God is Working Out His Purposes in Man

Continuing our discussion of image and likeness from last week, God’s purpose in Man will be completed.  His purpose is that through Christ (His life, death, & resurrection) He would restore Man’s original place which He intended Man to hold….to be God’s dwelling place in the Earth through whom He would rule & reveal Himself to all of Creation!

Has God's purpose for us changed?
Has God's purpose for us changed?

God created man to be His son, and He intended to endow the soul of man with the Spirit of Sonship, which is able to hear and see the Spirit of the Father and be taught by Him. And with this fellowship, he is able to mature into His character and wisdom, and be transformed into His nature and glory.

It is God’s glory and good pleasure to make man of the earthly things (dust) into an organic being (flesh and blood) with a higher life (a living soul) than other creatures. In this sense, there is nothing special of Man in his physical constitution. Yet, by God’s breath (the breath of life), he was given a soul which is able to sense and embrace love and understanding, became a perfect vessel for the workmanship of the God Head, which is to become a dwelling place for the Glory, Life and Power of the Father and the Son as the Holy Spirit comes into prepare in man a place to this end. Man was meant to be the temple (tent, house, and tabernacle) of the Holy Spirit and the glory of God, the Father and the Son, which will become one through the instrumentality of the perfection of manhood.

God intended for man to rule his creation and learn of His justice and righteousness, wisdom and love, thus becoming to all creation the image of Himself. Other creations were meant to learn of God and yield to God through man’s perfect obedience and exact reflection or representation of God. Man was meant to be priests and kings on God’s behalf to mediate and teach all creation in their approach to God, so that heaven and earth will be filled with the knowledge and the glory of God.
We all know that God sent His Son Jesus to make a way for us.  But there is not very much understanding over what that way leads to.  God’s plan is to have many sons not just one.

“In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.” (Hebrews 2:10-11)

God sent Jesus to make a way for many sons.  When He first created Adam, He clearly stated that He intended for Man to populate the earth and rule it.  But for some reason, we let ourselves be fooled into thinking that He has changed His mind.  This is still His plan.  He is not bothered that it is taking many thousands of years to complete because He himself created the time that this is happening within.  Jesus was slain before the foundation of the earth (Revelation 13:8).  History (within time) is the story of God’s plan in Man being made perfect and coming into fruition.

Many sons to glory!  What might be startling to you is the timing of all this.  There is a generation who must be the generation living when all these things come about.  The first will be last and the last will be first.

How does this Likeness come about?

All Creation (both the ones we see and those we don’t such as angels) will be judged by God and are waiting to see this amazing plan of God unfold in Man.   They are watching in anticipation of this amazing reality.  If we’re sitting around waiting for Jesus’ return, we’re totally missing the plan of God in Man.

It is a process.  We are a mixture.  Currently, more of this world than of Him.  The process is to eliminate that mixture so that we are purely of Him.  He wants to teach us His likeness, His ways, and His character as a Father teaches a Son.

This is Part 5 in the series Bearing the Image and Likeness of God. To use this as a growth tool to better understand your own calling, please read Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3 and Pt 4.

Photo credit: Valerie Everett

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