I don't know that big cross, with Jesus nailed to at the front of the Church not far from here, and many other strikes me as an Icon.
That's a Graven Image. Jesus is God. You do not make an image of God for that is forbodden.
Much different than decorations in the Temple. Nobody bowed, kissed, or prayed at the decorations feet.
Also, the whole "bowing" thing. It's not bowing it's genuflecting much different than bowing. Genuflecting for those who do not know is bending the knee to the floor or ground in worship.
No images of God are to be made, because the people of God saw no form of God on mount Horeb. But despite this, even in the Old Testament, religious objects and statues could be made as long as they were not known to represent God himself:Numbers 21:
8 And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live."
9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
In fact, it was even acceptable to venerate religious objects by bowing towards them:Leviticus 19:30 You shall venerate my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
Psalm 138:2 I bow down toward thy holy temple...
It was also acceptable to make self-expression with religious objects, such as the Jordan altar (Joshua 22:9-34), or a procession:2Samuel 6:
11 And the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months; and the LORD blessed Obededom and all his household.
12 And it was told King David, "The LORD has blessed the household of Obededom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom to the city of David with rejoicing;
13 and when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
14 And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod [religious garb].
15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the horn.
And so while some objects and acts were governed strictly, such as the priestly liturgical censers (Leviticus 10:1-10), freedom was given regarding other religious objects and acts. Even so, the first point must be repeated: Scripture forbade the making or bowing to images of God Himself because God's people had not seen His form (Deuteronomy 4:15-16).
But the incarnation of Jesus Christ changed that circumstance. As is written:
John 14:
7 "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him."
8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied."
9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, `Show us the Father'?
So in the person of Jesus we have now seen God's form, which therefore removes the reason for prohibiting images of God (Deuteronomy 4:15-16). And it is written "a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness" (Hebrews 7:15). Thus now the measure of idolatry is not by externals (Luke 11:37-41), by merely having or not having images of God, but instead the measure comes from the heart (Matthew 15:10-20, 1Tim 1:5). This is the law of Christ (1st Cor 9:21, Gal 6:2), setting us free from legalism (Romans 7:6), as it is written:Romans 13:
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
9 The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Col 2:
13 And you, who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14 having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross. (cf. Galatiosn 4:21-31)
Indeed, with the incarnation of Jesus ushering in this new dispensation, Jesus at last revealed the Old Testament bronze serpent (Numbers 21:8-9) to have been actually an image of Himself all along, though the Old Testament people were not before permitted to know it. As it is written:John 3: 13 No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.
14 And as Moses lifted up the [bronze] serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up,
15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."
Thus, with the heart being the standard, some people having not a single statue or image in their house might still have hearts full of idolatry and corruption. However a neighbor could have statues of Jesus in every room, and yet still not have the least bit of idolatry in his heart or home.
Indeed just as "kisses" are willfully made holy (Romans 16:16) through our shared priesthood (1st Peter 2:9), likewise images lovingly made and acknowledged to be of God are also "set apart" and made holy by definition. And since God is omnipresent, He is thus also present in these holy images. Thus bowing towards a holy image mimicks the veneration of the temple, which itself epitomized God's presence and was also bowed towards (Psalm 138:2, Leviticus 19:30).
Competent ministers permit or teach this spirit filled understanding, rather than demanding an undiscerning legalistic interpretation of Scripture to call down judgment upon Christians who venerate holy images (2nd Corinthians 3:6). Indeed, only if someone's heart is dangerously tempted with idolatry will a minister then discipline the "externals" (Acts 10:25-26, Revelation 19:10). And it is only when the glory of God is outright "exchanged" for images do these images finally become idols (Romans 1:23).
To be sure, the apostles did not command religious images or objects to be gathered or venerated. However, they did teach "do not quench the spirit" (1Thessalonians 5:19) and then simply watched on as the saints by themselves discovered the piety of religious images or objects - such as the miracles in relics recorded here in Scripture: Acts 19:
11 And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,
12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.
