Can submission be understood using the image of God? Yes, submission is about order and harmony, which fits our view of the image of God. As you may remember, we refer to God’s image as reflecting two elements, like separate and belonging, or powerful and relational.
God is far more immense than any words we have, but “powerful” and “relational” are two words that efficiently summarize most of the attributes scholars use to describe God.
When you apply the image of God to what you study in the Bible, you gain new insight into that area of study. That is what I have seen. As you study submission, two approaches tend to show up. One is authority and submission, and the other is mutual submission.
Two Sides of Submission
Think about this. Authority and submission—what is that? That might be obvious – it is the Powerful aspect of the image of God.
Mutual submission is the Relational aspect of the image of God.
Submission is a word about how people relate, but all relationships have a powerful relational element. Submission is about order and harmony. The authority-and-submission approach is about ORDER in the relationship. On the other hand, the mutual submission approach provides the HARMONY in the relationship.
You reduce chaos in the relationship when you have order, and you reduce the flashing “me” in a relationship when you have harmony. Order is an impersonal structure, and harmony is a personal structure.
Two Often Submission is One-sided
The challenge with discussing submission is that people often focus on only one side. Mostly, people want to talk about mutual submission. They only want to talk about how we are supposed to submit to one another mutually, in fear of God.
I am definitely for that, but submission is about order and harmony. So, please do not ignore the power, order, or authority and submission issue. That is equally important. Both need to be considered, as Christians are to submit to authority and bear others’ burdens voluntarily. When you do it that way, with order and harmony, you practice submission in a way that fits the image of God.
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0065TV, harmony in relationships, image of God in submission, mutual submission, order and harmony, order for relationships