| E-MAIL SERVICE | Sign me up to receive the daily Word of Righteousness free via my E-mail address! ( ONLY AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH ) | |
| ARCHIVES | I want to check out the daily Words of Righteousness for any of the last fourteen days or from previous weeks. ( ENGLISH ONLY ) | |
| FEEDBACK | I have a question or comment about today's Word of Righteousness. ( ENGLISH AND SPANISH ONLY ) | |
| BOOK LIST | I would like to see the complete book list of the Words of Righteousness author Robert B. Thompson. (SOME SPANISH TITLES AVAILABLE ) |
The Daily Word of Righteousness
Maturity in Christ
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [a new creation]: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, . . . . (II Corinthians 5:17,18)
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:13)
There is an end in sight. There is a place of maturity in Christ. The image of Christ is attainable through the grace of God. We do have a mark toward which to press (Philippians 3:14).
The power of God working through Christ will bring many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10). We are to be brought to maturity in our character, in our relationship to God, and in our outward appearance.
The image of Christ is being created now in our inner being, transforming our character. We are being fashioned into the Temple of God so we may be filled with all the fullness of God, this being our eternal relationship to God. At His appearing we shall change to a glorified human form—clothed with eternal resurrection life exactly as He is (Philippians 3:21; I John 3:2).
There are many passages in both the Old and New Testaments that have to do with the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our participation in His image was announced at the beginning:
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:26,27)
The word "them" used in both of the verses above refers to "male and female." First it says, "him," and then, "them." "Him," and "them." The play on the singular and plural is important. It refers on the surface to Adam and Eve.
Christ—and only Christ—is the image of God. Christ is the eternal "Him." There is no other image of God.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Word of God who has been with God and has been God from the beginning. Christ was not created in God's image in the garden of Eden as were Adam and Eve.
But, as is true so often, the natural, human events described in the Scriptures have a spiritual, eternal application—an application that always is directed toward Christ and those who are His.
We understand from both the Old and New Testament writings, particularly the second chapter of the Book of Hebrews, that the glory and dominion assigned to mankind are reserved for Christ and His brothers.
After thinking about what the Scripture states concerning the Lamb and His Wife we could never agree that dominion over the works of God's hands has been assigned to Adam and Eve and to their natural descendants, except in a limited sphere.
To be continued.