“All Things Are Become New” by Romans
Youtube Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUnDKD1NMH4
Youtube Video:
Before I begin, I want to qualify the opening of my Discussion, tonight. I don't know if the name Ravi Zacharias means anything to any of you. He was a very prolific evangelist and apologist visiting colleges, secular institutions, mosques and the Mormon Tabernacle in Utah to present and defend Christianity. Just before he died, there were accusations against him alleging gross immoral activities which he vehemently denied. They were all proven to be true.
Tonight, I am going to cite one particular teaching of his because what is true is true no matter who speaks it. When the Apostle Paul became aware that the Gospel was being insincerely and mockingly preached he wrote, “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice” (Philippians 1:15-18, ESV).
I am not Ravi Zacharias' judge. I offer no words of vilification or condemnation against him. Neither will I defend or justify him in his actions or excuse or attempt to minimize the charges against him. God is his judge, and my judge and your judge. There is only one person who I have the right to judge, and who, I assure you, is deserving of my judgment: I see his face in the mirror every day.
In the spirit of the Apostle Paul who rejoiced when the Truth was proclaimed, no matter who proclaimed it or even why, I will, tonight, cite and build on a powerful teaching of Ravi Zacharias that I found to be both profound and inspiring. I am grieved that he apparently did not, himself, live up to, or according to, the edifying wisdom he espoused. But I will not forfeit the benefits of his insights in this case, and I pass this teaching on to you without apology, and with a clear conscience in the sight of God.
In a Youtube video I saw four or five years ago, (years before the negative revelations about him), Ravi Zacharias was answering some questions from an audience of college students. He branched out a bit in his response, and brought up the account we find in Luke's Gospel: Luke 20:20: “And they {the chief priests} watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor...
And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no?” He interrupted himself at this point and commented, “I know that we all wish that Jesus would have said, 'No, you don't have to pay taxes...', but...”
He continued with the account, “But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me? Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar's. And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.” Then he said, “There ought to have been a follow-up question. The high priest should have asked, 'And what belongs to God?' If he had, Jesus would have replied, “Whose image is on you?'”
Tonight, I ask myself, and I ask all of you: “Whose image is on you?” To answer that question we must go back to the beginning, to the Creation of man. We read in Genesis 1:26: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” There it is! God's intention in creating man was that His image would be on each of us. The commentaries that I have been using in the Discussions have some wonderful insights into Genesis 1:26. I'd like to share them, tonight, with you.
First, Matthew Henry writes, “We have here the second part of the sixth day's work, the creation of man, which we are, in a special manner, concerned to take notice of, that we may know ourselves. Observe, I. That man was made last of all the creatures, that it might not be suspected that he had been, any way, a helper to God in the creation of the world:
that question must be for ever humbling and mortifying to him, “Where wast thou, or any of thy kind, when I laid the foundations of the earth?” as we read in Job 38:4. Yet it was both an honour and a favour to him that he was made last: an honour, for the method of the creation was to advance from that which was less perfect to that which was more so;
and a favour, for it was not fit he should be lodged in the palace designed for him till it was completely fitted up and furnished for his reception. Man, as soon as he was made, had the whole visible creation before him, both to contemplate and to take the comfort of. Man was made the same day that the beasts were, because his body was made of the same earth with theirs; and, while he is in the body, he inhabits the same earth with them. God forbid that by indulging the body and the desires of it we should make ourselves like the beasts that perish!
II. That man's creation was a more signal and immediate act of divine wisdom and power than that of the other creatures. The narrative of it is introduced with something of solemnity, and a manifest distinction from the rest. Hitherto, it had been said, “Let there be light,” and “Let there be a firmament,” and “Let the earth, or waters, bring forth” such a thing;
but now the word of command is turned into a word of consultation, “Let us make man, for whose sake the rest of the creatures were made: this is a work we must take into our own hands.” In the former he speaks as one having authority, in this as one having affection; for his delights were with the sons of men, as we read in Proverbs 8:31.
Continuing: “It should seem as if this were the work which he longed to be at; as if he had said, “Having at last settled the preliminaries, let us now apply ourselves to the business, Let us make man.” Man was to be a creature different from all that had been hitherto made. Flesh and spirit, heaven and earth, must be put together in him, and he must be allied to both worlds.
