In Genesis 1:26, we are told that God’s purpose in creating the human race was so that we could be in His likeness and His image.
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.
At first glance, it may seem that there is a duplication of terms when the Bible refers to both “image” and “likeness.” However, more careful study reveals that these terms describe two different qualities of God and two different aspects of our human makeup. In Matthew 22:20-21, Jesus referred to the fact that we are in God’s physical image when He asked to see a Roman coin. Upon looking at the picture of Caesar on the coinage, He proclaimed that what is made in the image of Caesar (meaning the money) should be given to Caesar, and what is made in the image of God (meaning man) should be given to God. Just as the coin bore the image of the physical features of the emperor, we bear the physical image of God. Many biblical and philosophical scholars believe that the scriptural references to the physical features of God are anthropomorphisms – poetic descriptions of God in which He is attributed human characteristics. However, we must remember that we were made in His image – not vice versa! Just as literally as the Roman coins were imprinted to match the facial features of Caesar, our physical features were fashioned after the physical characteristics of God Himself. If the Bible says that God has eyes, feet, hands, etc., then He has eyes, feet, hands – and our eyes, feet, and hands are shaped to resemble and reflect them.
However, in John chapter three we find Jesus using terms that describe invisible things such as light, wind, and spirit when He tries to reveal to us the truth about the experience of being born again. In this instance, He is talking about how we are made into the likeness of God. Unlike the visible image of God, His likeness is the invisible quality of God that man originally shared. This likeness was lost in the garden when Adam and Eve sinned but is regained when we are (as Jesus invited Nicodemus to be) – born again. The likeness of God is His triune nature. Adam and Eve originally existed as three-part personalities: spirit, soul, and body. Unfortunately, their spirits (the part of the human that communes with God) died at the moment they ate the fruit from the Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil. If you will remember the story of Adam and Eve’s fall from grace, you will be able to see clearly that their desire to communicate with God suddenly ceased as soon as they ate the forbidden fruit. Prior to their disobedience, the couple had a time of regular fellowship with God as they walked through the garden with Him in the cool of each day. However, as soon as they partook of the prohibited fruit, they felt compelled to hide when He came for the regularly scheduled visit. They could not fellowship with God because the part of them that communed with God – the spirit – was now dead or dysfunctional. Fortunately, God has made a way (through the new birth) for the spirit to be resurrected and to come alive again. At that point, we again become able to commune with the Lord. Notice that Jesus admonished Nicodemus that he wouldn’t even be able to see the kingdom of God until he was born again. In other words, Jesus was telling His visitor that he was totally out of communication with spiritual reality; his problem was that his spirit man that communicates with God was dead or dysfunctional.
In contrast to the physical image, which is readily visible in our physical bodies (eyes, feet, hands), the spiritual likeness of God is revealed only in the spirit and cannot be openly seen; it is the hidden man of the heart. (I Peter 3:4) Therefore, Jesus used only the invisible (light, wind, spirit) when drawing parallels to this kingdom that cannot be seen by the unregenerate.
As soon as we are born again, the spiritual man comes alive and we are restored to the spiritual likeness of God. However, I John 3:2 tells us that becoming sons of God through the new birth is only embarking on our journey toward becoming like Him, a process which will eventually be completed when we see 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. (I John 3:2)
Maturing is a natural process. John the Baptist did it. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel. (Luke 1:80) Even Jesus Himself, who was born in the perfect image of God, had to mature into the likeness of His Father. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. (Luke 2:52)
Notice that Jesus developed in four distinct dimensions: mentally (He increased in wisdom), physically (He increased in stature), spiritually (He increased in favor with God), and socially (He increased in favor with man). We must understand that we, too, are works in progress and must set ourselves to develop in each of these areas as well.
One very interesting reality about maturing is that it is not the process of adding anything new; rather, it is the process of developing what is already there. A baby is born with all its body parts, but these parts develop as the child grows up over the period of his maturing years. If the child makes serious efforts to exercise and take proper care of his body, those body parts will grow strong and healthy; if not, the child’s body can atrophy and become anemic, deformed, and dysfunctional. In similar fashion, Christians have to mature in the spirit. When we are born again, we have the very nature of Christ birthed inside us; but we must purposely develop our spiritual man to fully manifest that nature.
