showing themselves fit to fulfill his purpose for them. All others are the wicked: i.e., people that God judges as showing themselves unfit to fulfill his purpose for them. His purpose for a person in a given event defines the person’s individual responsibility in the event.
Lifetime to Choose
As we discuss previously under Righteous or Wicked in Parable of the Weeds, God creates every person righteous, i.e., with righteous attributes and for righteous purpose; and allows them a lifetime to show themselves righteous or wicked. The Parable of the Weeds conveys this message through the fact that the wheat and weeds coexist until harvesters separate them at harvest. Similarly, the Parable of the Net conveys the message through the fact that good fish and bad fish coexist until fishermen separate them at harvest.
Therefore, Christ teaching in the parables conveys a message that the righteous and the wicked coexist, and have a lifetime to choose to remain righteous or turn wicked, until angels separate them at final judgment. Angels recognize the righteous, as fishermen recognize good fish and grain harvesters recognize wheat [Matthew 13:49–50]: “This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Summary of What We Learned
We begin a study series to understand God’s purpose for a person in terms of individual responsibility. In the Parable of the Net and Parable of the Weeds, for example, Christ describes the basis for binary categorization of people as righteous or wicked during final judgment. He describes fishermen categorizing fish as good fish or bad fish based on their judgment of the fish as fit or unfit to fulfill their purpose. Similarly, the grain farmer categorizes farm proceeds as wheat or weed based on their judgment of the proceeds as fit or unfit to fulfill their purpose.
These parables convey a message that God categorizes people as righteous or wicked based on his judgment of their living as showing themselves fit or unfit to fulfill his purpose. God’s purpose for a person defines the individual responsibility.