And therefore God himself not only undertakes to make him, but is pleased so to express himself as if he called a council to consider of the making of him: Let us make man. The... Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, consult about it and concur in it, because man, when he was made, was to be dedicated and devoted to Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Into that great name we are, with good reason, baptized, for to that great name we owe our being. Let him rule man who said, Let us make man.
III. That man was made in God's image and after his likeness, two words to express the same thing and making each other the more expressive; image and likeness denote the likest image, the nearest resemblance of any of the visible creatures. Man was not made in the likeness of any creature that went before him, but in the likeness of his Creator;
yet still between God and man there is an infinite distance. Christ only is the express image of God's person, as the Son of his Father, having the same nature. It is only some of God's honour that is put upon man, who is God's image only as the shadow in the glass, or the king's impress upon the coin.
God's image upon man consists in these three things: - 1. In his nature and constitution, not those of his body (for God has not a body), but those of his soul. This honour indeed God has put upon the body of man, that the Word was made flesh, the Son of God was clothed with a body like ours and will shortly clothe ours with a glory like that of his.
And this we may safely say, That he by whom God made the worlds, not only the great world, but man the little world, formed the human body, at the first, according to the platform he designed for himself in the fulness of time. But it is the soul, the great soul, of man, that does especially bear God's image. The soul is a spirit... The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. The soul of man, considered in its three noble faculties, understanding, will, and active power, is perhaps the brightest clearest looking-glass in nature, wherein to see God.
2. In his place and authority: Let us make man in our image, and let him have dominion. As he has the government of the inferior creatures, he is, as it were, God's representative, or viceroy, upon earth; they are not capable of fearing and serving God, therefore God has appointed them to fear and serve man. Yet his government of himself by the freedom of his will has in it more of God's image than his government of the creatures.
3. In his purity and rectitude. God's image upon man consists in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. Two cross-references are next provided: Ephesians 4:23-24: “Ephesians 4:23: “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” The Preacher's Homiletical tells us of this: “It is a continual rejuvenation the apostle describes; the verb is present in tense, and the newness implied is that of recency and youth, newness in point of age. But the new man to be put on is of a new kind and order.
It is put on when the Christian way of life is adopted, when we enter personally into the new humanity founded in Christ...
Thus two distinct conceptions of the life of faith are placed before our minds. It consists, on the one hand, of a quickening constantly renewed in the springs of our individual thought and will; and it is at the same time the assumption of another nature, the investiture of the soul with the divine character and form of its being. The inward reception of Christ’s Spirit is attended by the outward assumption of His character as our calling amongst men. The man of the coming times will not be atheistic or agnostic; he will be devout: not practising the world’s ethics with the Christian’s creed; he will be upright and generous, manly and God-like (Findlay).”
F.B. Meyer writes, “PUTTING ON THE “NEW MAN” The Lord Jesus is our text-book and our teacher, the schoolhouse in which we are taught, and the object lesson in which all truth is enshrined. But all is in vain unless we definitely and forever put away the old man; that is, our old manners and customs in so far as they are contrary to the Spirit of Christ.
With equal decision we are called upon to seek the daily renewal of our spirit and the outward conformity of our mode of life to the example of Jesus. But it should never be forgotten that the latter will be a dry husk unless it is energized from the true vine. There can be little of Christ without unless He dwells without a rival within. But the Holy Spirit will see to this, if only we grieve Him not.
What a transformation immediately ensues! Truth instead of falsehood, gentleness for anger, earnest toil for dishonesty, cleansed instead of filthy speech. If all believers were to live like this, the world would know that the Son of God has come. It is not enough that a man should believe to secure deliverance from the wrath of God; he must daily seek to attain to such resemblance of Jesus as shall make men recall Him to mind.”
John Gill writes, “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Or by the Spirit that is in your mind; that is, by the Holy Spirit; who is in the saints, and is the author of renovation in them; and who is the reviver and carrier on, and finisher of that work, and therefore that is called the renewing of the Holy Spirit, or rather the mind of man, which is a spirit, of a spiritual nature, immaterial...
and is the seat of that renewing work of the Spirit of God; which shows, that the more noble part of man stands in need of renovation, being corrupted by sin: and this renewing in it, designs not the first work of renovation; for these Ephesians had been renewed, and were made new creatures in Christ;
but the gradual progress of it; and takes in, if not principally intends, a renewal, or an increase of spiritual light and knowledge, of life and strength, of joy and comfort, and fresh supplies of grace, and a revival of the exercise of grace; and in short, a renewal of spiritual youth, and a restoration of the saints to that state and condition they were in, in times past:
and the exhortation to this can only mean, that it becomes saints to be concerned for such revivings and renewings, and to pray for them, as David did, {when he repented of his sin in Psalm 51:10} for otherwise, this is as much the work of the Spirit of God, as renovation is at first; and he only who is sent forth, and renews the face of the earth, year by year, can renew us daily in the Spirit of our minds.”
