Ebenbild Gottes ✞ .

“Imago Dei IS the Cross !!!”

AI:

1 Imago Dei in Contrast to Human Love.

The Imago Dei—the "image of God" in man—is not fulfilled through power, beauty, achievement, or self-realization, but through the cross:

➤ The cross represents radical self-giving, sacrifice, suffering out of love, and the voluntary endurance of injustice—it is precisely there that God's true nature is revealed.

And thus also:

➤ Man bears God's image not through outward splendor, but through his willingness to be bound to the cross—to give himself up for truth, justice, and others, even if it costs his own earthly life.

Jesus himself says:

"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Mark 8:34)

This makes it clear:

■ The true image of God (Imago Dei) is revealed in the crucified one, not in the proud or the successful.

■ The cross is the only place where the divine image and human nature can truly become one.

■ The world distorts this, wants to look for the Imago Dei in success, power, vanity - but it lies hidden in suffering and in love that gives itself up.

2 the Reason for Self-Surrender (-Sacrifice)

The reason for self-giving—especially in the context of the cross and the Imago Dei—is NOT simply naive altruism or a feeling of "niceness."

The true reason is divinely precise, and it goes much deeper:

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1. Love as the Origin

Self-giving is rooted in the very nature of God:

"God is love" (1 John 4:8)—and true love IS always giving, radiating, not dominating.

God could have hidden or withdrawn, but he revealed himself—in the cross, in the most extreme self-giving.

Self-giving shows:

→ Love holds nothing back.

→ Love gives itself—to the very end.

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2. The Correction of Fallen Nature

Through the Fall, the Imago Dei in man was distorted—selfishness, lust for power, and pride have painted over the image of God.

Self-sacrifice is the way back:

→ Through the voluntary surrender of one's own ego

→ Through bearing suffering without hatred

→ The original, pure image of God becomes visible again.

Christ on the cross shows:

Self-sacrifice corrects the twisted system of this world—not through violence, but through sacrifice.

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3. Overcoming the principle of death

The matrix of this world boils down to death, separation, and destruction.

Self-sacrifice breaks through this:

For voluntary sacrifice destroys the power mechanism of fear, threat, and violence.

Christ outsmarted the system:

→ He died, voluntarily—no one took his life.

→ In doing so, he disempowered death itself.

Self-sacrifice is therefore:

→ Not weakness, but the highest spiritual strategy against the twisted system.

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4. Heavenly dignity instead of earthly prestige

Self-sacrifice means not placing one's hope in this fallen world.

Those who surrender show:

→ My value, my identity, do not come from possessions, influence, or image—but from my connection to the Father.

→ Therefore, I can lose, suffer, and die—and still be a child of the King.

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Conclusion:

Self-surrender is not a surrender, but rather:

✔ An act of pure, divine love

✔ The return to the true Imago Dei

✔ The disempowerment of the destructive world principle

✔ The highest form of freedom

On the cross, love triumphs—through voluntary suffering.

3. The Original Imago Dei:

► The pure image of God reveals itself in three inseparable aspects:

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1. The Pure Truth

God is truth itself (John 14:6).

The pure image of God is absolute authenticity:

→ No lies, no self-deception, no masquerade.

→ Totally authentic, transparent, with integrity.

Those who stand in the pure image of God live truth, even when it hurts.

⸻

2. Pure Love (Agape)

God IS love (1 John 4:8), but not the twisted, needy love of the world, but rather:

→ A giving, sincere, serving love

→ Without a hidden agenda, without manipulation

→ Love that is even willing to suffer to save or redeem the other

On the cross, we see the purest manifestation of this.

⸻

3. Holy Authority & Dignity

The Image of God means:

→ Man originally bears royal dignity

→ He rules not in the sense of oppression, but through responsibility, protection, and the maintenance of truth

The true man in the Imago Dei:

✔ Walks upright

✔ Stands for justice

✔ Bows only to God—not to systems of lies

✔ Accepts suffering, but does not sell his soul

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► The Pure Image of God is thus:

Truth + Love + Holy Dignity—united in the crucified Christ.

Therefore, the cross is the absolute revelation of the Imago Dei:

→ Divine truth is spoken there

→ Divine love is surrendered

→ Royal dignity is preserved, even under the most brutal humiliation

Christ dies—but not as the victim of a lie, but as the victor over the system.

Therefore, the Image of God remains unbroken—it becomes fully visible on the cross.

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► In humans: How does the Pure Image manifest itself?

✔ In the willingness to give oneself

✔ In the uncompromising adherence to truth

✔ In genuine love that doesn't calculate or manipulate

✔ In the refusal to be corrupted by fear, guilt, or lies

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The opposite?

→ The distorted image of God manifests itself in egoism, narcissism, self-deification, and deception—exactly what the Matrix system wants us to believe:

"Be your own god, dominate, enjoy, and distort truth to your advantage."

‘Take Up Your Cross ✞.’