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Jesus: The perfect picture of man, as God made him

Sunday English Service – 19 JUN 22

Transcript

Please turn with me to Genesis chapter 1, as well as to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Genesis chapter 1 and 1 Corinthians 15. I’m going to read both passages.

Firstly, let me read from Genesis 1, verse 26 to 28:Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So, God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

 Now, to 1 Corinthians 15, let me read to you from verse 21 to 28: “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says, “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is accepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”

 I’ve been teaching on redemption, talking about redemption, trying to understand redemption, you need to first understand what God gave man in the beginning. Then only you will understand what he lost in the fall. And then only you will understand what is given back to him, in and through redemption in Jesus Christ. So that’s what we’re dealing with. So, in understanding what was given to man in the beginning, we have been usually going to Genesis chapter 1 and we went the other day a couple of weeks ago to Psalm 8, where basically what Genesis 1 says, is repeated there. Genesis 1 says that God made man in His image and likeness and that God gave rule over everything. In Psalm 8 the psalmist repeats the same thing he says, “For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honour. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.”So, basically the same thing, the Psalmist says, and we’ve been dealing with that.

Traditionally, we go to look at the Adam, the first man and Eve, as they were made to see what God had given to man in the beginning, to understand what a man made in the image of God looks like. What man as God made him looks like but today, I want to venture into a new thing and that is, I want to put forth for you that the man was made in the image of God or man as God made him in the beginning, can be better understood and seen and more perfectly and beautifully understood and seen in the person of Jesus Christ. If you look at Jesus, you will understand what man as God made Him will look like. He is the perfect man; he has not lost that image. He is made in the image of God.

Now, I don’t say it, this is not my opinion I’m putting forth. This is what the Apostle Paul says, for example, in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 6 Paul says,“For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”—and notice that line— “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ”. Do you want to know God? You want to see the glory of God; you want to have the knowledge of the glory of God. It’s in the face of Jesus Christ. In His face you can see it, by looking at Jesus you can see he says, but there’s a better verse like in Colossians. If you go to Colossians chapter 1, it is put more bluntly and put forth in a straightforward manner. It says in chapter 1 verse 15, Colossians “He is the image of the invisible God”.He is the image of the invisible God. In Tamil it comes out beautifully, it says, [00:05:48] It means it’s a wonderful word; It’s not just image, it’s the very image that’s what it’s talking about.It’s exactly what God is.He is a perfect representation, the most beautiful representation, pristine, clarity is there in what God would have been like. You want to see God as He really is. You see Jesus, that’s what it means. He is the image of God; He is the very image of God.

So, this is what Paul believes. Now, in Romans chapter 8, if you look at Romans chapter 8 for a minute, in verse 29, Paul says “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son”. In other words, when God forknows us and chooses us for salvation, He also predestines us for what?To be conformed to the image of His Son. Why to be conformed to the image of His Son? Because that is the image of God. If you’re conformed to the image of His Son, you’re conformed to the image of God. And it is in the image of God that God made man at the beginning. So, the image of God that has been shattered through the fall,which has been ruined through the fall, can now be given back. That image can be restored. And that is why it says that God has not only forknown us but predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son because that’s the image of God that God gave man.

So, I kind of tried to establish the fact that Jesus is the image of God. And in Him the image comes out in pristine clarity. I mean, you cannot see it any better anywhere. It’s most beautiful picture of man, as God made him to be. You want to know what man will be when he’s in the image of God as God made him to be?See Jesus. What about Adam? Well, you can see Adam; you can understand a few things there. But there is a better picture; that’s Jesus. About Adam only a few things are said the first two chapters are there before the fall. You can see Adam and you can learn a few things there. But about Jesus Christ, the New Testament is there and even the Old Testament speaks of Him and His glory, and what He’s like.So, better to go to Jesus so that we can understand where we are headed. How that God has chosen us in salvation, and where He is taking us. How He is forming us. What He is making out of us.

If you look at Genesis 1, it’s a very compelling passage, very unfolding passage, a tremendous passage in Genesis 1. Now, if you look at it, you can clearly see that man is something very special.Because we read only from 26th verse where it begins by saying that God said,“let’s make man in our image and likeness”, but there are 25 verses that are before that. If you read the first 25 verses, the phrase,‘and God said’ appears again and again, and God said, “Let there be light and there was light” and so on. That appears seven times again and again. That’s how God makes everything and makes a beautiful world in which man will live, prepares the world for men to inhabit. And once He has made that, then God comes and says, Then God said, it’s not another and God said, there’s a difference here. Then God said, and the way He says it also significantly different. It’s not simply and God said, and He makes something. And God said,“Let us make man in our image and in our likeness.” This He never said about any other creation. This shows the uniqueness of man’s creation. How man is unique. He is on a far higher level than any other creation that has gone before him. The animals for example, it’s very important to say it nowadays because a lot of people have begun to glibly say that you’re just a higher animal. You’re just a little bit higher than the animal; you’re just another animal like. They’ve brought us down to that level, and they don’t have any problem saying that we are an animal because they see some similarities between man and animal. And so, they classify us as another animal or higher kind of animal. But the Bible does not to say that this is why the Bible is important. The Bible says there is a big gap between the animal and man. And the big gap is indicated by the words that God said let us make man in the image and likeness of God that has never been told about anything else. Those words are very important. It shows that man is not just a higher animal. Man is a far higher and creature, there’s a big gap between animals and man. But that is a very important contribution of the first chapter right there. We understand that and then we are told, of course, that man has been given dominion, and that the psalm eight says and there are other passages also, that tell us that. Now, we know all of that already. But we want to look at Jesus today and with Jesus, we’re going to understand the things better. In Jesus, I want to show you six things that you can clearly see as the image of God. Six things that make up the image of God that is clearly and very plainly seen in the life of Jesus – six things.

