In this message we will consider the creation of the human life,
the higher life with the highest consciousness. Since the last message was a
parenthesis, we now continue our study with the process of God's restoration
and further creation.
13) The Conference of the Godhead
Genesis 1:26 reveals that there was a conference held by the
Godhead and among the Godhead. We say "among" because God is triune.
Using human terms, we may say that there are three Persons in the Godhead, one
God with three Persons. I can't explain this. I can only say that God is
triune, that we have one God with three Persons. There was a conference held by
these three Persons of the Godhead, and a decision was made. This conference
with its decision initiated the maturity of life. After God had created the
cattle, the beasts, and the creeping things on the first part of the sixth day,
He did not proceed immediately to create man. Rather, He had a conference to
discuss this matter. Genesis 1:26 says, "And God said, Let us make
man..." If we read this verse carefully, we can see that there was
something like a conference. God said, "Let us..." God is one: yet,
the pronoun is "us." This proves that God is triune. It does not say,
"Let me make..." If the Bible had said "me" and not
"us," there would have been no need to say "let." The
phrase "Let us make" means let us have some fellowship. Although you
may think that I infer too much, we nevertheless have this word in the Bible:
"Let us..."
After God created all the foregoing items of life, God still
needed to create man as the highest created life to express Himself in His
image and after His likeness. To accomplish this work, there is the need of the
Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit to work on man. This is fully
proven by the following books of the whole Bible.
Up to this point, we have seen eight items of life. Don't forget
this. God created the grass, the herbs, and the trees at the end of the third
day, before the fourth-day lights. After the fourth-day lights, He created the
fish and the birds on the fifth day. In the early part of the sixth day, God
created the cattle, represented by the ox, the beasts, represented by the lion,
and the creeping things. Thus, there were three items of the plant life and five
items of the animal life. It may seem to us that the whole earth was filled
with life. However, there was not the maturity of life.
The maturity of life on this earth is the human life. Even today,
after six thousand years, no life on this earth can surpass the human life.
Don't look down on yourself. You are very high, higher than the grass, higher
than the herbs and the trees, higher than the cattle, the beasts, and the
creeping things. You are the highest created life. Without man, there would have
been no maturity of life. Thus, the Triune God held a conference and initiated
the maturity of life. The Triune God decided to create the highest created
life.
14) Man as the Center Was Generated
Man as the center was generated, the higher life with the highest
consciousness. This is the maturity of life that has the image of God and is
able to exercise dominion for God. On this earth, man is the center. As we have
pointed out before, the heavens are for the earth and the earth is for man.
Everything in the sky—the sunshine, the rain, and the air—are for the growth of
life on earth. Without sunshine, rain, and air there is no possibility to have
life on earth. So, the heavens are for this earth, and this earth, with all
kinds of life, is for man. We all know that the minerals are for the plants,
the plants are for the animals, both the plants and the animals are for man,
and man is for God. So man is the center.
The heavens were fixed and the earth was prepared. Everything was
ready for man to come into being. Praise the Lord! God didn't create man and
then ask man to wait until He fixed the heavens and prepared the earth for him.
On the contrary, after God fixed the heavens, prepared the earth, and made
everything ready, man came into being. At the last, God created man. Man ranks
as the last, but he was and still is the center.
This is exactly like a marriage according to oriental custom. In
such a marriage, the husband prepares everything and, at the last, the bride
comes in. The bride does not appear and then wait for everything to be
prepared. After everything has been prepared, the bride appears. Likewise, the
whole earth is a place for God's wedding. God has prepared all things for His
wedding. Who is the bride? The bride is man.
Man is the maturity of all created life. Without man, there is no
maturity. Look at the grass. It is green and tender, but it is lacking in form,
in appearance. It has no face. The herbs, including corn and wheat, are more
developed in form. However, they also have no face. The trees are larger,
bearing fruit as well as seeds; yet, none of them has a face with which to
express itself. After these three levels of plant life, we have the fish, the
first level of animal life. The fish does have a face with two small eyes, but
its head is not clearly distinguished. And a fish has no neck. The birds,
however, have a distinct face and neck. They have eyes, ears, and a small
mouth, somewhat closer to the face of man. The cattle, horses, and oxen have
faces similar to a human face. Following the cattle, we have the beasts,
especially the lion. The face of a lion closely resembles a human face.
