Return to the Glory

Return to the Glory of God

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27)

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Psalm 8:4)

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:3)

MAN

What is man, that thou art mindful of him?

   Why should man have so much of God’s attention? Who is this son of man, that thou visitest him? Who is this creature that the long suffering of God has endured? God stooped down and took of the dust of the ground, and God supernaturally formed man out of the dust that had no cohesion. The dust became an image, but not life. God fashioned it, molded it, but it was still just an image. It was still dust. Then the supernatural power of God breathed into the nostrils of this image, and the breath of God gave life. In Him was life and the life was the light of man. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.　(John 1:4) Man now was made life. God gave His life unto man. Man did not possess this life, God possessed life, and gave it to man, and man became a living soul. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)

   Man was not his own creation for man was created BY the will of God, FOR the will of God, and IN the will of God. God willed that man would become a living soul. God gave him life, a life from God by God and of God.

Man Is But Dust

   There was no independence from the dust for the dust had nothing of its own. The dust had no intelligence, but God gave intelligence to the dust. The dust had no knowledge, but God gave knowledge to the dust. The dust had no meaning, but God gave meaning to the dust. How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth? (Job 4:19)

   For God created man in His OWN image that man would glorify God, and reverence his Holy and Righteous Creator. It was Christ, the holy One of God, the manifestation of God, who gave and formed the image of man in His own image. Man, or the dust, did not have a glory. God gave a glory to man. There is a glory of man in Jesus Christ. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: (1 Corinthians 15:43)

Dust Was Given a Glory

   The image of dust now had the image of God. The image of God and the glory of God is the manifested image of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Christ who has the power of an endless life, and it is this endless life that gave life to man. Christ possesses ALL life. Every form of life that moves upon this planet has its origin from the Almighty God. There is no origin of these species, the only origin that they have is from the Almighty God. He created all, the fish of the sea, the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, the life in the plants, all were given life by Him, and we could add, both the things that are seen and the things that are unseen. It is Jesus Christ who has the power of life and the endless power of life. Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. (Hebrews 7:16) The Son of God, Jesus Christ, was the Creator of all things both visible and invisible. Even the creation itself received its life from the power and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And man received the image of God so that God would have an image upon the earth that reflected His Person and His glory. 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. (Genesis 1:26) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27)

The Glory of Adam

   God gave man (Adam) a specific glory. That glory was to reflect His Creator. There was no other being, no other beast, even Satan did not have the glory of Adam. This glory came from the very breathe of God. It flowed through the inside of this miraculous creation, and transformed it (the dust) into a living soul. Life was given and maintained and owned by God Himself. He gave it, and He could take it away. The life that Adam had was completely OF and THROUGH His Creator. Adam walked with the image and the glory that God gave him. The glory was a shroud that separated him from all the other created beings. Even the angels did not have this glory.

   God was so jealous for His glory that He set parameters for man that His glory would not be tainted. Everywhere Adam stepped, he stepped within that glory that God had given him. In 1^st Corinthians Chapter 15, we are taught by the Spirit of God that there are many glories. There is the glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, and each star in God’s order has a glory of its own, for one star differs from other stars in glory.

There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.  (1 Corinthians 15:40)

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. (1 Corinthians 15:41)

   The Holy Spirit teaches us that God endows even the physical creation and the celestial with glories of its own. Count the stars (if you can). You will never see the end of their glory, for each star differs from all others. Each glory, one by one, has been given by its Creator Jesus Christ. All the glories in the heavenlies, all the glories in both the celestial and the terrestrial were not the glories of man. For the glory of man was a specific glory that God had given to Adam to present Adam to the celestial and to the terrestrial, to present Adam to the angels of God as the created son of God. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27) Pay attention to the word ‘created.’ Remember that Adam was created in the very image of God in the image of God Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Christ, however, is not a created Being, for He was manifested  as a man, He was  not created. He was the Creator Himself, and He IS, and He WAS, and He will ever be God, the Creator of ALL things.

The Dust Had Nothing and Was Nothing

   Everything that Adam (dust) possessed came from God by the will of God. The dust had nothing to give. The dust had no life. The dust was empty of breath. The dust had no image. The dust had no strength. Only the Creator of ALL things could give life to dust. In the dust there was no flesh. In the dust there was no soul. In the dust there was no spirit. In the dust there was no heart. In the dust there was no knowledge of God. In the dust there was no language nor wisdom. In the dust was a void for it was carried by the winds with no image or being without God.

God Gave Dust His Image

   God gave Adam His image. This was the express image of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is the express image of God Almighty. Jesus Christ is the outward manifestation of the fullness of the Godhead bodily.The Lord Jesus Himself proclaimed, I and [my] Father are one. (John 10:30) He also declared to Philip, Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father? (John 14:9) Christ, with all humility and subjection, proclaimed to man (His disciples) without the Father He could do nothing. Christ proclaimed Himself to be the Son of God, even after His resurrection, He declared Himself to be the Son of God with all power in both heaven and earth. Christ also gave His testimony to the fullness of the Godhead with His own Spirit He declared, I will send MY Spirit even the Spirit of truth, and we know, in the manifestation of God, Jesus Christ came as both grace and truth to man. Even today Adam, in his fallen state, must receive life from the dead by the breath of God in Jesus Christ. If a man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:8)

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9)

The Mystery of God

   And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (1 Timothy 3:16) is a link all the way back to Genesis 1:27. Compare both of these verses side by side. And remember that the Spirit of God is revealing the mystery of God. (Colossians 2:2; Revelation 10:7) It is Christ who is the outward manifestation of the Godhead bodily. He is the outward manifestation of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Even though He is called the beginning of the creation of God, it was not His beginning, but the beginning of all creation. It was He who WAS, and IS, and FOREVER WILL BE the creation of God for in Him ALL fullness dwells. All of God’s power, all of God’s glory, all of God’s will, all of God’s supernatural abilities dwell within the Son of God, the Man Christ Jesus.

