Having Done All to Stand, Stand - Part 1

^"Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." (Genesis 1:26-27) "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor." (Psalm 8:4-5) When meditating on the creation of man, it is mind boggling to think that he was created in the very image and likeness of God Himself. To be created in the image and likeness of God is not in the material or physical sense but spiritual. John tells us, "God is Spirit..." (John 4:24) Man was created to be connected to heaven as no other creature on earth is. He is to be related to God like no other. This was also confirmed by the Psalmist. To be made a little lower than the angels in the Hebrew is to say, that man was made a little lower than God. Above all creation, man had been made almost equal to God Himself. For some, this may be difficult to comprehend, but the fact is, God made man as close to deity (Himself) as possible. 

The problem many seem to have trying to comprehend this truth derives from looking at themselves and the world around them in the natural and not through faith in the Word of God, seeing themselves as God sees them. We must remember that we are still in a fallen world that is antagonistic toward Christ and the church, but this does not alter the truth of the creation of man. If we do not grasp God's creation of man, and what man was before the fall, we will not fully understand our purpose, position, function and authority as the redeemed in Christ. We also see that man (before the fall) was the crown of all creation and he possessed abilities beyond our comprehension. It wasn't until man disobeyed God, bowed his knee to the lies of Satan (Genesis 3:1-7) that he lost his dominion and authority, as well as his ability to fellowship with God. 

Believers must move on from only seeing the natural, physical realm and see ourselves as God does through Christ. The Apostle Paul tells us, "that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,  and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:22-24) It is the old fallen nature that Satan wants believers to hold on to, not the truth that if one is born again they are new creations, (2 Corinthians 5:17), "the new man created according to God in true righteousness and holiness." That is, the new man is made to resemble God. This also reveals that when man was made, he was made righteous and holy, "in the image and likeness of God." The object of the work of redemption is to restore to man the lost image of God, or to bring him back to the condition in which he was before he fell.

This means infinitely more than becoming born again, being forgiven by God and then muddling through life until we die and go to heaven. God's purpose of the restoration of man through Christ was, again, to return man to his original state in which he was created. Unfortunately, most believers are either uninformed, misinformed, or do not apply faith to such truth, thereby settling for far less than what God has accomplished for man in Christ. Somehow, most see God the Father as less of a father than they see themselves. Jesus said it this way, "If you (man) then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:11) The Apostle Paul tells us, "He (God the Father) who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32) This is not limited to physical or material things only, but also spiritual things, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3)    

The Apostle Peter also reveals some incredible truth concerning who the believer is and has, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." (2 Peter 1:2-4) The restoration of man was never meant to be limited to forgiveness on earth and eternal life in the life to come. It is much more far reaching than that. Some of the wonderful attributes, promises, realities, that the restoration the Father accomplished through the Son includes "life and to have it more abundantly" (John 10:10) The word for life in the Greek is "life as God has it, eternal life." Eternal life is not a final destination, but is to be experienced now, while we are on earth and to have it abundantly. We are also to have "faith in God." (Mark 11:22) The literal Greek translation for this is "to have the God kind of faith." This in itself is hard to believe for most, but we must remember, "without faith it is impossible to please God." (Hebrews 6:11) This does not refer to natural faith that come from what our five senses can comprehend, but the God kind of faith that come from the heart, the recreated spirit. We also can love (agape) as God loves. (Romans 5:5) This also may be difficult to live out, but again, we must look past the natural and respond to the truth. Think about it. If God is love (1 John 4:16) and He is, if Jesus Christ is God (John 1:1, 14) and He is and if believers are the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27) and we are, then we have the very attributes of God. We cannot be a part of Him and Him not be a part of us.

Although these are just a few of the God kind of attributes (His image and likeness) that believers have through Christ, it takes faith to accept these truths and receive them. Jesus tells us, "Have faith in God. (the God kind of faith) For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:22-24) Notice that Jesus tells us that believers have the power to move mountains if they do not "doubt in their heart." In a similar way, Jesus reveals to us why Peter began to sink when he got out of the boat and walked on the water, "...O you of little faith, why did you doubt." (Matthew 14:25-32) Doubt is a product of Satan, who convinced Eve to doubt God's Truth, which became the prescription that caused Adam to rebel against God and lose his God given position. Satan's schemes have not changed. Always remember, doubt causes one to reason just like Eve and it will eventually neutralizes faith. However, faith comes from God (Romans 12:3) and causes believers to trust God even when the circumstances seem impossible to overcome. So, let us not waver with unbelief, but take our position of authority over Satan and his lies and believe that God is able to perform what He said (what His Word says) He will do.