God Created Man in His image and Likeness

Trafford Publishing

Contents

Preface...............................................................................................................................................................................xiiiPurpose and Results...................................................................................................................................................................xviiObjective of This Work................................................................................................................................................................xixIntroduction..........................................................................................................................................................................xxi1. Created in God's Image Likeness....................................................................................................................................................12. The Fall from God's Image..........................................................................................................................................................93. The Struggle to Be Fulfilled.......................................................................................................................................................154. God's Living and Fulfilling Love for Man's Dying Disobedience......................................................................................................................215. God Delights in Man While Man Rejects His Love [Jer 9:23-24; Hosea 4:6; John 1:10-13]..............................................................................................316. God Manifests His Loving-Kindness That Is Better Than Life in the Flesh [Ps 63:3; Jer 9:23-24].....................................................................................377. Complete Reconciliation Back to God's Expressed Image [John 14:20; 17:1-25; Rom 8:29; Col 1:15]....................................................................................438. In God's Image and Likeness........................................................................................................................................................499. Why We Are as We Are?..............................................................................................................................................................6310. Created in God's Image and Likeness versus Being Born in Sin and Shaped in Iniquity [Gen 1:26; Ps 51:5]...........................................................................7811. Created in God's Image and Likeness Make Us Perfect for Him [Matt 5:48]...........................................................................................................8612. God Sanctifies Himself in Us That We Will Be Sanctified through the Truth [Ezek 36:23-38; John 14:20; 17:17, 19]..................................................................10913. Highlights of the Bible: Every Highlight Is Managed by a Covenant.................................................................................................................11414. Others Needs Give Opportunities to Fulfill God's Purpose in Our Life..............................................................................................................13015. God's Needs.......................................................................................................................................................................13116. The Work of the Holy Spirit to Conform Us to the Image and Likeness of God [John 16:7-14; Rom 8:29; 12:2; Phil 2:5-11; Col 1:15-16; Heb 1:3]......................................13217. The Word of Reconciliation Gives Us the Ministry of Reconciliation (II Cor 5:17-21) Fulfilling God's Righteousness (Matt 3:15-17) in an Intimate Relationship.....................13518. Adorning Ourselves with Charity God's Character...................................................................................................................................13919. Fleshly Feeling versus Spiritual Truth............................................................................................................................................14220. We Have Born the Earthy Image, Now We Must Bear the Heavenly Image................................................................................................................14421. Enduring Changes to Stay in the Truth That Will Not Change........................................................................................................................14522. How God Puts His Image and Likeness in Man?.......................................................................................................................................14823. Freedom of Choice.................................................................................................................................................................15524. Worshiping God in Love............................................................................................................................................................16025. Invisible and Visible Purpose.....................................................................................................................................................16626. God's Progression from Beginning to the End.......................................................................................................................................16827. God Allowed Lucifer to Be in Heaven as an Angel [Isa 14:12-14]....................................................................................................................17628. Jesus on the Cross at Jerusalem [John 3:14-15; 19:15-37]..........................................................................................................................18329. Flesh Makes the Law Weak but Grace Abound Rom 5:19-21; 8:2-4].....................................................................................................................18630. Fulfilling God's Righteousness....................................................................................................................................................18831. Married to God in the Spirit......................................................................................................................................................19032. Perfection........................................................................................................................................................................19433. Married without God Our Creator and Bridegroom....................................................................................................................................20834. You Must Be Born Again (The New Spiritual Birth) [John 3:3-5].....................................................................................................................21035. Blessing and Loving the Lord Is Giving Him What He Needs..........................................................................................................................21536. Casting down Imagination..........................................................................................................................................................21937. Declaring the Highest God Our Heavenly Father.....................................................................................................................................22038. God's Infinite Love...............................................................................................................................................................22339. Why Rob God When He Wants to Give Us His Kingdom [Luke 12:32]?....................................................................................................................22640. God's Image and Likeness Follows Jesus His Son....................................................................................................................................22841. Offence...........................................................................................................................................................................23042. Jesus' Model Teaching Method to Get God's Children into His Kingdom...............................................................................................................23243. Jesus Fulfills All Righteousness [Matt 3 15-17; 5:6; 6:33; John 16:7-13; Jer 9:22-23; Rom 14:17; II Cor5:17-21]...................................................................24744. The Strongest and Weakest Form of Life............................................................................................................................................25045. We Are in Christ Jesus [John 14:20]...............................................................................................................................................25746. The Four Wills of Life Affecting Our Image and Likeness in God [John 1:11-13].....................................................................................................26147. What Man has to look forward to in being in God's image and likeness..............................................................................................................26348. Conclusion........................................................................................................................................................................26649. Summary...........................................................................................................................................................................269Appendix..............................................................................................................................................................................273

