Female Images of God: A Housekeeeper

God is depicted as a housekeeper who cleans and sweeps through her entire house to find one lost coin.  The lost coin becomes her focus until it is found.

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?  “When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’  “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15: 8-10 (KJV)

Jesus zealously holds onto those given to Him.  These verses are part of the foundation of the doctrine of the Eternal Security of the Believer.  Some describe this as “once saved, always saved.”  The doctrine states that Jesus will not allow anyone who truly belongs to Him to be separated from Him by anyone or anything.

“… Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.” John 18:9 (KJV)

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.” John 10:27-30 (KJV)

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 (KJV)

Why I Sometimes Post Shocking Things on This Blog

Some web pages and sources referenced on this blog may shock you. Some may contain profanity, hostile attitudes, offensive images, and other disturbing elements. As Christians, we need to know about these things.  It is short-sighted to be like the proverbial ostrich and “hide our heads in the sand.” (See the note at the end of this post.)

 

I never edit sources which I quote here because I believe we are all big boys and girls.  Jesus said, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)

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Ostriches do not actually bury their heads in the sand. http://www.ostriches.org/factor.html#head

Other Sheep

There are multiple suggestions floating around as to the identity of the "other sheep" mentioned in John 10:16.

"And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd"John 10:16

1. The other sheep are the Gentiles who will be grafted into the Vine.
2. Some, who deny the exclusivity of Christianity, say that the other sheep are righteous followers of other religions.
3. Reverend Jeremiah Wright of Chicago has implied that the "other sheep" are Muslims.
4. The possibility exists that the reference is to extraterrestrial life forms.
5. The Mormons say that the "other sheep" are the descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel, ie: polynesians, Native Americans, etc,)
6. The Jehovah's Witnesses declare the "other sheep" to be an earthly class of Christians numbering 144,000.
7. Other Sheep is an ecumenical organization which advocates for the inclusion in the Church of LGBT people (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual).

Answer number 1 is the traditional and most likely meaning of the reference.

"Wherefore remember, that ye [being] in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition [between us]; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, [so] making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." Ephesians 2: 11-18.