IMAGE AND DOMINION

November 29th, 2014

VERSES IN GENESIS

Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heavens and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

VERSES IN ROMANS

Romans 8:28 “Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers.”

Romans 5:17 “For if, by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”

VERSES IN REVELATION

Rev 21: 10-11 “And he carried me away in spirit onto a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal.”

Rev 22:5 “And night will be no more; and they have no need of the light of a lamp and of the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine upon them; and they will reign forever and ever.”

GOD’S IMAGE

Definition- Refers to God’s inner being, which is the expression of the inward essence of God’s attributes

The most prominent attributes of God are love, light, holiness, and righteousness (See Gen 1:26 note 3)

God’s image is Christ (2 Cor. 4:4, Col 1:15, Heb. 1:3)

MAN MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE

All the other living things were created “according to their kind”, but man was created according to God’s kind (cf. Acts 17:28-29a)

Man was made in God’s image Man’s inward virtues, created in man’s spirit, are

copies of God’s attributes and are the means for man to express God’s attributes; this is like a glove having the same shape as a hand

Since man is created in God’s image, it is possible for man to be joined to God and live together with Him in an organic union (John 15:5, cf Gen 1:26 note 3)

CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF CHRIST

To be made in the image of God is to be created in the image of Christ, since Christ is the image of God (cf John 1:18)

Christ the Son, is the very embodiment of God (Col 2:9), the image of the invisible God, the expression of the essence of God’s attributes (Col 1:15)

Man was created according to Christ with the intention that Christ would enter into man and be expressed through man (Col 1:27; Phil. 1:20-21a)

Thus, created man is a living vessel, a container to contain Christ (Rom 9:21, 23; 2 Cor. 4:7)

THE IMAGE OF CHRIST In eternity past, Christ is the image of God (Col. 2:9) In Christ’s incarnation, he put on human nature and

became in the likeness of men (Phil 2:6-8) Through Christ’s death and resurrection, the only

begotten Son became the firstborn of many brothers (Rom. 8:29)

We become sons of God when we receive the God into us as life (1 John 5:11-13)

Through life, we will be transformed and conformed to the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18, Rom 8:29)

Eventually we will be transfigured into the likeness of Christ’s glorious body outwardly (Phil. 3:21) that we may be the same as Christ (1 John 3:2b) and may express God with Him to the universe (Eph. 3:21)

TRANSFORMATION Both regeneration and transfiguration are

instantaneous, but transformation is a life long matter Transformation is a matter of life. To be transformed,

we need to learn to live by the divine life Transformation is mainly in our soul. Daily, we need

our mind to be renewed (Rom. 12:2) Transformation involving more unveiling. To be

unveiled is to simply turn our hearts to the Lord. Then, we can behold and reflect Him and He infuses us with the elements of what He is and what He has done (2 Cor 3:18 note 7)

Transformation is from the Lord Spirit. Today, Christ is the Spirit in our spirit. When we turn to our mingled spirit and exercise our spirit, we receive more of who He is.

CONFORMATION

The result of transformation is conformation It includes the changing of our inward

essence and nature, and it also includes the changing of our outward form, that we may match the glorified image of Christ, the God-man (Rom. 8:29 note 1)

THE END RESULT

We become the same as Christ in life and nature (1 John 3:2b, 2 Pet. 1:4)

We express God in His likeness We become part of the new man, which is

the church, to express God (Col. 3:10) We become the New Jerusalem, which is the

ultimate expression of God in eternity (Rev. 21:10-11)

We will be able to reign in life in this age (Rom. 5:17), and exercise His dominion in a full way in eternity (Rev. 22:5)

DOMINION

"...And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."-Gen 1:26b

THE SPHERE OF DOMINION

Every type of authority has a limit, or sphere, to which it applies

God gave man authority over the sea (where the demons are), the air (where the fallen angels are), and the earth (where Satan is active)

We can see the Lord Jesus exercise this dominion in Matthew 8:26, when He "rebuked the wind and the seas." Furthermore, He cast out thedemons on earth.

TO DEAL WITH HIS ENEMY

To deal with His enemy, which includes every "creeping thing" in Gen 1:26.

As the Almighty God, He will not defeat Satan, a mere creature directly, but will use man, His further creation, to defeat Satan.

TO RECOVER THE EARTH Gen 1:28: "And God blessed them; and God said to

them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it...“

Psalm 8:1 "How excellent is Your name in all the earth.“ Unfortunately, we do not see God's name being made

excellent in all the earth today, because of the unbelief and sin of mankind, as a result of Satan's work.

But the Lord prayed, "...Your name be sanctified." (Matt 6:9).

Eventually, through Christ's incarnation, resurrection, ascension and work as the Spirit, the earth will be fully gained for God: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever." (Rev 11:15)

TO BRING IN HIS AUTHORITY OVER ALL THE EARTH

"Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth."  (Matt 6:10)

FULFILLMENT

On the one hand, God has already fully accomplished this; on the other hand, His dominion will not be fully expressed until the end of this age

FULFILLMENT- CHRIST HIMSELF IS THE REALITY OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

In His God-man living He fully subdued the enemy, both as a man on the earth living for God, and in His Satan-destroying death and resurrection

Furthermore, God has given Him all authority: "And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things..." (Eph 1:22)

FULFILLMENT- THE CHURCH WILL FULLY EXPRESS GOD’S DOMINION

The church as God's chosen, redeemed and transformed people will fully express God's dominion in eternity

"And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church." (Eph. 1:22)

Christ is transmitting His authority to the church

FULFILLMENT- THE CHURCH WILL FULLY EXPRESS GOD’S DOMINION

"Now the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly." (Rom 16:20)

"...I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in the heavens." (Matt 16:18b-19)

"...And they shall reign forever and ever." (Rev 22:5)

EXPERIENCE

Although the gates of Hades cannot prevail against the church, as individual believers there can still be times that we are defeated by God's enemy.

However, we have the ruling One within us who has all authority and who, as the Head of the church, is transmitting all power and authority to us.

We need to remain in our spirit so that we can be open to receive this transmission, and we need to remain in the church so that we can be in the proper position to receive it.

When we love the church and turn to the Lord, then in our moment-to-moment experience we can be those reigning in life over the enemy.