Chapter One

Everyone needs to know that he is created in God's image and likeness in order to be himself in the flesh and do the things that will fulfill God's purpose. He should know this as soon as possible to prevent evil distractions. God's image and likeness is the foundation of our visible natural life. Our spiritual life was created from God's Spirit. It is the highest form of life. Our living soul was made by God's breath giving visible life to our spiritual life. Our fleshly body was conceived, formed, and born of the flesh of our parents into the earth. It is the weakest form of life. Without God's image and likeness, the flesh is too weak to do the things God requires. [John 15:5]. The devil does not want mankind to know that he is created in God's image and likeness because man will always defeat him and fulfill God's will. Some of the things that flesh cannot do because it had fallen from it first love and separated from conforming to God's image and likeness by the deception of the devil are:

1. See the kingdom of God and enter into it [John 3:3-10]

2. Worship God in Spirit and in truth [John 4:23-24]

3. Glorify God in body and Spirit [I Cor. 6:20]

4. Love the Lord with all the heart, soul, and mind, and neighbors as self [Mat. 22:37 40; Rev.2:4-5]

5. Reprove the world of sin, righteousness and judgment [John 16:713]

6. Subject to God's law, live by His Word and please Him [Rom. 7:25; 8:7, 8]

7. Come to Jesus [John 6:44] and Follow Him [Mat. 16:24]

8. Pray to God [Rom 8:26]

9. Flesh cannot be glorified nor can it glorifies God until God glorifies it [John 17:1; Rom. 3:23; I Cor. 1:29]

10. Flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God [I Cor. 15:50]

11. Destroy the works of the devil [I John 3:8]

Considering all the above things the flesh cannot do, it is evidence why we need God's Spirit in the form of His image and likeness to fulfill our purpose for being created. Flesh is the weakest form of life and it can only be fulfilled by doing God's will. Flesh needs help to do God's will. Flesh will not be able to stand against the temptations of the devil without the Spirit's help. That help was given to mankind when God created him in His image and likeness so he could resist the devil. There is nothing recorded in the Word that indicate that satan tempted mankind before he was made a living soul. Satan tried to tempt Jesus as the Son of man although he identifies Jesus as the Son of God. Satan could not tempt Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus instructed the devil that He could not live by bread alone or anything that existed but by every Word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. Jesus is the Word that comes forth from the mouth of God. The Word was made flesh and we saw Him as the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth [John 1: 14]. Just as the Word of God became visible flesh and maintained a perfect relationship with God, man in God's image and likeness was formed and made a living soul that became visible flesh [Gen. 2:7] capable of maintaining a perfect relationship with God. As long as man live by God's Word, he is in a perfect relationship with God. The point to be made is that flesh cannot do what the image and likeness of God can do. Except man recognizes and conforms to His spiritual image and likeness, he will never be fulfilled. It is said in Colossians 3:10, we have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him. This new man is the anointing in the image and likeness of God.

It pleased God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit to make a unilateral covenant to create mankind in their image, likeness, and to be of their kind. That is, God created mankind with His character, virtues, authority, power, knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform as one in His Divine Trinity as He would perform Himself [John 14:12]. His image represents all of His good and perfect thoughts in His mind for us [Jer. 29:11; James 1:17, 18]. His likeness represents all of His virtue which includes the fruit of the Spirit performing in perfect hominy with Him [Gen 1:28; Gal. 5:22-26]. God created both male and female and blessed them and gave them authority over all His creatures on the earth [Gen. 1:26-28]. This is a beautiful picture of God's eternal invisible nature fulfilling His plan in man and thereby fulfilling man's purpose for being created. It is as God made man to be one with Him and do the very things that He would do Himself forever. It is like God is fulfilled when He created mankind and loves mankind with an unconditional love in spite of man's choices that are against His will. He wants mankind to be fulfilled by loving Him with all his heart, soul, mind, and loving his neighbors as himself [Mat. 22:37-40]. Love fulfills God. God wants us to be fulfilled as He. God created us to be fulfilled with what fulfills Him: Love.

