Life Walk Bible Lesson 53: In God’s Likeness
Genesis 1:24 through Genesis 2:2
God creates all living things, creating man in His image and likeness, and gives humans authority over the earth, to take care of it, and the animals.
Deuteronomy 1:14-16
People are given authority to rule over groups of people, and to judge fairly, within the community of ancient Israel.
Romans 13
Obey civil and Church, God-placed authority, in order to live in love and peace. [1Corinthians 13]
Luke 10:18-20
Jesus gives His disciples authority over evil spirits.
Because the devil comes to kill, steal and destroy [Job 24:14; John 10:10], Jesus comes to give life, and that more abundantly, by healing, delivering from the evil one those who have been bound by him, and resurrecting, reviving, restoring, renewing and bringing wholeness wherever He goes.
Acts 10:38
Isaiah 61:1-3
Luke 4:18-21]
Ephesians 4:17-25
Zechariah 8:16-17
Quoted in Ephesians 4:25, and elaborated on here, with the context of judging with truth, with the intent to bring peace.
Colossians 4:5-6
We are created in God's image and likeness to support the solution.
Natural and Spiritual Authority in Christ
1Timothy 2:9-14
As women are the natural representative of the Bride of Christ, it is imperative that the Bride of Christ [the earthly Church] be “clothed with Christ.” Paul writes to Timothy, in verse 10, to be “adorned by good deeds,” rather than with costly adornments which distract from the simple and elegant message of love for God and one another.
In verse 11, “A woman must quietly receive instruction in all submissiveness” has been difficult for women in our generations, however seen in the light of the Bride of Christ learning submissively at the feet of Jesus what is actually true, it also is imperative, so that we will no longer be deceived by the devil.
In 1Timothy 2:12-14, Paul teaches the people the orderly manner of earthly worship services. The next level is the order of heavenly worship: the Body of Christ does not have authority over God. As Adam and then Eve were created, Jesus the Firstborn is first, then His Bride.
There is only One Who is Supreme and can claim “Supremacy” over a human being, and that is God Almighty, the Supreme God, Who taught us to love one another and live at peace, for He is the King of Peace.
The original intent for a human being is articulated in Genesis 1:28 [AMP]
“And God blessed them [granting them certain authority] and said to them, 'Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subjugate it [putting it (the earth) under your power]; rule over (dominate) the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
The King James Translation says “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it…"
God told Noah the same thing after the flood: to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” in Genesis 9:1. God desires that humans and animals increase in numbers, and that we replenish what we use from the earth by sowing seeds, from what we eat, for our food supply to be sustained for both humans and animals. This we have dominion over.
Genesis 1:29-30 “So God said, 'Behold, I have given you every green plant yielding seed that is on the surface of the entire earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
30 and to all the animals on the earth and to every bird of the air and to every thing that moves on the ground -- to everything in which there is the breath of life -- I have given every green plant for food; and it was so because He commanded it.”
There was only one tree that God planted in the Garden of Eden, which He taught Adam to stay away from — the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God Himself wants to teach us what is good, and protect us from what is evil, as Jesus spoke in His sample prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Yours is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.” [From Matthew 6:9-13]
Be encouraged today, that it is God Who feeds us, heals us, and keeps us safe when we abide in the Vine that is Christ. [John 15] It is God Who “gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater” — God gives to the generous, so that they can replenish the earth, rebuild, and restore what is lost to it, and cover the earth with His Glory.
Isaiah 58:6-12
John 6:35
Isaiah 55:10
1Corinthians 10:16
1Corinthians 5:8
2Corinthians 9:10
Matthew 13:1-30
Because we are in Christ, we have been given authority, as part of our commission to go into all the world, to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God: salvation, healing, forgiveness and deliverance through Jesus Christ because He died in our place for our sins and made us righteous before God when we accept His sacrifice for us.
We have been given authority to do as Jesus taught us by His example to do: to go about doing good (philanthropy), to heal the sick, to cast out devils, and raise the dead.
