The Image of God
Man was created in the image of God,
but some have taken that truth and twisted it to teach that God has the image
of man! That is a lie!
Gen
1:26 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." (NKJV)
It is evident that God created man
in His image (Heb ṣelem-צֶלֶם)!
God created man according to His
“likeness” (Heb deműt-דְּמוּת).
If you properly define the Hebrew
word translated “image” you will find that it does NOT indicate an exact
duplicate!
“Image” refers to a phantom image,
and illusion or a resemblance. Man was
created to resemble God! We were never
meant to be identical to God!
The Hebrew word translated
“likeness” also expresses the thought of a resemblance or similitude and not an
exact duplicate!
Some will incorrectly advise you
that to see God, just look into a mirror.
That opinion is based in absolute ignorance!
If man was created in the image of
God, what did man look like?
If man was created in the image and
similitude of God, he was created as spirit!
John
4:24 “God is
Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
(NKJV)
God is Spirit!
When we were created, we were
created as a spirit…but not the Spirit! We were created as an inferior spirit!
So, how did we get to where we are
now in a physical body?
Gen
3:21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and
clothed them. (NKJV)
Prior
to driving man out of Eden, God clothes him with skin!
Following
the clothing of man, Adam and his wife were driven out of the garden. It was
after the departure from the garden that Adam “knew” his wife!
Gen
3:24 So He drove out the man; and He
placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which
turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (NKJV)
Man
will never again enter the Garden of Eden.
Instead, mankind has become God’s garden and he is now our Farmer!
When
first created man appeared like God!
Afterward, unlike God, man had a covering of skin.
Many
supposed Christians cannot
accept a Christ who is not made in their personal image!
The
fact is that in the creation, man was indeed given “dominion” (Heb rādâ-רָדָה)
over the things of earth!
That
“dominion” was not, as some incorrectly teach,
ownership or even a lease.
The
dominion given to Adam was the ability to manage the animals, flocks and fish.
Management
is something that supposed teachers simply do not understand!
The
manager of a J.C. Penny store may do many things within the confines of that
store…except sell the store!
We
need to understand that following that apparent takeover by Satan God told us
that all creation is His!
Psalms
50:10-11
10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the
cattle upon a thousand hills.
11 I
know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are
mine.
Even every person belongs to God to do with as He wills!
Ezek
18:4a Behold,
all souls are mine;
Satan has never been in control of
all the earth!
Earth was never man’s to give away!
Those verses from the Psalms and from Ezekiel were written
after the fall of man and prior to the crucifixion of Christ Jesus.
Satan operates and has always operated by means of
authority! He has never possessed intrinsic power!
In My commentary on Revelation, I said that Revelation
travels in circles, and so it does. But,
the fact is that God’s plan for the ages also travels in a circle!
Let me show you the consequence of God’s plan, the
conclusion!
1 Cor
15:28 And when
all things shall be subdued unto him,
then shall the Son also himself be
subject unto him that put all
things under him, that God may be all in
all.
In the final act, Christ Jesus, the Son shall bow to the
Father so that God the Father may be…may again be ALL
in ALL!
Now you may be thinking that such would be a new thing!
However, do you know the first four words of the Bible?
“In the beginning God”!
God was ALL there was in the beginning, and He shall be that
again when the circle of the ages is complete!
God shall be ALL in ALL!
When we properly understand the Bible, things start to fall
into place without the twisting the Scripture!
Have you noticed that man has twisted Scripture to make man
a triune being; body, soul, and spirit?
That teaching is based on;
1 Thess 5:23
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole
spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the
dividing asunder of soul and spirit,
and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart.
In teaching that man is body, soul,
and spirit, many have forgotten the origin or meaning of the soul!
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
You do not have a soul, instead you
are a soul!
You were formed as a spirit similar
to God, but not identical!
Your spirit was clothed in a body!
And, you became a living soul!
At death comes the spirit leaves the
body, and the souls of those in conflict with Christ you cease being!
Those who have been sealed with the
Holy Spirit continue to live in the presence of God!
Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the
altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of
God, and for the testimony which they held:
The wages of sin is (singular)
death, but the gift of God in Christ Jesus is life!
Romans
6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In the resurrection, we do not
become what we once were. Instead, we
become as Christ was in His resurrection, minus the power to create!
In order to shed blood, Christ Jesus
became clothed in the body of a man! Without that body He could not have shed
the blood that confirmed the New Covenant!
Christians are a covenant people in
the sense that we are the result of a covenant between the Father and the Son!
Psalms 2:8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen (Heb
goyim-Gentiles) for thine inheritance, and the
uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
On the cross Christ Jesus looked down at both Jews and
Gentiles gathered around Him and asked the Father to forgive them, because they
did not know what they were doing (Luke 23:34)!
You were created in the image of
God, but we are unaware for what we shall actually become in the consummation
of the ages!
There are many theories about the
outcome of infinite grace, but the reality has never entered into our minds!
1 Cor 2:9 But as it
is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him.