Although Darwin
foolishly said that man is a descendent of the monkey, it is nevertheless true
that the faces of some beasts resemble the face of man. However, regardless of
how much the faces of birds, cattle, beasts, eagles, oxen, and lambs resemble
the face of man, they are not man. They are short and they are inferior. They
are not the maturity of the created life.
Ezekiel 1:5, 10 speaks of the four living creatures. These four
living creatures look like man. Each has four faces: the face of a man at the
front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left
side, and the face of an eagle at the rear. The eagle is at the rear because an
eagle's face is not much like a man's. The faces of the lion and the ox are
much closer to man's face. However, man's face is supreme. Thus, the human life
is the maturity of all created life, having the ability to express God and to
exercise God's dominion.
The most striking and wonderful thing about the human life is its
consciousness. We do have the highest consciousness. This consciousness of ours
is higher than the fish, the eagle, the ox, and the lion. As far as
consciousness goes, the human life is the highest. We need to shout,
"Hallelujah!" In this universe and on this earth man has been
generated. Man has been created, possessing a life with the highest
consciousness, a life that is able to express God and represent God. This is
wonderful! The creation of man was so crucial and important that the Triune God
held a conference before He did it. The sky had been restored. The heavens had
been fixed for the purpose of serving the earth. The dry land appeared for the
purpose of generating plant life, the animal life, and the human life. Look at
the sky: we have the sun, the moon, the stars, the rain, and the air. Look at
the earth: we have the grass, the herbs, and the trees. We have the birds in
the air, the fish in the water, and the cattle, the beasts, and the creeping
things on the earth. As the center of all this, we have man, expressing God and
representing God. After God created man, He rested. He was satisfied.
b. Central Points
We now come to the central points of God's restoration and further
creation.
1) To Recover the Earth
God needed to recover the earth for generating life and for
dominion (Gen. 1:9, 26, 28). As long as the earth was under the death waters,
there was no possibility to generate life or to have dominion. In order to have
these two things, there was the need for the earth to be recovered.
2) To Have Man
The second central point was to have man as the expression of God
Himself and to deal with God's enemy (Gen. 1:26-28). Later we will see more of
this.
3) To Generate Life
The third point was to generate life. This was necessary for the
ability to express God and to have dominion for God. Remember these three
central points: to recover the earth, to have man, and to generate life.
Although the things created by God are numerous, in the record of Genesis 1 and
2 God only mentioned the matters of life and the items related to life, for His
restoration and further creation were focused on life. All God's creation was
focused on life. He recovered the earth, created man, and produced all kinds of
life for the purpose of expressing Himself and dealing with His enemy.
c. Purpose
Now we come to the purpose of God's restoration and further
creation. This is extremely important.
1) To Have Man to Express God
The main purpose of God's restoration and further creation was to
have man, a corporate man, to express God (Gen. 1:26-27). The man God created
was a corporate man. God did not create many men. God created mankind
collectively in one person, Adam. God created Adam and Adam was a corporate
man, a collective man. When Adam was created, we were all created. If you are
thirty years of age today, don't say that you were created thirty years ago.
You were born thirty years ago, but you were created six thousand years ago.
Although I might have been born forty years earlier than you, we were created
at the same time. When Adam was created, we were all created because we were
all created collectively in Adam. We were included in Adam. God did not create
an individual man, but a corporate man to express Himself. In verse 26 God
said, "Let them"—one man, but the pronoun is "them." This
proves that this man is a corporate man. In this verse, as the pronoun
"us" signifies that God is triune, so the pronoun "them"
signifies that man is corporate. God created such a corporate man in His own
image and after His likeness so that man might express God Himself.
a) With the Image of God Inwardly
Genesis 1:26 says, "And God said, Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness..." Here we find two things—the image and the
likeness. All of the good Bible students agree that the image refers to
something inward and the likeness refers to something outward. We all have
something inward—the intellect, the will, and the emotion. Outwardly, we have
the likeness, the body-form.
(1) The Image of God Is Christ
Second Corinthians 4:4 and Colossians 1:15 both say that the image
of God is Christ. Christ is the image of the invisible God. God is invisible;
yet He has an image. The invisible God has a visible image. No one has ever
seen God, but Christ has declared Him (John 1:18). We all, more or less, have
seen Christ. Peter saw Him. John saw Him. After His resurrection, five hundred
brothers saw Him at the same time (1 Cor. 15:6). He is really the image of God.
Hebrews 1:3 says that Christ is the express image of God's Person.
