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God’s desire to be one with man and for man to be one with Him can be seen in the resemblance of God and man in their images and likenesses:
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There was no “mankind” created by God in His creation; rather, what God created was after His own kind, that is, God-kind; God created man with the breath of life for a spirit that man may contact Him and receive Him—Gen. 1:24-26; 2:7.
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In Genesis 18:2-13 three men appeared to Abraham; one of these men was Christ—Jehovah—and the other two were angels (19:1); this means that two thousand years before His incarnation, God appeared as a man when He visited His friend Abraham—2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; James 2:23.
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The Angel of God (God, Jehovah, a man of God—Christ) appeared to Manoah and his wife before Christ’s incarnation—Judg. 13:3-6, 22-23.
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Daniel saw a vision of Christ as the Son of Man before Christ’s incarnation; according to Daniel 7:13-14, Daniel saw the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven, and He came even to the Ancient of Days—the God of eternity—and they brought Him near before Him; there was given Him dominion, glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an eternal dominion, which will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.
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Adam was a type, a prefigure, of Christ—Rom. 5:14.
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Christ is the image of the invisible God—Col. 1:15.
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The Word (God) became flesh (John 1:14), coming in the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3) and not having the sin of the flesh (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15).
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Christ, who exists in the form of God, took the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man, in His incarnation—Phil. 2:6-8.
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Stephen saw the heavens opened up and the Son of Man—Christ—at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56); this indicates that after Christ’s ascension to the heavens, He is still the Son of Man (see Hymns, #132).
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In Matthew 26:64 the Lord Jesus said, “You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power [God] and coming on the clouds of heaven”; this shows that when the Lord Jesus comes back, He will still be the Son of Man.
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In Romans 8:29 Paul tells us that those whom God foreknew (we believers), He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers; by His resurrecting to make us His many brothers, we became a new kind, “God-man kind.”
Morning Nourishment
Gen. 1:26 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…Acts 7:56 And he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.
I would like to give a very brief word on the resemblance of God and man in their images and likenesses ….I would encourage you to study all the following points very carefully. As we consider these, we may wonder whether man resembles God or God resembles man.
There was no “mankind” created by God in His creation. Genesis 1 tells us that God created all the fish, the birds, the beasts, and the cattle after their kind (vv. 24-25). Although God created everything after its kind, God did not create “mankind.” In God’s creation there was not such a thing as “mankind.”
If God did not create “mankind,” then after what kind was man created? Genesis 1:26 indicates that man is after God’s kind. This verse says, “Let Us [the Divine Trinity] make man [Heb. adam, denoting red clay] in Our image, according to Our likeness.” Hence, what God made here was according to His own kind, that is, God-kind….God created something of red clay in His own image and after His own likeness. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, p. 85)
Today’s Reading
Having the image of God, this work of red clay looked like God. At least we can say that this clay was a figure of God, made after God’s kind. Therefore, it was God-kind. In Genesis 1:26 God created something according to Himself. What He made was a reproduction of Himself. If God had made ten thousand pieces of clay in His image and after His likeness, those ten thousand pieces of clay would all have been figures of God, the mass reproduction of God.In Genesis 18:2-13 three men appeared to Abraham. One of these men was Christ—Jehovah—and the other two were angels (19:1). The appearing of these three men to Abraham took place before Christ’s incarnation. This means that two thousand years before His incarnation, God appeared as a man when He visited His friend Abraham. Abraham prepared water for Him to wash His feet, and Abraham’s wife, Sarah, prepared a meal that this man ate. This is a mystery. When did Christ become a man—at the time of His incarnation or before the incarnation?
According to Daniel 7:13-14, Daniel saw a vision of a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven, and He came even to the Ancient of Days—the God of eternity—and they brought Him near before Him. There was given Him dominion, glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an eternal dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Daniel saw such a vision of Christ as the Son of Man before Christ’s incarnation.
Adam was a type, a prefigure, of Christ (Rom. 5:14). The piece of red clay in Genesis 1:26 was a type of Christ, and Christ is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). Christ, who exists in the form of God, took the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man, in His incarnation (Phil. 2:6-8).
Stephen saw the heavens opened up and the Son of Man—Christ—at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56). Stephen saw this after Christ’s ascension to the heavens. This indicates that Christ is in the heavens still as the Son of Man. In Matthew 26:64 the Lord Jesus said, “You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power [God] and coming on the clouds of heaven.” This refers to Christ’s second coming. When the Lord Jesus comes back, He will still be the Son of Man. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, pp. 86-87)
Further Reading: Life-study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, msgs. 2, 4, 7, 11, 13