The second cross-reference is Colossians 3:9-10: “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:”
Of this, John Gill writes, “Who is meant by the old man? We read in Romans 6:6: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” By the old man is meant the corruption of nature; called a man, because natural to men; it lives and dwells in them; it has spread itself over the whole man; it rules and governs in men; and consists of various parts and members, as a man does:
it is called "old", because it is the poison of the old serpent, with which man was infected by him from the beginning; it is derived from the first man that ever was; it is as old as the man is, in whom it is, and is likewise called so, with respect to its duration and continuance; and in opposition to, and contradistinction from, the new man, or principle of grace: it is called "ours", because continual to us; it is in our nature, it cleaves to us, and abides in us...
Now this is said to be "crucified with him"; that is, with Christ, when he was crucified: the Jews have a notion that the evil imagination, or corruption of nature, will not be made to cease, or be abolished out of the world, till the King Messiah comes, and by him it is abolished: this is so crucified by the death, and at the cross of Christ, as that it cannot exert its damning power over believers; and is so crucified by the Spirit and grace of Christ in them, as that it cannot reign over them, or exercise its domineering power over them; wherefore they are dead unto it.
the body of sin" is meant sin itself, which consists, as a body does, of various members; and also the power and strength of it... "the power of the evil imagination"; this is crucified with Christ, and nailed to his cross by his sacrifice and satisfaction, that its damning power might be destroyed, abolished, and done away:
and it is crucified by the Spirit and grace of Christ, that its governing power might be took away, and that itself be subdued, weakened, and laid under restraints, and its members and deeds mortified... Here is an allusion to the rite of baptism in the primitive church; which, as he truly observes, was performed not by aspersion, but immersion; and which required a putting off, and a putting on of clothes, and when the baptized persons professed to renounce the sins of the flesh, and their former conversation, and to live a new life.”
We must be raised to that “new life.” It is the only way our life can, at last, reflect the image of God as He originally intended when He made man. We read beginning in Titus 3:3: “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”
Matthew Henry writes, “We are delivered out of that, our miserable condition, by no merit nor strength of our own; but only by the mercy and free grace of God, and merit of Christ, and operation of his Spirit. Therefore we have no ground, in respect of ourselves, to condemn those who are yet unconverted, but rather to pity them, and cherish hope concerning them, that they, though in themselves as unworthy and unmeet as we were, yet may obtain mercy, as we have: and so upon this occasion the apostle again opens the causes of our salvation.
(1.) We have here the prime author of our salvation - God the Father, therefore termed here God our Saviour. All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. All things belonging to the new creation, and recovery of fallen man to life and happiness, of which the apostle is there speaking, all these things are of God the Father, as contriver and beginner of this work. There is an order in acting, as in subsisting. The Father begins, the Son manages, and the Holy Spirit works and perfects all. God (namely, the Father) is a Saviour by Christ, through the Spirit.
As John 3:16 declares, 'God so loved the world as to give his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him might not perish, but have everlasting life.' He is the Father of Christ, and through him the Father of mercies; all spiritual blessings are by Christ from him. We joy in God through Jesus Christ, as we read in Romans 5:11. And with one mind, and one mouth, glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Back to the original commentary on Genesis 1:26 by Matthew Henry: “IV. That man was made male and female, and blessed with the blessing of fruitfulness and increase. God said, Let us make man, and immediately it follows, So God created man; he performed what he resolved. With us saying and doing are two things; but they are not so with God. He created him male and female, Adam and Eve - Adam first, out of earth, and Eve out of his side, in chapter 2.
It should seem that of the rest of the creatures God made many couples, but of man did not he make one? Our first father, Adam, was confined to one wife; and, if he had put her away, there was no other for him to marry, which plainly intimated that the bond of marriage was not to be dissolved at pleasure. Angels were not made male and female, for they were not to propagate their kind; but man was made so, that the nature might be propagated and the race continued.
