And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: …Man Created As a Vessel
Genesis 1:26
Romans 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour,… Romans 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Romans 9:24 Even
us,…
2 Cor. 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, …
Since man was created uniquely, in the image and likeness of God, and the “express (character, engraving, exact copy) image of God” is Christ Himself (Heb 1:3), then we can see that man was created in the image of Christ. Paul tells us in Romans 5:14 says that Adam, the first man, was a type, a figure, of Christ.
What is “image”? If we take a photograph of a person, that picture is the figure, or type, of the person. As a photograph is the expression of a certain image, so man was made to be the expression of the image of God, which is Christ. The image resembles the real thing, but it is not the real thing, it is as a shadow type image of the real thing.
We may use the illustration of a glove. The glove was made in the image
and according to the form of the hand. Both the hand and the glove have five
fingers. The glove was made in the image of the hand that one day the hand
might enter into the glove. The hand fills up the glove, and the glove
expresses the hand. Why was man made in the image of Christ? Because God's
intention was that someday Christ Himself, as the Spirit, would enter into
man (Rom 8:8-10, 1John 4:13) and be expressed through man.
Romans 9:21 and 23 tell us clearly that man was made as a vessel, that is,
as a container. Man is not a knife, a hammer, or any instrument. Man is a
vessel, a container. It further says that man was made a vessel unto honor
to contain God, to contain God's glory. This vessel of ours is like the
glove: one day the hand gets into it; the contents get into the container.
We are simply a vessel to contain and bear the literal life of Christ (Col
3:4a, Gal 2:20).
Christ Becoming the Content of Our Soul.
“Likeness” is translated from a Greek word linked to another Greek word, “homoioo,” which means “to assimilate.” Man was made with the soul faculties that he might assimilate or take up Christ’s life and nature from his Christ-indwelled spirit, where Christ dwells in every Christian. That assimilation is actually for transformation of our soul. The soul becomes the expression of Christ as that man yields to assimilate Christ’s life and nature – Christ’s mind flows through the man’s mind, Christ’s emotion flows through that man’s emotion and that Christ’s will becomes the will of that man. Consider the lamp and the light bulb, when the switch is open to receive the electricity it assimilates the electricity and light is then expressed, coming out of the lamp in the color of the lens. We each may be different in our personality (color) but it is the same life of Christ that flows out of each of us to be expressed as we are.
We have an intellect, emotion, and will, which were made according or in
the image and image of Christ. Christ, no doubt, has the best intellect, the
best will, and the best emotion. Our intellect, will, and emotion are not
very real; they are faculties of our soul that have the potential to express
Christ’s life, as we assimilate His life into our soul. Consider again the
illustration of the hand and the glove. The human hand has a thumb and four
fingers, and the glove also has a thumb and four fingers. We cannot deny
that the thumb of a glove is a thumb, but compared with the real thumb we
find a great difference. Compare our intellect with the intellect of Christ.
Our intellect resembles the empty thumb of a glove. Christ's intellect
resembles the real thumb of a human hand. One day, however, the real thumb
will get into the thumb of the glove and the two thumbs will become one! One
is the appearance, the expression; the other is the reality, the content.
Do you have love? Yes, we all have love, but our natural love is like an
empty glove. Wives should not expect love from your husbands in such a way
that it satisfies and completes them. Even if your husband loves you, that
love is somewhat empty. But, praise the Lord that it is empty. It is empty
that the love of Christ may come to you to satisfy your craving. Whatever we
have, whatever we are, and whatever we can do in ourselves is just an empty
form, best used as a container to hold and express all that Christ is, all
that Christ has, and all that Christ can do. Christ alone is our
satisfaction.
When we see other men or women whom we suspect may not be yet regenerated, we might properly say, “There is a potential container of Christ’s life, made to receive and express the life of Christ.” No man is complete or able to reach His potential unless and until He receives the very life of Christ. 1 John 5:11-12 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Men never become Christ, but by our souls, we do become expressers of Christ’s life and nature, as the content of our created being.
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