God has given us authority over all principalities and powers of evil, that come against the Kingdom of God and the promises God has given us in Christ, because God desires to bless His children in the earth.
God gives us the authority to obey God instead of humans when there is a clear choice to do what is right before God, instead of doing what is evil.
God has not given us the authority to disobey our earthly governments when they coincide with God's way of doing things. Scripture teaches us to obey those in leadership over us because God has placed them in power to protect us. This applies both inside and outside of the Church, as God desires we all live in peace with all people.
Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. Jesus came to show us how to live as He lived in the earth, and He came to empower us to succeed as he succeeds.
Regarding Isaiah 19:15, I checked the Septuagint translation and this is how it is worded, in context:
“ 14For the Lord has prepared for them a spirit of error, and they have caused Egypt to err in all their works, as one staggers who is drunken and vomits also.
15 And there shall be no work to the Egyptians, which shall make head or tail, or beginning or end.
16 But in that day the Egyptians shall be as women, in fear and in trembling because of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shall bring upon them.
17 And the land of the Jews shall be for a terror to the Egyptians: whosoever shall name it to them, they shall fear, because of the counsel which the Lord of hosts has purposed concerning it.”
Jesus said, “I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.”
In Christ, therefore, I believe we can do all things with the success He bequeathed to us in the Inheritance of the Saints. [Ephesians 1]
I believe Isaiah 9:15 unpacks what God meant by the statement in Deuteronomy 28:13
Isaiah 9:14-16 New International Version (NIV)
14 “So the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail,
both palm branch and reed in a single day;
15 the elders and dignitaries are the head, the prophets who teach lies are the tail.
16 Those who guide this people mislead them,
and those who are guided are led astray.”
From:
Deuteronomy 28:12-14
12 “The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of His bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.
13 The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.
14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.”
We find similar instruction given by Jesus in John chapter 15, where He emphasizes that we stay in the Vine, in His Word, in His Love, in His way of doing things — His Kingdom.
Ephesians 5:23
“For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church, His body, of which He is the Savior.”
Colossians 1:18
“And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.”
I see the promise by the Father of being the head and by Jesus, the Head, as an incredible promise of blessing. We have been promised a place of honor in heavenly places with Him, and Him in us in the earth, fellowshipping with us, no longer at the mercy of people who lie to us about our future in Christ, but a direct promise about our position in Christ.
When we know who we are in Christ, no one can fool us with the lie of the evil one who belittles everything Christ has done in or through us. We don't have to fall for it anymore.
Jesus, our Elder Brother in the Family Kingdom of God, is pleased to call us His family, sit with us in our heavenly victories and our earthly sorrows; He weeps and laughs with us, and walks with us until we reach all the fullness of Christ, the Anointed One and His Anointing. [Colossians 2]
Be encouraged, therefore, for Jesus said He has overcome the world, implying that we too can overcome as He did.
Balancing our understanding of our reality, or circumstance through our own filter with the word of God which calls for us to “let the weak say, I am strong” is not an easy task. However, I truly believe that as we walk with God with the humble and contrite heart He is looking for in us, we will see ourselves more and more through His eyes, and not our own.
"Be of Good courage,” God told Joshua. We already have obtained the downpayment of our Promise, by the indwelling Holy Spirit. How much more, then, are we blessed than these who gathered Manna through the wilderness, with the Heavenly Wisdom which comes through the indwelling Bread of Life?
So, then, Be encouraged. For He has been tempted in all things just as we are, and He empowers us to be successful, just as He is. For as the Scripture promises us, As He is so are we in this world. Greater things than He did, He promises we can do. Let's fix our eyes on His way of seeing us, for the more we do so, the more we look like Him. You're gonna be okay. He's got you in the palm of His hand, written in it for life. [Isaiah 49:16]
From the LXX
16 “Behold, I have painted thy walls on my hands, and thou art continually before me.”
