8.1 Like God Inwardly
© 2015 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
I have separated our being the likeness of God from our being the image of God into two thoughts. Likeness means that we are custom made to fit God. Image means that we are specifically designed to reveal God. We will look at image further in the third most important verse in the Bible, rivers of Spirit flowing out of us. Here, we will look at two aspects of likeness: that God designed us to be like God in our inward construction, and God designed us to be like God in our outward expression. By outward expression, I mean our human persona, not the outflow of rivers of Spirit.
The Pattern
Before continuing, let’s bring in again the beyond all claim Paul made, a claim that REQUIRES us to re-think everything. That you might be filled with all the fullness of God.
The first overwhelming implication of this statement is that in order for us to contain all of God, we must be shaped in our construction to fit God. Thus, when God designed us, He used a model of Himself, an outward appearance of God, as the pattern by which to shape our construction. The pattern God used to design us has a name: the Lord Jesus Christ.
Designing a Pattern
I have been, in the past, a builder, a woodworker, a designer, and a construction manager, all at the same time. As such, I have set up assembly line systems through which to create many items, hundreds of root cellar crates for instance, all of which were identical in form, setting up a process in which one worker did the first step before passing the partially constructed box on to the next worker, over and over. To make this project successful, I first spent much time by myself designing the original root cellar crate.
The specifications for this crate were two fold. The root cellar crate had to be useful first, and easily copied, second. Then I had to design the whole process of assembly.
Savior AND Salvation
We understand that Jesus is Savior first and Salvation second. As Savior, Jesus was “useful” as the revelation of the Father. But as the revelation of the Father, Jesus had to be proven out in every way, first. Then, as Salvation, Jesus is “duplicated” in our lives as we are conformed to His same image.
We understand what we are becoming by understanding how it is that seeing Jesus is seeing the Father. As the Pattern, Jesus was carefully “constructed” by God. Jesus first fit God perfectly, and now He is “duplicated” in us. – A grain of wheat bringing forth much grain. –
DNA ConnectionsLet’s approach being like God from a different perspective. Here is the model of the DNA structure again. Notice how the cross bars, the Pattern, Jesus, ties into us at a certain point and into the Father at that same point.
Where Jesus ties into us, He is entirely merged together as that part of us. And where Jesus ties into the Father, He is entirely merged together as that part of the Father.
Similarity and Counterpoint
We have seen that we are like God in both inner construction and outer expression in two ways. We are similar to God in many things on the one hand. And we are the opposite of God in complementary ways on the other hand. That is, we are God’s counterpoint.
In truth, these four things operate together all the time, but it is useful to us in understanding this incredible symmorphy taking place right now between the Father and us through Christ Jesus to separate them momentarily. Since eternal life is to know God, since we know God by comprehending the full extent of our union with God, we experience that union by our faith in what God speaks.
A Framework of Understanding
Here is a simple diagram that allows us to show how these four dimensions can work together.
The purpose of a diagram such as this is to give us a framework of understanding as to how God fits together with what we find ourselves to be.
A Shared Anatomy
Now I want to look at God's anatomy as it is the same as our anatomy shared fully with each other. This is how our inner construction is “like” God.
Spirit:
- He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6).
- The love of God is shed abroad in your hearts by the Spirit given to you (Romans 5).
- Your heart is a letter written of Christ (2 Corinthians 2).
- Christ dwells in your hearts (Ephesians 3).
Will:
- God works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2).
- We have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2).
- Let this same mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2).
- The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering . . . (Galatians 5).
- The Spirit makes intercession (through) us with groanings (Romans 8).
Body:
- Your body is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinth-ians 6).
- You are flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones, one flesh with Christ (Ephesians 5).
- The Holy Spirit gives you the words to speak (Luke 8).
- God works all in all (1 Corinthians 12).
Essence
Conception:
- Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born (conceived) of God (1 John 5).
- God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life (1 John 5).
- That you might be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3).
- The Father and I will make our Home in you (John 14).
- I live, yet not I, but Christ (Galatians 2).
These connections, through the Holy Spirit and through Christ Jesus, between God the Father and us are not incidental. These elements of our construction which we share with God are essential to God’s design of us from the beginning. Yet these are just basic elements of our construction by which God designed us to fit Himself, that is, to be like God.
I am certain that the correspondence, the similarity, the connection, between our construction and makeup and God’s construction and makeup by which we and God fit perfectly together are without end in number, in complexity, and in wonder.
You and I are more like God than we have ever known.