Let’s think just a minute about the maturation process beginning with the very act of impregnation in reproduction. Sperm finds its way to the fertile egg and implants itself. It then busies itself reproducing and increasing cell after cell until there are millions of cells – all bearing the DNA of the father – producing a baby that will someday become a child and then an adult. In each stage of the baby’s development, it comes more and more to resemble the father. With a baby, we look for just a few points of similarity: “He has his father’s eyes.” “Oh, I see his father in his chin.” But as the child grows and turns into a mature adult, we often see the full profile of the parent in the offspring. There is a direct parallel in our spiritual conception, birth, and development. The spiritual transformation that takes place in our lives is a direct result of the seed of the Word of God that has been implanted inside of our spirits. (I Peter 1:23, I John 3:9, James 1:21) That seed is implanted in the fertile soil of our lives. (Matthew 13:8, 23; Mark 4:8, 20; Luke 8:8)
When we have the incorruptible seed, we are pregnant, whether it shows or not. A woman who is only three weeks along in her pregnancy is no less pregnant than one who is seven months along. As we mature spiritually, we must be careful not to abort the Word of God that is working inside us. If the Word of God is permitted to take its full course, it will be said of us that we look more like our Lord every day. (Ephesians 4:15)
As we have already determined, the seed that produces this new life is the Word of God. This same Word of God not only impregnates us with the nature of our heavenly Father, it also enables us to develop into His nature. Husbands are directed to wash their wives with the water of the Word so that they will be pure (Ephesians 5:26), and David hid the Word in his heart that he would not sin (Psalm 119:11). This constant flow of the Word of God renews the believer so that he is able to more readily manifest the nature of his heavenly Father. The soul actually acts like a valve letting in and out of spirit and flesh what it wills. Keeping that valve open through the entrance of the word of God (Psalm 119:130) brings life to the spiritual man.
Often, ideas are more difficult to express than to conceive. One such issue is our spiritual position in Christ. It is often difficult to distinguish between what is in reality and what is in actuality. For instance, Paul struggled in Romans chapter seven with his imperfections, while proclaiming his victory in chapter eight. The difference, of course, was that he tapped into the power of the spirit in the transition between these chapters. His spirit man could have always provided this victory, but Paul didn’t develop into that spiritual person immediately upon his salvation. I find a lot of parallel with the human body in that a simple fertilized egg holds all the DNA of a matured adult, but it still has to go through a maturing process before it can function as an adult. Recent research has greatly enhanced our knowledge of the power of a single cell but, at the same time, the research confirms the developmental process. I find it interesting how the scripture repeatedly mentions the “man child” (Genesis 17:10, 12, 14; Leviticus 12:2; I Samuel 1:11; Job 3:3; Isaiah 66:7; Jeremiah 20:15, 44:7; Revelation 12:5, 12:13), terms we would consider antithetical – or paradoxical, at the least. A man is mature, while a child still needs to go through the process – yet, these scriptures suggest that we can be both at once. I see a spiritual parallel to this physical symbol. Spiritually, you are already in the stature of Christ, everything else is a gift to help you mature in it. At Jesus’ baptism, the Father spoke in an audible voice from heaven saying, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. (Luke 3:22) To really understand this passage, we must remember that Jesus had not done anything to please the Father up to that point. The Father was pleased with the relationship that they had, not necessarily with any actions on Jesus’ part. Maturing in God’s sight is developing in relationship with Him, not necessarily in activity.
In I Corinthians 13:11, Paul acknowledged that he had personally been through a maturing process by saying that, at one point, he was a child and thought like a child, but that he had matured beyond that point and had put those childish thoughts behind him. He then went on to admonish the believers in the Corinthian church to also mature spiritually (verse 14:20) and pointed out that their carnality had kept them at the baby stage in their spiritual maturity (I Corinthians 3:1). In Ephesians 4:14, he pointed out that the believers in that church also needed to mature beyond the childhood stage so that they would not be deceived by erroneous doctrine.
