Images of Jesus

Over the years many people and churches have portrayed images or statues of supposedly Jesus or quite often Mary and Jesus. None of these were or are images of Jesus, God would not allow it per Exodus 20:4. The "Bible makes clear that God has no shape or form, and is utterly incomparable; thus no idol, image, idea, or anything comparable to creation could ever capture God's essence."¹⁶⁰ "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him" (Isaiah 53:2). "Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more" (2 Corinthians 5:16). What's more, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). Besides, which Jesus are these images supposed to represent? The Jesus before resurrection, the Jesus after resurrection but before ascension, or the Jesus who is "set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2)? Even Jesus' close disciples had difficulty recognizing him after resurrection. Mary Magdalene "turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus" (John 20:14); and "when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus" (John 21:4). These images more than likely will be used by Satan to deceive, if it were possible, even the very elect, when the son of perdition is revealed. The Antichrist will probably look very similar to these many images. "The enemy has only images and illusions behind which he hides his true motives. Destroy the image and you will break the enemy."¹⁶¹ Jesus warns us to "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many ... For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" (Matthew 24:4-5, 24).

The only physical thing we have that represents Jesus is the Bible, the written Word of God. If you want to "see" Jesus, study, believe and obey your King James Version of the Bible every day. "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him" (John 14:21). Get rid of all the pictures, impressions, statues, artifacts, shrouds, pendants, trinkets, crucifixes, and so on, and so on, that have absolutely nothing to do with being in Christ. Even the cross itself, used in the majority of Christian churches, and the fish symbol, which supposedly designates a Christian, have pagan origins before Christ and should not be venerated or otherwise given any place of significance.

Some Christians believe that a second link between their religion and the fish symbol is seen in the Greek word for fish (ICHTHUS, spelled: Iota Chi Theta Upsilon Sigma). That is an acrostic which has many translations in English. The most popular appears to be "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior" [Iesous (Jesus) CHristos (Christ) THeou (God) Uiou (Son) Soter (Savior)].¹⁶²

Symbols should never be used to represent God the Father, Jesus Christ, or the Holy Ghost. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth" (Exodus 20:4). "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places" (Numbers 33:51-52).

Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. (Deuteronomy 4:15-19)

One very popular religion, considered Christian by the media, endorses veneration of statues—(Greek idolodulia)—and has images/statues/jewelry of Jesus on the cross—crucifix. Yet, scripture is clear: "Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God" (Leviticus 26:1).

I am not ignorant, indeed, of the assertion, which is now more than threadbare, "that images are the books of the unlearned." So said [Pope] Gregory: a but the Holy Spirit goes a very different decision; and had Gregory got his lesson in this matter in the Spirit's school, he never would have spoken as he did. For when Jeremiah declares that "the stock is a doctrine of vanities," (Jer. 10: 8,) and Habakkuk, "that the molten image" is "a teacher of lies," [(Habakkuk 2:18)] the general doctrine to be inferred certainly is, that every thing respecting God which is learned from images is futile and false. If it is objected that the censure of the prophets is directed against those who perverted images to purposes of impious superstition, I admit it to be so; but I add, (what must be obvious to all,) that the prophets utterly condemn what the Papists hold to be an undoubted axiom, viz., that images are substitutes for books. For they contrast images with the true God, as if the two were of an opposite nature, and never could be made to agree. In the passages which I lately quoted, the conclusion drawn is, that seeing there is one true God whom the Jews worshipped, visible shapes made for the purpose of representing him are false and wicked fictions; and all, therefore, who have recourse to them for knowledge are miserably deceived. In short, were it not true that all such knowledge is fallacious and spurious, the prophets would not condemn it in such general terms. This at least I maintain, that when we teach that all human attempts to give a visible shape to God are vanity and lies, we do nothing more than state verbatim what the prophets taught. ...

The simple reason why those who had the charge of churches resigned the office of teaching to idols was, because they themselves were dumb. Paul declares, that by the true preaching of the gospel Christ is portrayed and in a manner crucified before our eyes, (Gal. 3: 1.) Of what use, then, were the erection in churches of so many crosses of wood and stone, silver and gold, if this doctrine were faithfully and honestly preached, viz., Christ died that he might bear our curse upon the tree, that he might expiate our sins by the sacrifice of his body, wash them in his blood, and, in short, reconcile us to God the Father? From this one doctrine the people would learn more than from a thousand crosses of wood and stone. As for crosses of gold and silver, it may be true that the avaricious give their eyes and minds to them more eagerly than to any heavenly instructor.¹⁶³

"Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing" (Deuteronomy 7:26). The crucifix shows a man hanging on a cross, however, a man hanging on a tree is a curse: "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance" (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). The good news is that "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13). This pseudo-Christian religion focuses more on death than on life (resurrection); that is, Jesus dead on the cross instead of Jesus, risen and seated at the right hand of God.

Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. (1 Corinthians 15:12-20)

This religion, emanating from Rome—the great whore (Revelation 17:1), also ignores that "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6); "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12); "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). And God the Father "is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him" (Luke 20:38). One mediator, however, is not enough for them; they have created other gods (dead "Christians") to whom their members pray: "their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars" (Ezekiel 6:13). Hence, indoctrinating their members into full-scale idolatry and necromancy:

So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; With whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them: But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice. And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods. And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods. But the LORD your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner. So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day. (2 Kings 17:32-41)

They even have their own version of the Bible (with a few extra books), which they use to keep the truth from their members. These members, due largely to ignorance, tend to be superstitious and live in fear and/or guilt. And it is through fear and guilt that these members have committed atrocities in the name of the church (supposedly in the name of God), including murder, and have clear consciences because the church "absolved" them of their crimes. Absolution does not clear their account with the Lord; they still need to repent of their sins. "Who can forgive sins, but God alone" (Luke 5:21)? Only forgiveness from God, not absolution from man, clears the penalty of sin, which is death. "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" (Colossians 2:8). Absolution does, however, close the door to darkness: it cancels the "short-term" consequence of sin, which is more sin and admittance of evil spirits.

The warning from God is clear to the members of this religion. "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead" (Acts 17:29-31). "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities" (Revelation 18:4-5). "For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God" (Deuteronomy 4:24).

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