The Uniqueness of Man (Dust)

    Consider the place and position that Adam held, not only in the eyes of creation, but in the eyes of God. Adam was a son brought forth from the dust of the ground. He became an image with the very breathe of God within. And God had made him (Adam) a living soul. And this ends the mystery of the genealogy of Luke in Chapter 3 the genealogy ends with Adam, the son of God. These words were directed from the Holy Spirit, from the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of God wants to open our eyes and our hearts, and our spirits and our very souls as the Holy Spirit lays out the determinate counsels of God. Adam was no stranger to the will of God. Adam knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was fashioned by the Almighty. And not only was he fashioned, but God saw Adam as the son of God’s creation with both a spirit and a soul. The uniqueness of Adam was beyond all the other creatures, even the angels. He was so unique that he was not given a random image like the beasts, but he was given the image of his own Creator. He was given a spirit to reflect his Creator. He was given a soul to bind him to the soul of his Creator. Even though Adam was a created being, he was the closest thing to God in both heaven and earth. This is the mystery that God wants us to understand. Adam was not a random being, but a selected being to show forth the glory of God. As Christ is the Son of God and not a created being, God created a being in the fashion and in the image of sonship to show forth on earth the very glory of God. In this Adam was unique as Christ is unique in the Godhead bodily. Christ gave life to the image and that image was to reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Express Image — Exact — Specific — Precise

   In Hebrews Chapter 1, verse 3, we have the Spirit’s voice crying out that Christ, the Son of God, is the EXPRESS image, the manifested image, the exact image of the Almighty God. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:3) And He is the brightness of the glory of that image. There is no other glory brighter than the glory of Christ and that is the mystery that Christ was manifested in the flesh, the Son of God became the GodMan and He, in Himself, took on the form of a man so that He, the perfect One, could once more glorify man as He glorified God. How is this?

Christ Came to Return Man to The Glory of Christ

   Christ came to redeem man unto Himself. He came in His Person, the Son of God, to return man to the glory that was once given to man by His Creator Jesus Christ. Man will never understand that there is such a One that in true love would lay down His own life for His creature of creation. Man would be returned to the glory of Christ, not by the will of blood, not by the will of man, not by the will of the flesh, not by the will of the dust, but by the will of God.  Adam in his fallen state was returned to dust. From dust thou has been taken, and to dust thou shall return. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis 3:19)

   In the mystery of God, Christ was manifested to breath life back into man to make man a new creation completely separated from the old, and to return His creation to the glory of Christ.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (1 John 3:1)

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:3)

   The Holy Spirit reveals a wonderful position of every believer that we are the adopted sons of God. Now, since Adam was the created son of God, and Adam sinned and lost his estate when Christ took Adam out of the way, and removed our father (primogenitor) by the new birth and the spiritual breathe of Christ we then have become the adopted sons of God. The Holy Spirit of God through the new supernatural birth of every believer, who is in Jesus Christ, creates a new brand creature. And this new creature, this new realm, is looked on as a created son like Adam, however, we are not created from the dust, we are not created from the blood of man, we are not created by the will of the flesh, or of the will of man. We are created supernaturally to be a Spirit filled creation completely separated unto God. And through Christ’s work on the cross He signed our adoption papers in His own precious blood. We are brought into a relationship as a son with a Father. God the Father looks upon us and cherishes us as sons. There is, however, a difference for when God the Father looks on us He sees us through His Son Jesus Christ: the Son of God with power.

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (Galatians 4:4)

To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Galatians 4:5)

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. (Galatians 4:6)

Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Galatians 4:7)

   The new believer who is filled with the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ cannot be emptied out of the believer. For the Spirit of Christ has taken up residence in this new creation that man, and sin, and death, and the devil, and the world cannot destroy. Individually this Spirit filled being makes us the collective Church or the collective body of Christ. For as Christ is united to the Father and the Holy Spirit, so through the Spirit of Christ each born again believer is linked together to do the will of God IN Jesus Christ. We have been created IN Christ and FOR Christ to be the objects of Christ’s love, and that we should be the sons of God for He is not ashamed to call us brethren, for He has redeemed us by His own precious blood. By belief in Christ we have become the sons of God. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:13) These two verses from the gospel of John documents that it is not of the will of man, nor the will of the flesh that this life was given by the Holy Spirit of God to confirm your position with God Almighty.

  The liberals, and I am talking about the liberal theologians, like to rip away at our sonship. For they do not understand that in the counsels of God, Adam (as a created son) was to glorify God. And we now (as the redeemed sons of God) have one purpose, and this is to glorify our mighty and glorious Savior Jesus Christ. And this is the return to the glory of God.

  We are no longer of the earth, earthy. We are a separated people, a peculiar people. We live in a spiritual realm not seen by man. We live in the realm of the Son of God. We have entered into His kingdom, and we have been translated into His presence by His Spirit uniquely bonding with our spirit and one day, as John tells us, we shall be like Him. It has been a long trail for mankind. Sin has twisted man in every way. Adam is not the man he used to be. He had lost ALL in one moment in time, in one act of disobedience. It must have saddened the heart of the Almighty, for God knowing all things in His foreknowledge knew the terrible path that man would tread. In the fall, man (like Satan) became enmity against the Almighty God. The evil of the tree distorted Adam outwardly, and distorted him inwardly. His whole created being was distorted to the point that God would have to remove Adam from His presence. That which was adored by God now became cursed by God.

