LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Christ in Genesis and the Gospels
The man in the first chapters of Genesis has the same four aspects as Christ shown in the gospels.
Roberto Sáez
"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 heavens, and over the cattle, and over the whole earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth" (Gn. 1:26). "...have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over every animal that moveth on the earth" (Gen. 1:28). "And Jehovah Elohim took Man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to till it and to guard it" (Gn. 2:15).
The man from the first chapters of Genesis has four characteristics: The image of God, the image of man, the image of a king, and the image of a servant. These four aspects concur with the characteristics of Christ presented to us in the four gospels: Matthew presents Christ to us as King, Mark as a Servant, Luke as Man, and John as God. These four images are also clearly observed in the church in the book of Acts. The church that can be seen there is the expression of the character of one new man: that of Christ.
The church in the book of Acts is Christ in another form, manifesting the fulfillment of the purpose of God towards the man of Genesis. That purpose was not completed because of the fall, but in the Christ of the gospels it is categorically manifested, and then taken to its consummation in the life of the church. In this case, those four characteristics are not those of an individual man, but those of a corporate man; a man who being many, make up one new man in Christ.
The image of the King - The Gospel of Matthew
The man in Genesis is told to dominate the creation; that is to say to exercise authority over a world that needed direction. Man was responsible for doing this in representation of God who is the supreme authority and had given him this responsibility. This doesn't make sense if one doesn't have the complete picture of why God determined this for man and the creation. When looking toward the end of times, in Revelation, we see the consummation of the plan of God and we thereby understand what was in God's heart. In that complete picture, we see God subjecting the coming world to man.
The coming world is indescribably glorious, and perhaps that has motivated the envy of Lucifer and the angels that followed him, in the knowledge that in that coming world, they will not have the main role, but man. Perhaps the reflection of psalm 8: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and splendour. Thou hast made him to rule over the works of thy hands; thou hast put everything under his feet: ..." be, in the best of cases, the reflection of generic man, in any period of time in his walk through this world; or in the worst of cases, be the reflection of Lucifer and the fallen angels when they were filled with envy for the glorious destination that awaited man, while they would only be the servants of the heirs of salvation.
When Lucifer, now the devil (adversary), saw the first Adam, knowing that he was the creature by which he was displaced, and that God had destined to inherit the Kingdom and the coming glory, he would do no less than to try to ruin all that God had intended for him. Thus man who was destined to reign, was subdued by the enemy. In Adam's fall the whole of humanity fell. Then, Satan taking possession of this world, became its lord and master.
It is for this reason that he dared to offer the Kingdom of this world to our Lord Jesus Christ when he tempted Him in the desert. The first man failed, and now, he faced the second Man, tempting him to fall and to impede the plan of God at any cost. However our Lord conquered him in the condition of man, made a little lower than the angels and what's more, in the most extreme weakness.
The fallen angels will never be able to accuse God of being authoritarian or unjust, because in the divine right he didn't react as God to judge them and to subject them, but, to the adversary's and the superior power's shame, they were overcome by one that was made a little lower than the angels. It was necessary for man to rule over all the creatures and even more so "every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth" because this was the design of God in his single and sovereign will and it was completed by means of Jesus Christ our Lord's obedience. Our Lord destroyed the one who had power over death and snatched the keys of death and of Hades from him. With this He left the reign of Satan without effect, because Christ brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Now, the task of the church is to maintain the enemy under its feet, so that the design of the will of God is completed in us.
Matthew's gospel presents us Jesus' aspect, which is manifested as the King. He is the King that brings us the Kingdom of the heavens, and the teachings of the Kingdom for the citizens of the Kingdom. Among the teachings He is presented as the pattern, from whom we have to learn the image of a King who is different to all the kings of the earth that have ever existed. While the kings of this world take possession of men and are located at the tip of a pyramid to exercise authority, glorying in the abundance of external wealth and in the power that the money brings, this King tells us: "Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart". It is necessary that before ending up reigning with Christ in the coming ages and in the glories of the Kingdom that will be manifested, we be trained in the contingencies of this world to learn our King's character.
The church in the book of Acts took hold of Christ's victory to maintain the defeat of the enemy. Christ had come to undo the works of the devil and this church lived in the power of that victory. The sick were healed, the demons were driven out and the sinners came from the darkness to the light. When the kings of this world wanted to exercise dominion over them, they didn't fear suffering the injustices of their prepotency with the dignity of Christ's character that was incorporated in them, in front of an adverse and hostile world without defending themselves, but being meek and humble like their King. They thereby showed the King's image in corporate form, reigning over the world, the flesh and the devil.
The image of a Servant - The Gospel of Mark
The man of Genesis was purposed to serve; he was given the order of working the garden and to take care of it. That is also valid for us. If we were created to carry the image of God, we have to learn how to serve, because He has told us by means of the Lord Jesus Christ: "My Father up to now works and I also work". The enemy refused to serve those that would be the heirs of salvation. When he saw the man in the garden, lacking care for his function of work, he came to tempt the woman who was alone. The result was that because of the disobedience, the man was expelled from the garden and condemned to earn bread by the sweat of his brow.
