In His Image
Bible Study Time 3-12-06
Church links:
Bible Study Time 3-12-06
Last week we saw that the Lord Jesus is like a tree planted by the river of waters. He is prosperous in all that He does, and He is fruitful. The Lord not only bears good fruit, but He bears it in abundance. He spoke the light into being, and the light was good. He created the heavens and the earth, and the sun, the moon and the stars, and they were good. He made all of the plants and all of the animals, and they were all good.
But when it came to man, the members of the Godhead took counsel together and said:
Genesis 1:26 (NKJ)
26 "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; . . .
Genesis 2:7 (NKJ)
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 being.
Genesis 1:27 (NKJ)
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
According to Colossians, Chapter 1, Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God so that it was in the image of Christ that man was made. Man was made in the image of Christ in every aspect, spiritually, physically, intellectually and emotionally.
However, when Adam and Eve sinned, they lost the image of Christ. Their bodies converted into bodies of flesh which were susceptible to death and were, in fact, doomed to die. Adam and Eve also lost the divine nature which is characterized by love and peace and joy. Instead, they were given over to a fleshly nature which is characterized by greed and selfishness.
This body of corruption with its fleshly nature was passed along from Adam to Cain and Abel, his first two sons. As we all know, when they became adults, Cain became so jealous of Abel that he killed Abel. Cain had refused to bring the sacrifice that God had told them to bring, and when God rejected Cain’s offering but accepted Abel’s offering, Cain went into a jealous rage and killed his own brother, Abel. This whole scenario demonstrates the power of the curse. Cain was full of pride and envy because he had a fleshly nature. Abel’s body was subject to death because it was a body of flesh.
When Adam and Eve were blessed with their third son, the Bible says that Adam begot a son in his own likeness, after his own image, and named him Seth. Again, we see that the children of Adam and Eve did not inherit the image of Christ. Seth was born in the image of his father, Adam.
The Apostle Paul tells us that all men since the time of Adam have been born with Adam’s corrupt image. Romans 5 says:
Romans 5:12 (NKJ)
12 Therefore, . . . through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men . . .
Paul says in Romans 8 that the fleshly mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God, nor indeed can it be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
When Adam and Eve sinned, the Lord Jesus spoke of the day when the Son of God would come into the world as the Seed of the woman to rescue man from Satan, the father of sin, and from corruption, the curse of sin. The Lord spoke to Satan and said that Satan would bruise the heel of the Seed of the woman, while the Seed of the woman would bruise the head of Satan.
Jesus Christ came in a body of flesh as the Seed of the woman. Satan bruised His heel by nailing Him to the cross. This was not a mortal wound, spiritually speaking, because Christ overcame this wound by means of His resurrection from the dead. However, Christ’s resurrection from the dead proved to be a mortal wound to the head of Satan. Since the time of Christ’s resurrection, Satan has known that all of his evil scheming and plotting will come to nothing. His attempts to overthrow the plan and purpose of God will fail. Even today, Satan’s goal is simply to take as many people as possible with him to the lake of fire.
Those of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ can rest assured that our eternal peace and our eternal fellowship with the Father have been made secure by the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It is the resurrection power that sets believers free from the corruption of sin. Paul said in I Corinthians 15 that:
1 Corinthians 15:49-51,53-54 (NKJ)
49 . . . as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
Someday, Christ will appear in the glory of heaven and then, in an instant, believers will appear with Him in glory. He will transform our lowly bodies and fashion them like unto His glorious body. However, even now we are already citizens of heaven, and we have been given the power to overcome the fleshly nature. Paul said in Romans 6:
Romans 6:3-4 (NKJ)
3 . . . do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
To the Corinthians Paul said:
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJ)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Unfortunately though, this is not the whole story. As believers today, we still have a big problem to deal with, and that big problem is our body of flesh. Romans 7 says that the body of flesh is the force behind the old sin nature. Paul says:
Romans 7:22-24 (NKJ)
22 . . . I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
But Paul goes on Chapter 8 to say:
Romans 8:1 (NKJ)
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
The very day that Adam and Eve sinned the curse of sin fell upon the body and the spirit, but now that we have access to the Spirit of God through faith in Christ, we can have victory over the fleshly nature. The Spirit of God is stronger, He’s more powerful than the impulses of the body of flesh. Paul says that those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
How do we walk according to the Spirit? We set out minds on the things of the Spirit. When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he said:
Philippians 4:8-9 (KJV)
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
In Romans 12, we read that we should not be conformed to this world, but we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that we might be able to prove what is the good and acceptable and prefect will of God. We need the renewing of our minds to walk according to the Spirit.