Dust in His Natural State Hates God His Creator

   The evil of the tree became the driving force of man. All goodness was gone. As the Scriptures states of mankind, There is none good, but God.

<<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.>> The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. (Psalm 14:1)

The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. (Psalm 14:2)

They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Psalm 14:3)

They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Romans 3:12)

Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: (Romans 3:13)

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: (Romans 3:14)

Their feet are swift to shed blood: (Romans 3:15)

Destruction and misery are in their ways: (Romans 3:16)

And the way of peace have they not known: (Romans 3:17)

There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:18)

   In these small portions of Scripture God shows us the characteristics of fallen man. When you couple these verses with Romans, Chapter 1, verses 18-32, you will see the total depravity of man in his fallen state. God brings out these characteristics to point out that man has embraced wickedness because man hates God. The enmity of evil spews from his heart against God. Man has so much hatred for God that they crucified the very Son of God with power. Sin has darkened all of man’s knowledge. It has even darkened man’s knowledge of God. Man is now in his natural state in Adam, an empty image of dust. So many of these empty images have perverted the gospel to cover up their own sin and enmity against the Almighty God. Religion, to them, becomes the opium of self justification. The masses can agree on this because they are bonded together by sin and fallen humanity. These man-made religions allow huge masses to tumble head long into hell. They have no oil in their vessels, and will not accept their fallen state that they are but dust and without God, and without hope in this world. And that they (as sin and dust) have nothing to give to God. They are but the dust of the ground, and have no life. The breath of God has been sucked out of them and the breath of evil replaces the goodness of God. All is in darkness around them, and they stumble at the Word of God. They trip over their own sin, and when the truth is presented to them they turn their heads and continue in the path of sin as the dog turns from his food when he has no taste or smell for what is placed before him.

The Master of Separation

   Adam in his long history, even before the flood, denied the Almighty God His rightful position in the heart, and soul, and in the spirit of man. All is empty, and only a supernatural act of God can give life, and separate the soul and the spirit and the heart from the wickedness of the flesh. The Lord is the Master of separation. He separated the darkness from the light, and the light from the darkness. When Christ came into the world He revealed the light of God, and man knew Him not for they would rather have the darkness then the Light of God.

  God separated both Cain and Abel. Cain was the natural seed, and Abel was the spiritual seed. Cain was of the earth, earthy. And Abel was the supernatural seed from heaven. After the flood, when God condemned all flesh, He called Abraham, God supernaturally again took the dust and gave it life. In Abraham we see through Hagar the natural seed which was Ishmael, and in Abraham we also see the spiritual seed which was Isaac. This is confirmed by the Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth, in Galatians 4:28-31. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. (Galatians 4:28)

But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. (Galatians 4:29)

Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. (Galatians 4:30)

So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. (Galatians 4:31)

   In the book of Galatians we have the separation of Ishmael, the man of the earth, earthy, which is also the man of the flesh. And we have the seed of a man of the Spirit in Isaac, and God separates these two. We have in Isaac the separation of the Spirit from the flesh which Ishmael represents. Romans Chapter 8 also is a Chapter of separation. It separates the Spirit from the flesh. There are specific acts of the Spirit, and specific acts of the flesh, and God separates them and they cannot be joined together. God is a God of separation, and not a God of amalgamation. It is the religion of man that loves to amalgamate, and hates separation. Man wants to unite, and to believe that he is worthy of something within himself. He will not accept that he is dust, and has nothing to offer, and that his fragile state can be blown into eternity by the spiritual winds of God.

   All the promises of God would come through the seed of promise. This goes all the way back to the garden, as God promised the woman that her seed would bruise the head of Satan, and this promise came forth in the fullness of time.

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (Galatians 4:4)

To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Galatians 4:5)

   This was the true seed for the Son of God was the only seed. As the law brought us to Christ judicially, the seed brought us to Christ gracefully, and Christ was and is the true seed. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (Galatians 3:16) The seed that was given, the holy seed, was given of God so that God could reveal Himself as the Perfect Man of glory. This Man would not be of the earth, but this man would be the Lord from heaven.

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45)

Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. (1 Corinthians 15:46)

The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:47)

   Once again we see the work of separation in the very manifestation of the Son of God. These are the Spirit’s words of separation: the first man Adam was of the earth, dust. The second man was the Lord from heaven, the holy seed without spot, without sin, without blemish. The second man was the divine sacrifice that would cleanse humanity of its sin and take Adam out of the way and create a whole new race of people who would believe on Him and call upon His name.

The Invisible Seen Through the Visible

   Christ WAS and IS the full manifestation of the Godhead bodily. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9) Because Christ was the manifested Godhead bodily, He is also the manifested image of God Almighty. We need to focus our eyes on heaven for Christ was the Man from heaven, and has returned to heaven for us as our Redeemer, therefore, our thoughts need to be of the heavenlies. We need to let the Holy Spirit reveal this glorious Being upon His throne to our hearts, to our spirits, and to our souls. In Colossians Chapter 1, the Spirit of God tells us that the Lord Jesus is the very image of the invisible God. What a revelation, that the invisible God is both invisible and also has a manifested image.