Being created in God's image and likeness, we will do at least four essential things: we will love, have faith, will obey, and will worship somebody or something. First, we will love somebody and something because God is love [I John 4:8, 16]. Second, we will have faith in (believe in) someone or something because faith works by love and love and faith produce belief [Gal. 5:6}. A person will have faith in the things he loves. Third, we will obey somebody at all times. Obedience gives us the greatest opportunity to show love and the greatest expression of love. It measures our love and faith in the person or thing that we love and believe in. Fourth, we will worship the person or thing that we love, have faith in, and obey. Jesus said to satan in Matthew 4:10 that we are to worship God and Him only shall we serve. Service is an action that produces work. Work is the result of obeying a command from someone or within oneself. As created in God's image, we will do these essential things because God does them. Jesus is God, and He expressed the greatest love in God the Father, and He believes every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. Jesus said, I did not come to do my will but the will of my Father who sent me. We can see in Matthew 4:10 where Jesus said He must worship the Father and Him only shall he serve.

Of these four virtues, love is the greatest [I Cor. 13:13]. Love gives spiritual quality to obedience, faith, and worship. The love virtue best describes the divine nature of God [I John 4:8, 16]. Therefore, love should describe the image of God in us. Love should determine the priorities in our lives: Love shows us that God is first and greatest among all things [Matt. 6:33; 22:37-40]. Others on the same level as oneself or as Jesus have loved us [Matt. 22:37-40; John 15:12, 13; Heb. 2:8].

Presented in a slightly different way, it is possible to say faith works by love and obedience is the measure of love. True love automatically produces faith and obedience that result in good works. Therefore, the things mankind must let himself do to maintain the spiritual image of God is to love, worship, and glorify God as God created him to do. But without being in the expressed image of God our heavenly Father, mankind cannot truly love, worship, and glorify God as he was created to do. This is so because the essential ingredient (unconditional true love) needed for man to love, worship, and glorify God is not there in its spiritual form [Rom. 3:23; Rev. 2:4]. If true love is not presented, there is false worship and service, and mankind has come short of the glory of God. Yes, mankind will continue to love, worship, and glorify that which he loves in the fleshly image of the flesh of mankind [John 1:12-13]. But will continue to be confused and not fulfilled in his endeavors to love, worship, and glorify things. But when mankind loves, worships, and glorifies God in the way he was created, he will be fulfilled [Matt. 22:37-40, John 4:23-24; I Cor. 6:20], and nothing will be able to stop him from loving, worshiping, and glorifying God our Creator [Rom. 8:35-39]. This is true because when man glorifies God, God glorifies him [John 17:1-5]. God gives all His creatures some glory, and He wants all His creatures to glorify Him [John 17:1-4; I Cor. 11:1-5] with the glory that He has given them. God created mankind in His image so we could glorify Him, and there would be no need for mankind to make an image or idol to represent God in the earth [Exod. 20:1-7]. Mankind himself is God's representation in the earth [Gen. 1:28; Ps. 8:4-8]. Nothing man can make can fulfill God's place in him. Nothing man can make can take the place of God in him because God created man.

A. Blessed

Blessed is to give favor to another person to enable him to freely function to fulfill his purpose or will. God blessed mankind when He created him to fulfill God's purpose for creating him. When man fulfills God's purpose, he is fulfilled himself. God also blessed mankind so that he can bless others. Blessing a person shows the value placed on that person's life by the one who blesses him. God showed mankind the value that He placed on him when He blessed him. But God wants mankind to bless Him also according to Psalm 103:1: "Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name." God said to Abraham in Genesis 15:7, "I will bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing." After being blessed by God, both Abraham and David desired to bless God and others. So whatever God does to us, He wants us to do to Him and others [Matt. 7:12]. Whosoever God has a relationship with, He wants him to have a relationship with Him. God only has perfect fulfilling relationship with mankind: He being our God and Father and we His children [Rev. 21:7].

B. Spiritual Fruitful Life

The "be fruitful" command in Genesis 1:28 is to demonstrate the spiritual quality of life. This command is further explained in Galatians 5:22-23. It speaks of the quality of life more than its quantity. It is God's quality control aspect of His creation to make sure that everything that comes forth is equipped with the virtues that proceed from Him. Thereby making sure His creatures can do what He commands done at the quality level He will accept for Himself and one another. It is to be noted that there is no law against the "be fruitful" command. It means God does not have to give us a law if we "be spiritually fruitful." A law is given to make a person do what is best for him but he does not want to do it. The "be fruitful" command is more like an instructional command that is given to show a person how to do that which is best for him but he does not know how to do it. The blessing of God enables man to be fruitful before he multiplies that which does not please God [Rom. 8:8]. If something does not please God, it condemns itself to be destroyed [I Cor. 3:16-17; I John 3:19]. Man has not multiplied that which brings unconditional and eternal glory to God. Man has basically multiplied his flesh in which dwells no good thing [Rom. 7:18]. Nor can the flesh please God [Rom. 8:8] because it will not make itself subject to God's law [Rom. 8:7]. If the flesh cannot please God, it cannot multiply that which bears God's kind. Neither can it replenish that which pleases God. Nor can the flesh subdue that which is not pleasing to God because flesh is not pleasing God. But the flesh has multiplied that which has the potential of pleasing God being created in His spirit before being formed from the dust of the ground. Although the flesh has not multiplied, replenished, and subdued to God's kind, it has multiplied, replenished, and subdued its own kind and over its own kind it has dominion with great trouble [Matt. 24:4-15; John 14:1; 16:33]. But God's quality that is without question will subdue man's quantity with all its troubles [John 114:1].