God’s ultimate goal for believers is that we might be conformed, not to the world, but to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. Man lost the image of Christ in the Garden, but now through faith in Christ we have access to His image once again. Romans 8:29 says:
Romans 8:29
29 For whom (God) foreknew, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Even before Adam and Eve sinned, God had already planned for the consequences of sin, He had already planned the remedy for sin, and He knew exactly who would accept His remedy for sin. Whom He foreknew, He did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. His plan provided the way for man to be brought back to the image of Christ.
When Jesus Christ was on the earth, some of the Pharisees came to Jesus and asked if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus with great wisdom took a coin and asked whose image was on the coin. When they replied that it was Caesar’s image, Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and render to God the things that are God’s.”
The question for believers today is, whose image is stamped upon our lives? Is it the image of Christ, or is it the image of the world? Jesus Christ offered His blood upon the cross so that He might deliver us from the condemnation into which we were born. It is His will, and He has determined it to be so, that all who believe in Christ should be conformed to the image of Christ. Colossians 3:8 says:
Colossians 3:8-10
8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of (Christ) . . .
The glorious image of Christ was presented in the Old Testament Law. As the psalmist said, the Law of the Lord is perfect. But man in his sinful state can not behold the glory of that image. His fleshly mind could not comprehend it. When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the Law, his face shone so brightly from being in the presence of the Lord that he had to put a veil over his face. The brightness of his face was so intense that the people could not look upon him.
II Corinthians 3 explains that Moses’ veil represents the inability of the fleshly mind to comprehend the glory of Christ as it is pictured in the Law. The glory of Christ can only be seen through the power of the Spirit of Christ. II Corinthians 3 goes on to say:
II Corinthians 3:16-18 (NKJ)
16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image . . .
If you are listening today and have not put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, then you are still living in a world of corruption. Someday your body will die, and it will never be transformed into the glorious image of Christ. Even now, as you live upon this earth, you will never be able to comprehend the glorious nature of Christ without the Spirit of Christ. But if you accept Christ and believe that He died for your sins, the Spirit of Lord will come to live within your heart. The veil will be lifted, and you will be set free from the bondage of the flesh. The Spirit of God will start the process of transforming you into the image of Christ.
Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning. It’s been pleasure studying with you, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
But when it came to man, the members of the Godhead took counsel together and said:
Genesis 1:26 (NKJ)
26 "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; . . .
Genesis 2:7 (NKJ)
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 being.
Genesis 1:27 (NKJ)
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
According to Colossians, Chapter 1, Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God so that it was in the image of Christ that man was made. Man was made in the image of Christ in every aspect, spiritually, physically, intellectually and emotionally.
However, when Adam and Eve sinned, they lost the image of Christ. Their bodies converted into bodies of flesh which were susceptible to death and were, in fact, doomed to die. Adam and Eve also lost the divine nature which is characterized by love and peace and joy. Instead, they were given over to a fleshly nature which is characterized by greed and selfishness.
This body of corruption with its fleshly nature was passed along from Adam to Cain and Abel, his first two sons. As we all know, when they became adults, Cain became so jealous of Abel that he killed Abel. Cain had refused to bring the sacrifice that God had told them to bring, and when God rejected Cain’s offering but accepted Abel’s offering, Cain went into a jealous rage and killed his own brother, Abel. This whole scenario demonstrates the power of the curse. Cain was full of pride and envy because he had a fleshly nature. Abel’s body was subject to death because it was a body of flesh.
When Adam and Eve were blessed with their third son, the Bible says that Adam begot a son in his own likeness, after his own image, and named him Seth. Again, we see that the children of Adam and Eve did not inherit the image of Christ. Seth was born in the image of his father, Adam.
The Apostle Paul tells us that all men since the time of Adam have been born with Adam’s corrupt image. Romans 5 says:
Romans 5:12 (NKJ)
12 Therefore, . . . through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men . . .
Paul says in Romans 8 that the fleshly mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God, nor indeed can it be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
When Adam and Eve sinned, the Lord Jesus spoke of the day when the Son of God would come into the world as the Seed of the woman to rescue man from Satan, the father of sin, and from corruption, the curse of sin. The Lord spoke to Satan and said that Satan would bruise the heel of the Seed of the woman, while the Seed of the woman would bruise the head of Satan.