Now, that is why I read one Corinthians chapter 15. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 there is a comparison, if you noticed, between Adam, who was made in the beginning, and then the second man who came on the scene. In other words, the second Adam. The first man spoilt everything, he landed everybody in sin and everybody died, became spiritually dead as a result. The second man is the exact opposite. That’s why in chapter 15, verse 22, we read, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive”. As in Adam all die, in Christ all shall be made alive. And in verse 47 we read “The first man was of the earth”The first man was who? Adam. The first man Adam, he was of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from Heaven. So, he’s making a comparison in this chapter between the first man and the second man, the first man being Adam, the second man being Jesus. The first man came in and ruined everything and lost everything for mankind. The second man came in as a redeemer, gains everything back and He is the very Son of God Himself. He is not made from the earth. He is the Lord from Heaven, who came as God incarnate into this world. So, there’s a big difference between the two. That is why he’s a better picture of what man as made by God and would be like, you can see it very clearly in Him. Let’s look at the six things that I’m talking about; six things that are present in the image of God in man.

As the image of God, Jesus’s humanity, first of all, was an embodied humanity. Embodied means it was wrapped up in a body.Jesus came with a body; He is a Man with a body. Now, when we talk about the image of God, a lot of people think that image of God must exist in some spiritual aspect of man, or some soul aspect of man that when he talks about the image of God, people think that maybe, in his thinking man isn’t the image of God. In his ability to decide, in His will man is in the image of God. Or they’ll say in his affections, man is in the image of God, always dealing with this unseen aspect of man. The soul aspect of man or the spirit aspect of man and talk about the image of God being there somewhere in there because they cannot imagine the body reflecting the image of God.You see Greek philosophy has had a major impact upon Christianity and even from the days of old, even from 2000 years ago, ever since the Greeks ruled it has had a major impact. The Greeks are the ones that first brought the idea that everything material is bad, everything spiritual is good. That is the idea that is carried out even today and that is why people believe that material things are bad. And as if material things are to be hated, but God made the material world. You talk to a Jew and tell him material things are bad, he’ll laugh at you. He will tell you God made this world man; God called it good. He not only made it He called it good. How can you call it bad? Even Christians, you will find they’re talking, in a negative way about material well-being. As if that’s not important and that’s unspiritual or something.The Bible is not like that, the Jews would never accept it because that is a later idea, a Greek idea that came in.

So, the body bearing the image of God is something unbearable for people because they’ve been raised with this Greek philosophy. We have more Greek philosophy myths than Bible I think sometimes. So, body being the image of God. Body is necessarily evil according to the Greek philosophy, you know, body’s material, therefore, it’s evil. A lot of Christians think like that. But body is God-given.When God made man, He made man as an embodied person. He is a man with a body. When He got through making man God said it’s very good. Can you go and tell God, look, God you make man with a body, this dirty body. This body that’s the cause of all evil and you’re calling it very good. God would say yes, very good, body is very good. So, Jesus came in a body. Here is man as God made him; he is appearing in a body. Here is the perfect man as God made him, he is in a body. How can a man who’s in a body reflect God completely? And how can he reflect God in his body? We thought body was evil, body was sinful, body is no good. But the Bible speaks about the body a lot. For example, I showed you in 1Corinthians chapter 6,the Bible says The body is for the Lord. The body belongs to the Lord. He didn’t leave it at that, it says, The Lord is for the body. The Lord is for the body. Actually, the way he puts it is, people live with this philosophy that food is for stomach and stomach is for food. That’s the way they think about this body. Why the stomach exists? To dump food. Why food is there? So that you can dump it in the body in the stomach. That’s the way people think. But it’s not like that. The right way to think about it is “The body is for the Lord. And the Lord is for the body” Have you ever read that? In the same 1 Corinthians 6 it says, “Glorify God in your body as well as in your spirit”. How can you glorify God in your body? And that is where it talks about fornication and so on, why it is wrong, to use the body for that purpose. And the one who does that becomes one with that person with whom he commits that sin.

So, the body is something very serious business. The body is for the Lord, the Lord is for the body. The body is supposed to reflect God, the image of God and bear the image of God. That’s the way the Bible presents it. For example, as Protestants, we don’t believe in just the glorification of our souls. We believe in the resurrection of the body. We believe in a glorified body, not just the soul. A lot of people will talk about immortality of the soul. We believe in the resurrection of the body, a body that will live forever. We don’t leave the body in the grave. We don’t believe that our body will be left in the grave. We believe that it will be raised from the grave and be given back to us as an undying body. The body is so important. And the whole teaching on sanctification has a lot to do with the body in the Bible. It says,“Present your bodies as living sacrifice,” Romans chapter 12 verse 1, for example, says “Present your bodies as living sacrifice”.