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: (Colossians 1:12)

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Colossians 1:13)

In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: (Colossians 1:14)

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: (Colossians 1:15)

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:(Colossians 1:16)

   These verses reveal to us the manifestation of Jesus Christ as Man who is at the same time the invisible God. In the gospel of John, Chapter 3, the Lord Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of man as being both in heaven and on earth at the exact same time. And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. (John 3:13) Think of the supernatural act that the Son of God performed. He was the true seed, the holy seed, that the Holy Spirit of God placed in the womb of a woman. It was that ‘holy thing’ as declared by the angel in Luke 1:35. And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. This is the statement from the holy angel of God.

   The angels (the watchers) have more knowledge than we do, for they have watched man from his creation to the present. This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. (Daniel 4:17) They are partakers of the knowledge of the future of man. In fact, I am sure, that they know more about the end of Adam, and the creation of the new heavens and the new earth then we do. So when a holy angel states, that the very seed within the womb of a woman is ‘that holy thing’ it is not up to us to reason or change the determinate counsels of heaven.

   To confirm that this was that holy thing, we have the Lord’s baptism when the heaven’s were opened and God the Father declared, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:16-17) On the banks of the Jordan stood the manifested image of God with the brightness of His glory concealed because of His redemptive work ahead. God the Father declared His pleasure in His Son through His declaration from heaven.

The Image of Eternity

   In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4) The manifested image of God on earth was unique for it was the undefiled image, the holy image, the image with no guile, and the image with no sin. Now let us go to the image of eternity. The same Son of God, yet now, as the Man Christ Jesus is over all eternity.

   God relates the wonder of His image in Hebrews 1:3, Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; This is the full manifestation of the Man Jesus Christ after His redemptive work on the cross, after His resurrection from the dead, and after His ascension to the right hand of the majesty on high. We see the brightness of God’s glory, and the express image of the supernatural Man, and the fullness of the Godhead bodily, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit manifested in one image. And this image is the image of the Son of man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And with all God’s children, I say from my heart, Who have we in heaven, but thee Lord? And we shall be like Him, how unsearchable are thy ways for in the knowledge of God they are past-finding out. Man fell so far from God that when Christ was on earth, and the heavens were opened, man could not comprehend the glory which was in Jesus Christ.

  We live in the end of the world. Bible interpretation has gone amuck with many false translations, and many liberal theologians changing words, and inserting words, and perverting the meaning of words. So where can we go? We must go to the brightness of His glory, to the express image of His Person for the truth is in Jesus. If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: (Ephesians 4:21)

   It is very difficult to completely separate ourselves from the man that we used to be, and from the men around us, and from the authority of men. This has to cease if we desire the mind of Christ, the voice of His Spirit, and the enrichment of our own soul in the glory of Christ. He is the true prophet, He is the true interpreter, He is the true scribe, He is the true Word of God. And only through the Lord Jesus Christ and His Spirit within us can we see in the Word of God all the glories that belong to Him. And we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth.

“Let Us Make Man in Our Image”

   We do not have the origin of species in the book of Genesis, but we have the origin of creation. The Lord Jesus brought all things out of the determinate counsels of God, the heavens and the earth, the things seen, and the things that are unseen were all called into existence by the Son of God and the Word of His power.

   When Christ, as the manifested image of the Godhead, stood in the garden that He had made, He declared, Let US, it was not HIM (or me), but US, the full manifestation of the Godhead and the full power of that complete body: Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 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. (Genesis 1:26) They, the Godhead, made man, created man in their own manifested image which was, and is, and will always be the brightness of His glory, the express image of His Person, Jesus Christ. Dust became the image of the Son of God Jesus Christ. For it was Christ who created all things, and is creating, and will continue to create with the Word of His power. Adam stood in the very image of His Creator.

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: (Colossians 1:15)

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (Colossians 1:16)

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:17)

  When God the Spirit uses the word ‘all’ He means all, everything was and is, and is a continuation of the creatorial power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 17 bears that out that He is not only before all things, but in Him all things consist. This shows the continuation of His creatorial power. His creatorial power will never cease because it is linked with the power of His endless life, therefore Christ, the Creator of man, is not through with creating. We are the work of His creatorial power, we were empty vessels, we had nothing, and what we had was completely alienated and enmity against the Almighty God. He took us out of the rubbish (the dust bin) that we belong to, and set us in His glory with Him. This could only be done by His supernatural power of creation, and consequently we are to be conformed to the image of Christ.

   The fullness of His glory fills heaven, the express image of His Person sits upon the throne, and therefore, the Creator of all things has not only created, but in a greater power redeemed what was lost in the fall of man, and created a whole new generation, a new race of people who are citizens of heaven and not of this earth. We have a country, and a city, and a Savior that is heavenly, and not made by the hands of men. When He created, in Genesis, and declared that He would create man in ‘our’ image, the express image of His Person, we are reminded that Christ as the express image of God and as the brightness of His glory, created a creature from dust named Adam. Think of the glory that was bestowed upon Adam (dust) being created in the image of God.

Dust Returns to Dust

   We should remember that God took us from the dust of the ground. We had no image, there was nothing in the dust, and it was the Lord Jesus who supernaturally gave our dust His image. In Genesis Chapter 3, verse 19, we have the words of the Lord Jesus to man who had fallen from God’s highest position to the lowest estate of His creation. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. God is telling man that he was taken from the dust, and to the dust shall he return. This verse shows the loss of the image of God, for God’s eyes are upon all men, and God’s eyes no longer sees Adam in the image of God’s dear Son Jesus Christ, but now God sees Adam in the lifeless image of dust. The magnitude of this verse in Genesis 3 is definitely overlooked for it takes ALL away from man, both spiritually, physically and supernaturally. Man’s creation is overturned, and he lost all that he possessed.

