2013-08-02 13:05:56
Joshuachang
晨興聖言─創世記結晶讀經（一）(第4週綱目)
二〇一三年夏季訓練
創世記結晶讀經（一）
第四篇
神按着自己的形像造人，作祂的彰顯
讀經：創一 26 ～ 27，西一 15，林後三 18，羅八29，啓二一 11
綱 目
週 一
壹 『我們要按着我們的形像，照着我們的樣式造人，…神就按着自己的形像創造人，乃是按着神的形像創
造他』—創一 26 上、27 上：
一 『我們要…造人』啓示，神格的三者之間，爲着人的創造，舉行了會議—26 節上：
1 在已過的永遠決定要創造人，指明人的創造乃是爲着三一神永遠的定旨—弗三 9 ～ 11。
2 神造人的心意是要完成祂神聖的經綸，將祂自己分賜到人裏面—提前一 4，羅八 11。
二 神乃是按着祂自己的形像，照着祂的樣式造人—創一 26 上：
1 神的形像，指神裏面的所是，是神屬性內裏素質的彰顯，這些屬性最顯着的是愛（約壹四 8）、光
（一5）、聖（啓四 8）、義（耶二三 6）。
2 神的樣式，指神的形狀（腓二 6），乃是神身位之素質與性質的彰顯。
3 神的形像和神的樣式不當視爲兩個分開的東西—創一 26 上：
a 人內裏的美德受造於人的靈裏，乃是神屬性的翻版，也是人彰顯神屬性的憑藉。
b 人外面的形狀受造爲人的身體，乃是神形狀的翻版。
4 神造人成爲祂自己的複本，使人有盛裝神並彰顯神的性能：
a 其他一切活物都是『各從其類』造的（11 ～ 12、21、24 ～ 25），人卻是從神類造的（參徒十七
28 ～ 29 上）。
b 旣然神與人同類，人就有可能與神聯合，而在生機的聯結裏與祂同活—約十五 5，羅六 5，十一 17 ～
24，林前六 17。
三 子基督是『那不能看見之神的像』，是『神榮耀的光輝，是神本質的印象』—神所是的彰顯—西一
15，來一 3：
1 子基督是神的具體化身，是那不能看見之神的像，是神屬性之素質的彰顯—西二 9，一 15，林後四
4，來一 3。
2 人是照着基督創造的，目的是要基督進到人裏面，並藉着人得彰顯—西一 27，腓一 20 ～ 21 上。
週 二
四 神按着祂的形像，照着祂的樣式造人，目的是要人接受祂作生命，並彰顯祂一切的屬性—創一 26 ～
27，二 9：
1 神按着祂的形像，照着祂的樣式造人，因爲祂的心意是要進到人裏面，並與人成爲一—弗三 17 上。
2 神按着祂自己的形像造人，使人藉着祂的經綸，可以接受祂的生命和性情，藉此成爲祂的彰顯—提前
一 4，約三 16，彼後一 4，林後三 18。
3 神這樣造人，使人有性能盛裝神的愛、光、義、聖—約壹四 8，一 5，弗四 24，五 2、8 ～ 9。
4 因着我們是從神類造的，所以我們的人性美德有盛裝神聖屬性的性能—林後十 1，十一 10。
週 三
五 神按着祂的形像造人，意思是說，神造人有一個心意，要使人成爲神的複本，神的複製，作祂團體的
彰顯；這樣的複製使神快樂，因爲這個複製看起來像祂，說話像祂，生活也像祂—約十二 24，羅八
29，來二 10，約壹三 1 ～ 2。
六 聖經裏對於神和人的關係，有一個奧祕的思想—創一 26，結一 26，約壹三 2 下，啓四 3 上，二一
11 下：
1 神的渴望是要成爲與人一樣，並使人與祂一樣—約壹三 2 下。
2 神的心意是要將祂自己在基督裏作到我們裏面，使祂自己與我們一樣，也使我們與祂一樣—弗三 17
上。
3 神的經綸是要使祂自己成爲人，也要使我們，就是祂的造物，成爲神，好使祂是神『人化』了，而我
們是人『神化』了—約一 14，羅一 3 ～ 4。
週 四
七 創世記一章二十六至二十八節，以及五章二節的代名詞『他們』，指明亞當是一個團體人，集體人，
包括全人類：
1 神沒有創造許多人；祂在一個人亞當裏面，集體的創造了人類。
2 神按着祂的形像並照着祂的樣式造了這樣一個團體人，使人類能團體的彰顯神。
週 五
貳 基督的成爲肉體與神人生活，達成了神造人的目的—一 26 ～ 27，約一 1、14，路一 31 ～ 32、
35，二 40、52:
一 基督的成爲肉體，與神按着祂的形像、照着祂的樣式造人的定旨有密切關係—就是要使人接受祂作生
命，並彰顯祂神聖的屬性—創一 26，二 9，徒三 14 上，弗四 24。
二 主耶穌是由人的素質而生，有人性的美德，爲要將這些美德拔高到一個標準，配得上神的屬性，作神
的彰顯—路一 35：
1 基督是由神聖素質成孕的那一位，有神聖的屬性作祂人性美德的內容和實際，使空洞的人性美德得着
充實—太一 18、20。
2 神聖的屬性充實、加強、豐富並聖別人性的美德，爲要在人性的美德上彰顯神。
三 主耶穌拯救我們時，祂是那有神聖屬性充實人性美德的一位，進到我們裏面—路二10 ～ 11、25 ～
32，十九 9 ～ 10：
1 祂作爲賜生命的靈進到我們裏面，將神帶到我們裏面，並以神的屬性充實我們的美德—林前十五 45
下，六 17。
2 這樣的生命從裏面拯救我們，並聖別、變化我們，而拔高我們人性的美德—羅五 10，十二 2。
週 六
參 基督成爲肉體，穿上人性，成爲人的樣式（腓二 6 ～ 8），好叫人藉着祂的死與復活，可以得着神永
遠、神聖的生命（彼前一 3，約壹五 11 ～ 12），並且憑這生命在裏面得以變化，並模成基督的形像
（林後三 18，羅八 29），在外面得以改變形狀，同形於基督榮耀的身體（腓三 21）；這樣，我們就