Jesus Christ came in a body of flesh as the Seed of the woman. Satan bruised His heel by nailing Him to the cross. This was not a mortal wound, spiritually speaking, because Christ overcame this wound by means of His resurrection from the dead. However, Christ’s resurrection from the dead proved to be a mortal wound to the head of Satan. Since the time of Christ’s resurrection, Satan has known that all of his evil scheming and plotting will come to nothing. His attempts to overthrow the plan and purpose of God will fail. Even today, Satan’s goal is simply to take as many people as possible with him to the lake of fire.
Those of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ can rest assured that our eternal peace and our eternal fellowship with the Father have been made secure by the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It is the resurrection power that sets believers free from the corruption of sin. Paul said in I Corinthians 15 that:
1 Corinthians 15:49-51,53-54 (NKJ)
49 . . . as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
Someday, Christ will appear in the glory of heaven and then, in an instant, believers will appear with Him in glory. He will transform our lowly bodies and fashion them like unto His glorious body. However, even now we are already citizens of heaven, and we have been given the power to overcome the fleshly nature. Paul said in Romans 6:
Romans 6:3-4 (NKJ)
3 . . . do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
To the Corinthians Paul said:
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJ)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Unfortunately though, this is not the whole story. As believers today, we still have a big problem to deal with, and that big problem is our body of flesh. Romans 7 says that the body of flesh is the force behind the old sin nature. Paul says:
Romans 7:22-24 (NKJ)
22 . . . I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
But Paul goes on Chapter 8 to say:
Romans 8:1 (NKJ)
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
The very day that Adam and Eve sinned the curse of sin fell upon the body and the spirit, but now that we have access to the Spirit of God through faith in Christ, we can have victory over the fleshly nature. The Spirit of God is stronger, He’s more powerful than the impulses of the body of flesh. Paul says that those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
How do we walk according to the Spirit? We set out minds on the things of the Spirit. When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he said:
Philippians 4:8-9 (KJV)
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
In Romans 12, we read that we should not be conformed to this world, but we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that we might be able to prove what is the good and acceptable and prefect will of God. We need the renewing of our minds to walk according to the Spirit.
God’s ultimate goal for believers is that we might be conformed, not to the world, but to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. Man lost the image of Christ in the Garden, but now through faith in Christ we have access to His image once again. Romans 8:29 says:
Romans 8:29
29 For whom (God) foreknew, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Even before Adam and Eve sinned, God had already planned for the consequences of sin, He had already planned the remedy for sin, and He knew exactly who would accept His remedy for sin. Whom He foreknew, He did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. His plan provided the way for man to be brought back to the image of Christ.
When Jesus Christ was on the earth, some of the Pharisees came to Jesus and asked if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus with great wisdom took a coin and asked whose image was on the coin. When they replied that it was Caesar’s image, Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and render to God the things that are God’s.”
The question for believers today is, whose image is stamped upon our lives? Is it the image of Christ, or is it the image of the world? Jesus Christ offered His blood upon the cross so that He might deliver us from the condemnation into which we were born. It is His will, and He has determined it to be so, that all who believe in Christ should be conformed to the image of Christ. Colossians 3:8 says:
Colossians 3:8-10
8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of (Christ) . . .
The glorious image of Christ was presented in the Old Testament Law. As the psalmist said, the Law of the Lord is perfect. But man in his sinful state can not behold the glory of that image. His fleshly mind could not comprehend it. When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the Law, his face shone so brightly from being in the presence of the Lord that he had to put a veil over his face. The brightness of his face was so intense that the people could not look upon him.
II Corinthians 3 explains that Moses’ veil represents the inability of the fleshly mind to comprehend the glory of Christ as it is pictured in the Law. The glory of Christ can only be seen through the power of the Spirit of Christ. II Corinthians 3 goes on to say:
II Corinthians 3:16-18 (NKJ)
16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image . . .
If you are listening today and have not put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, then you are still living in a world of corruption. Someday your body will die, and it will never be transformed into the glorious image of Christ. Even now, as you live upon this earth, you will never be able to comprehend the glorious nature of Christ without the Spirit of Christ. But if you accept Christ and believe that He died for your sins, the Spirit of Lord will come to live within your heart. The veil will be lifted, and you will be set free from the bondage of the flesh. The Spirit of God will start the process of transforming you into the image of Christ.
Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning. It’s been pleasure studying with you, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
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