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of doctrinal discrepancies among
be lievers. This brings comfort to the
co nfused, helps in swallowing the
impractical visions advanced re–
garding God's purpose.
lt
also fulfills that very scripture
itself!
Nobody
has
seen
the pe rfect
will of God. Since nobody has seen
it, o bviously nobody has
heard
o f it.
No man has
thought up
or
conceived
of
the plan God has in mind, try
though they may. l ntelligence, wis–
dom , dedication-all in absolute sin–
cerity-have been applied in vain.
Still , no one has come up with the
plan.
This one " text for the day" seems
an inadequate tool- let's cheat again
just a üttle and read the
next
text
al so! Maybe we' ll see, hear and be–
gin to conceive wha t others have
not:
"But God hath revealed them
unto us by his Spirit:
for the Spirit
sea rcheth a ll things, yea, the deep
things of God" (ve rse
10).
This
plainly says that despite the fact
tha t man alo ne has no t been able to
come up in his own imagination
(even with all the elfo rt he has
expended at it) with the plan God
has in mind for those who lave Him,
He. by His Spirit. reveals that
plan!
In short, God's purpose for man–
kind
can be known,
but only by His
Spirit. "Now to him tha t is of power
to stablish you according to my gos–
pel , and the preaching of Jesus
Chris t, according to the
revelation
of
the mystery, which
was kept secret
since the world began, but
now is
made manifest,
and by the scriptures
of the prophets, a ccording to the
commandment of the everlas ting
God,
made known
to all nations for
the obedience of faith : To God only
wise , be g lory through Jesus Chris t
for ever. Amen" (Rom. 16:25-27).
The Bible Says
...
Yo u are made in the image ofGod.
Why?
None of the other millions of
cr eatures God crea ted are made
in
His image. God doesn' t look like a
snake, a bull, a bird or a fish- He
looks jus t like a human being, or,
be tter put, human beings loo k jus t
like God! "And God said, Let us
make man in our image. after our
like ness . . . . So God created ma n
in
his own image,
in the image of G od
26
created he him; male and female
created he them" (Gen. 1:26-27).
God is no t a ma le chauvinis t: He
created both male and femalc
in His
image!
We look like Him, but we a re not
exactly
like Him. An image shows
design and shape, but is not made of
the same substance as the original.
We are flesh-physical, temporary,
mortal. God is spirit-eterna l, im–
mortal (see John 4:24; lsa. 57 : 15).
David knew tha t G od had created
us in His likeness, ye t he said: "As
for me,
1
will behold tlJy face in
righteousness:
1
shall be satisfied,
WHEN
1
awake,
with thy likeness"
(Ps. 17: 15). To be like G od as G od
is God- to be
total/y
in the likeness
of God- requires a change in our
composition , from physical to spiri–
tual. "Now this
1
say, brethren , that
flesh and b lood
cannot
inherit the
kingdom of God. . . . Behold,
1
shew
you a mystery; We sha ll not all
sleep, but
we shall all be changed,
in
a moment , in the twinkling of an
eye, at the las t trump (the " WHEN"
David referred to-when he would
finally be satisfied!]: for the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be
ra ised incorruptible, and
we shall be
changed"
(1
Cor. 15 :50-52).
Job was familiar with thi s neces–
sa ry cha nge: "If a man die, sha ll he
live aga in? All the days of my ap–
pointed time will
1
wait.
ti//
my
change come.
Thou shalt call [the
las t trump), a nd
1
will answe r thee:
tho u
wilt
have a desire to the work
of thine hands. .. . For
J
know
that
my redeemer liveth, and that he
shall s tand at the la tter day upo n
the earth : And though
after
my skin
worms dcs troy this body, yet (apart
from] my flesh sha ll
1
see God"!
(Jo b 14: 14- 15 and 19 :25-26.)
What is changed is the tlesh, atti–
tude, character- not
the personality,
the integ ra l, persona l, conscio us
y ou.
Job makes this clear: "Whom [God]
1
shall see for myse!J, and mine eyes
shall behold and not another .
. . ' '
(Job 19:27).
Sons of God, Brothers of Jesus
Jesus is
the
Son of God- no good
C hristia n denies that. Jes us is
unique : He is the
only
son of a
human being who had God the
Father in heave n a s His litera l
Fa ther who caused His impregna-
tion in the womb of a woman ,
Mary.
But to Jesus. a nd thro ugh Jesus.
was given the power to make us
al/
sonsofGod!
Jesus became the FIRSTbo rn Son
of God by the resurrectio n from th e
dead (Rom. 1:4). Even Jesus was
physica l, flesh and blood. That ha d
to change . And tha t o verwhelming
change carne abo ut at His resurrec–
tion. But the beautiful thing about
the resurrection of our Savio r, the
captain o f our salvation, o ur Re–
deemer who lives. is that it becomes
possible through the powe r of that
resurrection fo r
you and me
also to
be cha nged. also to become sons o f
God! To be God as God is God! To
be God as Jesus is now God!
" Fo r whom he did fo reknow. he
also did predes tina te to be con–
formed lo the image of hi s Son, that
he mig ht be the FIRSTbo rn
among
MANY
brethren"
(Rom. 8 :29). " For it
became him, for whom are a ll
things [the Father], and by whom
are a ll things, in bringing MANY sons
unto glo ry, lo ma ke lhe ca ptain o f
their salva tion [Jesus Chris t] perfect
through sulferings. For
both
he tha t
sanctifie th and they who a re sancti–
fied a re
all of one:
for which cause
he [Jesus] is not ashamed to ca ll
them
brethren "
(Heb. 2: 10-11 ).
"And he [Jesus] is the head of the
body, the church: who is the BEGIN–
NING, the FIRSTbo rn from the dead :
that in a ll things he might ha ve the
preemine nce ... . Chris t in
you,
the
hope
of[your]
glory" (Col. 1: 18, 27).
This is not jus t religious-sounding
lang uage . This is the s traight–
forward biblica l truth tha t when
you
and 1
are changed we will be glori–
fied sons of God, just as Jesus is
Now! Sons of G od , bro thers o f
J esu s- in every s en se o f th ose
words!
Not Yet Born
This may seem difficult, because the
Bible calls physical human beings
"sons of God." Yet the Bible also
plainly s ta tes tha t flesh a nd blood
cannot inherit the Kingdom of God,
be sons.
Humans must be born
again. Not jus t a n experi ence of the
mind, but an actual rebirth ; a com–
plete cha nge to a new being as dif–
ferent in s tate as the mature plant is
from the seed whic h is pla nted in
The PLAIN TRUTH
June
1977.