與基督一樣一式（約壹三 2 下），與基督一同向着宇宙彰顯神（弗三 21）：
一 我們以沒有帕子遮蔽的臉，觀看復活、升天之主的榮光，就『漸漸變化成爲與祂同樣的形像』，就是
復活、得榮之基督的形像—林後三 18。
二 神已豫定我們模成祂長子的形像；模成是變化的最終結果，包括我們裏面素質和性情的變化，和我們
外面樣式的變化，好使我們與基督得榮耀的形像相配—羅八 29。
三 在創世記一章二十六節，我們看見一個按着神形像被造的團體人作祂的彰顯，而在啓示錄二十一章，
我們看見新耶路撒冷作爲創世記一章二十六節裏之形像的終極發展和總結；神的城乃是神的團體彰
顯，有神的形像，並以神的榮耀照耀—啓四 3，二一 11。
WEEK 4 — OUTLINE
God Creating Man in His Own Image for His Expression
Scripture Reading: Gen. 1:26-27; Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29; Rev. 21:11
DAY 1
I. “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...And God created man in His own
image; in the image of God He created him” (Gen. 1:26a, 27a):
A. Let Us make man reveals that a council was held among the three of the Godhead regarding the creation of man (v. 26a):
1. The decision to create man was made in eternity past, indicating that the creation of man
was for the eternal purpose of the Triune God (Eph. 3:9-11).
2. God's intention in creating man was to carry out His divine economy for the dispensing of Himself into man (1 Tim. 1:4; Rom. 8:11).
B. God created man in His own image, according to His likeness (Gen. 1:26a):
1. God's image, referring to God's inner being, is the expression of the inward essence of God's attributes, the most prominent of which are love (1 John 4:8), light (1:5), holiness (Rev. 4:8), and righteousness (Jer. 23:6).
2. God's likeness, referring to God's form (Phil. 2:6), is the expression of the essence and nature of God's person.
3. God's image and God's likeness should not be considered as two separate things (Gen. 1:26a):
a. Man's inward virtues, created in man's spirit, are copies of God's attributes and are the means for man to express God's attributes.
b. Man's outward form, created as man's body, is a copy of God's form.
4. God created man to be a duplication of Himself so that man may have the capacity to
contain God and express Him:
a. All other living things were created “according to their kind” (vv. 11-12, 21, 24-25), but man was created according to God's kind (cf. Acts 17:28-29a).
b. Since God and man are of the same kind, it is possible for man to be joined to God and to live together with Him in an organic union (John 15:5; Rom. 6:5; 11:17-24; 1 Cor. 6:17).