The earth, outside the garden, would fill up with overgrowth, and the work that was originally a pleasant and renovating function, would become an affliction for him. Since then, fallen man has established a system of unjust wealth in which the strongest take advantage of the weakest. When our Lord Jesus came, men looked for positions of authority to delegate and avoid service. It is what they have made always done, but Christ said: "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all" (Mr. 9:35).
Our Lord Jesus Christ is presented in Mark's gospel as the one who serves. Indeed, he came as the Servant of God. What the enemy didn't want to accept and brought into man's nature through the fall, Christ comes to restore, because service is part of the nature of God. We are being trained in this world to incorporate this quality of our Lord Jesus Christ's character. He, being God, accepted to come in man's form, and being in man's condition, he humbled, being made a servant (slave). In Mark's gospel one sees the Lord Jesus working day and night, praying whole nights, healing the sick, assisting multitudes, meeting the necessities of the men, preaching and teaching unceasingly.
In the book of Acts we see a church that does exactly the same thing that Jesus did in the gospels . In the church they reproduce the same works of Christ, the same character and service.
The image of Man - The Gospel of Luke
Luke's Gospel presents us Jesus' human profile. Luke is the only gentile writer; he is of Greek origin. His culture allows him to be meticulous in his investigation about the Lord Jesus Christ. He presents us stories of Jesus' birth, of the presentation on the eighth day for circumcision, of the journey to the temple at twelve years of age, of his life in Nazareth, of how -beginning his ministry-he faces Satan in the wilderness as a man.
Satan tempted him saying: "If you are Son of God..."; to which Jesus responded: "Man shall not live on bread alone..." This means that he confronted satan, not as God, but as the Son of Man. Indeed, Jesus came to vindicate man, assuming our humanity. How easy it would have been for our Lord to call a legion of angels to defend him from the crucifixion! But we well know that in that way he would have shown His divine nature, and in such a case it would not have represented men. All His work was done as a man; although not in man's strength, but depending in everything on the Spirit of God who enabled him to face the sufferings. Jesus' work would not have been the same if he had faced the enemy as God. Christ's work has greater value, when understood in this way, because he did it as the Son of Man.
The man in Genesis was not complete while he was alone; this was only accomplished when God made him a suitable partner. From this we can deduce that what God finally wants to have is not many saved and glorified individuals, but a man who knows how to live in family. God is a family. He is not a single person but three people that coexist in substance, equality, reciprocity and mutuality. This lifestyle is the one that God wants to reproduce in the creature called "man".
The Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect man; the man that God always wanted to have. God is not looking for a man- he already has it. Jesus satisfied the Father's heart completely. The Father's requirements regarding man were perfectly fulfilled by Christ, so Christ comes to be the representative of men before God.
The true and more complete desire of God regarding man, was lived out by Jesus, and the gospels give account of this fact. But what is impressive is that this wonderful man's profile embodies the church in the book of Acts. The Christ of the gospels lived an intensely dependent life on the Father. He said that he lived for the Father, and that in the same way those who believe in him would live; that is to say a life dependent on another, in this case, on Christ's life in those who believe in him. This is what enabled the church, although being many, to be a single functioning man. All had a single heart: that of Christ. One soul and one accord: that of Christ. Man's corporate project that began there in Genesis was summed up in the book of Acts by means of the Christ of the gospels.
The image of God - The Gospel of John
"Let us make man in our image" was the desire of God, and according to this desire the man of Genesis appeared; a being who was purposed to be man and God, human and divine. When Jesus manifested that he was the Son of God, the Jews accused him of blasphemy, saying to him: "For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? (Jn. 10:33-34). God wanted man to have his image; the enemy knew that in the ages to come God would share his glory with man, so he went ahead offering the man a way by which he could end up being like God, because the subtle insinuation consisted of saying that God was denying man this possibility. "but God knows that in the day ye eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as God, knowing good and evil. " (Gen. 3:5). The lie of Satan consisted of making man believe that the purpose of God would be reached if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Christ came and showed us the true image of God, the divine image that God wanted to share with man. And this consists of living the life of God in a corporate way. Just as God is family, he wants his children to learn this lesson in this world: to live the divine life in the corporate life of the church.
In John's gospel, like in any other, we see Christ being related with the trinity in eighteen chapters, out of the twenty-one in the book. The image of God that Christ showed us, is the image of a God that, being a plurality of Persons, is able to coexist in unity. This reality is the one that is reproduced in the book of Acts.
A quadruple image
The vision of Ezekiel, in the Old Testament, shows a being in the heavens that has four faces. One is similar to a Lion that corresponds with Christ's profile in Matthew's gospel where Christ is presented as the King. Another face has the aspect of an Ox that corresponds with Mark's gospel, which introduces us to Christ as a Servant. Another face has the aspect of Man and this corresponds with Luke's gospel, which introduces us to Christ as the Son of Man. And finally, the other face is similar to an eagle, and this corresponds with the heavenly and divine image that John's gospel presents to us. The wonderful thing is that these four characteristics are those that also refer to the man of Genesis, and that, as we know, could not materialize because of his fall. However, in Christ it is perfectly completed, and then His character is graven in the church that we see in the book of Acts. Let us pray so that this church be seen today.