God made but one male and one female, that all the nations of men might know themselves to be made of one blood, descendants from one common stock, and might thereby be induced to love one another. God, having made them capable of transmitting the nature they had received, said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
Here he gave them, 1. A large inheritance: Replenish the earth; it is this that is bestowed upon the children of men. They were made to dwell upon the face of all the earth. This is the place in which God has set man to be the servant of his providence in the government of the inferior creatures, and, as it were, the intelligence of this orb; to be the receiver of God's bounty, which other creatures live upon, but do not know it;
V. That God gave to man, when he had made him, a dominion over the inferior creatures, over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air. Though man provides for neither, he has power over both, much more over every living thing that moveth upon the earth, which are more under his care and within his reach. God designed hereby to put an honour upon man, that he might find himself the more strongly obliged to bring honour to his Maker. This dominion is very much diminished and lost by the fall;
yet God's providence continues so much of it to the children of men as is necessary to the safety and support of their lives, and God's grace has given to the saints a new and better title to the creature than that which was forfeited by sin; for all is ours if we are Christ's.
The Sermon Bible displays another facet of Genesis 1:26: “The creative process at last came to a point in man, who, amidst ten thousand other animated forms, alone was made, in the full sense of that word, perfect, and who became the best and highest work of God. From the Scripture statements about the creation of man we deduce the following principles: (1) that man was formed by a direct act of Omnipotence;
(2) that he was made after the model of his Maker, and therefore perfect; (3) that he was immeasurably superior to the lower animals, and entitled to dominion over them; (4) that he was the object of God’s peculiar blessing; (5) that one main purpose of his creation was to subdue and cultivate the earth;
(6) that he consisted of two parts—a body taken out of the dust of the ground, and an immaterial part breathed into him by his Creator; (7) that although created a unit, he was potentially plural, too, and was destined to be joined by a companion in his original state of innocence and purity; (8) and that he was in a state of probation, and exposed to temptation and the hazard of fall.
It is not too much to say that redemption, with all its graces and all its glories, finds its explanation and its reason in creation. He who thought it worth while to create, foreseeing consequences, can be believed, if He says so, to have thought it worth while to rescue and to renew. Nay, there is in this redemption a sort of antecedent fitness, inasmuch as it exculpates the act of creation from the charge of short-sightedness or of mistake. "Let us make man in our image," created anew in Jesus Christ, "after the image of Him that created him."
Notice three respects in which the Divine image has been traced in the human. I. "God is Spirit," was our Lord’s saying to the Samaritan. Man is spirit also. This it is which makes him capable of intercourse and communion with God Himself. This it is which makes prayer possible, and thanksgiving possible, and worship possible in more than a form and name.
Spirituality thus becomes the very differentia of humanity. The man who declares that the spiritual is not, or is not for him, may well fancy himself developed out of lower organisms by a process which leaves him still generically one of them; for he has parted altogether from the great strength and life of his race.
II. Spirituality is the first Divine likeness. We will make sympathy the second. Fellow-suffering is not necessarily sympathy. On the other hand, sympathy may be Where fellow-suffering is not. Love is sympathy, and God is love. Sympathy is an attribute of Deity. When God made man in His own likeness, He made him thereby capable of sympathy. Spirituality without sympathy might conceivably be a cold and spiritless grace; it might lift us above earth, but it would not brighten earth itself.
III. The third feature is that which we call influence, the other two are conditions of it. Influence is by name and essence the gentle flowing in of one nature and one personality into another, which touches the spring of will and makes the volition of one the volition of the other.
It is indeed a worse than heathenish negation of the power and activity of God, the source of all, if we debar Him alone from the exercise of that spiritual influence upon the understanding, the conscience, and the heart of mankind, which we find to be all but resistless in the hands of those who possess it by His leave. "God said, Let us make man in our image, after our own likeness."
The Preacher's Homiletical tells us, “Divine consultation. “And God said, Let us make man,” 1. This consultation was Divine. It was a consultation held by the three Persons... who were one in the creative work. We are not now listening to the voice of angels; they cannot create an atom, much less a man. They were themselves created. But now the Uncreated Ones are contemplating the existence of man, to give completion and meaning to their previous work. Man is the explanation of the universe.