In Romans chapter 6,it says “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin” don’t allow your hands your eyes, your legs, whatever parts of your body, you have, do not allow them to be instruments of unrighteousness. Let them be instruments of righteousness, your hands, your legs, your eyes, every part of your body is given to you to reflect God’s image by doing that which is righteous. So, we are embodied images of God. The body plays a very important role in that. That’s why when God made man, He put him in the garden and told him to till it and keep it. Cultivate and keep it, He gave work for the body. He didn’t say your body is not that important, you just lie around and do nothing.No, no, He says work, till it and keep it He says. He must apply himself body, soul and spirit and work. The image of God is to be exemplified in all that we are and so our bodies do matter. That’s the way the Bible teaches us. It matters what you and I do with our body because it is given by God. It’s good. And it is supposed to bear the image of God in so many ways. That’s why the Bible teaches extensively about the body.

Now, let me just quickly summarize what the Bible teaches about the body. I think a lot of young people today need to hear about this. Because a lot of times in churches we never hear the doctrine concerning the body, being presented. We kind of lay it aside; we think that’s not so important. It’s so important. That’s the basis for our sanctification and life of holiness and all of that. It comes in and it’s a basis for our effectiveness in this world. So let me quickly summarize what the Bible says. First of all, you need to look at the Bible and understand the Bible teaches a lot about the body. And I’ve already given you 1Corinthians 6 and Romans 6 and so on, are major chapters that teach about the body. And not only the Bible teaches, but the world also teaches us through science about the body. In order to thrive physically, learn what you can from these sources- from the Bible as well as from the world and by observing your own body strengths and weaknesses, because the body must be used with optimum effect for God, and we need to use it to live for God in this world. Do not neglect it, pay attention to it, understand your body. Otherwise, you will fail in accomplishing God’s purposes.

Secondly, the Bible talks about bodily exercise in 1 Timothy chapter 8 says “For bodily exercise profits a little”. Now a lot of people use it as a verse against bodily exercise. Say look it says bodily exercise profits little. That verse is actually comparing spiritual exercise or discipline, the various disciplines that we make sure that we follow with regard to a life of holiness. Those are very important in comparison to that the bodily exercises are a little thing; it’s comparing the two the spiritual versus the body. Therefore, it says, that is greater than this, but it doesn’t say that it’s unimportant. Exercise is talked about in the Bible. In order to serve God well, you need to work to keep your body in good health. The Bible talks about health. The Bible talks about healing andhealth, ever thought about it. Why God is interested in health says the Word of God is medicine to all our flesh and one translation says it is health to all our flesh.

Why is God interested in health, this body’s a body that’s going to die? Greek philosophy says that it’s a dirty thing, why pay it so much attention. But God is interested in the body, the health of our body, and when it’s sick, God comes to heal the body. He’s interested in healing the body; He said “I am the Lord that healeth thee. I’ll bless your blood and water, removes sickness from your midst.”Why is He so interested in our bodies? When Jesus came that’s the one of the main things they did. He went around healing people from various sicknesses. He could’ve left them just in their sicknesses. He was interested in healing them because it’s a man made in the image and likeness of God. And that’s not the way to be. He needs to be well. He needs to be wholesome, healthy. He was doing the work of redemption.

Thirdly, feed the body properly and I’ve seen Christians who won’t feed the body because they think the body acts up too much because you’re feeding it with good food. You know, I’ve seen some Christians that have strange ideas. One fella said, “I don’t eat meat and so I never get angry.” I said what? I mean, some Christians, I don’t know what they read. They read other things other than the Bible too much, I think. They’ve got all strange, funny ideas. I don’t eat meat;therefore, I never get angry. People who eat meat will get angry like one fella said the other day, people that eat meat because they kill the animal to eat meat, they will also kill people. You can see how bright he is. Feed the body. Just like a God has given you stewardship of your body. And it’s a valuable resource for your life. And God puts enormous value in your body. Therefore, pay attention to the body, feed your body.

Fourthly, rest, the Bible talks about, have you ever read a book called ‘Sleep Your Way to Success’? You’ve read a lot of success books. I always read success books; I’m interested.

‘Sleep Your Way to Success.’ Amazing how sleep helps you to succeed in life. It helps you so much in the Bible rest is a major theme. Why did God make seven days and six days you work and one day you rest? Why there is night for resting and day for working? Why? God is a wise God; He has made things like that.

Fifthly, protect your body. Why? Because it’s the temple of the Holy Spirit. You should care for it better than your own home. It must be taken care of better than the White House because it’s the temple of God. It’s a place where God dwells. A lot of us don’t even realize that you know.Defend your body by avoiding evil substances that damage it and experiences that can deface, injure, and even kill the body. Protect it from all that stuff. Why? Because it’s the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that 1 Corinthians 6:19. Submit your body; bring your body under submission. Why? Even if you know the first five things, I just told you. Like study about the body, feed your body, exercise and all these things you know, rest, and protect your body and so on. Even after you do all those five things, still, the bodies are in a fallen state. Bodily redemption has not completely taken place. Sure, we have healing and things like that but bodily redemption has not happened completely. It’s still a dying body. It’s still a body that can get sick; it’s still a body that can become weak. Therefore, you can never expect the body to be perfect or ideal. So therefore, we submit to the unique and wise way that God has designed us and accept our limitations or weaknesses and our strengths and understand the various things that can attack our body and harm our body and so on. So, you need to submit the body in that way.

Seventhly and this is interesting. Cover your body. Where do we learn that? When Adam and Eve went and hid and said we were naked, and therefore, we went and hid. They said to God, and God didn’t say well, you’ve sinned and this is your punishment. You stay naked. No, He made coats of skin. They had made some clothes out of fig leaves. But you know fig leaves clothing won’t work. God made them coats of skin and covered their nakedness. The body must be covered in a dignified manner. The Bible teaches that.