(2) Man Was Created in Christ's Image
Since man was created in the image of God and the image of God is
Christ, man was created in the image of Christ. In Genesis 1:26 God said,
"Let us make man in our image..." But verse 27 says, "God
created man in his image." Surely here "his image" means the
image of Christ. So, man was made in the image of Christ.
(3) Adam Was the Type of Christ
Romans 5:14 says that Adam, the first man, was a type, a figure of
Christ. If we take a photograph of a person, that picture is the figure or type
of the person. Adam was a photograph of Christ. Christ was the image of God and
Adam was a picture of Christ. As a photograph is the expression of a certain
image, so man was made to be the expression of the image of God which is
Christ.
I may use the illustration of a glove. The glove was made in the
image and according to the form of the hand. Both the hand and the glove have
five fingers. The glove was made in the image of the hand that one day the hand
might enter into the glove. The hand fills up the glove, and the glove
expresses the hand. Why was man made in the image of Christ? Because God's
intention was that someday Christ would enter into man and be expressed through
man. Romans 9:21, 23 tells us clearly that man was made as a vessel, that is as
a container. Man is not a knife, a hammer, or any instrument. Man is a vessel,
a container. Romans 9:21, 23 further says that man was made a vessel of honor
to contain God, to contain God's glory. Second Corinthians 4:7 says that we
have this treasure in earthen vessels. This vessel is like the glove: one day
the hand gets into it; the contents get into the container. We are simply a
vessel to contain Christ.
(4) Christ Was Made in the Likeness of Man
One day, Christ came to be made in the likeness of man (Phil.
2:6-8). Man was made according to Christ's image, and Christ was made in the
likeness of man. Isn't this wonderful? Who is according to whom? It is mutual.
Man was made according to Christ, and Christ was made in the likeness of man
that through His death and resurrection man may obtain God's life. It is a
mystery; yet, it is a fact. Hallelujah! We have all obtained this life.
(5) Man Can Be Transformed intoand Conformed unto the Image of Christ
Because we have this divine life, we can be transformed into and
conformed unto the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29m). Here we have two
things—transformation and conformation. Transformation is inward and
conformation is outward.
We have an intellect, emotion, and will, which were made according
to Christ. Christ, no doubt, has the best intellect, the best will, and the
best emotion. Our intellect, will, and emotion are not very real. Consider again
the illustration of the hand and the glove. The human hand has a thumb and four
fingers, and the glove also has a thumb and four fingers. We cannot deny that
the thumb of a glove is a thumb, but compared with the real thumb we find a
great difference. Compare our intellect with the intellect of Christ. Our
intellect resembles the empty thumb of a glove. Christ's intellect resembles
the real thumb of a human hand. We have wisdom, but again our wisdom is like
the empty thumb and Christ's wisdom is like the real thumb. One day, however,
the real thumb will get into the thumb of the glove and the two thumbs will
become one! One is the appearance, the expression; the other is the reality,
the content. Our wisdom is simply the container of the wisdom of Christ, the
expression of the wisdom of Christ. Do you have love? Yes, we all have love,
but our love is like an empty glove. Wives, don't expect love from your
husbands. Even if your husband loves you, that love is empty. Praise the Lord
that it is empty! It is empty that the love of Christ may come in.
But it is not always easy. It may take some dealing for the love
of Christ to get into us. The fingers of a glove may be twisted or bent, giving
resistance to the hand that wants to get in. Likewise, we need some dealing in
order that the love of Christ may get into us. One day, Christ's love enters
into the empty love of the husband. At that time, you will enjoy the real love,
the love of Christ, through your husband's empty love. Praise the Lord!
Whatever we have, whatever we are, and whatever we can do is just
an empty form, best used as a container to hold all that Christ is, all that
Christ has, and all that Christ can do.
Christ is in us. Constantly, the life of Christ is doing a
transforming work within us. Our love, our emotion, and our thinking are
inadequate. Nothing we have by nature is adequate because it is empty and
limited. The essence, the element of Christ must enter into all that we are.
The wisdom of Christ must enter our empty wisdom, giving us the mind of Christ
(Phil. 2:5). Our mind must be a container for the mind of Christ; the mind of
Christ must fill up our mind. Then, our mind will be transformed into the image
of Christ. Second Corinthians 3:18 says that we all with unveiled face behold and
reflect like a mirror the glory of the Lord and are transformed into His image.
This is inward transformation. This inward transformation will also become the
outward conformation. We will be conformed to the image of the Son of God (Rom.
8:29).
