Scripture Reading: Gen. 1:26-28;Mark 1:14-15; 2 Cor. 4:3-4; Rom. 8:29; 5:17; Col. 1:13, 15; 3:10-11; Matt. 13:43; Rev. 21:10-11; 22:1, 5
Ⅰ
The book of Genesis begins and ends with image and dominion—1:26-28:
A
The subject of Genesis is man bearing the image of God andexercising God's dominion over all things—vv. 26-28:
１
For God to create man in His image means that God createdman with the intention that man would become aduplication of God, the reproduction of God, for His corporateexpression—John 12:24; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:10; 1 John3:1-2.
２
God's intention in giving man dominion was for man to exerciseGod's authority to deal with the enemy, to recover theearth, and to bring in the kingdom of God; dominion andthe kingdom are synonymous—Gen. 1:28; Matt. 6:10, 13b.
３
We were created for the purpose of expressing God andexercising His dominion; this is the heart of Genesis.
B
Genesis concludes with a life that, in Jacob, expressed God inHis image and, in Joseph, represented God with His dominion—48:14-16; 41:40-44, 57:
１
After Jacob was transformed and matured, he became theexpression of God, becoming Israel, a corporate person—35:10.
２
The exercise of God's dominion over all things was manifestedin Joseph's life—45:8-9, 26a:
ａ
Joseph's life under the heavenly vision was the life of thekingdom of the heavens described in Matthew 5—7.
ｂ
Joseph's self-denial was the key to the practice of thekingdom life—Gen. 45:4-8; 50:15-21.
ｃ
Because Joseph lived under God's restriction, the kingdomcould be brought in through him—Matt. 16:24-28.
ｄ
The reigning of Joseph in Egypt was the kingdom ofGod for the fulfillment of God's purpose—Gen. 41:55-57;47:11-27; Rev. 11:15.
ｅ
In Genesis 47 we have a picture of the millennium:
⑴
Under Joseph, Egypt prefigured the millennium withall the people on the same level, without distinctions.
⑵
Under Joseph's rule, the whole land of Egypt becamea land of enjoyment:
(a)
All the people were enjoyers on the same levelbecause everyone and everything was under Joseph—vv. 14-21.
(b)
This is a picture of the millennium, where everythingwill be under the Lord's hand—Psa. 24:1.
Ⅱ
The matters of image and dominion, presented as seeds inGenesis, are developed and consummated in the New Testament:
A
Christ's incarnation and God-man living fulfilled God's intentionin His creation of man—Gen. 1:26-27; Luke 1:31-32, 35;2:40, 52:
１
The incarnation of Christ and His God-man living are closelyrelated to God's purpose that man would receive Him as lifeand express Him in His attributes—Gen. 1:26; 2:9; Acts3:14a; Eph. 4:24.
２
When Christ came, He brought the kingdom of God withHim; the kingdom subdues rebellion, casts out demons, healsthe sick, and raises the dead—Luke 17:21; Matt. 12:28; Mark4:35—5:43.
B
Whereas in Genesis 1 image precedes dominion, in the gospelthe order is reversed, and dominion comes before image, becauseman has fallen from God's dominion and must repent—Mark 1:1, 14-15; Matt. 4:17:
１
Through the gospel of the kingdom, God brings rebelliouspeople under the ruling of His authority so that they maybecome His kingdom and be ruled by His authority—24:14;Rev. 1:5-6:
ａ
The gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed so that rebellioussinners might be saved, qualified, and equippedto enter into the kingdom of God—Acts 8:12.
ｂ
As believers in Christ, we have been regenerated toenter into the kingdom of God as the realm of the divinespecies to live under the rule of God in life—John 3:3, 5,15-16.
２
Christ is the image of God and the effulgence of His glory;hence, the gospel of Christ is the gospel of His glory thatilluminates and shines forth—2 Cor. 4:3-4; Col. 1:15; Heb.1:3:
ａ
In 2 Corinthians 4:4 God is the image, the image isChrist, Christ is the glory, the glory is the gospel, andthe gospel is the illumination.
