'Maturity in Christ'
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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 that 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.
The Seed, the Son of God, to whom the Divine promises have been given, is always singular—always Christ. Christ is the eternal "Him." The "them" refers to the Lamb and His Wife. To "them" has been assigned dominion over the heavens and the earth.
In order for the image and likeness to be complete as God intends, there must be male and female—Christ and His Body.
The New Testament teaches that we are to be created in the image of Christ. Also, there are Scripture references concerning the building of Zion, the Temple of God.
It is the will of the Father that every person who believes in His Son be transformed in character in accordance with the Character of Christ, and that the believer rule his affairs in obedience to Christ and in righteousness.
Also, it is the good pleasure of the Father that every person who believes in His Son come to the place of transformation of his personality and his behavior to the extent that he can receive the fullness of the Father and the fullness of the Son through the Holy Spirit.
The Father, God Almighty, has ordained further that every person who receives His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and who remains faithful throughout his pilgrimage on the earth, be clothed with a surpassingly glorious body of eternal life so that he may live and move and have his being in the manner appropriate to a king and priest of the most high God.
It is the Father’s joy to bring each of His sons to maturity after this fashion. He will do so provided we take up our cross and follow Christ daily with a pure heart. If we fail it will be because we refused to keep our faith and trust in Jesus. "He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be His God, and he shall be my son" (Revelation 21:7).
The Holy Spirit is seeking out the Body of Christ, the Bride of the Lamb—those who will be a "kind of firstfruits of his creatures" (James 1:18). The sending forth of Eliezer of Damascus after a bride for Isaac (Genesis, Chapter 24) is an Old Testament illustration of the Father sending the Holy Spirit in order to obtain the Bride of the Lamb.
Whoever hears the voice of the Holy Spirit will, if he is wise, spend the remainder of his days following the Holy Spirit toward Christ.
Whoever chooses to do so may answer the call of the heavenly Bridegroom and reach for the Divine inheritance. He or she will be required to fight (Song of Solomon 5:6,7). The fullness of the inheritance of a son of God cannot be acquired easily and readily. There will be resistance—this is the reason for the termovercome . The first part of the city of Jerusalem (speaking spiritually) that must be taken from the enemy is Mount Zion. Mount Zion is a stronghold (II Samuel 5:6-10).
Notice that the new Jerusalem itself is the Temple of God:
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. (Revelation 21:22)
The splendor of God’s holy Presence fills the city. There is no need for a separate temple by which to conceal the Glory of His Presence from His servants, because each of them has been made holy and wholly fit to behold His Face.
Jerusalem is destined to become the Throne of God, to become "Heaven."
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. (Jeremiah 3:17)
The new Jerusalem itself is the tabernacle of God. It is constructed from living stones, each of whom has been fashioned separately and uniquely into the image of Christ; each of whom is of the Substance of Christ through partaking of the Divine Nature (II Peter 1:4; John 6:57; I John 3:9; Hebrews 2:11; John 17:22).
We do not mean to imply that there is not an actual city in which the saints will dwell and into which the nations of the saved may enter. The Scriptures state that there is.
However, the city itself reflects the virtues of character that have been created in the saints during their discipleship on the earth. These virtues are expressed in the precious stones that embellish the twelve foundations of the wall (I Corinthians 3:12).
When the Word of God comes to maturity in us we will be a suitable temple for God and Christ (John 14:23; Ephesians 2:21,22; 3:16-19). When the Father is satisfied with the work that has been done in us, we having been properly cut, seasoned, formed, finished, and polished, He then will put us into our place in the corporate Temple of God, the holy city, the new Jerusalem, the Body of Christ.
We have stated that the mature Word of God is the image of Christ created in us, and that the image of Christ consists of the Character of Christ, the indwelling of the fullness of God, and a body fashioned from eternal resurrection life.
The maturing of the Character of Christ in us, and the indwelling of the Father and the Son, require that our body be brought into the state of eternal life. New wine must be put in new bottles. It is not surprising that the Apostle Paul groaned for his house from Heaven (II Corinthians 5:4)!
The body of the believer is the Temple of God.
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. (I Corinthians 6:15)
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (I Corinthians 6:19)
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