John 17:20-26 “Father may they be one as we are one”, God’s intention was never “I, me”, but “us, and we. one another, together.” His likeness is born from “Us and our, not Me and Mine”
Why is it so important for us to see God in ALL His wondrous glory? Because it is how God loves that we see Him, know Him, and imitate Him as dearly loved children - made in His image AND likeness - to be loved and to love like Him/Them - that is how They love.
This is reflected in Jesus' prayer, which goes back to God’s original intent and design - that “it is not good for us to be alone” because we were never meant to be alone, isolated, or separate. We were meant to be like God, in a perpetual and mutual relationship - of love and edification.
Genesis 1:26-28 “26Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28God blessed them and said to them…”
Romans 1: God’s likeness, that is His invisible qualities, is seen in what He has made - us - and seen most clearly, not merely in me, though they are, most clearly I live and love - that is, how I participate in the Body, the One-ness of the community, or fellowship (Phil 2) - it is seen most clearly in how we live and love one another, together in righteousness and goodness, just like the mutuality of God’s Divine community.
As relationships are perverted, so is the expression of His likeness, as we then, live and love like Jesus, and in particular as part of His body, God’s invisible qualities begin to shine again, as was intended from the beginning, and realized in Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit (His sanctifying power), and people, seeing God in us and among us “...will know WE are His discipleS by how we love one another”, just as God, invisibly, loves One Another. In Jesus, with one another, not alone, but together, we are the visible expression of God’s invisible qualities seen by the world - that is by His grace.
Ephesians 1:3-12 “3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. 11In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ”
Ephesians 2:4-8 “...because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved…”
We, too often, divorce the term “let us make them in our image, in our likeness” from our OWN making AND salvation - falling into the trap of this being “about me”. As Americans, in particular, we can often see ourselves as individualistic, independent, self-determining, and self-preserving - but that is not so in the Kingdom, and was never meant to be.
“My”, being one, was never God’s intention, as we can see, right from the beginning, at the inception of mankind, He did not say “I will make a man in my image, and in my image, I will make him”.
No, what He said was “Let us make them…, …in our image and likeness…”. What God was doing was laying out His most fundamental intentions for man - kind, for us, His making - not that each of us isn’t made in his likeness and image - in that we are image bearers, but it is that we, together, represent the God’s own loving and mutual relationship - not good to be alone, God’s not alone and never has been alone - it is in His trinitarian community of which God has been eternally in a loving and mutual relationship - that He, They, have made us, to be like Him.
So, it is in being loved and loving that we find our purpose, our significance, our identity, and our value - it is here we find and express our very meaning and find ours, and God’s, delight - as we fulfill what it is that God has made US for - His glory and honor in expressing His invisible qualities - finding our joy in Him and our making - and this ALWAYS - in the context of relationships - right and good relationships.
It is the mystery of that relationship, of those three being one, that repeats itself in the mystery of humanity. And in particular, the church. As the many become one. and we are the answer of Jesus' prayer “Let them be one as we are one”, and the consummation of God’s original intent of “Let us make them in our image, and then I’ll like this let us make them”
In other words, we were never meant to be alone. As people, persons, being made by God, but in particular, as Christians being created in Christ Jesus, not only saved into Him, the Person but saved into Him, that is, His body - as members belonging to Him and to one another (koinonia).
1 Corinthians 12 – over the past couple of months we have talked about our value as ascribed to us by God. First, in our having been made in His image and likeness, second, and even more profoundly, in the price He was willing to pay - that our value is inherent in our being God’s image bearers, and that value expressed in and with the body - with one another.
How does the Body (of Christ), most and best express God’s invisible qualities, that likeness with which we have been made? When we realize and express our own value to God and in and to the Body, and see and appreciate the value of the others I, we, have been placed with - and we do this being serving and being served, loving and edifying - one another, seeing and treating each other according to that value.
This is to the glory of God as we are all revealing his invisible qualities - that are good and glorious.
And to our joy, the joy of mankind - witness, Adam‘s delight, when being re-connected and having his emptiness filled by the woman in Genesis.
We have and find our value in Christ, we express value with one another
How do we know God most profoundly and see Him most completely? When the Body of Christ acts like it was intended - loving, edifying, mutually, just LIKE God, in loving and harmonious relationship.