Control the body. Why because it is imbalanced by sin and it can easily take the good things such as beauty and strength and sex and all of these things, food and all these things and misuse those things, misdirect the passion in the wrong way into destructive lusts and obsessive desires.In the wrong way, it can direct the passions. So therefore, we need to be aware of our weaknesses and take care of ourselves so that we do not fuel them, feed them, we do not provide cause for them to act that way. We need to keep the body in control so it doesn’t become a master that controls us. Our passions and evil desires don’t try to control us.

Next, dedicate your body.The Bible talks about it. And we talked about it the other day, the redemption of our body. The body is from God. Therefore, Paul says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as living sacrifice, holy and acceptable for God. For it is your reasonable service.” Reasonable service means that it’s the intelligent worship you say. That’s the way to really worship God.How?Presenting your body as a living sacrifice. So, he says, dedicate your body knowing that it belongs to God. Just like we dedicate a house, dedicate a child. What do we mean? We said the child belongs to God. The house belongs to God. To be used for God’s, God’s will will be done. Only things that are acceptable to God will be done in this house. Only God’s will must be done to this child. That’s what we’re saying when we dedicate a child. Dedicate your bodies, saying this is for God. This belongs to God I will not do with this body anything other than what pleases God. What is the will of God?

And finally, the 10th item is something tremendous that is, Jesus took real human nature with a human body. A complete body with all of its qualities. The body had its limitations, He felt hunger, He felt thirst, He felt tired. He felt the pain when He suffered on the Cross. Don’t you think he suffered the pain? Don’t you think He experienced the pain? Yes, He had all the limitations and all the things that are part of the body. Except for sin,He had everything in that body. And He gave that body to be beaten, to be tortured. To take on the punishment for sin, so that He had to suffer on the Cross. His body became like a ploughed field,the Bible says, wounded from head to toe. Blood-drenched body.The body is not His. In other words, in Hebrews, I don’t have the time to read these things. But author of the book of Hebrews says that when He came into this world, He came saying,“You have given me a body.” God has given Him a body. Why? To die on the cross, because He’s coming as a sacrifice for our sins, says you gave me a body. So, He comes into this world. Just imagine the body coming into this world, knowing what His body is there on Him for, why the body is there. It’s there so that it can shed the blood, every drop of the blood and die on the Cross knowing that day comes and when the moment comes to die on the Cross, He submits to the death and dies on the Cross. This is the way to deal with the body. This is the way to think about the body the body is not mine. It’s God’s instrument. With Jesus, God wanted the body to become a sacrifice for sins of the world. He said alright I’m giving my body and that is why every month as we gather for communion right now, we say this is My body broken for you, take it, eat, in remembrance of Me. We say that every time we partake of the communion.

So, I would say to you that the body is part of the worship.As we worship, as we partake of the communion, we are honouring this body of the Lord Jesus Christ is not an ordinary thing. This is My body which is broken for you; take, eat, in remembrance of Me. So, nobody after hearing this can think of body is something ordinary.Body is precious, it’s a precious instrument that God has given, we need to be stewards of our body. And we bear the image of God in our body. Whoever says the body is not very important, is not saying the right thing. The Bible does not believe so; the Bible believes the body is for the Lord and the Lord is for the body.

Secondly, as the image of God, Jesus’s humanity was a communicative humanity. You see, Adam’s uniqueness as the image of God was given to no other creation. Adam was unique, all the creation that was made before him, doesn’t match up to Adam. That’s why I said he is made in the image and likeness of God meant that he’s very special. In what way is he special?In what way is he much more than the animals? What we cannot compare him with animals in any way. Animals cannot even come near man in comparison. Man is so much higher than the animals. In what way? Because man can communicate with God and God can communicate with man. Man can carry on a communication with God. Adam was a communicative being.So, we read in Genesis chapter 3 that God would come in the cool of the day;He’d come and walk in the Garden of Eden.

Just imagine that and the way it is said it doesn’t look like it’s something that happened one time. It is something that happened all the time. It looks like every day, that the cool of the day He will come and He’ll walk with them, and they will have a time of getting together and communicate with one another. So, the image of God bears this mark of the ability to communicate. It’s a communicative image. Look at Jesus when He was in this world. There was communication going on between Him and God constantly. He says, I see what the Father does, and I do it. I hear what the Father does and I do that. I don’t do anything of my own self, all the time I’m hearing and seeing what the Father does and that’s what I do. I do the Father’s Will. He is constantly in touch with the Father. The Holy Spirit is constantly working through Him; He is constantly in touch with the Holy Spirit. The communication between the Trinity who spoke in the beginning, He said let us make man in the image and likeness of God. The Trinity is speaking there. The communication between the Trinity the Father Son and the Holy Spirit was constantly there. They never lost communication; they were communicating with one another. And when God said let us make man in our image and likeness and made man as male and female, Adam, and Eve. God brought these two persons Adam and Eve whom He has made into communication and into the communication circle of the Trinity. Now, there was Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and Adam and Eve, part of the meeting. That’s the way it must have been. They were walking together, talking together. And that’s what it means to be a human. I’ve said this many times.