C. Having Dominion

God instructed man to have dominion over all the things of the earth that He had created. Dominion is the results of being blessed by God, being spiritually fruitful for God, multiplying God's kind, replenishing with God's kind, subduing to conform to God's kind, and keeping all His creatures under God's authority for His glory. Having dominion over the earth is maintaining the earth as God wants it to be kept with all the creatures and things of the earth. That is, encourage a man to be God's man, a woman to be God's woman, and animal to be animals as God created them to be. And last, making sure the earth keeps its life-giving substances to sustain life on earth as long as God is pleased. In other words, having dominion is pleasing God our Creator with His creation. The only way to have dominion is to stand with all of God's creatures in the image of God and in His likeness bearing His kind to the world that we live in. Man cannot have dominion for God without being in God's image and likeness [Heb. 1:3]. Only our Creator knows how He wants us to have dominion. We His creatures only know, be, and do what our Creator wants when we conform to His image and likeness.

To have dominion over the earth means to have dominion over our fleshly bodies that are formed from the dust of the ground of the earth. In Genesis 1:28, God tells us to have dominion over all the things of the earth. In Matthew 6:10, Jesus tells us to pray and ask God for His will to be done in earth as it is in heaven. In earth can mean of the earth or in the fleshly formed from the dust of the ground of the earth [Gen. 2:7]. Therefore, we can best have dominion over the physical earth when we have dominion over our fleshly earthy bodies in God's image and likeness. If we do not have dominion over our fleshly earthy bodies, we will not have dominion over the physical earth in a way that is pleasing to God [Rom. 8:8]. Our flesh is earthy [I Cor. 15:49]. Our spirit is heavenly. We have borne the image of the earthy; we must also bear the image of the heavenly. Every child that ever lived, is living, and will live by the will of God needs to know that he was created in the image and likeness of God to fulfill God righteous will. B y fulfilling God's righteous will, he is also fulfilled and justifies living with God in Jesus Christ forever. All parents need to teach this to their children [Deut. 6; 4-25]. This is done because we love God and God makes it be for our righteousness as we observe to perform it daily.

Our flesh acts as if it does not know that God has created mankind in His image and likeness and formed him from the dust of the ground. It acts as if it does not know that God breathed into its nostrils the breath of life and it became a living soul. Our flesh acts as if it is its own god and never has sinned. Therefore, it acts as if Jesus has not come to earth (us), lived a perfect life before the Father and us. Suffered for men by men to whom He came to give eternal life. He died to give life to men who crucified Him. Flesh acts as if Jesus did not die on the cross, rose from the dead, ascended on high, and is at the right hand of God His Father and continues to intercede for us to be children of His Father. Jesus had dominion over His flesh by letting it be crucified to fulfill the will of His Father [John 10:18]. Therefore, we must let our flesh be denied in order to have dominion over the earth for God's eternal glory. Our flesh does not recognize God as our Creator, Jesus as our Savior and Lord, and the Holy Ghost as our Comforter, Teacher, Counselor, and Leader. Therefore, our flesh acts as if it is his god knowing what is best for it. But our flesh feels the pains of death daily and doesn't know how to be delivered because it refuses to believe in God's Son. It refuses to repent and be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The flesh is earthy and acts as if it hates eternal spiritual things. The Spirit is heavenly and love eternal and temporal things as God created us to love. In recognizing The Spirit of God, our life is worth more than our flesh. Our life in the flesh is God's visible image in the world bearing witness of His greatness. This leads us to think that the earth and the flesh of the earth are under God's control with freedom of choice. Man's freedom of choice does not choose to be under God's control. But God is in control of all the things that are out of control. For example, God controls man's choices by His consequences. God's consequences resulting from man's choices are better for man than his choices. God's consequences are designed to let man know the truth and choose based on the truth. When man chooses based on the truth, God will allow him to have dominion of the earth because he has dominion over his flesh by choosing what pleases his Creator. Man can only have dominion when he submits to God dominion.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from God Created Man in His image and Likenessby Oried E. Graves Copyright © 2012 by Oried E. Graves. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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