Ⅰ
The church as the new man accomplishes God's eternal purpose (Eph. 1:9, 11; 2:15-16; 3:9; 4:22-24):
Ａ
God's intention in His creation of man was to have a corporate man to express Him and represent Him (Gen. 1:26, 28):
１
God's creation of man in Genesis 1 is a picture of the one new man in God's new creation (Eph. 2:15; 4:24; Col. 3:10-11).
２
The church as the new man is the corporate man in God's intention, and this new man will fulfill the twofold purpose of expressing God and representing Him (Gen. 1:26, 28).
Ｂ
God created a corporate man to represent Him by having dominion over all things (vv. 26, 28):
１
God's intention in giving man dominion is for him to subdue God's enemy, Satan, who rebelled against God, to recover the earth, and to exercise God's authority over the earth in order that the kingdom of God may come to the earth, the will of God may be done on earth, and the glory of God may be manifested on earth (vv. 26, 28; Matt. 6:10, 13b).
２
God's intention that man would have dominion over all things will be fulfilled by the church as the new man (Eph. 2:15; Col. 3:10-11).
Morning Nourishment
Gen. 1:26 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion...28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion...
God's creation of man in Genesis 1 is a picture of the new man in God's new creation. This means that the old creation is a figure, a type, of the new creation. In God's old creation the central character is man. It is the same in God's new creation. Therefore, in both the old creation and the new creation man is the center.
God created man in His own image (Gen. 1:26) and then gave man His dominion. Image is for expression. God wants man to be His expression. Dominion, however, is a matter not of expression but of representation. God wants man to represent Him in His authority for His dominion. In the old creation man was created to have God's image to express Him and also to have His dominion to represent Him. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2302)
Today's Reading
The image refers to God's positive intention, and dominion to God's negative intention. God's positive intention is that man would express Him, whereas God's negative intention is that man would deal with God's enemy, Satan, the devil. In the universe God has a problem, the problem of dealing with His enemy. Since God's enemy, the devil, is a creature, God will not deal with him directly Himself; instead, He will deal with him by man, a creature of His creation. God deals with His enemy through man. Hence, in God's creation of man there were two intentions. The positive intention is that man would bear God's image for His expression; the negative intention is that man would have God's dominion to represent Him to deal with His enemy.In the old creation the dominion given to man was limited to the earth.
This means that in the old creation the dealing with God's enemy was restricted to the earth. However, in God's new creation the dominion has been enlarged to the entire universe.
Eventually, the church as the new man is the man in God's intention. God wanted a man, and in the old creation He created a figure, a type, not the real man. The real man is the man Christ created on the cross through His all-inclusive death.
The term the new man reminds us of the old man. The old man did not fulfill God's dual purpose. However, the new man in God's new creation does fulfill the twofold purpose of expressing God and dealing with God's enemy. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2302-2303)
God created a corporate man not only to express Himself with His image but also to represent Him by exercising His dominion over all things. God's intention in giving man dominion is (1) to subdue God's enemy, Satan, who rebelled against God; (2) to recover the earth, which was usurped by Satan; and (3) to exercise God's authority over the earth in order that the kingdom of God may come to the earth, the will of God may be done on the earth, and the glory of God may be manifested on the earth (Matt. 6:10, 13b).
God's intention that man would express God in His image and represent God with His dominion is fulfilled not in Adam as the first man (1 Cor. 15:45a), the old man (Rom. 6:6), but in Christ as the second man (1 Cor. 15:47b and footnote 2), the new man (Eph. 2:15 and footnote 8), comprising Christ Himself as the Head and the church as His Body (Eph. 1:22-23; 1 Cor. 12:12 and footnote 2; Col. 3:10-11 and footnote 9 on verse 11). It is fully fulfilled in the overcoming believers, who live Christ for His corporate expression (Phil. 1:19-26) and will have authority over the nations and reign as co-kings with Christ in the millennium (Rev. 2:26-27; 20:4, 6). It will ultimately be fulfilled in the New Jerusalem, which will express God's image, having His glory and bearing His appearance (Rev. 4:3a; 21:11, 18a), and also exercise God's divine authority to maintain God's dominion over the entire universe for eternity (Rev. 21:24; 22:5). (Gen. 1:26, footnote 5)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, pp. 94-107