Billy Graham was preaching back in the 1950’s, I think in England, in Cambridge University I think and after preaching he was answering questions of the students and one of the students, you know, got up and said, “Mr Graham, every other sentence that you speak you’re talking about God, God, God, God you for everything is God for you. Don’t you know God is dead”? Now that one famous philosopher has made that phrase very popular. So, you know, back in those days, I’ve seen myself in the university walls. These words will be written God is dead. It’s a very fashionable thing to write it and believe it and speak it. God is dead. Young people go around saying God is dead. So, this man has caught on to that, the spirit of that age. And he said, don’t you know God is dead. Mr Graham, you’re talking about God all the time. He’s dead. And Mr Graham looked at him and said, “Young man, when did he die because I just talked to him this morning?” Just coolly answered him, he said, I just talked to him this morning.

Now, let me ask you, have you talked to God this morning? You know, there was a time in my life had you asked me, have you talked to God this morning, I would’ve blinked; I wouldn’t know what it is. And I was raised in a Christian home. And we prayed as a family and all that but I never thought about it as talking to God. I was thinking about it as something that I do. Every day, it’s my duty. But there came a point in my life when I had this experience of talking to God. I can talk to God now. Every time I need to talk to Him, I can go into a room and shut the door and talk to Him. And He talks to me. Has God ever talked to you; do you ever talk to God? This is what it means to be a man to be able to talk to God and for God to be able to talk to you. That’s a man made in the image of God. That’s how God made him in the beginning. And that is the kind of man that Jesus was.

Thirdly, as God’s image in His embodied humanity, talking about Jesus, Jesus loved His Father. That’s another quality. Jesus who bore the image of God, the perfect image of God. What was He like? He loved the Father. Remember that expert in the law that came to Jesus and asked Him, what is the greatest commandment because God gave 10 Commandments in the Old Testament? Then these guys, these Jews, got together and they’re good at developing things. And they made it into six hundred sub commandments. They took the 10 and out of it, they made 600 something sub commandments and so on. Now everybody’s confused. Now everybody is confused about which is the greatest commandment which one first? Which one next? One rabbi is suggesting this order, another rabbi suggesting that order, nobody know which is most important. This was a controversial matter when the man comes and says which is the greatest commandment? And Jesus says, the greatest commandment is this that you love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and all your strength. That’s the greatest commandment. Why is it the greatest commandment? Why is loving God the greatest commandment? Because that’s God. God’s nature; God is love. And if you came from God, if you’re made in the image and likeness of God, love must be your first nature and loving God must be the first thing in your life. That’s the greatest commandment.Man made in the image and likeness of God. If the image and likeness of God is not shattered in a person’s life, it’s not ruined. If he’s got the image of God, if he lives in the image of God, he will love God.The mark of that kind of a man is a love for God. Love belongs to the very essence of what it means to be made in God’s image. Love is the image of God.

In John chapter 14, verse 31, the last verse in chapter 14 of John says, “But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do”. Whatever God says, I do, He says. Whatever the Father has commanded me I do. Why, so that the world may know that I love the Father. See, when a person loves the Father,which is manifested in perfect obedience to the Father. Love leads to obedience. This is why in the humanity of Jesus; the human nature of Jesus was characterized by obedience. People may say so many different things are the greatest things in Jesus, like someone may say it’s kindness, another person may say it’s patience. Another person might say its power, because He raised the dead, healed the sick and so on. Someone else may say that it is zeal for God because He drew out the money changers and dove sellers from the temple boldly. Others may say that He is tender and gentle because He dealt with broken people, bruised people in a gentle way, accepted sinners. All of that is true. But we need to see all of them as fruits of obedience. The whole life of Jesus was seen as a life of obedience.In John chapter 6, verse 38. Jesus says, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” Perfect obedience. I don’t have my agenda. I don’t have any plans. I’m here to do whatever He wants me to do. Whatever He wants me to do, I’m here to do.

In Romans chapter 5, that wonderful chapter. Paul characterizes the whole course of Jesus’s life in this way, Romans chapter 5, verse 19For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners”Who was that one man? That was Adam, the first man, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”One man’s disobedience landed us all into sin. And one man’s perfect obedience brought us all into righteousness. Amazing. The obedience of Jesus is so perfect. That He comes knowing that His body was given so that it can die, shed its blood, every drop of blood on the cross, comes just imagine being born knowing that why you have a body- to die to give us a sacrifice. He is born knowing that He lives knowing that and when the time comes to die, He perfectly obeys that. That’s Philippians chapter 2 verse 5 onwards “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God”, but came in the form of man and he humbled himself to the point of death and was obedient to the point of death. And that is why God exalted Him and given Him a name above every name, in heaven on earth and under the earth. So here is perfect obedience. Even to die, He was obedient when God said, you die, and you’re sent to die. Your purpose, your mission is to die as a sacrifice. He was able to give it but the thing is this, this obedience, we must not lose track of what we’re talking about. We’re talking about love as being the image of God, and we’re saying love leads to obedience. The obedience is the result of love when a person is filled with love for someone; He will do whatever that person says. That’s how Jesus obeyed the Father. The way Jesus obeyed the Father is because he loved the Father. His obedience shows how much he loved the Father. Not even in one thing was he disobedient. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He said “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me” but then He said, “nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” In everything He was perfectly obedient because He loved the Father. He was obedient. Now just imagine in salvation we are brought in union with Jesus,are made one with Jesus. I in Him and He and me. That’s what Christian life is all about. We are in a union with Him. That union means that His love for God and His obedience to God is something that is merged within me, by my union with Him, by your union with Him. When you become a Christian, when you put your faith in Jesus when He is in you, and you are in Him when you are in Christ, the love for God becomes a part of your life and therefore the obedience to what God says also becomes a part of your life. Then 3rd chapter of Genesis where the fall happened. It was not simply a failure in obedience; it was not that Adam just failed in obedience. Of course,he failed in obedience. But before the failure in obedience happened, the failure in love happened. Love has diminished. That’s why I invite you to the Ephesian church in Revelation chapter 2.

