Given Over vs. Given Up

Ephesians 5:1-2 (NASB) says:

"Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma."

I may be making a major point out of a minor detail but I want to suggest that there is a difference being stated here by the simple use of the word "up".  Paul, writing as an inspired apostle could have stated that Jesus gave Himself "over" for us.  This might have implied that He gave Himself over to the authorities who would charge and kill Him.  It could have meant that He gave Himself over to God's desires for Him.

However, he stated that Christ "gave Himself up for us".  The use of the word "up" in my mind seems to insist that the cross is in mind here.  Jesus was raised up to be crucified.  Therefore, this giving up, although very similar to giving over, seems to point to the cross and His ultimate sacrifice and form of love toward us.

Why is this important?  Is there a difference?  I just wonder this morning if I have given myself "over" to Christ or "up" to Him.  Giving over is like a transfer of ownership.  I give over my title to my car when someone else buys it from me or my deed to the house when such a transaction has occurred.  This is certainly true Spiritually as well.  As a follower of Christ I am called to give over to God my rights and my "ownership".  I give it back to God, the Creator, to whom it rightfully belongs.

Yet, somehow I feel as if I haven't always given "up".  Giving up is surrendering.  Giving up is ceasing to strive against.  It's a complete surrender.  I think of giving up as like a soldier throwing up the white flag and then walking out into the open holding it meekly.  The enemy can do with him as they please - be it to end his life or to have mercy on him.

Giving up is allowing yourself to be overtaken, subdued, conquered.  Sometimes, I feel as in life I have given over a lot of things to God but given up relatively few.  I have "given over" my music habits, t.v. habits, reading habits, etc.  But how often have I given them up?  What sacrifices have I made?  When I became a Christian did I simply choose to live a different life or to truly end my previous one and start a new one?  If the second choice is correct, shouldn't my new choices involve quite a bit more of "giving up" rather than "giving over"?

I'm not sure.  There's a difference but a subtle one.  While I don't want to make too much of a minor point I simply wonder if it is minor.  Jesus gave Himself "over" for me but more importantly He gave Himself "up" for me.

I guess I just want to make sure that I do the same.

Joshua

Exploring the Image of God

In Genesis 1:26, Scripture records an intimate conversation between members of the Trinity prior to Creation, when it states "Let us make man in our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."  Within this simple statement, God states that man was created in His own image.  Mankind is created in His "likeness" and as a representation of Himself.  This has significant implications for our understanding of our own importance.

Much could be said regarding the differences between human beings and animals.  However, each difference can best be summed up by recognizing the fact that animals were not made in God's image but human beings were.  This important distinction sets mankind apart from and above all of that which had been created on the earth.  Man was made with an image of God.  He was created with a consciousness and as a moral being.  He was also created to rule over the rest of creation.  Abilities to think, process information, make moral decisions, and to rule are all apart of what it means to have been made in the image of God.

However, what fascinates me most this morning is an aspect of being made in the image of God that I can most relate to personally.  When my two children were born, I immediately fell in love with them.  They were amazing.  They had little features and made little noises and were "little people".  I could not believe that God had created such an incredible little baby through my wife and I.  However, as they grew, I began to notice that they looked more and more like me.  They had little characteristics within their facial and body features which were just like me.  Having been made in my image, I had a special connection to them and a special love for them.

The same must be true for God.  When He looks at each one of us, He ultimately sees a part of Himself.  He sees an image of Himself.  Like a parent, He desires to love and to spend time with His children.  Unfortunately, sin has marred His image and removed much of His own image within us.  Therefore, God gives to us Himself in the form of Jesus.  Jesus is born of a virgin but also in the image of God as well.  Refraining from sin throughout His life, He is forced to become sin in order to die.  His death enables life through Himself and ultimately brings restoration of the image of our Creator that had been given to us at birth.

Therefore, we need to recognize that what brings God glory is the restoration of His own image.  He gives us not only His Son but also His Spirit to "sanctify" us, making us holy, and to ensure that we will be restored completely into the image of the One in whom we were first created.  Scripture opened with Creation's perfection (Gen 1-2) and it ends with the restoration of God's Creation (Rev 21-22).  However, in the middle includes God's plan of salvation and a restoration of His image within us.

When we meditate on this truth, we come to the realization that mankind is important because of the image of God within us.  People are important because of their direct likeness to the Creator.  We need to view them through God's own eyes and to see them with the same love that a father looks at his newborn son.  Jesus enables us to see this love in the ultimate expression of it.  Through Him, we see the extent to which God was willing to go to restore His own image, to bring salvation for all who believe, and to bring glory to Himself. 

As we grow in our understanding of what it means to have been made in the image of God we will naturally desire to see others properly restored to God because we will recognize that they, too, are made in His image.

Joshua