   The Holy Spirit uncloaks Adam, and reveals all men accountable for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And the only way to return to the glory that Adam once had is through the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross. In Genesis 3:19 God told both Adam and Eve that they had suffered the loss of all things because of their sin. They were bankrupt before the Almighty God, and they were but dust once more. There was no life of God within them. By partaking of the tree they both were now possessed and controlled by the evil of the tree. They were dust walking through a world of sin and death. Adam was the one who brought this catastrophic action into the world. Adam had a choice at the tree, he could remain a supernatural being created by God, or he could return to dust. For sin brought forth death, and death returned Adam to dust.

New Vessels Created in the Image of God

   It would take the supernatural work of choice and separation to return man in a new creation to the image of God.  God would initiate His call. Once more He would take a vessel that had nothing, or possessed nothing and create in that vessel a new image for His glory. The first man who was called, and imparted with faith, was Abel. He was given the Spirit of God who had departed from Adam and Eve, and Abel’s brother Cain, could not accept this. This also applies to us, those who have been born of the Spirit of God, for the world, for the religious man cannot accept the sons of God as the children of God. This is confirmed by John through the Holy Spirit in John’s first epistle, Chapter 3, verse 1. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Both the world and the religious man know nothing of the sons of God. He knows nothing of our inheritance. He knows nothing of our creation. He knows nothing of our new birth, and he knows nothing of our Savior. John stated that the world knows us not, and he also stated that when our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, was manifested upon this earth that they knew Him not. This is also confirmed by the Spirit of God in the gospel of John, Chapter 1, verse 10. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

   In the Word of God separation is a good thing for the new born babe in Christ to desire the sincere milk of the Word of God. The Word of God will prove the work that has been done within you, and the Word of God will show you what you have been separated from and what you have been separated to. You stepped out of Adam’s world, and you have stepped into Christ’s glory. You are a possessor of the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. But like Cain the enmity of this world, the enmity of Satan, and the enmity of the heart of man rose up against Abel, and it will rise up against you.

   In Abel we have a new work of God. Abel represented a new race called of God, and he was called by divine sacrifice in the shadow of the Lamb, and the fullness of time. God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. (Hebrews 11: 46) Now we are going to make a connection, Paul in the book of Corinthians, by the inspiration and breathe of the Spirit of God informs us that we have the treasures of Christ IN an earthen vessel. This connects the old man with Adam and his dust, and gives us a new standing in the treasures of Christ, which are His unsearchable riches. All this is proven by the words of the Spirit of God. Both Abel and Cain were but dust, as we heard from the lips of God in Genesis 3:19. They were two brothers from the same sinful parents, and they both had nothing to give to God, therefore, God breathed faith into Abel, and Abel became a living soul by a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.

   Abel, by faith, entered into the blood of Christ for the remission of sin, and Abel was washed clean in the blood of the Lamb, and received the Spirit of Christ. Our New Testament theologians tell us that the Old Testament saints did not have the Spirit of Christ, however, the Spirit of God through Peter in his first epistle, Chapter 1, verses 10 and 11 tell us that the Old Testament saints had the Spirit of Christ within them. Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: (1 Peter 1:10) Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. (1 Peter 1:11) So to all liberal theological seminaries take that up with the Holy Spirit of God! Oh, I forgot, the Spirit has departed, well, for us who are born of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ will never depart. His glory though not seen by man is within us, and rest assured that that glory will not depart, but only get brighter.

  As Abel was washed clean in the blood of the Lamb (that was to come in the fullness of time) so we have been washed in that same blood by that same Lamb, and we have received of the Spirit of Christ. Lets compare Hebrews 11:4 with Romans 8:9.

By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. (Hebrews 11:4)

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9)

   Through these two verses, one from Hebrews and the other from the book of Romans, the Spirit of God proves the work of separation. Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice. That excellent sacrifice was the sacrifice of glory, the excellent glory that Christ received when He finished the work on the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of the majesty on high. Abel could not have entered into the glory of God if he was not separated from Adam through the sacrifice of the Lamb. For in that he received the glory of God in Jesus Christ.

   God separated Abel from Cain by means of sacrifice. It was the excellency of the fullness of time that Abel entered into in the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Romans 8, again we have Cain and Abel. We have the children of God (who have the Spirit of Christ) and we have the spirit of man, or the flesh who have not the Spirit of Christ. Is this not separation? Then why do we not see the separation in the professing religious organizations of this world today? The answer is simple, they have not the Spirit of Christ, and they are none of His. As Paul stated to the Corinthians, Let a man examine himself whether he be in Christ or not. This does not allow a religious system to examine you, or to conform you to their beliefs. You have the responsibility before God and His Word to examine your faith by the Word of God, and the unction of the Holy Spirit of God.

   Cain would have examined Abel and when he did what was the result? Cain became the instrument of evil, his eyes were blinded to the truth, and he allowed his own will and his own thoughts (like Saul the king) to dictate his actions with no communion with the Almighty God. The result: he killed his brother. He had no mercy, he had no worldly love, he had enmity and hatred for his brother, and this blinded his whole being that he was a child of the devil, and the devil was a murderer from the beginning. It was Satan and his enmity against God that overthrew the glory of Adam in the garden. And Satan continued his work through Cain to destroy the glory of God, and still continues to attempt to destroy the glory of Jesus Christ in the children of God.