John says, well, you’re a wonderful church. Paul established the church stayed there for a couple of years and preached there. Many great things happened and God used that church mightily. It was a very effective church, successful church, but then it came to a point where He had one grievance against them. And what was that He said, you have lost your first love.The way you love God in the beginning is not there. You know, many Christians become like that. They start out loving God and loving God very passionately, giving themselves to God very passionately. Obeying God and walking with God very passionately. But then something happens. The love for God diminishes. When the love for God diminishes, our life reflects that. Our obedience reflects that. We fail to obey because love is diminished. That’s why Jesus said,“If you love me, you keep my commandments.”Very simple. If you love me the result will be obedience. You will keep my commandments. Why? Because love delights to please the one who it loves. When we were made in the image and likeness of God, we were made to love God and nothing can substitute for that.No amount of energy,no other substitutes. The hearts love for God is the thing with which God created us in the beginning. That’s the man made in the likeness and in the image of God. So, man in the image of God looks like what? He has a body and, in the body, also he bears God’s image. Secondly man in God’s image is communicating, he’s able to talk to God, God is able to communicate with him. Thirdly, man made in the image and likeness of God is one who loves God. And all of this you can see in Jesus perfectly, all of these things. And fourthly as God’s image in His embodied humanity, and as human life with a body, Jesus was merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Where do I get that from? I get that from that famous verse.

In Exodus chapter 34, and verse 6. You remember, Moses asked God saying I want to see you. I want to know who you are. Your glory, show me your glory. Show me about yourself. Let me see you. I want to see your glory. I want to understand you because you are an unseen God and the Lord passes before him in some way, no man can see God and live. So, He passes before him in some way. And while He’s passing before, it is said, “TheLord, the Lord God,” verse 634, chapter of Exodus, verse 6, this famous verse that says, “the Lord, Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth”. That’s what God is. Moses says, show me yourself. Show me your glory. Show me what you’re like. And God says, take it, this is what I’m like, I’m God, I’m merciful, I’m gracious, I’m longsuffering, I’m abounding in goodness and I am truthful. That’s what I am. Now you can see that perfectly portrayed and Jesus. You can see that He is God, He is merciful,He is gracious, He is long suffering, He is abounding and goodness and He is full of truth. You can see it in Jesus in every way. Again and again, you can see it. And you know, when people get saved, people come to know God and give their life to God. That’s what happens to them. The image of God is restored. This is the image that they lose you know, through the fall but when they come to Christ this is what is given back to them. What is given to them? This nature, to be merciful, to be gracious to belong suffering, to be abounding in goodness and truth this comes upon people. Part of the classic examples is from the conversion story of St. Augustine. I don’t know if you heard about St. Augustine. St. Augustine is a very famous person lived in the fifth century. And as he was growing up, he became a very evil person as a teenager. As a teenager, as a 19-year-old young man, he already was living with a woman and had a child without marriage. And not just that, but he was having all kinds of relationships with many other women.

He was into chasing women, that’s the kind of person he was.That’s the person who later became St. Augustine. His story is a tremendous story. He one day heard the sound, ‘take and read, take and read.’ These words were heard. So,he went home, took the Bible, and read from Romans chapter 13, where it says, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh”, that’s what the verse says, one verse. In one word, he was touched. You know with God’s word, one word is enough, because when He spoke one word the world was created. That’s how powerful the word. That’s why one verse was enough, this evil person, full of evil nature, took the Bible and read “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.”It touched him so hard; He gave his life to Jesus. And God has been drawing him for some time and he’s been going to the church.That time there was only the Catholic Church and there was a man named Bishop Ambrose in Milan in Italy. He was preaching there, he was a very famous preacher, Bishop, known for his preaching ability. And he would go hear him, something was attracting him to him. And what was attracting him was this he says, it was his kindness. He must have gone to many religious people I think, many priests maybe, many preachers – didn’t experience kindness. Here is a Bishop who showed kindness, a true man of God. Tremendous preaching,he does. But he preachers with kindness. Did you know in Jesus’s meetings mainly sinners attended? There are churches today where no sinners are allowed. If you’re a sinner, if you’re known to live the wrong kind of life and you walk into a church, they’ll look at you from head to toe and examine you. Scan you with their eyes and you will walk out the very way they scan you. They will look down on you like that. And throw you out just by the looks. I think you don’t know anything about it,thank goodness. Only holy people are allowed in, too holy. Nobody can be as holy as them. But in Jesus’s meetings full of sinners, the front seats were occupied by sinners.

