After examining the particular roles and relationships in One Versus Many, I want to turn toward a closely connected question: what does it mean to be in God’s image?
For me, this concerns receiving the Spirit and living the relationship that follows. I understand being born again in connection with receiving the Spirit, and I do not separate that spiritual life from love, obedience, and responsibility.
But before examining what it means to bear the image, I want to begin with the One that Scripture explicitly identifies as God’s image.
Beginning With Christ
In Colossians 1:13–15, Paul speaks of the Son and describes Him as “the image of the invisible God.”
Second Corinthians 4:4 likewise identifies Christ as God’s image.
These statements give me a starting point. I want to follow what Scripture reveals about Jesus, His relationship with the Father, and the life that comes through Him.
The relationship matters. The image and the One whose image is revealed must both remain visible as we read. I do not want familiar expressions to carry us past the details before we have examined them.
The First Adam and the Last Adam
In 1 Corinthians 15:45–49, Paul places the first Adam and the Last Adam beside one another.
The first Adam became a living soul. The Last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
Paul continues with the natural and the spiritual, the first man from the earth and the second man from heaven. Then he speaks of bearing the image of the earthly and the image of the heavenly.
There is movement in this passage. There are distinctions and an order to follow.
The chapter concerns resurrection, so I want to keep that setting visible as I examine its connection with spiritual life and transformation. I do not want to compress everything Paul describes into one undifferentiated moment.
For my study, these verses bring an important question into focus: What does it mean to bear the heavenly image, and how does that relationship develop through Christ?
This will also bring us back to Genesis. We will follow its wording alongside these passages, preserving the distinctions between the first Adam, the Last Adam, and those who follow.
A Change God Brings About
In Ezekiel 36:25–27, the promise spoken to Israel brings together cleansing, a new heart, Spirit within, and walking in God’s statutes.
God is the One who gives.
The heart of stone is removed. A heart of flesh is given. The inward change is connected with how the people will walk.
That connection is central to my understanding. I am not describing an image someone can manufacture through an outward appearance, a religious title, or knowledge of the right words.
I am examining what God gives and the life that follows.
In John 3:3–8, Jesus distinguishes birth from flesh and birth from Spirit. In Romans 8:9–14, Paul connects Spirit’s indwelling with belonging, life, conduct, and being led.
These passages are part of why I understand God’s image in connection with receiving Spirit. I want to explore that understanding through their details, allowing each passage to contribute without erasing its setting.
Knowing the Words and Knowing God
A person can become very familiar with Scripture while still needing to examine how they treat another person.
First John 4:7–8 brings love and knowing God directly into the discussion. First Corinthians 13:1–3 shows how even extraordinary speech, knowledge, faith, and giving cannot take the place of love.
That makes this study personal.
How do I respond when someone disagrees with me? Do I listen? Do I show care only to those who share my beliefs? Am I willing to examine my own conduct as closely as I examine someone else’s words?
Love does not require me to agree with everything another person believes or does. But disagreement does not release me from loving them.
I want the relationship I speak of to be visible in honesty, patience, mercy, and care.
Why the Commandments Still Matter
The Ten Commandments remain important to this understanding. I do not see receiving Spirit as permission to disregard what God commands.
We will examine the commandments in their own study, giving each one the attention it deserves. Here, the focus will remain on God’s image: Christ, the Last Adam, receiving Spirit, and the inward change expressed through life.
These subjects connect, but allowing each study room to develop will help preserve the details.
The Path Ahead
We will begin with Christ as God’s image and follow the passages concerning the Last Adam and the heavenly image.
From there, we will examine receiving Spirit, transformation, and what it means to live the relationship. The Genesis comparisons and the particular roles explored in One Versus Many will enter where their supporting passages belong.
Being born again will also receive fuller attention in its own connected study.
I want to proceed carefully, allowing understanding to deepen as the passages come together. Some connections become visible through comparison rather than through one verse stating the entire picture.
Throughout that examination, one question will remain before me:
Is the relationship I profess being lived through love?
Threads to Follow
Christ as the image of the invisible God.
The first Adam, the Last Adam, and the heavenly image.
Genesis, relationship, and progression.
Receiving Spirit and being born again.
The new heart and the life that follows.
Knowing God and expressing love.
The commandments as a connected study.
The books were opened…
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