   The call of Abel and the imparting of faith links the Creator (the Son of God) of man to each and every soul who has walked by faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Abel was linked to the Son of God through faith, and the sacrifice of the Son of God on the cross as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

The Sacrifice that Links the Old and the New Testament Together

   Now let us go deeper into the Word of God. As the priests carried the ark of the covenant through the Jordan, the river of death, let us carry that ark of life in Jesus Christ through the darkness of this world to show forth the glory of God in Jesus Christ. Abel links the Old Testament to the New Testament in the sacrifice of the Lamb. Christ links the New Testament to the Old Testament through the better sacrifice than Abel. Before the Lord Jesus went to the cross, He began His suffering in Gethsemane alone with the Father, He moaned in His Spirit, and proclaimed to God the Father that He would glorify Him with the glory which He had with the Father before the foundation of the world. (John 17) When we consider the testimony in the gospel of Luke of the same time period, and His sufferings in the garden, we understand that the sacrifice that was about to be made would bring on a greater glory to the Son of God. This was such a cost that in the book of Hebrews it is recorded that He sweat as it were great drops of blood. There was such a tremor in the heart of the manifestation of God in Jesus Christ that God the Father sent an angel to bear up His Son on what was set before Him.

   We should go back to the holy mount where Christ was transfigured with His glory before His disciples: Peter, James, and John. In this glory two men stepped out of the invisible into the visible: Moses and Elijah. These were the two men who had seen God’s glory on mount Sinai. These two men listened to the voice of God. These two men (Moses and Elijah) were in the presence of God on the holy mountain. And why where they there now as Christ was transfigured? They were there to discuss the death of Christ upon the cross of Calvary. The glory that was then revealed was the glory that He would receive from God the Father after Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. God brought forth Moses and Elijah to reveal the glory that was past, and to reveal that it would be the same glory that was to come upon the Son of God. We should compare John Chapter 12, verse 28 when the heavens were opened and the voice from on high proclaimed. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The glory which Christ received when He was transfigured is referred to in John Chapter 12 as a future glory which He received through His redemptive work on the cross of Calvary. The fact that He was transfigured before Peter, James and John, was to give them confidence in the future glory of the Son of God. Moses and Elijah are the references we have to the Old Testament saints, whereas, Peter, James and John are our witnesses to the New Testament saints. The mount of transfiguration links us with the Old Testament saints, and the proof of this is found in Hebrews 11:40. We should also consider 1^st Peter 1:9 – 12.

Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:9)

Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: (1 Peter 1:10)

Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. (1 Peter 1:11)

Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:12)

   Once again the Holy Spirit of God sent down from heaven leads us into all truth connects both Old Testament and New Testament saints with the very Spirit of our Savior Jesus Christ. In all the Old Testament they prophesied of the grace that would come through Jesus Christ. I leave it up to you to search the Scriptures and see the footsteps of the Spirit of God through the prophets concerning our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. Both the law and the prophets were represented when Christ was transfigured on the holy mount. The voice from heaven proclaimed the glory of the Son, the actual glory that was manifested was the glory that would come by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross. He shall see the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied. It is finished was the end of man’s dominion, and man’s sin, and the beginning of a glory that God would shed, the redemptive glory, upon the children of God.The Lord Jesus would receive His glory and give it to His own.

   The dust once more would become a living soul in Christ Jesus our Lord, however, in the new creation, the dust could not return to paradise. The new creature, the new creation, would behold His glory, and the old Adam would stay behind. The angels desire to look into this miracle of faith and grace. They have in their own memories the complete history of mankind, what reverence and glory they must feel for their Creator when they see the love of God in Jesus Christ for man who is the dust of the ground. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (1 Timothy 3:16)

   Let us recap on the man Adam. He was taken from dust and was given a glory by His Creator Jesus Christ in the garden of God. Man lost that glory when he sinned by allowing himself to listen to the devil. Man then partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, although God had commanded that if Adam took of this tree that he would surely die. Yet, Adam sinned, and brought sin into the world, and all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Faith Is the Supernatural Work of God

   This led God to do a supernatural work. God began to work by faith! This was the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20) Abel, as a representative of faith, began the history and the walk of faith for all mankind. In Abel’s sacrifice of the first born lamb, without spot, without blemish, offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. The word ‘excellent’ can also be considered, in the heart of the believer, as the supernatural sacrifice, for we understand what it took for God to redeem man unto Himself: the death of His beloved Son. God presents two brothers, Abel and Cain. One becomes of the heavenlies, the other remained of the world. In this first view that God gives to us of the redemption of man outside of the garden, He shows us further evidence after the death of His beloved Son. It is the evidence of all those who walk by faith. The Holy Spirit stated in Hebrew Chapter 11, verses 38 – 40.

(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. (Hebrews 11:38)

And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: (Hebrews 11:39)

God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:40)

   I want you to consider your position in world history. You have the privilege from the end of this world to look back on the entire history of mankind. Even without the Bible what do you see of man? I see death, destruction, hate, evil, and countless other things that have brought man to his present low estate all because Adam brought sin into the world. Don’t tell me of the goodness of man. Cain is still killing his brother, and ripping God’s children and life from the womb, and dashing them on the stones of their sin. This only reflects the emptiness of their own souls and spirits. They are without God in this world. They are but dust, dust, dust — body, soul and spirit are empty without God. Yet, after these horrific acts, and the murder of the children of God, on Sunday these same hands that killed God’s children take refuge in the halls of the religion of man. And man’s religion does not condemn them for this genocide and the annihilation of God’s children. To the saint who loves the Lord Jesus, we know that what man does God will judge for his evil, however, we also know that in the mercies of God, these children are safe with Jesus.