C. Christ the Son is “the image of the invisible God,” “the effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance”—the expression of what God is (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3):
1. Christ the Son, as God's embodiment, is the image of the invisible God, the expression of the essence of God's attributes (Col. 2:9; 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4; Heb. 1:3).
2. Man was created according to Christ with the intention that Christ would enter into man
and be expressed through man (Col. 1:27; Phil. 1:20-21a).
DAY 2
D. God's purpose in the creation of man in His image and according to His likeness is that man would receive Him as life and express Him in all His attributes (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:9):
1. God created man in His image and according to His likeness because His intention is to come into man and to be one with man (Eph. 3:17a).
2. God created man in His own image so that through His economy man may receive His life and nature and thereby become His expression (1 Tim. 1:4; John 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:4; 2 Cor. 3:18).
3. God created man in such a way that man has the capacity to contain God's love, light,
righteousness, and holiness (1 John 4:8; 1:5; Eph. 4:24; 5:2, 8-9).
4. Because we were created according to God's kind, our human virtues have the capacity to
contain the divine attributes (2 Cor. 10:1; 11:10).
DAY 3
E. For God to create man in His image means that God created man with the intention that man would become a duplicate of God, the reproduction of God, for His corporate expression; this reproduction makes God happy because it looks like Him, speaks like Him, and lives like Him (John 12:24; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:10; 1 John 3:1-2).
F. In the Bible there is a mysterious thought concerning the relationship between God and man (Gen. 1:26; Ezek. 1:26; 1 John 3:2b; Rev. 4:3a; 21:11b):
1. God's desire is to become the same as man is and to make man the same as He is (1 John 3:2b).
2. God's intention is to work Himself in Christ into us, making Himself the same as we are and making us the same as He is (Eph. 3:17a).
3. God's economy is to make Himself man and to make us, His created beings, God so that He is God “man-ized” and we are man “God-ized” (John 1:14; Rom. 1:3-4).
DAY 4
G. The pronouns them in Genesis 1:26-28 and their in 5:2 indicate that Adam was a corporate man, a collective man, including all mankind:
1. God did not create many men; He created mankind collectively in one person, Adam.
2. God created such a corporate man in His image and according to His likeness so that mankind might express God corporately.
DAY 5
II. Christ's incarnation and God-man living fulfilled God's intention in His creation of man (1:26-27; John 1:1, 14; Luke 1:31-32, 35; 2:40, 52):
A. The incarnation of Christ is closely related to God's purpose in the creation of man in His image and according to His likeness—that man would receive Him as life and express Him in His divine attributes (Gen. 1:26; 2:9; Acts 3:14a; Eph. 4:24).
B. The Lord Jesus was born of the human essence with the human virtues in order to uplift these virtues to such a standard that they can match God's attributes for His expression (Luke 1:35):
1. As the One who was conceived of the divine essence with the divine attributes to be the
content and reality of His human virtues, Christ fills the empty human virtues (Matt. 1:18,
20).
2. The divine attributes fill, strengthen, enrich, and sanctify the human virtues for the purpose of expressing God in the human virtues.
C. When the Lord Jesus saves us, He comes into us as the One with the human virtues filled with the divine attributes (Luke 2:10-11, 25-32; 19:9-10):
1. As the life-giving Spirit, He enters into us to bring God into our being and to fill our virtues with God's attributes (1 Cor. 15:45b; 6:17).
2. Such a life saves us from within and uplifts our human virtues, sanctifying and
transforming us (Rom. 5:10; 12:2).
DAY 6
III. In His incarnation Christ put on human nature and became in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:6-8) so that through His death and resurrection man may obtain God's eternal, divine life (1 Pet. 1:3; 1 John 5:11-12) and by that life be transformed and conformed to the image of Christ inwardly (2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29) and transfigured into the likeness of Christ's glorious body outwardly (Phil. 3:21); in this way we may be the same as Christ (1 John 3:2b) and may
express God with Him to the universe (Eph. 3:21):
A. By beholding the glory of the resurrected and ascended Lord with an unveiled face, we are “being transformed into the same image”—the image of the resurrected and glorified Christ (2 Cor. 3:18).
B. God has predestinated us to be conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God; as the end result of transformation, conformation includes the changing of our inward essence and nature and also of our outward form so that we may match the glorified image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).
C. In Genesis 1:26 we see a corporate man created in God's image for His expression, and in Revelation 21 we see the New Jerusalem as the ultimate development and consummation of the image in Genesis 1:26; the city of God is the corporate expression of God, bearing the image of God and shining with the glory of God (Rev. 4:3; 21:11).