ｂ
Through the illumination of the gospel of the glory ofChrist, the shining reality of Christ, who is the embodimentand expression of the Triune God, is the treasurewithin us—vv. 6-7.
C
God intends that the believers in Christ be conformed to theimage of the firstborn Son and that they reign in life—Rom.8:29; 5:17:
１
Conformation to the image of God's Son issues in His beingthe Firstborn among many brothers—8:29:
ａ
Conformation denotes the shaping of life, shaping usinto the image of the firstborn Son of God.
ｂ
Conformation is a process in which we are saved in lifefrom our self-likeness to be conformed to the image ofthe firstborn Son for His corporate expression—5:10.
２
God's complete salvation is for us to reign in life by theabundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness—vv. 17,21:
ａ
In experience, to reign in life is to be under the ruling ofthe divine life, the kingly and royal life with which wehave been regenerated—John 3:3, 5-6, 15-16; Rom. 5:17.
ｂ
All the believers who have received the abundance ofgrace and of the gift of righteousness need to practicethe restriction and limitation of the divine life—Matt.8:9; 2 Cor. 2:12-14; 5:14.
D
As believers, we may know Christ as the image of God andlive in the kingdom of the Son of God's love—Col. 1:15, 13:
１
God is invisible, but Christ as the Son of His love, who isthe effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance,is His image, expressing what He is—Heb. 1:3; Col.1:15.
２
To be transferred into the kingdom of the Son of the Father'slove is to be transferred into the Son, the Beloved, who islife to us—v. 13; 1 John 5:11-12:
ａ
Because the Father delights in His Son, the kingdom ofthe Son is a pleasant thing, a matter of delight—Matt.3:17; 17:5.
ｂ
The kingdom in which we may live today is a realm fullof life, light, and love; in this realm there is no fear—1 Pet. 2:9.
ｃ
The church is the kingdom of the Son of the Father'slove, which is as delightful to the Father as the Son is—Col. 1:13; 4:15-16.
E
The church as the one new man is the corporate man in God'sintention; this universal new man will fulfill the twofold purposeof bearing God's image to express Him and exercisingGod's authority to represent Him and fight against God'senemy for God's kingdom—Eph. 2:15; 4:24; 6:10-20; Col. 3:10-11:
１
God's creation of man for His expression and representationis a picture, a type, of the universal new man in God'snew creation—Gen. 1:26-28; Eph. 4:24.
２
The corporate new man bears the image of Him who createdhim (Col. 3:10), for the new man was "created according toGod in righteousness and holiness of the reality" (Eph.4:24).
３
The one new man is a corporate warrior fighting againstGod's enemy to bring in God's kingdom—6:10-20; Rev. 12:10.
F
In the coming age, the age of the millennial kingdom, theglorious kingdom of God will be manifested on earth—Matt.6:13; Rev. 11:15:
１
When the Lord Jesus comes again, He and the overcomersas the corporate smiting stone will become a great mountainto fill the whole earth, making the whole earth God'skingdom, His dominion—Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45.
２
The kingdom is a realm in which God exercises His powerso that He can express His glory; thus, God's glory goeswith His kingdom—Matt. 6:13; 1 Thes. 2:12.
３
In the millennium the overcoming believers will be withChrist in the bright glory of the kingdom, shining forth"like the sun in the kingdom of their Father"—Matt. 13:43.
G
The New Jerusalem in eternity is the consummation of imageand dominion—Rev. 21:2, 10-11:
１
The New Jerusalem bears the image, the appearance, ofGod, expressing the Triune God by her shining with a light"like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal"—4:3; 21:10-11.
２
The New Jerusalem is the eternal kingdom of God, filledwith the glory of God—22:1, 5; 21:11.