MAN MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD Devotion #14 of 17

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle , and over all the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them"

(Genesis 1:26-27)

We shall be like Him!

Salvation begins in this world, but it is NOT consummated here! The fullness of salvation is "ready to be revealed" (1 Pet. 1:5). God's appointment is that we will be like His Son (Rom 8:29), and like Him we shall be. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth 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" (1 John 3:2). Our redemption is not yet complete. We are "waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Rom. 8:23). The promise is this: " . . . we look for the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able to even to subdue all things unto Himself" (Phil. 3:20). What a glorious transformation that will be! The one great handicap we now possess is our body--our "vile bodies." It is true, they are the temples of the Holy Spirit. However, they must be brought under subjection because of their bent toward the earth (1 Cor 9:27). Right now, our bodies "are the members of Christ" (1 Cor 6:15), but they are subjugated to that position. It is the prospect of the resurrection that makes our bodies" the "members of Christ." Of our bodies it is said, "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor 15:50). They have been contaminated by sin, are weak, and subject to death. But it shall not always be so. Now, in heaven, we have another body, or "house," reserved for us. When we are relieved of this body, we will obtain that one. As it is written, "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor 5:1). In its fulness, all of this will occur at the resurrection of the dead. It is tragic that much of the eschatology (study of last things) of our time fails to emphasize the resurrection of the dead. That is the time appointed for the final transformation. Think of it, we will bear the image of the heavenly! "And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (1 Cor. 15:49). Until that day, we are being oriented for the world to come. Our spirits are being refined by grace so we will be suitable for our redeemed bodies, and will fit into, so to speak, the world to come. In our spirits, we are becoming more and more like Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 3:18). The process of transformation will be brought to its culmination when we are raised "incorruptible" (1 Cor 15:52). The Holy Spirit apprizes us that "every man that hath this hope IN him purifies himself even as He is pure" (1 John 3:3). A lack of holiness reveals a lack of hope, profession notwithstanding. There are no exceptions to this statement. Whoever is dominated by the hope of being "like Him" will so order his life as to be ready for Christ's return. Spiritual and moral purity will have priority in such an one (2 Cor 7:1). Where such a priority is absent, there is no dominating anticipation of Christ's return. Live in anticipation of that day, dear child of God. Fight the good fight of faith, and finish the race that has been set before you. It will not be long, and we shall stand before the Lord, wholly holy!

-- TOMORROW: SPIRITUAL REASONING --