    The Lord’s Word rings loud and true, Suffer the little children to come unto me. God has witnessed the death of His children from Abel through history. He has witnessed Manasseh (the king of Israel) offering his children to the fire god Moloch. All through the history of the ungodly heart of man, man has been offering his children to pagan gods, but now at the end of the world, man is killing just to kill. There is no offering to any pagan gods, there is no rhyme nor reason, it is the lust of murder, and the lust of killing that has taken over the hearts of men. A nation that calls itself a Christian nation is entirely taken over with the lust of murder. When God looks down upon this, I am sure that He is grieved over the works of man. As it was in the days of Noah, He is repenting that He ever made man. The sword of judgment is out of the sheath, and the fall of stones will come upon man. They will hide themselves from the face of God, and yet, they will still not repent of their wickedness. But as a servant of God, I say, Repent, and wash your sins in the blood of Christ. This unholy sin of abortion will be reckoned with, and God will count every man of power guilty before Him because they have not screamed against this wickedness. There is no reason for this travesty. There is no justification. There is no excuse. These actions only prove that man is without God in this world, and man is but walking dust.

   The Word of God examines all men through history. You say, My name isn’t written there, but be assured it has witnessed against you. For you come into this world as a child of Adam under sin, and only through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ can you receive the glory of God in the very Person of His beloved Son. The Holy Spirit has recorded all the ways of man in the holy Bible. The words in the Bible are not of man, not by man, nor do they hold the reasoning of fallen man. It is the mind of God concerning the history of mankind to show man that he is but dust, and to show man the redeeming power of his Creator.

   Man stands guilty before God. Man stands guilty before the pages of the written Word of God, and man would abort the Word of God if it were possible. Man has tried many times to remove God’s Word from this planet, yet, he has been unsuccessful because the eternal power of God has given, has preserved, and has settled His eternal Word in heaven. There is no unregenerate man, nor unregenerate mind, nor unregenerate heart, nor unregenerate spirit, nor unregenerate soul that will ever reach the confines of heaven where God’s Word is settled and preserved. The spirit of man calls himself godly, he presents himself in robes, and sanctimonious garb, he stands before man in well pressed suits and propounds his religious philosophies. He protects his religious system by denying the Word of God. His religious surroundings are void of God; God does not sanction his works of evil. Man walks through the dark corridors of his own heart and soul trying to extinguish faith, but I will tell you this is impossible because faith is a supernatural work of God, and this God (Jesus Christ) is the Creator of all things. You cannot abort faith, or the Word of God. Man can change words, or even the meaning of words, but God’s Word is the same yesterday, today, and forever. All who have walked by faith have one common thread, they have believed God and not man, and because of their believe IN God He has counted it unto them for righteousness in His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. As in the garden the dust could only receive life from Christ, and man can only receive life today, and life everlasting, and this must come through the Person of Jesus Christ.

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6)

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;(Ephesians 1:7)

Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; (Ephesians 1:8)

Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: (Ephesians 1:9)

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:(Ephesians 1:10)

In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: (Ephesians 1:11)

That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. (Ephesians 1:12)

   The book of Ephesians is a wonderful book for the soul. God willing some day, I would like to examine this book verse by verse, but for now, I would like to point out three things that I see in the above verses. First, To the praise of the glory of his grace, here is the step of faith that all of the redeemed have taken. And this step of faith whether it is Abel or any of the saints leads to the glory of His grace. This is marvelous phraseology from the Spirit of God. It is not ‘his grace of glory,’ but the inherent glory within the Son of God as the Redeemer who has given us His grace. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. I have said many times that one cannot see the fullness of God’s grace until God reveals in the heart the emptiness of the vessel, and that there is nothing within this vessel that is of God. God gives life and no other. God breathes life into man and no other. God breathes His Spirit into man and no other, and all of this has to come by the glory of His grace. For ye are dead and your life is hid in Christ in God. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)

  The second point I would like to mention is that He has made known unto us the mystery of His will — the mystery of his will. We have not acquired this knowledge from any of the writings of man. This is divine knowledge, and can only be received from the Spirit of God. The mystery of his will takes in the determinate counsels of God. Ask Abraham about I will in Genesis Chapter 17, read how many times God told Abraham that I will. This will give you a small idea of the mystery of his will. Underline these five little words (the number of grace) the mystery of his will. The more that you understand this divine mystery through the eyes of the Spirit of God then the more you will understand of the determinate counsels of God, and you will see and understand the mystery of his will.

   The third point is this that in verse 10 it is the dispensation of the fullness of times. That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: (Ephesians 1:10) Notice the plural of the word ‘time.’ There was one act in time that determined the whole course of time. From the garden to the new heaven and the new earth this was the fullness of time ‘time’ singular, one act, for one purpose to redeem man unto Himself. And shed the glory of His grace on man once more. This covers all the redeemed. The grace of God is the crimson blanket of grace over each and every soul that is redeemed through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this grace, the glory of His grace, is received by the work of Christ on the cross of Calvary. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (Galatians 4:4) To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Galatians 4:5)

The Return to the Glory of God

   There is much more in the few verses of Ephesians Chapter 1, but we must go on to our calling, and to the work of my Father. The God in heaven that loves me and gave Himself for me. We are dealing with man’s return to glory this is the purpose and the will of this message. So the plural of ‘time’ comes first. This gives us an overview of the determinate counsels of God in the history of mankind, or the times and seasons of man. The determinate counsels of God is only mentioned once in the entire Bible, but His counsels weave through every word, through every sentence, through every verse, through every Chapter, and through every book. His counsels bring in the unity and completeness of His Word. His counsels deal directly with the fullness of time, and the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of glory. Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: (Acts 2:23) We not only see the determinate counsels of God, but this is the only place that the counsels of God and the foreknowledge of God are united together. The foreknowledge of God only appears twice in the Bible — Acts 2:23 and 1 Peter 1:2. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. Put these two verses side by side, in the determinate counsels of God (being mentioned only one time), and yet, it is united with the crucifixion of our Lord, which included the foreknowledge of God, which was only mentioned twice, both concerning the crucifixion and the shed blood of Christ, which has brought unto us redemption and sanctification. We find all this knowledge not by man, but by the Spirit of Christ that dwells within us. Oh, beloved, we are truly a peculiar people that we should show forth the praise to the glory of His grace.