People who live as sinners, women, men, tax collectors, prostitutes, people like that. That’s why in Luke chapter 15, where the three stories come in on the lost coin, the lost sheep and the lost son,the prodigal son story. It begins like that, Jesus was preaching, and there was a crowd there. And among them were sinners and tax collectors. And Pharisees found themselves in the back row. And they’re criticizing. They were angry because how come all these sinners are sitting in the front? We’re such holy people, we’re so good. This man has much to do with sinners. He’s eating with sinners, He’s talking with sinners, He’s moving around with sinners. He is always found with sinners. Some of these churches that I’m talking about if Jesus came, they won’t allow Him because He’s a sinner for them. But Jesus attracted sinners, you know, why? I found the secret and from the beginning, you know, I have known this somehow, He attracted sinners because He was kind. His words never condemned them in person or in preaching. He never condemned people. People are already broken; people are already bruised people are shattered already. They’re hurting already. Why do you want to condemn them? Speak some kind words to them.

Just a few days ago after we’d finished prayer, Tuesday night, I think. I was just about to get out. One guy came to see me. And he was shaking like this. He said, “The presence of God in this place is so strong and I’m a great sinner.”He said, “I’ve murdered two people and I’m out on bail. And I’m a very bold person who will not hesitate to do anything in front of 500 600 people I’ve murdered. He said and they’re looking to murder me now. But every time I go through this place, one of your church people told me one day he said, that God will change you because He loves you and He will bless you, man. Come to God. I go to this church. If you have time, you come. God will bless you and He will change you.” That’s all they said it seems and from the time it’s been working in him because the way they said it, he said, I had the big question. Will God bless me? He will change me. He will accept me.Will He bless me? I’m such a person that nobody will want me. Well, God blessed me. Because they said, God will bless me. God will accept me. God will change me. They invited me. They say please come. They didn’t say don’t come, it’s not for sinners, it’s for the holy. They said please come. You must come one day. They’ve been telling me for so long. Every time I go by this way, I think about it. And I walked in today and I shudder in God’s presence. I feel the love of God here in this place he said and I prayed for him. Talked to him a little bit because he was going to murder some more people you know.

And I spent some time talking to him and I prayed for him. I prayed a simple prayer and the guy was crying like a baby. Looks like a very strong guy but cried like a little baby. People are hurt. People are wounded. People are bruised. People are crying on the inside. They feel like they’re nothing. They feel like they’re worthless. They’re like the scum of the earth. They feel like and why do you want to curse them still? Why do you want to talk in such a way to condemn them? Our words are so important – kindness. May the kindness of Jesus come upon us. That is part of the image and likeness of God. Look at that person that has talked to him with kindness, he invited him. That’s kindness. He told them God will bless him. God will forgive him. God will take him in God will change him. That’s kindness.

Fifthly as God’s image in Jesus, we see that he lived by faith and not by sight. You know, when God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden and said don’t eat of it. There’s nothing in the tree, eating is not going to harm him. But God said don’t eat and that’s why you shouldn’t eat. It was like putting a person on probation when you join a job for about six months. They’ll put you on probation; they’ll pay you a little salary. They’ll check you out. See if you can work and you’re fit for work. So, God was giving a probationary period where He was testing him to see what he will do. That’s what was happening in the garden. He said don’t eat it. Don’t eat it simply because I tell you not to eat it. Let’s see if you can do it. It looked good. And someone might come and say this to you that to you and by eating this you can become this and that, they’ll make this very attractive to you. They will appeal to you to eat it. You may even feel like you want to eat it. But I want to see whether you will remain without eating it just because I said will you believe me? Will you put your trust in me? Believe me I say don’t eat it, the day that you eat it you will surely die. It’s a test. Let’s see, and the man took and ate it, that’s the thing. But when Jesus the second Adam, He came, He was tempted 40 days and 40 nights he has not eaten anything. And the devil comes to Him and says, “Take these stones and make them into bread.” That’s like after you’ve been fasting 40 days somebody is coming in talking about some biryani and you’ll really be drooling after 40 days of not eating. Turn this into bread. Now Jesus is someone who could turn it, if that same temptation happened to us we would’ve turned it. Well, I can’t turn it into bread. I don’t have the power to do it. Jesus had the power and He could do it. And he says turned it into bread. And Jesus said No, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Then he takes him to the pinnacle of the temple and says, “jump from here, the angels of God will come and bear you up so that your foot shall not tread on the ground.” Psalm 91 he’s quoting and I tell you today Christians will stand in line to jump because Psalm 91 is quoted. Many Christians would have stood in line jumped and died today. Jesus didn’t do it and he’s quoting the Bible. So, Jesus quoted the Bible back to him, he says “You shall not test the Lord your God” that is also written. He says, because the devil said it is written the angels will bear you up.Jesus said, “It’s also written that you do not test the Lord your God”And then he takes Him to the mountain, high mountain and shows Him the world and the riches of this world, the gold and silver of this world. The glory of this world literally means the riches of this world. Just imagine. He says this was all given to me, Adam when he sinned and came under my control; this was all part of Adam. God has given the whole world to Adam and Adam has turned it over to me. It all belongs to me and I can give it to whoever I will. That’s what the devil says.

