God’s original intention in creating man is expressed in Genesis 1:26 “Let Us make man in our image and according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over…” – Image and Dominion.
- Image: God wants to be expressed, manifested, shown to the entire universe in what the depth of His riches are – He wants man to be His image, His expression. Man here is corporate – collective – and is designed and purposed to be God’s full expression and manifestation to the physical and spiritual world, to the entire universe!
- Dominion: God has an enemy, Satan. He does not deal with Satan directly – if He would, it would not be “dignified”: the Creator to deal with the creature – but He chooses to deal with His enemy through man(another creature). If this would happen, as a Wise God, He will get the glory!
But Satan came in first and deceived man, so that he got into man – now we, all the humankind, are born with the sinful nature and are inclined to sin (Rom. 7:15-24) and not do the will of God – not fulfill the purpose we were created for! Seemingly, Satan won the victory by defeating God – in his ruining of humanity so that it would not have dominion over him….
YET God became a man! The Lord Jesus Christ fully defeated Satan in every respect: in His birth, in His human living, in His death, in His resurrection – in everything, the enemy had no ground, no way, no opportunity in anything (John 14:30)!
He fully expressed God the Father in all He was, He did, He accomplished, He said, He lived, and He also defeated the enemy to the uttermost – even took the keys of death (Rev. 1:18; which death is the power of Satan).
Christ fully defeated Satan and He fully expressed God! Now there was a man on the earth who actually lived a life according to God’s purpose in creating man, fulfilling God’s intention!
By regeneration, this One came into us and there began a process of sanctification, renewing, transformation, conformation – so that we, sinners and beings corrupted by the enemy, would be made the glorious church who defeats God’s enemy and fully expresses God!
In His wisdom, God became a man and then He became the Spirit to come into our spirit and fully sonize us (make us sons in full) from within by growing in us, spreading in our being, and being expressed in us and through us!
This is the church: a built-up Body of God’s redeemed who are undergoing the process of sanctification, transformation, and glorification, to become God’s expression and defeat His enemy!
In the church and through the church, God can say to His enemy “Satan, watch this: though you ruined man and you thought you defeated Me, in the church I have the shining ones filled with My life who bring the whole universe in order and defeat you!” God’s manifold wisdom is expressed in the church (Eph. 3:10).
Lord, for Your expression and Your dominion, for the fulfilling of Your heart’s desire and original intention, build us up with the saints into the church who expresses You and defeats Your enemy! Make us willing to be built up into Your expression as the church in our locality at any cost!
