Church in Montreal

Scripture Reading:  Gen. 1:26-27; Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29; Rev. 21:11

 

I.  “Let  Us  make  man  in  Our  image,  according  to  Our likeness… And God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him”—Gen. 1:26a, 27a

 

II.  Christ’s incarnation and God-man living fulfilled God’s intention in His creation of man—1:26-27; John 1:1, 14; Luke 1:31-32, 35; 2:40, 52

 

III. In His incarnation Christ put on human nature and became in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:6-8) so that through His death and resurrection man may obtain God’s eternal, divine life (1 Pet. 1:3; 1 John 5:11-12) and by that life be transformed and conformed to the image of Christ inwardly (2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29) and transfigured into the likeness of Christ’s glorious body outwardly (Phil. 3:21); in this way we may be the same as Christ (1 John 3:2b) and may express God with Him
to the universe (Eph. 3:21)

Extract from Witness Lee (2013). The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization Study of Genesis, Volume one. Week four. Living Stream Ministry : Anaheim, USA.

Excerpts from the week’s message

God has an eternal purpose to create man to carry out His divine economy for the dispensing of Himself into man (Eph. 3:9-11). God created man in his own image, according to his likeness (Gen. 1:26a). God’s image, referring to God’s inner being, is the expression of the inward essence of God’s attributes, the most prominent of which are:

• Love (1 John 4:8)
• Light (1 John 1:5)
• Holiness (Rev. 4:8)
• Righteousness (Jer. 23:6)

 

God’s likeness, referring to God’s form (Phil. 2:6) is the expression of the essence and nature of God’s person. God created man to be a duplication of Himself so that man may have a capacity to contain God and express Him.

 

In the Bible, there is a mysterious thought concerning the relationship between God and man.

 

But we are all with an unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord Spirit. (1Co 3:18)

 

When the Lord Jesus saved us, he came into us as the one with human virtues, filled with the divine attributes. Such a life saves us from within and uplifts our human virtues, sanctifying and transforming us.

This post is also available in: French