God Said, Let Us Make Man in Our Image
“God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26a). Created man had both the image and the likeness of God. Image is inward, referring to God’s attributes, such as love, light, grace, and compassion. Likeness is the outward, visible appearance.
God created man according to Himself so that man could receive God as life and, by living this life, express God. The ultimate realization of this goal is New Jerusalem, the city “having the glory of God” (Rev. 21:11).
God is not waiting for New Jerusalem to be expressed through man. And we should not wait. Ephesians 3:10 tells us that “now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies the multifarious wisdom of God might be made known through the church.” Verse 11 says this is according to God’s eternal purpose.
An example of this expression of God is in 2 Corinthians 2:14-15, “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in the Christ and manifests the savor of the knowledge of Him through us in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God in those who are being saved and in those who are perishing.”
It is not by our effort that we express God but it is by our cooperation with God who operates in us. May we, like Paul and his companions, manifest something of God as a fragrance to all around us. New Jerusalem will be the eternal development of fragrance of God.
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com
Posted by Don on November 24, 2021