(6) Our Body Will Be Transfigured into the Likenessof the Glorious Body of Christ
We were made according to Christ. One day, Christ came in the
likeness of this form of ours. We received Him and He came into us. This Christ
is now within us doing the work of transformation, not only transforming us
into His image, but also conforming us unto His very form. Eventually, He will
come to transfigure our outward body into the likeness of His glorious body
(Phil. 3:21). Then we will be fully, completely, and ultimately the same as He
is (1 John 3:2b). When He looks at Himself, He will say, "All you people
are like Me." When we look at ourselves, we will say to the Lord Jesus,
"We are all like You, and You are like us." There will be no
difference. We will all be like Christ, and Christ will be fully like us.
Christ and we, we and Christ—we all will be in the same image and in the same
likeness. This was God's purpose in creating man to express God Himself. In a
sense, the creation of man has been completed, but the process of
transformation continues. We are now under the process of transformation,
waiting for His coming back.
b) With the Likeness of God Outwardly
Man was created not only in the image of God inwardly, but also
after the likeness of God outwardly. All the other items in creation are after
"their kind." Man, however, is not after man's kind, but after God's
likeness. As image indicates the inward being of God, so likeness must indicate
the outward form of God.
The relationship between God and man is a mystery. On the one
hand, the Bible says that God is invisible. On the other hand, it says that
even before the Lord Jesus was incarnated to be a man, He appeared to people
several times in the Old Testament as a man. Several times Christ appeared in
the form of a man's body. While Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent, he
saw three men coming (Gen. 18:2a). The Lord and two angels appeared to him.
Abraham invited the three men into his tent and served them a good meal. They
all ate with him. God ate with Abraham and they had a thorough talk. That was
why Abraham was called the friend of God (James 2:23). If we read Genesis 18,
we will find that it is a record of a friend-fellowship. God was a friend to
Abraham. After awhile, the two angels were sent away by the Lord, and the Lord
remained with Abraham. Abraham stood before the Lord, just like a friend (Gen.
18:16a, 22). That was Christ before His incarnation.
The second time Christ appeared in the form of man was in the case
of Jacob at Peniel. A man came to subdue this strong Jacob (Gen. 32:24). Yet,
Jacob was wrestling with God! God in the form of man was wrestling with Jacob.
Jacob was really strong and God could not subdue him until He touched his thigh
and Jacob became lame. Jacob asked, "Please tell me—what is Your
name?" God said, "Don't ask My name. Just let Me give you My
blessing." Eventually, Jacob realized that he had met God face to face
(Gen. 32:28-30). Peniel means the face of God. God appeared there as a man, a
real man. If He had not been a real man, how could He have wrestled with Jacob?
Another occasion when God appeared in the form of a human body was
in Joshua 5. At that time, Joshua bore the great burden of defeating Jericho. Perhaps it was
the next day that the army of God was going out to fight against Jericho, and Joshua, as
their leader, bore the burden for that battle. I believe that he was
considering the situation in the evening time when suddenly he saw a man.
Joshua asked him, "Art thou for us or for our adversaries?" That man
said, "Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come"
(Josh. 5:13-14). The man also told Joshua, "Loose thy shoe from off thy
foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy" (Josh. 5:15). That was
the place where God was.
By all of these instances, we can see that the Lord Jesus, before
His incarnation, appeared several times in the bodyform of a man. This is
really mysterious.
The grass has no face, neither do the herbs nor the trees.
Starting from the animal life, we have seen that the fish has a face, but not
very close to man's face. Next came the birds, the cattle, and the beasts. Then
came man whose face is very much like God. This is a mystery. At any rate, we
have been told clearly that we were made in God's image. This is why we have wisdom,
will, and emotion, just as God does, but without the reality. What we have are
simply the expressions. We need the content.
We also have a form, a form of the image, just like a photograph.
However, the photograph doesn't have the reality. When man was created in the
form, in the image of God, he didn't have the reality of God. After he was
created, man still needed to take God in. Regardless of how much man had the
form and the image of God, he did not have the reality of God or the life of
God. Man failed. Then the Lord came in the form of man. He died in this form
and was resurrected to uplift this form. By His death and resurrection, it is
now so easy for us to take Him in. We have received and obtained this divine
life, and by this divine life we all can have the reality of God. This divine
life is now working in us to transform our empty life into the divine form in
reality. This is transformation. Eventually, we will be conformed unto His
image. The Bible is a revelation of such a mystery. It is so important, so
central and crucial that we all see the image of God and the form of God in
which and after which we were created. We must all see how Christ was this
image and how Christ was made in the form of man that we may take Him in as our
life and reality. Eventually, He and we will be mingled together and made as
one. We will be His appearance and expression; He will be our reality and
content. He and we will be one. He will be like us and we will be like Him.
