“And as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the Heavenly.”
I Corinthians 15:49
What sin disfigures, defiles and defaces, Grace restores, revives and renews.
“In His image.”
That’s what God said He’d do that day—i.e., “make man in His image” (Gen. 1:26)—although His use of “our” there is part of the basis for our belief in the Trinity. Even so, trying to understand this desire/design (“in His image”) is almost as hard as trying to understand how God can be one in three Persons.
The Hebrew word “tselem” is used there for “image” and basically means “a shade, resemblance, etc.” and when coupled with the next phrase—“after our likeness” (Heb. “demuwth”—“resemblance, model, similitude, shape, etc.”)—in v.26a, we realize He was talking about the essence of our being, not our physical appearance.
Simply put, only mankind has the ability to think and choose. Other creatures operate primarily on instinct and conditioned response, not a conscious, intentional act of the will. Thus, we, who are the crowning act of God’s creation, also have more responsibility in our choices—primarily because of our having been created “in His image.”
Paul’s use of it in today’s Manna refers both to our physical appearance and our spiritual condition. The Greek word “eikon” is used here for “image” and basically means “likeness, representation, resemblance, etc.,” from which we get the word “icon.” However, it also alludes to our affinity and affection for worldly things, attitudes, actions, etc. That’s why the aged Apostle also admonished us to not be “conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds” (Rom. 12:2).
If we limit the meaning strictly to the physical, we realize that these earthly bodies of ours. . . which grow old and wrinkled. . .weak and weary. . .are in a steady state of decay the older we get. And, if we spend too much time looking in a mirror—at the “earthly”—we’ll soon be tempted to despair.
However, when we remember the miraculous transformation that awaits us at the Rapture, when we’ll be “changed in the twinkling of an eye into His likeness” (I Cor. 15:52; Phil. 3:21; I Jn. 3:2), we suddenly start getting excited. How wonderful it’ll be when we finally enter the “Land of the Great No Mores” (Rev. 21:4) and breathe our first, exhilarating breath of Heaven’s Resurrection Rose! Hallelujah!!
Until then, we must continue “looking at those things which are not seen, which are eternal” (II Cor. 4:18)—for that’s what keeps us going during our times of “Glory-groaning” (II Cor. 5:2-4). Amen and amen. Thank you, Lord.