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: (1 Corinthians 1:26)

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; (1 Corinthians 1:27)

And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: (1 Corinthians 1:28)

That no flesh should glory in his presence. (1 Corinthians 1:29)

  Only the Spirit of God could record this of His misfits. Why do I phrase it like that? As misfits we no longer fit in this world. We confuse the world by whom we are, not many noble, not many mighty, God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the very wisdom of the men of this world. And only through this divine calling can we have confidence and boldness to write and to speak the words of grace. The natural man would have said to himself, Well Cain was the first born, he should be the heir of this world. Yet, God in His determinate counsels and in His foreknowledge chose the man of His choosing, Abel, to confound the wise. Abel (being the first man to walk by faith) received his call or calling from God, and all who have since walked by faith hear the voice of God’s calling in their Spirit. The God of glory called Abraham out of Ur of Chaldees. Who other than God who would have called Abraham? Abraham had no heir, and yet, Abraham (himself) through the work of the Spirit of God became the divine promise of God. Through his seed, the true seed, was manifested in the flesh to take away the sin of the world. Not many mighty, not many noble, not many wise in this world are called. The true history of mankind is written to expose man for what he really is. And God has called the cast off, and the misfits, of the world to declare His righteousness before man. Although few are called, we are a mighty army. In fact, so many have been called that in Revelation, Chapter 19, verse 14, we are called the armies of heaven. As the Spirit of God has given us life He has breathed within us the unction of His Person. He ministers to us both grace and truth, for He is the Spirit of truth, and the truth is in Jesus. Like John from his heart we can say, We beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father full of grace and truth, and from the Lord Jesus we have received grace for grace, that we can sing to the praises of the glory of His grace.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. (John 1:16)

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6)

   Notice how these Scriptures dove tail together. If you have His faith, you have His grace. If you have His grace, you have His glory. And let’s consider two more sections of Scripture.

As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. (1 Corinthians 15:48)

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (1 Corinthians 15:40)

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. (1 Corinthians 15:50)

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (1 Corinthians 15:51)

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52)

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:53)

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (1 Corinthians 15:54)

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (1 Corinthians 15:55)

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. (1 Corinthians 15:56)

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57)

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:58)

For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 4:15)

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16)

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; (2 Corinthians 4:17)

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

  Have we, as Christians, returned to the glory of God? Yes, but it is not outwardly manifested yet. For John points out to us in his first epistle that when we see Him as He is in His marvelous redemptive glory, the glory of His grace, it is then that we shall be like Him, however, we do have an inward glory now. For the same Christ of glory dwells within every believer. We are made perfect within Him because He is within us, and it is His perfection that we are part of. This makes us a partaker of the glory of His grace. We wait patiently for our change, and what we will be, but now in this earthen vessel we have within a glorious presence of the Son of God. The hope that is IN us confirms the Spirit’s words, when we shall see Him as He is, we shall be like Him. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2) We have acquired this glory within our hearts by belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believing in His redemptive work of glory, believing that He Himself is the Lord of glory, and receiving the glory of His grace.

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. (2 Corinthians 4:7)

   God has given us this glory in an earthen vessel speaking of the dust (the clay) that we have come from. He has done this to show forth the glory of His grace. However, one day far away from the curtain of this world, the glory that is within our hearts now will be outwardly manifested when our change will come.

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1)

For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: (2 Corinthians 5:2)

If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. (2 Corinthians 5:3)

For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. (2 Corinthians 5:4)

Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 5:5)

   This house of clay will be dissolved, this dust will be carried away with the winds of our past, and God will manifest the inward glory which we have in Christ Jesus our Lord. We will be revealed, and the truth that we hold will be complete in the glory of Christ. Both the psalmist and Job understood this finite truth. We should remember when the Lord taught His disciples after His resurrection, He taught from the law and the prophets and the psalms things concerning Himself. Therefore, the psalmist and Job understood these wonderful truths.

As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. (Psalm 17:15)

If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. (Job 14:14)

    In His glory we will not be found naked as Adam and Eve for they knew that they were naked after the fall, but we will be clothed with the glory of God. While on this earth waiting for that day, we groan within ourselves, waiting to be released from this body of death, this body of dust, yet, we have the Spirit of God to comfort us, even the Spirit of Christ.

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Romans 8:16)

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8:17)

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19)

For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, (Romans 8:20)

Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:21)

For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (Romans 8:22)

And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23)

   In our present time, we groan within ourselves. We see what Adam has done, and we see what we were in Adam. We are patiently waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our bodies. We are waiting for the body of glory. We have the glory of the Spirit of Christ in our hearts. This is the earnest of our salvation that Christ has given to us that He will through His divine power completely complete our adoption to the sons of God, and to be completely manifested us into His glory in the image of God Jesus Christ created He them. And we, the created of Christ, will ever be with the Lord of glory. Glory to God in the highest. Amen.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. (Psalm 139:6)

© Copyright 2018, Michael Haigh

Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.

All Scripture references are from the Authorized King James Bible. (KJV)