Then, we will express God to the whole universe.
Now we can see why God created the heavens and the earth and why
God created the human life. This is the meaning and center of the universe. If
we don't see this, we don't know what is the meaning of the universe and we
don't know where we are going. Today, we do know the meaning of the universe
and we know where we are and where we are going. We are here to express Him and
we are going to meet Him, to be one with Him.
When we were saved, the divine life within us was like the grass.
It grew into the herb and into the trees. Then, it grew into a higher plane of
life—the fish, the bird, the cattle, and the beast. Not until we reach the top
of the created life can we ever express God. We need the human life. According
to Ezekiel 1:5, 10 and Revelation 4:6-7, of the nine items of life recorded in
Genesis 1, only four are represented in the presence of God—the eagle, the ox,
the lion, and the man. These four are in the presence of God, representing all
the creatures before God. In Ezekiel and Revelation, there is no mention of the
grass, the herb, the trees, the fish, or the creeping things. For eternity and
in eternity there will be no sea. Therefore, there will be no fish. Certainly,
there will be no creeping things. What will be represented in the presence of
God will be the man with the cattle, the lion, and the eagle. We all must grow
until we reach the higher plane of life, that is the plane of the cattle, the
lion, and the eagle. We must go on until we reach the maturity of life
signified by the human life. Only this life can express God. Only this life can
have dominion for God. This is our goal. We must grow and grow and grow from
the plant life to the animal life and from the animal life to the human life.
A FURTHER WORD
You have heard that all the truths in the Bible were sown in
Genesis, especially in chapter 1. As we have seen, Genesis 1 says something
about the light and this light has been developed through the whole Bible. We
have seen the light on the first day, the lights on the fourth day, and the
development of these lights to the end of the Bible where, in the last two
chapters, it says, "night shall be no more." Eventually, God Himself
is the light to His redeemed ones. As the redeemed ones in the New Jerusalem,
we will not need the sun, the moon, or any other light. The light will be God
Himself. So, the seed of light sown in Genesis 1 has been fully developed in
Revelation 22.
In the same principle, we have the word image. "God made man
in His own image." The image of God is for the expression of God. To
express God is just to manifest God's glory. This little word image has been
developed and developed until, at the end of the Bible, it has grown into the
New Jerusalem. The whole city has the appearance of jasper (Rev. 21:11). If you
read Revelation 4:3, you can see that the One sitting on the throne looks like
jasper. God's appearance is like jasper. Eventually, the whole city of New Jerusalem is built
with jasper. The wall of the city is also built with jasper (Rev. 21:18a). From
every angle, from every direction, and from every side the New Jerusalem has
the appearance of God. This is the expression of the image of God.
This morning, while we were pray-reading, Brother Al asked me
about the four living creatures in Ezekiel 1:5, 10 and Revelation 4:6-7. In
Ezekiel, each living creature has four faces: the front face is a man; the rear
face is an eagle; the right face is a lion; and the left face is an ox.
However, if you go on from Ezekiel to Revelation chapter 4, you see a little difference.
There, each of the four living creatures has only one face. The first is not a
man, but a lion. The second is not an ox, but a calf. You know the difference
between an ox and a calf. An ox is older. This is strange. In my opinion, the
ox in Ezekiel should be a calf, and the calf in Revelation should be an
ox—first the younger, then the older. But the Bible first mentions the older
and then the younger—first the ox, then the calf. I tell you, we Christians are
not going to be older, but younger. The more we grow, the younger we are.
In Revelation, the lion is first, the calf second, the man third,
and the eagle fourth. Brother Al asked me why there is this difference between
Ezekiel and Revelation. The reason is that the order of the living creatures in
Revelation is according to the order of the four Gospels. In Matthew we have
the lion, the king. In Mark we have the servant, the slave, the calf. In Luke
we have the man. In John we have God, the soaring eagle. What does this mean?
The four living creatures in Ezekiel, strictly speaking, were the manifestation
of God's glory. In the conference we had on Ezekiel, we covered Ezekiel 1 and
saw how the four living creatures were the manifestation of God's glory. What
is God's glory? That is Christ. When God's glory is expressed, that is Christ.
