(1) In HIS Image....Christlikeness Is God's Purpose For Us

Common Sense Commentary: This is an outline summary of a person's journey from creation "In God's Image", Original Adamic Human Sin, on through the Old Testament ages and dispensations from the age of Innocence, The Fall,Law, Patriarchs, Prophets and ending with the birth of Jesus and the New Testament Church Age. This dispensation will end with the second coming of Christ and rapture of His Bride, the true Christians. At the rapture, God's plan to Redeem and Restore, all believers to His "ORIGINAL PURPOSE" in Genesis ... "In His Image"... "CHRIST LIKENESS" will be completed.

My title, "In His Image" was God's original, constant, continual and final "purpose" and plan for every, single, individual person who ever lived or will live on this earth. A second title might be "From Glory Unto Glory" or, in a word, "Christ likeness". Christ likeness IS "In His Image" which is glorious beyond words ! The word "glory" is, in the Greek, "DOXA" which means "Exceedingly Heavy Honor". This word, DOXA, encompasses and radiates ALL of the Beautiful, Wonderful, Holy attributes of God. "Theology" is "The Study of God". "Doxology" is the study of God's Glory. God's plan and purpose for man has never changed....Godly Holiness, "In His Image", or Christ likeness. His original "purpose" was, "And God said let 'US' (Holy Trinity) make man in 'OUR' image, after 'OUR' likeness....So God created man in 'HIS' own Image." Gen.1:26.

In Genesis 3, God's "image and likeness", the human race, composed of two people, became desecrated by the sin of disobedience ignited by Lucifer and they, our forefather and foremother, became sinners and all their descendants as well.... both by birth and by choice. God's "purpose" for the race, not having changed, was to now initiate a remedy of redemption and restoration for this marred image of Himself. For the next several centuries, as the human race struggled with their inborn fleshly lust and sin, God sent prophets to cry out against the wickedness, disobedience and idol worship of the people. They also prophesied of the coming Messiah Saviour. They gave many signs and identifying traits and events of the Messiah/ Christ that the people might recognize Him when He arrived by way of a virgin birth. All of which eventually came to pass in the person of Jesus. He was God in the flesh and God's remedy for the curse of sin which condemned us all. John 3:16 expresses it best.

In the New Testament, Col.1:15, Apostle Paul said of Jesus Christ, "Who is the 'image' of the invisible God.... and the firstborn of many brethren (Christians)". The wages of our sins was death (Rom.6:23). Somebody sinless had to die for us or we had to die, hopeless, for our own sins. There was no one who was qualified/sinless until God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die for us, in our place, for our sins.

So, what is God's plan and "purpose" for us today ? It hasn't changed, "Be ye holy as He is holy" 1Pet.1:15. Paul put it this way, "Put on the new man which is renewed in the image of Him that created us ...." Col.3:10. This word "renewed" in Greek is anakainoo "to make new again". This is a present, passive, participle indicating a continuing process not yet completed.

Paul goes on to say in Col.3:11-14, "...Christ is all and in all. Put on therefore (all His good attributes) even as Christ. And above all things put on love which is the bond of perfection".
=Perfect Holiness and Christ likeness. Agape Love is the crowning glory of Christ likeness. God's finished work of grace is agape love.....Godly love. There are so many ways we Christians fall short of Christ likeness, but one thing is uppermost "above all things"Paul said, is Christian love. That is the nearest to Christ likeness we can come. Not one of us is or will ever be truly Christlike in every way while in this sinful world, but it will happen at the coming of Christ in the air. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doeth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that ,when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." 1Jn.3:2

Pass It On. RB