God created man in His image and likeness but the darkness of sin has covered it with so much dust that this image is no longer visible. Our loving God washed and cleansed us with the most precious blood of His Beloved Son to enable us to live in the right way or His way. With that the responsibility to reveal that God-given image and likeness before others was also given to us. But does that fill us with great resolve to tell others about this loving God?
The true meaning of this image and likeness – God first created the heavens and then the angels, that are spirit beings. Since the glory of God’s presence is manifested freely there, all in heaven, till they are in heaven are filled by that to the portion appointed to them and also with its inherent power. With that the angels reflect that power in their worship of God and in their works of obedience. The New Jerusalem of God’s kingdom on earth will reflect heaven in its entirety and there will be ‘no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light’ (Revelation 21:23). In heaven also, the same is the state. On the earth, however, God revealed the glory of His Son, through whom and for Him everything was created, to start the process. The fruit trees and herbs etc were created in the light of His glory to be a blessing to all created beings.
On the fourth day, God created the sun, the moon and the stars to be ‘for signs and seasons, and for days and years’ (Genesis 1:14-16). The glory of God was then breathed into mankind, after He formed man ‘of the dust of the ground’ (Genesis 2:7). In heaven and on earth, there is nothing that has any ruling rights or dominion over anything except as given by God. Since man reflects God’s image over others, from within himself, he was given dominion over all other created things on earth. His rule was only possible till he remained in the glory of God.
Satan, after his effort to elevate himself to be like God, was expelled from heaven to the earth (Ezekiel 28:17). This removed the light of God’s glory from within him and he was made darkness, and he needed light to be effective in the creation. Satan grabbed that from Adam and Eve through his deception and ruled over all. He could grab the glory but not the image and likeness of God which was concealed in Adam and Eve only. After sin entered their lives, Adam and Eve were clothed with ‘tunics of skin’ which covered God’s glory, thus withdrawing their dominion rights also (Genesis 3:21). The effects of that on Adam and Eve were manifest in their new life.
The sinful works of mankind grieved God and ‘He was sorry that He had made man on the earth’ (Genesis 6:5-6). Sin brought with it death and to cause that, disease and sickness, stress and wars, both within and without. The life-span of mankind kept on decreasing after that, for Adam lived for 930 years and Enoch’s son Methuselah lived for 969 years. With continuous degradation of mankind, the life span is 70 or 80 years which is improving after the coming of Lord Jesus (Psalm 90:10). The ill-effects of sin adversely affected all of creation that came into being in the light of the sun but not the trees and herbs for their fruit is still available to all.
We received the glory of God as portioned to mankind and to restore that and the dominion rights, God sent His Son as man, to be born of a woman. Since redemption is through payment of penalty for our sins, the Redeemer had to suffer and die in our place. God is eternal and is not subject to any weakness or death, the Son of God emptied Himself of His godly glory in heaven to pay the price of our sin in His death. As Man, He was filled with the glory that was given to Adam at the time of Creation. Since He was to bring in the process of re-creation of mankind in and through Him, He is called Second Adam. As Man, Lord Jesus was in the form of God, thus revealing to all mankind all about God (. Philippians 2:6-10). However, as Man, He did not take an exalted state on earth, till God the Father exalted Him with a name before whom ‘every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth’.
All those who receive and believe in Lord Jesus’ name are given ‘the right to become children of God’ (John 1:12). Every believer as a child of God is also an ‘heir of God, joint heirs with Christ’ (Romans 8:17). The forces of evil and darkness have lost control over us and we have authority over them in the Name of the Lord. This is the glory of Adam that is restored to us and we live with that in us, though we are being transformed by the indwelling Holy Spirit continually.
Visible effects of God’s glory in our lives – Moses was commanded by God to prepare the Israelites in the wilderness to get ready to be with the LORD God (Exodus 19:9-13). The Sinai Mountain, on which God’s glory was to be manifested, was not even to be touched by anyone, man or beast, with fear of immediate death. They could hear the voice of God but not see Him. In like manner the Tabernacle and finally the Temple of Solomon had a thick curtain, up to 3-5 inches thick, that separated the Most Holy Place from the holy place. Even the High Priest also could enter that area only once a year with the blood of sacrifice to atone for his sins and those of the Israelites ‘committed in ignorance’ (Hebrews 9:7).
Apostle Paul has taught us about the whole process, and that the veil of separation has been removed and we can be in God’s presence directly. Now all of us can see ‘as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord’ (2 Corinthians 3:18). Lord Jesus has perfectly revealed the LORD God in himself ‘for it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell’ (Colossians 1:19). In His Word we see that picture which gets imprinted in our minds, hearts and souls through studying and meditating on the Word of God. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we strive for and are changed, bit by bit, into the same image. The process of this change is initiated by God but started by us through our surrender to His guidance in our broken state. Even a believer is prone to sin but he no longer takes pleasure in that and with feelings of guilt returns in repentance to the Lord.
God commanded Moses to tell the Israelites to ‘make Me a sanctuary (a holy place) that I may dwell within them’ (Exodus 25:8). First, the Tabernacle and then Solomon built the Temple so that God could be amidst them despite their sinful state. In the Most Holy Place the Ark of Covenant contained the Stone Tablets with the Ten Commandments. But the original Tablets that were broken by Moses were also supposed to have been placed in the Ark. For God our whole being, including our brokenness, becomes acceptable once we turn to Him and we start getting changed by Him.