創世記結晶讀經（一）
第四篇
神按着自己的形像造人，作祂的彰顯
讀經：創一 26 ～ 27，西一 15，林後三 18，羅八29，啓二一 11
綱 目
週 一
壹 『我們要按着我們的形像，照着我們的樣式造人，…神就按着自己的形像創造人，乃是按着神的形像創
造他』—創一 26 上、27 上：
一 『我們要…造人』啓示，神格的三者之間，爲着人的創造，舉行了會議—26 節上：
1 在已過的永遠決定要創造人，指明人的創造乃是爲着三一神永遠的定旨—弗三 9 ～ 11。
2 神造人的心意是要完成祂神聖的經綸，將祂自己分賜到人裏面—提前一 4，羅八 11。
二 神乃是按着祂自己的形像，照着祂的樣式造人—創一 26 上：
1 神的形像，指神裏面的所是，是神屬性內裏素質的彰顯，這些屬性最顯着的是愛（約壹四 8）、光
（一5）、聖（啓四 8）、義（耶二三 6）。
2 神的樣式，指神的形狀（腓二 6），乃是神身位之素質與性質的彰顯。
3 神的形像和神的樣式不當視爲兩個分開的東西—創一 26 上：
a 人內裏的美德受造於人的靈裏，乃是神屬性的翻版，也是人彰顯神屬性的憑藉。
b 人外面的形狀受造爲人的身體，乃是神形狀的翻版。
4 神造人成爲祂自己的複本，使人有盛裝神並彰顯神的性能：
a 其他一切活物都是『各從其類』造的（11 ～ 12、21、24 ～ 25），人卻是從神類造的（參徒十七
28 ～ 29 上）。
b 旣然神與人同類，人就有可能與神聯合，而在生機的聯結裏與祂同活—約十五 5，羅六 5，十一 17 ～
24，林前六 17。
三 子基督是『那不能看見之神的像』，是『神榮耀的光輝，是神本質的印象』—神所是的彰顯—西一
15，來一 3：
1 子基督是神的具體化身，是那不能看見之神的像，是神屬性之素質的彰顯—西二 9，一 15，林後四
4，來一 3。
2 人是照着基督創造的，目的是要基督進到人裏面，並藉着人得彰顯—西一 27，腓一 20 ～ 21 上。
週 二
四 神按着祂的形像，照着祂的樣式造人，目的是要人接受祂作生命，並彰顯祂一切的屬性—創一 26 ～
27，二 9：
1 神按着祂的形像，照着祂的樣式造人，因爲祂的心意是要進到人裏面，並與人成爲一—弗三 17 上。
2 神按着祂自己的形像造人，使人藉着祂的經綸，可以接受祂的生命和性情，藉此成爲祂的彰顯—提前
一 4，約三 16，彼後一 4，林後三 18。
3 神這樣造人，使人有性能盛裝神的愛、光、義、聖—約壹四 8，一 5，弗四 24，五 2、8 ～ 9。
4 因着我們是從神類造的，所以我們的人性美德有盛裝神聖屬性的性能—林後十 1，十一 10。
週 三
五 神按着祂的形像造人，意思是說，神造人有一個心意，要使人成爲神的複本，神的複製，作祂團體的
彰顯；這樣的複製使神快樂，因爲這個複製看起來像祂，說話像祂，生活也像祂—約十二 24，羅八
29，來二 10，約壹三 1 ～ 2。
六 聖經裏對於神和人的關係，有一個奧祕的思想—創一 26，結一 26，約壹三 2 下，啓四 3 上，二一
11 下：
1 神的渴望是要成爲與人一樣，並使人與祂一樣—約壹三 2 下。
2 神的心意是要將祂自己在基督裏作到我們裏面，使祂自己與我們一樣，也使我們與祂一樣—弗三 17
上。
3 神的經綸是要使祂自己成爲人，也要使我們，就是祂的造物，成爲神，好使祂是神『人化』了，而我
們是人『神化』了—約一 14，羅一 3 ～ 4。
週 四
七 創世記一章二十六至二十八節，以及五章二節的代名詞『他們』，指明亞當是一個團體人，集體人，
包括全人類：
1 神沒有創造許多人；祂在一個人亞當裏面，集體的創造了人類。
2 神按着祂的形像並照着祂的樣式造了這樣一個團體人，使人類能團體的彰顯神。
週 五
貳 基督的成爲肉體與神人生活，達成了神造人的目的—一 26 ～ 27，約一 1、14，路一 31 ～ 32、
35，二 40、52:
一 基督的成爲肉體，與神按着祂的形像、照着祂的樣式造人的定旨有密切關係—就是要使人接受祂作生
命，並彰顯祂神聖的屬性—創一 26，二 9，徒三 14 上，弗四 24。
二 主耶穌是由人的素質而生，有人性的美德，爲要將這些美德拔高到一個標準，配得上神的屬性，作神
的彰顯—路一 35：
1 基督是由神聖素質成孕的那一位，有神聖的屬性作祂人性美德的內容和實際，使空洞的人性美德得着
充實—太一 18、20。
2 神聖的屬性充實、加強、豐富並聖別人性的美德，爲要在人性的美德上彰顯神。
三 主耶穌拯救我們時，祂是那有神聖屬性充實人性美德的一位，進到我們裏面—路二10 ～ 11、25 ～
32，十九 9 ～ 10：
1 祂作爲賜生命的靈進到我們裏面，將神帶到我們裏面，並以神的屬性充實我們的美德—林前十五 45
下，六 17。
2 這樣的生命從裏面拯救我們，並聖別、變化我們，而拔高我們人性的美德—羅五 10，十二 2。
週 六
參 基督成爲肉體，穿上人性，成爲人的樣式（腓二 6 ～ 8），好叫人藉着祂的死與復活，可以得着神永
遠、神聖的生命（彼前一 3，約壹五 11 ～ 12），並且憑這生命在裏面得以變化，並模成基督的形像
（林後三 18，羅八 29），在外面得以改變形狀，同形於基督榮耀的身體（腓三 21）；這樣，我們就
與基督一樣一式（約壹三 2 下），與基督一同向着宇宙彰顯神（弗三 21）：
一 我們以沒有帕子遮蔽的臉，觀看復活、升天之主的榮光，就『漸漸變化成爲與祂同樣的形像』，就是
復活、得榮之基督的形像—林後三 18。
二 神已豫定我們模成祂長子的形像；模成是變化的最終結果，包括我們裏面素質和性情的變化，和我們
外面樣式的變化，好使我們與基督得榮耀的形像相配—羅八 29。
三 在創世記一章二十六節，我們看見一個按着神形像被造的團體人作祂的彰顯，而在啓示錄二十一章，