2. This consultation was solemn. The light, the waters and dry land, the heavenly bodies, and the brute world, had all heard the voice of God, and obeyed it. But no consultation had been held prior to their entrance into the world. Why? because they were matter; dumb, and impotent. But now is to be created a Being endowed with mind and volition, capable even of rebellion against his Creator. There must be a pause before such a being is made...
The project must be considered. The probable issue must be calculated. His relation to heaven and earth must be contemplated. It is a solemn event. The world is to have an intelligent occupant, the first of a race, endowed with superior power and influence over the future of humanity. In him terrestrial life will reach its perfection; in him Deity will find the child of its solicitude; in him the universe will centre its mystery.
Truly this is the most solemn moment of time, the occasion is worthy the council chambers of eternity. 3. This consultation was happy. The Divine Being had not yet given out, in the creative work, the highest thought of His mind; He had not yet found outlet for the larger sympathies of His heart in the universe He had just made and welcomed into being. The light could not utter all His beneficence. The waters could not articulate all His power.
The stars did but whisper His name. But the being of man is vocal with God, as is no other created object. He is a revelation of his Maker in a very high degree. In him the Divine thought and sympathy found welcome outlet. The creation of man was also happy in its bearing toward the external universe. The world is finished. It is almost silent.
There is only the voice of the animal creation to break its stillness. But man steps forth into the desolate home. He can sing a hymn—he can offer a prayer—he can commune with God—he can occupy the tenantless house. Hence the council that contemplated his creation would be happy.
II. That man was created in the image of God. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Man was originally God-like, with certain limitations. In what respect was man created after the image of God?—1. In respect to his intelligence. God is the Supreme Mind. He is the Infinite Intelligence.
Man is like Him in that he also is gifted with mind and intelligence; he is capable of thought. But the human intelligence, in comparison with the Divine, is but as a spark in comparison with the fontal source of light. The great Thinkers of the age are a proof of the glory of the human intellect.
2. In respect to his moral nature. Man is made after the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness. He was made with a benevolent disposition, with happy and prayerful spirit, and with a longing desire to promote the general good of the universe; in these respects he was like God, who is infinitely pure, Divinely happy in His life, and in deep sympathy with all who are within the circle of His Being.
3. In respect to his dominion. God is the Supreme Ruler of all things in heaven and in earth. Both angels and men are His subjects. Material Nature is part of His realm, and is under His authority. In this respect, man is made in the image of God. He is the king of this world. The brute creation is subject to his sway. Material forces are largely under his command. Man is the deity of the inferior creation. He holds a sceptre that has been Divinely placed in his hand.
4. In respect to the power of creatorship. Man has, within certain limits, the power of creatorship. He can design new patterns of work. He can induce new combinations, and from them can evoke results hitherto unknown. By the good use of certain materials, he can make many wonderful and useful things calculated to enhance the welfare of mankind. Think of the inventive and productive genius of those who have enriched society by their scientific or mechanical labours. There is in all this—though it falls far short of Creation—a something that marks man as in the image of God.
III. That the creation of man in the Divine image is a fact well attested. “So God created man in his own image.” This perfection of primeval manhood is not the fanciful creation of artistic genius—it is not the dream of poetic imagination—it is not the figment of a speculative philosophy; but it is the calm statement of Scripture.
1. It is attested by the intention and statement of the Creator. It was the intention of God to make man after His own image, and the workman generally follows out the motive with which he commences his toil. And we have the statement of Scripture that He did so in this instance. True, the image was soon marred and broken, which could not have been the case had it not previously existed. How glorious must man have been in his original condition.
2. It is attested by the very fall of man. How wonderful are the capabilities of even our fallen manhood. The splendid ruins are proof that once they were a magnificent edifice. What achievements are made by the intellect of man—what loving sympathies are given out from his heart—what prayers arise from his soul—of what noble activities is he capable;
these are tokens of fallen greatness, for the being of the most splendid manhood is but the rubbish of an Adam. Man must have been made in the image of God, or the grandeur of his moral ruin is inexplicable. Learn:—1. The dignity of man’s nature. 2. The greatness of man’s fall. 3. The glory of man’s recovery by Christ.
As I hope you can already see, there is much here for us to consider. There will be at least three, perhaps four, maybe even more Installments in this Series. I hope you can all join me, God Willing, as we review and examine this subject.
This concludes this Evening's Discussion, “In The Image and Likeness of God.”
This Discussion was originally presented “live” on January 19th, 2022
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