But notice the difference. The four living creatures in Ezekiel were the
manifestation of God's glory. The four living creatures in Revelation are the
expression of Christ Himself. There has been an improvement from God's glory to
Christ Himself. Thus, in Revelation, the appearance of the four living
creatures is just like the four Gospels. This means that the four living
creatures in Revelation are just the expression of Christ. I do not say they
are Christ. They are not Christ, but they express Christ. They express what
Christ is. Christ is in four aspects: the king, the slave, the man, and the
very God. Christ bears these four aspects and this Christ needs an expression
in His creation. So, in this universe there are four living creatures,
representing all kinds of life on every plane, to express Christ.
Everything in Genesis 1, except the darkness, the death waters,
and the creeping things, is Christ. The Spirit came to brood. That is Christ.
Christ is the Spirit. Christ is also the Word. The light came in. The light is
Christ. The air, no doubt, is Christ. The Spirit is Christ, and the Word is
Christ; the light is Christ, and the air is Christ. The dry land is Christ. The
grass is Christ because Christ is our green pasture. The herbs are Christ.
Christ is the corn, the wheat, the henna flower, and all kinds of beautiful
herbs. All the trees are Christ. Christ is the olive tree, the fig tree, the
vine tree, the life tree. And the fish are Christ. Christ fed 5,000 people with
five loaves and two fishes. Most Christians only pay attention to the five
loaves, forgetting the two fishes. However, Christ is not only the five loaves;
He is also the two fishes, something from the death waters to nourish us.
Christ is also the birds. He is the eagle. Exodus 19:4 says that Christ was the
big eagle which bore the Israelites upon His two shoulders. As a great eagle,
He delivered His people out of Egypt.
One day Christ said that He was a big hen. At the end of Matthew 23 (v. 37), Christ
said, "I am a hen. I want to gather you all under My wings, but you would
not come to Me." Christ is the cattle, the ox, the calf, the cow, the
sheep, and the lamb. Christ is also a lion (Rev. 5:5). Finally, Christ is the
man, the real Adam. Christ is also the sun, the morning star, and the real
source of the moon's light. In chapter 1 of Genesis, everything is Christ and
Christ is everything.
If you only enjoy Christ as the grass, you are not qualified to
express Him. If you enjoy Him as the herbs and as all the trees, you are still
not qualified. Even if you enjoy Him as the fish, you are not qualified.
Although you may enjoy Christ so much, you are not yet qualified to express
Him. You must progress from all these levels of life to the level of the bird
life. Then you begin to be qualified to express Christ.
The bird life is one of the four categories of life represented
before the throne of God. As I mentioned last night, of the nine categories of
life in Genesis 1, only four are represented before the throne of God. Let me
give you the nine categories again: the grass, the herbs, the trees, the fish,
the birds, the cattle, the beasts, the creeping things, and the man.
Out of nine categories, only four—the bird, the cattle, the beast,
and the man—are qualified to express Christ. The grass is not qualified. It is
good, but it is a kind of life on the lowest level. Neither the herbs, the
trees, nor the fish are qualified. Of course, all the creeping things are
forsaken for eternity. They go to the lake of fire.
Only the birds, the cattle, the beasts, and the man have a
distinguished face. Your face is the outward appearance of your inward being.
What you are inwardly is expressed outwardly by your face. As I have mentioned
already, the grass, the herbs, and the trees have no face. The fish have a
face, but their face is not distinguished. And the fish have no neck. We need a
longer neck to make our face more distinct. Among all the nine categories, only
four have a distinguished face, and among these four, the human face is the
best, the highest, and the most distinct. Compare your face with the face of an
eagle, calf, or lion. You will see that your face is much more distinguished.
Why? Because, the human life within you is much more distinctive than the bird
life, the cattle life, and the beast life.
According to God's economy, Christ has four aspects. He is a man,
but He serves people like a calf. He is a man, but He fights the battle,
exercises control, and has dominion like a lion. He is a man, but He can fly
far away, soaring like an eagle. Although we need the human life to express
Christ, we still need the calf life, the lion life, and the eagle life. When we
have all four we can express Christ in full.
Now we can see that the little word image in Genesis 1 has
undergone a great development. We not only have the four living creatures
expressing Christ in four aspects. Eventually we have the New Jerusalem, a high
city with the image of God expressing Christ. God looks like jasper, and the
appearance of the New Jerusalem is also jasper, the same as God's appearance.
This is the fulfillment of Genesis 1:26. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
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