我們看見新耶路撒冷作爲創世記一章二十六節裏之形像的終極發展和總結；神的城乃是神的團體彰
顯，有神的形像，並以神的榮耀照耀—啓四 3，二一 11。
WEEK 4 — OUTLINE
God Creating Man in His Own Image for His Expression
Scripture Reading: Gen. 1:26-27; Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29; Rev. 21:11
DAY 1
I. “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...And God created man in His own
image; in the image of God He created him” (Gen. 1:26a, 27a):
A. Let Us make man reveals that a council was held among the three of the Godhead regarding the creation of man (v. 26a):
1. The decision to create man was made in eternity past, indicating that the creation of man
was for the eternal purpose of the Triune God (Eph. 3:9-11).
2. God's intention in creating man was to carry out His divine economy for the dispensing of Himself into man (1 Tim. 1:4; Rom. 8:11).
B. God created man in His own image, according to His likeness (Gen. 1:26a):
1. God's image, referring to God's inner being, is the expression of the inward essence of God's attributes, the most prominent of which are love (1 John 4:8), light (1:5), holiness (Rev. 4:8), and righteousness (Jer. 23:6).
2. God's likeness, referring to God's form (Phil. 2:6), is the expression of the essence and nature of God's person.
3. God's image and God's likeness should not be considered as two separate things (Gen. 1:26a):
a. Man's inward virtues, created in man's spirit, are copies of God's attributes and are the means for man to express God's attributes.
b. Man's outward form, created as man's body, is a copy of God's form.
4. God created man to be a duplication of Himself so that man may have the capacity to
contain God and express Him:
a. All other living things were created “according to their kind” (vv. 11-12, 21, 24-25), but man was created according to God's kind (cf. Acts 17:28-29a).
b. Since God and man are of the same kind, it is possible for man to be joined to God and to live together with Him in an organic union (John 15:5; Rom. 6:5; 11:17-24; 1 Cor. 6:17).
C. Christ the Son is “the image of the invisible God,” “the effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance”—the expression of what God is (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3):
1. Christ the Son, as God's embodiment, is the image of the invisible God, the expression of the essence of God's attributes (Col. 2:9; 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4; Heb. 1:3).
