Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” [27] So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:26-27 NKJV
Before God made man, He had a completed picture in mind.He therefore set out to make man based on this picture. God revealed this vision in snippets through out the bible, which is summarized in Genesis 1:26-27. Who is the vision? The vision is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. God has in mind to produce divine persons. These persons will have the same possession of the full image of Christ. Image is for character, so this persons must have characters that are exactly like Jesus. Also Jesus is the full likeness of the Lord God. We cannot be in His full likeness. However, God made it so that so that each of us will have different expressions of the likeness of God. However, all will have the same beauty of Christ. This is intent of God is seen in 1 Corinthians 15:23-24. Romans 8:26 says all creation await the manifestation of the Sons of God. This means all creation will see Jesus in these divine persons that God is raising. Creation shall see their God in His people.
If the vision is Christ and what God is doing is to raise us into the divine realm of persons with Christ’s Character and How does He do this? No one can produce Christ outside of Christ. So the vision is worked out by Christ. Christ is the one who works out Christ in us as seen in Hebrews 2:5-16. He does this by giving us the whole of Himself to redeem, man. He gave us His Word and also His power by the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. Christ is the worker and also the result of the work. He is the instrumental one needed to raise up many like Him. Philippians 2:13 shows that it is God who works in us to do His will. Another question we may ask is, who are the beneficiaries of this vision God has in mind? God set out to multiply Himself in man all through the earth and He is the main beneficiary of the work, because we are His inheritance as Ephesians 1:18-19 says. Man, however, is the secondary beneficiary. In Genesis 1:26, God created man. Genesis 1:27-28 shows that God involved man, although He begun the process of creating in the verse above. He wants the secondary beneficiary, which is man, to grow and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Christ is the builder. Christ is the building, the mansion and the house.
The church is involved in the construction work also, but we must understand that we build together with Him and we are built by Him. Whoever will build with Him must be yielded to Him, so that He can take over the person and can work in the person. God showed us Christ that we man see His intention for creating man. However, our duty is to yield in obedience that He may create this same picture in us. Trying to be like Christ without His help is like building on sand, which Matthew 7:24-27 shows will be destroyed. Only the work done by Christ will last forever. Our responsibility is to yield to Him so that He might work His work through us.
Though God has been set to create in Man, Christ, He has been met with detours since the time of Adam. The major challenge is when there is a disconnect from the vision, whether it is in a man’s life or the life of the church. A concrete loss of the vision or when there is a willful ignorance of God’s word creates a major detour from God’s purpose. This always starts with a loss of moral excellence and then a loss of vital fellowship with God and then blindness to Spiritual realities and truths. This is the common progression with a man who has veered off the true path in Christ. However, because the Work is the Lord’s idea from the beginning, He always makes moves to reclaim His creation. God begins to awaken some, quicken them, instruct them and as they respond, he leads them out of the congregation that has made a detour from the path of life. He sends again His Word to them. In tomorrows meditation, we will explore in more details, God’s response to detours in His vision. Yet, it is important to note that God’s intent for you when you were created is that You will be Christ. That is your finished picture. Beloved, as His word comes to it, hold on to is and run with it. In it contains the power to transform your mortal tent (body) to one clothed with Glory and light.
Prayer for today: Father of glory, I pray today that you may give to me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You, that the eyes of my understanding may be enlightened; that I may know what is the hope of Your calling, what are the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in me, Your saint, and what is the exceeding greatness of Your power toward me who believes, according to the working of Your mighty power displayed in the resurrection and glorification of Jesus. Amen
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