So, if you will do just this one thing just fall down and worship me. Now if you said this here today in our world, falling down and worshiping is nothing people will be standing in line. If you offered the gold and silver of the entire world and said if whoever comes and falls and worship me, I will give you the gold and silver. And there’ll be a line so long, that you will never be able to manage people will be competing to do that. And Jesus said no I don’t worship anyone else other than the Lord God.But in that cross, supremely we see how Jesus exercised His faith, dying on the cross. In a moment He felt that God has forsaken Him because He has become the sin by bearing the sin of the world. He has never sinned, but by bearing the sin of the world He became sin. He became the cursed one on the cross. And God who does not even look upon sin turned His face away from him. He felt forsaken by God. And that’s where we have the cry of dereliction. When He cries saying, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”? He’s not even calling Him father. He feels so distanced from God. He felt like God has forsaken him. That moment how it would’ve been, just imagine from eternity past He has lived with God. He’s been with God in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Bible says, from the beginning He was with God never lost fellowship with God, even when He came into the world, but on the cross in that moment when He bore the sin of the world, He felt distanced from God as if God has forsaken Him and abandoned Him. What a terrible moment that must have been, doesn’t even call Him father. He says,“My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me”? But then He trusts Him that if He dies, if He closes His eyes that God will raise Him up, as He has promised, He may send Him to die, but not just to die, but to be raised up and to be vindicated. God has sent Him; God is going to prove to the whole world that He is the son and He believes Him. And He gives up His ghost saying, “Father into your hands I commit my spirit,” and He was raised on the third day, He has proven himself in His trust of God.

Finally, in His embodied humanity, when Jesus came into this world, He exercised dominion over the whole creation. He commanded the sea to be still, it was still. Fed the 5000 with five loaves and 2 fish, He turned water into wine, He made the lame to walk, the blind to see the lepers cleansed. All of these miracles and things that He did is a sign of His dominium. Here is the perfect man. Here is a man as God made him this is how God made man. And you can see the signs of what a man as made by God in the beginning with the image of God would be like. Here he is the total power and authority even over the sea and the wind and the wave and over the devils. The devils are shaking, just hearing him. Adam was given such dominion in the beginning. He was to fill the earth and subdue it. God told him and had dominion over it. We see in Jesus that perfect image, and likeness, we see that dominion in all that He did, but that dominion is not complete yet. That is why I read 1 Corinthians 15 verse 23 it says how things are going to pan out at the end. It says, “But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.Then comes the end.” Look at what’s going to happen in the end. It’s talking about what’s going to happen in the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power, For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. Why? Because God put everything under His feet. Psalm 8 says, when God made him Adam, just a little lower than God, put everything under his feet that must happen again. It must happen through Jesus. He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet; the last enemy that will be destroyed is death. He will destroy death. Death will be no more. That’s the last enemy that will be gone. Then He says for He has put all things under His feet, but when He says all things are put under Him, it is evident that He who put all things under Him is accepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son himself will also be subject to Him, who put all things under Him that God may be all in all.

What’s going to happen is summarized there. There is when Jesus comes these things are going to happen. The last enemy death will be destroyed. Jesus Christ began to reign 2000 years ago when He came by healing, delivering, and exercising authority over nature and so on. He began to reign when He went away. He gave the authority to reign to the redeemed ones. He told the disciples go and preach the gospel to every creature. These are the signs that will follow you lay hands on the sick and they will recover. You will cast out devils in my name. This is dominion. This is ruler ship. This is man taking authority. This is man walking in the place of dominion that God has originally made him with. So, it has already started with Jesus inaugurating the kingdom, bringing in the kingdom. And these people entering into the kingdom exercising the authority of the kingdom. So, the apostles went everywhere, casting out devils healing the sick, delivering the oppressed. The dominion of the kingdom of God has seen in the Christian people today but it’s not in complete form. Still death is there, the last enemy death will be gone and then Jesus will reign. He started reigning 2000 years ago on this earth. And then when He left, He told us to reign on His behalf in His name here exercise authority and reign and so we are ready now. So, for 2000 years, the reigning and ruler ship is happening in some way. But it’s not in a complete way. Still death is there until everything is brought under the feet of Jesus under man; Jesus will continue to reign that’s what its saying. Until everything is brought under his feet. And when everything is brought under His feet, when death itself is gone when everything is under the feet of this man made in the image and likeness of God, then that man Jesus himself will turn around and say to God, Father, here is your kingdom. I give it back to you. You be all in all. I have completed my work that is what world is headed to. That is where we are headed to. That is how the Bible puts it and it’s already started in some way. We’re ruling and reigning on His behalf, His name is given, in His name there is power and authority and so on. So, in redemption, God brings us back not to the place where the original Adam was, the first man was.No, that’s why the difference between first man and the second man is important. In redemption, God is not taking us back to where Adam was and the position that Adam was. God is taking us to where Jesus Christ is now today. We are on a much higher level than the first Adam. We are in the Son of God Himself, in Christ Jesus Himself. Amen.

Now,take these six things and look at them. You have a body that belongs to the Lord. It is supposed to reflect the image of God. You have not only a body that reflects the image of God,but you also have a communicative ability, you can speak to God. Are you speaking to God? You see that image of God as a saved person; you must see these things being restored to some level. Are you speaking to God, is God speaking to you? Then, thirdly, the love for God. Are you loving God? Is the love of God filling your heart? Are you walking in obedience to God? And then, can you see the gracious merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, faithfulness, that kind of quality in your life? Is that what is happening? That is what redemption does. The image of God is given back in that way, even today it’s happening in us. The graciousness, the mercy fullness, the goodness all comes in upon us. Are you walking by faith or by sight? And are you exercising dominion? Are you taking the authority over the devil? Are you exercising the authority that you’ve been given in the name of Jesus? You are the redeemed one. If you’re doing it, you have been redeemed. And I’ll tell you, keep doing it and it will reach a stage where it’ll reach its perfection one day.

Let’s all stand together. Praise You, Jesus.

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