2. Man was created according to Christ with the intention that Christ would enter into man
and be expressed through man (Col. 1:27; Phil. 1:20-21a).
DAY 2
D. God's purpose in the creation of man in His image and according to His likeness is that man would receive Him as life and express Him in all His attributes (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:9):
1. God created man in His image and according to His likeness because His intention is to come into man and to be one with man (Eph. 3:17a).
2. God created man in His own image so that through His economy man may receive His life and nature and thereby become His expression (1 Tim. 1:4; John 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:4; 2 Cor. 3:18).
3. God created man in such a way that man has the capacity to contain God's love, light,
righteousness, and holiness (1 John 4:8; 1:5; Eph. 4:24; 5:2, 8-9).
4. Because we were created according to God's kind, our human virtues have the capacity to
contain the divine attributes (2 Cor. 10:1; 11:10).
DAY 3
E. For God to create man in His image means that God created man with the intention that man would become a duplicate of God, the reproduction of God, for His corporate expression; this reproduction makes God happy because it looks like Him, speaks like Him, and lives like Him (John 12:24; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:10; 1 John 3:1-2).
F. In the Bible there is a mysterious thought concerning the relationship between God and man (Gen. 1:26; Ezek. 1:26; 1 John 3:2b; Rev. 4:3a; 21:11b):
1. God's desire is to become the same as man is and to make man the same as He is (1 John 3:2b).
2. God's intention is to work Himself in Christ into us, making Himself the same as we are and making us the same as He is (Eph. 3:17a).
3. God's economy is to make Himself man and to make us, His created beings, God so that He is God “man-ized” and we are man “God-ized” (John 1:14; Rom. 1:3-4).
DAY 4
G. The pronouns them in Genesis 1:26-28 and their in 5:2 indicate that Adam was a corporate man, a collective man, including all mankind:
1. God did not create many men; He created mankind collectively in one person, Adam.
2. God created such a corporate man in His image and according to His likeness so that mankind might express God corporately.
DAY 5
II. Christ's incarnation and God-man living fulfilled God's intention in His creation of man (1:26-27; John 1:1, 14; Luke 1:31-32, 35; 2:40, 52):
A. The incarnation of Christ is closely related to God's purpose in the creation of man in His image and according to His likeness—that man would receive Him as life and express Him in His divine attributes (Gen. 1:26; 2:9; Acts 3:14a; Eph. 4:24).
B. The Lord Jesus was born of the human essence with the human virtues in order to uplift these virtues to such a standard that they can match God's attributes for His expression (Luke 1:35):
1. As the One who was conceived of the divine essence with the divine attributes to be the
content and reality of His human virtues, Christ fills the empty human virtues (Matt. 1:18,
20).
2. The divine attributes fill, strengthen, enrich, and sanctify the human virtues for the purpose of expressing God in the human virtues.
C. When the Lord Jesus saves us, He comes into us as the One with the human virtues filled with the divine attributes (Luke 2:10-11, 25-32; 19:9-10):
1. As the life-giving Spirit, He enters into us to bring God into our being and to fill our virtues with God's attributes (1 Cor. 15:45b; 6:17).
2. Such a life saves us from within and uplifts our human virtues, sanctifying and
transforming us (Rom. 5:10; 12:2).
DAY 6
III. In His incarnation Christ put on human nature and became in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:6-8) so that through His death and resurrection man may obtain God's eternal, divine life (1 Pet. 1:3; 1 John 5:11-12) and by that life be transformed and conformed to the image of Christ inwardly (2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29) and transfigured into the likeness of Christ's glorious body outwardly (Phil. 3:21); in this way we may be the same as Christ (1 John 3:2b) and may
express God with Him to the universe (Eph. 3:21):
A. By beholding the glory of the resurrected and ascended Lord with an unveiled face, we are “being transformed into the same image”—the image of the resurrected and glorified Christ (2 Cor. 3:18).
B. God has predestinated us to be conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God; as the end result of transformation, conformation includes the changing of our inward essence and nature and also of our outward form so that we may match the glorified image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).
C. In Genesis 1:26 we see a corporate man created in God's image for His expression, and in Revelation 21 we see the New Jerusalem as the ultimate development and consummation of the image in Genesis 1:26; the city of God is the corporate expression of God, bearing the image of God and shining with the glory of God (Rev. 4:3; 21:11).