Oxford Dictionary:
Definition of Cult ~
NOUN
1. A system of religious veneration and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object.
1.1 A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or as imposing excessive control over members.
Origin
Early 17th century (originally denoting homage paid to a divinity): from French culte or Latin cultus ‘worship’, from cult- ‘inhabited, cultivated, worshipped’, from the verb colere.
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This is another word that has been blurred in usage. When someone says ‘cult’, most think of fringe groups. Yet that is the second meaning, not the first.
Language is …. fascinating. And words …. are powerful.
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Bible Study ~
Adam in Hebrew means ‘man’ or the root word ‘red’.
Genesis 1:26, it says : Then God said, “Let us make man[a] in our image, after our likeness.”
US. Not “let Me”, but “…let US make man (adam) in our image.” Plural.
It continues with … “And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Dominion. Like any language, words shift meanings. We think of dominion as ‘master’. Consider it as STEWARDSHIP.
To take care of, to nurture, to be care takers of GOD’s GIFT!
John 4:24: “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
God is Spirit.
Genesis 1:27: So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God created ADAM (meaning ‘man’) in both male and female versions. Both.
God created ‘man’ IN HIS LIKENESS.
God is Spirit. (John 4:24)
Therefore: WE, mankind (both male and female) are created in the likeness of SPIRIT.
Our physical bodies contain within it the likeness of God. The physical features of our physical bodies is irrelevant.
My take on this comes down to a very simple summary: Take care of what has been given to us (stewardship), and don’t put yourself above anyone else, and treat ALL with compassion and Love.
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