The burden of this bible study is to gain an understanding of the foundation (the core principles) of the vision that God has called us to obtain and how we are to journey into it. Key scriptures include: Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 1:2, Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 22:16-18, Isaiah 28:16, Matthew 16:18, 1 Corinthians 3:11,Titus 1:2-3, Hebrews 6:12-18, Matthew 5,6,7. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we would go through these (and more) systematically by considering questions derived from the points mentioned in these scriptures.
- In Genesis 1:26-28: What did God mean when He said: “… Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”? First of all, it is important to note that this is a statement of purpose. That is, a declaration of intent. God is saying what He wants to accomplish, and God being who He is, we know that He will surely accomplish it. But what God means by “… make man in our image, after our likeness” becomes clearer when we first of all understand what “our image” and “our likeness” means.
- What did God mean by “our image” and “our likeness”? Ephesians 3:9 states the same thing in another way. It calls it: the fellowship of the mystery. In other words, whereas in Genesis 1:26-28 it is spoken of as [making man in “our” image and “our” likeness], in Ephesians 3:9 it is spoken of as [making men to see what is the fellowship of the mystery]. “Making men to see what is the fellowship of the mystery” means to bring men into the experience of what it means to be part of the fellowship of the mystery. 1 John 1:3 says “… truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ”. This is the mysterious fellowship. Meaning, “… Let us make man in our image, after our likeness …” indicates that there is a mystery behind the “our” and God is saying that man should be made after the pattern of that mystery.
- What is the mystery in the “our”? It is the manner of fellowship that Jesus spoke of many times when He was on earth. A manner of fellowship that defines His existence (which is a pattern for the existence of those who would be manifest as the sons of God). John 14:9-10. John 17:11-23. In John 14:9-10, Jesus said “… he that has seen Me has seen the Father … I am in the Father, and the Father in me …”. In John 17:11-23, Jesus said: “…that they be one, as we are … as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us … that they may be one, even as we are”. The mystery in the “our” is the oneness (the fellowship) between the Father and the Son, and Jesus in John 17 is praying that we indeed be made part of that fellowship of oneness. What Jesus said in John 17:21, “… as Thou, Father, art in Me …”, and John 17:23, “… Thou in Me …” is the same thing that is said in Colossians 1:19, “For it please the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell”, and Colossians 2:9 “For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily”. And it is because of this mysterious fellowship (where the Father is in Him and He is in the Father) that Colossians 1:15 can refer to Jesus as “… the image of the invisible God …” and Hebrews 1:3 can refer to Him as: the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of God’s person. This is the pattern of the fellowship of mystery that everyone who would be referred to as a son of God must conform to. Romans 8:29. So in Genesis 1:26, God is saying: let us make man to be such that [as I, the Father, are in You, My Son] so also we would be in man. And Jesus echoed this in John 14:23 – “… If a man love Me, he will keep my words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him”.
- What is the result of being part of the fellowship of the mystery? It is manifesting as a son of God who is conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (the Son of God). Romans 8:19,29. What does it mean to conform to the image of the Son of God? It means be as He is. That is, just as He is like a glorious paradox to comprehend where on surface level it is unclear whether He (Jesus) is God acting out a role or if He is a separate being that is equal with God, etc, so also those who conform to His image as sons of God would be a glorious paradox where on surface level some people may say that they are actually God acting out different roles, while some may say they are different beings who are gods, etc. And this would be because, as Jesus pioneered the lifestyle of total and perpetual yieldedness to the Father (like He often said: “… not my will, but Thine, be done”, Luke 22:42), so also those who would conform to His image would follow that pattern of existence where they are totally and perpetually yielded to the Father, so that all that can be seen through them is Him. That is the fellowship! As Hebrews 1:3 puts it, [the result of being part of the fellowship of the mystery] is becoming a brightness of God’s glory and an express image of His person. In other words, whereas Jesus is THE brightness of God’s glory and THE express image of God’s person (that is, He is 100% of the Father’s glory), each of us who become part of the fellowship of the mystery would become A brightness of God’s glory and AN express image of God’s person (that is, each of us are portions only becoming 100% when we are summed together). Ephesians 1:23. Selah! Being a brightness of His glory involves expressing His power and divine abilities. Being an express image of His person involves expressing His character. All who are in His fellowship are an expression of His glory and person.
- In Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 22:16-18 and Genesis 26:1-4: What did God mean when He said: “… I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand upon the sea shore …? Beyond the fact that “stars of heaven” and “sand upon the sea shore” speak of a multitude (that is, the Seed would be multiplied to be many), 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 gives a clue. What does verse 40 mean by “the glory of the celestial” and “the glory of the terrestrial”? Celestial refers to things in heaven while terrestrial refers to things on earth. Stars of heaven are celestial, while sand upon the sea shore are terrestrial. So what did God mean by “… I will multiply Thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand upon the sea shore …”? Galatians 3:13-29. Christ is the seed. Meaning, “… I will multiply Thy seed …” means: I will multiply Christ. How is Christ multiplied? John 6:44. Christ is multiplied as God brings us to Him by enabling us to believe in Him (Galatians 3:26). So what does it mean that Christ will be multiplied to be as the stars of heaven and as the sand of the seashore? It means that among those who believe in Christ (and thereby become children of God), some would be celestial like the stars of heaven and some would be terrestrial like the sand upon the sea shore. What would determine if a person would be among the portion of the seed that are stars of heaven (celestial) or sand upon the sea shore (terrestrial)? It is the degree of conformance to the image of the Son of God; or put differently: it is the degree of subscription (by yieldedness) the person has made to the fellowship of the mystery (Genesis 22:18, “… because thou hast obeyed My voice.”).
- How does a person subscribe to the fellowship of the mystery? It begins with being saved in Christ Jesus and then a reconfiguration of our character by the help of the Holy Spirit. It is the help of the Holy Spirit that takes a person from being rebellious and void of Christ-like virtues to total conformance to the image of the Son of God (Genesis 1:2). Our Lord’s sermon on the mount recorded in Matthew 5, 6 and 7 define this character reconfiguration. Similar to when two people enter into an intimate marriage relationship and in order to truly be one they find out that they need to let go of somethings and have a modification of their personalities to lovingly accommodate one another, so also invitation to be part of the fellowship of the mystery requires a willingness to undergo character transformation. This character transformation is a core requirement for having God tabernacle in us and as such is a requirement for being a brightness of God’s glory and an express image of God’s person.
- How does this benefit the Church? Matthew 16:18, 1 Peter 2:3-6. Any person who is conformed to the pattern of Christ becomes more of a building block (a lively stone) that God can fit together to build a family of persons who would together operate as one man that is the fullness of God, headed only by the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:23. Colossians 1:18.