God’s presence in us is manifested in our overall conduct and treatment of others. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is evident in our life as ‘joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’ (Galatians 5:22-24). Apostle Paul further clarifies that ‘those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires’. This is the evident working of the Kingdom of God in us, reflected in our ways. However, it is not a one moment transformation after baptism but a gradual process. The Holy Spirit arriving in us does not automatically remove our sinful nature, which continues all our life.
As a citizen of the Heavenly Kingdom, we must see the world with the Kingdom perspective and not the earthly and live accordingly. Then it is all about putting God first and glorifying Him in everything. The Kingdom of God is about His Divine control over every situation, to work out miracles through His grace in everyday situations. It is in healing the sick (Matthew 12:15); meeting the needs of people, widow’s oil flow (2 Kings 4:3-7) and feeding the five thousand families (Luke 9:16-17). The perception of the Kingdom is different for everyone according to their situation of life; for the young and the old. The indwelling Holy Spirit helps us develop the right attitude for the Kingdom of God life. We start reaching out to others to win them for Christ without fear.
My wife and I were in Srinagar some years back and wanted to present the Holy Bible to two very prominent people there. Despite the warning of our local friends, we went ahead to meet and were received with great love by the Head of the Most Prominent Mosque of Srinagar as well as the leader of the movement. Love for others automatically fills your soul and then the poor and the needy are more visible to be helped. An inner urge takes over leading a person to engage with others to make an impact on their lives. Many, however, get focussed on the Gospel of salvation and do not move forward into the Gospel of God’s Kingdom. The Great Commission is about taking the message of salvation to others.
When the light of the Word is lit in the hearts of others and they are helped to understand their place in God’s Kingdom. It is in such a state that they live the lives that they are supposed to live as children of God. The power to do the works of faith comes from the Kingdom and we reflect the true image of God as manifested in our lives by God.
Manifestation of God’s kingdom in our lives – As our Lord taught us we pray, ‘Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matthew 6:10). The Kingdom is already in us and we seek the manifestation of that in the visible earthly realm also. We must light the lamp of His glory through faith in the Gospel to have more people subject to His Divine rule. Lord Jesus has blessed us that ‘he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do’ (John 14:12). The basic purpose of manifestation of God as Man was to reveal God to us and restore our relationship with Him through forgiveness of sins by His sacrifice on the cross. The healings and other blessings were about the Kingdom of God on earth.
The first work that we do as our Lord, is outreach to others with God’s Word and our testimony. Our behaviour must reflect our faith in line with what Apostle James taught, ‘I will show you my faith by my works’ (James 3:18). Many people meet us daily and how we behave with them reflects the effect of the Holy Spirit’s work in us.
The second is doing good to others –Lord Jesus taught about the good deeds done in faith as having been done to Him directly (Matthew 25:34-36). God in His Oneness contains both the manly traits as we see and also of a woman. He combines both in Himself to love, guide and lead us on the right paths and provides us all possible help to move on that path. Whatever works that we do it is not in our power but in God’s might that we have through the indwelling Holy Spirit. In His prayer to God, the Father, Lord Jesus prayed, ‘And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one’ (John 17:22). He was not born with God’s glory in Him but the glory that was given to Adam at the time of his creation, to live as a human being on earth. This same glory was effective in the power of the Holy Spirit to perform all that He did.
The third is wide outreach – Our Lord was limited by the constraints of His body and He could interact with only a limited number of people. Through the medium of television, internet and other facilities we can reach out to every corner of the earth with our message of the Gospel. We are thus enabled to do greater works.
The fourth, eternal life – Lazarus being raised from the dead received a temporary or a short extension of life on the earth, for he died after a certain time. When we reach out with the Gospel message and as a result a person turns to the Lord in submission, he receives eternal life, never to die again.
Queen Esther intervened to stop the plans of Haman to destroy the Jewish people. Every believer is placed by God in a certain situation and place to bring about change in such times and that place (Esther 4:14). We must develop a vision to prevail over the circumstances and not be affected by these. Apostle Paul has taught about his running the race of his life to save as many as he can and thus be ready to receive the reward from Lord Jesus at the other end. He then declared, ‘I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me’ (Philippians 3:12).
We are not chosen by God on the basis of what we can do for the Lord but on what He can make us achieve for Him. Once Saul (later Apostle Paul) was met by Lord Jesus on his way to Damascus, his life changed. Ananias, a believer, was sent by the Lord to go and anoint Saul but he was afraid (Acts 9:15-16). He was told to go for Saul’s anointing, for he was to be shown by the Lord, ‘how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake’. The Apostle was chosen to suffer for the Gentiles to preach the Gospel message to them. He lived his life as a true reflector of God’s glory in him and could say to all, ‘imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ’ (1 Corinthians 11:1). Invariably we hear, do not follow me but follow the Lord Jesus. How many of us can claim to be living in the light of the Lord and His Word who can claim this in our life?
God became Man to reveal and restore the image of God which must be visible in the life of a believer. All those who believe in and receive the Lord into them as their Saviour, this image of God is fully restored in them. This is then reflected in the changed attitude of a believer, his good deeds and right behaviour with others. This then becomes the testimony of a believer for others to see and turn towards the Lord.
