Crystallization-Study of GENESIS(3)
Message Twelve
Image and Dominion—the Heart of Genesis
Scripture Reading: Gen. 1:26-28;Mark 1:14-15; 2 Cor. 4:3-4; Rom. 8:29; 5:17; Col. 1:13, 15; 3:10-11; Matt. 13:43; Rev. 21:10-11; 22:1, 5
I. The book of Genesis begins and ends with image and dominion—1:26-28:
A. The subject of Genesis is man bearing the image of God andexercising God's dominion over all things—vv. 26-28:
1. For God to create man in His image means that God createdman with the intention that man would become aduplication of God, the reproduction of God, for His corporateexpression—John 12:24; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:10; 1 John3:1-2.
2. God's intention in giving man dominion was for man to exerciseGod's authority to deal with the enemy, to recover theearth, and to bring in the kingdom of God; dominion andthe kingdom are synonymous—Gen. 1:28; Matt. 6:10, 13b.
3. We were created for the purpose of expressing God andexercising His dominion; this is the heart of Genesis.
B. Genesis concludes with a life that, in Jacob, expressed God inHis image and, in Joseph, represented God with His dominion—48:14-16; 41:40-44, 57:
1. After Jacob was transformed and matured, he became theexpression of God, becoming Israel, a corporate person—35:10.
2. The exercise of God's dominion over all things was manifestedin Joseph's life—45:8-9, 26a:
a. Joseph's life under the heavenly vision was the life of thekingdom of the heavens described in Matthew 5—7.
b. Joseph's self-denial was the key to the practice of thekingdom life—Gen. 45:4-8; 50:15-21.
c. Because Joseph lived under God's restriction, the kingdomcould be brought in through him—Matt. 16:24-28.
d. The reigning of Joseph in Egypt was the kingdom ofGod for the fulfillment of God's purpose—Gen. 41:55-57;47:11-27; Rev. 11:15.
e. In Genesis 47 we have a picture of the millennium: 1) Under Joseph, Egypt prefigured the millennium withall the people on the same level, without distinctions. 2) Under Joseph's rule, the whole land of Egypt becamea land of enjoyment: a) All the people were enjoyers on the same levelbecause everyone and everything was under Joseph—vv. 14-21. b) This is a picture of the millennium, where everythingwill be under the Lord's hand—Psa. 24:1.
II. The matters of image and dominion, presented as seeds inGenesis, are developed and consummated in the New Testament:
A. Christ's incarnation and God-man living fulfilled God's intentionin His creation of man—Gen. 1:26-27; Luke 1:31-32, 35;2:40, 52:
1. The incarnation of Christ and His God-man living are closelyrelated to God's purpose that man would receive Him as lifeand express Him in His attributes—Gen. 1:26; 2:9; Acts3:14a; Eph. 4:24.
2. When Christ came, He brought the kingdom of God withHim; the kingdom subdues rebellion, casts out demons, healsthe sick, and raises the dead—Luke 17:21; Matt. 12:28; Mark4:35—5:43.
B. Whereas in Genesis 1 image precedes dominion, in the gospelthe order is reversed, and dominion comes before image, becauseman has fallen from God's dominion and must repent—Mark 1:1, 14-15; Matt. 4:17:
1. Through the gospel of the kingdom, God brings rebelliouspeople under the ruling of His authority so that they maybecome His kingdom and be ruled by His authority—24:14;Rev. 1:5-6:
a. The gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed so that rebellioussinners might be saved, qualified, and equippedto enter into the kingdom of God—Acts 8:12.
b. As believers in Christ, we have been regenerated toenter into the kingdom of God as the realm of the divinespecies to live under the rule of God in life—John 3:3, 5,15-16.
2. Christ is the image of God and the effulgence of His glory;hence, the gospel of Christ is the gospel of His glory thatilluminates and shines forth—2 Cor. 4:3-4; Col. 1:15; Heb.1:3:
a. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 God is the image, the image isChrist, Christ is the glory, the glory is the gospel, andthe gospel is the illumination.
b. Through the illumination of the gospel of the glory ofChrist, the shining reality of Christ, who is the embodimentand expression of the Triune God, is the treasurewithin us—vv. 6-7.
C. God intends that the believers in Christ be conformed to theimage of the firstborn Son and that they reign in life—Rom.8:29; 5:17:
1. Conformation to the image of God's Son issues in His beingthe Firstborn among many brothers—8:29:
a. Conformation denotes the shaping of life, shaping usinto the image of the firstborn Son of God.
b. Conformation is a process in which we are saved in lifefrom our self-likeness to be conformed to the image ofthe firstborn Son for His corporate expression—5:10.
2. God's complete salvation is for us to reign in life by theabundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness—vv. 17,21:
a. In experience, to reign in life is to be under the ruling ofthe divine life, the kingly and royal life with which wehave been regenerated—John 3:3, 5-6, 15-16; Rom. 5:17.
b. All the believers who have received the abundance ofgrace and of the gift of righteousness need to practicethe restriction and limitation of the divine life—Matt.8:9; 2 Cor. 2:12-14; 5:14.
D. As believers, we may know Christ as the image of God andlive in the kingdom of the Son of God's love—Col. 1:15, 13:
1. God is invisible, but Christ as the Son of His love, who isthe effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance,is His image, expressing what He is—Heb. 1:3; Col.1:15.
2. To be transferred into the kingdom of the Son of the Father'slove is to be transferred into the Son, the Beloved, who islife to us—v. 13; 1 John 5:11-12:
a. Because the Father delights in His Son, the kingdom ofthe Son is a pleasant thing, a matter of delight—Matt.3:17; 17:5.
b. The kingdom in which we may live today is a realm fullof life, light, and love; in this realm there is no fear—1 Pet. 2:9.
c. The church is the kingdom of the Son of the Father'slove, which is as delightful to the Father as the Son is—Col. 1:13; 4:15-16.
E. The church as the one new man is the corporate man in God'sintention; this universal new man will fulfill the twofold purposeof bearing God's image to express Him and exercisingGod's authority to represent Him and fight against God'senemy for God's kingdom—Eph. 2:15; 4:24; 6:10-20; Col. 3:10-11:
1. God's creation of man for His expression and representationis a picture, a type, of the universal new man in God'snew creation—Gen. 1:26-28; Eph. 4:24.
2. The corporate new man bears the image of Him who createdhim (Col. 3:10), for the new man was "created according toGod in righteousness and holiness of the reality" (Eph.4:24).
3. The one new man is a corporate warrior fighting againstGod's enemy to bring in God's kingdom—6:10-20; Rev. 12:10.
F. In the coming age, the age of the millennial kingdom, theglorious kingdom of God will be manifested on earth—Matt.6:13; Rev. 11:15:
1. When the Lord Jesus comes again, He and the overcomersas the corporate smiting stone will become a great mountainto fill the whole earth, making the whole earth God'skingdom, His dominion—Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45.
2. The kingdom is a realm in which God exercises His powerso that He can express His glory; thus, God's glory goeswith His kingdom—Matt. 6:13; 1 Thes. 2:12.
3. In the millennium the overcoming believers will be withChrist in the bright glory of the kingdom, shining forth"like the sun in the kingdom of their Father"—Matt. 13:43.
G. The New Jerusalem in eternity is the consummation of imageand dominion—Rev. 21:2, 10-11:
1. The New Jerusalem bears the image, the appearance, ofGod, expressing the Triune God by her shining with a light"like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal"—4:3; 21:10-11.
2. The New Jerusalem is the eternal kingdom of God, filledwith the glory of God—22:1, 5; 21:11.