God made man in the image of God, and God births man anew in the image of Christ
Man is made in the image of God:
Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness
(Genesis 1:26)
YHWH God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
(Genesis 2:7)
YHWH God caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. He made the rib, which YHWH God had taken from the man, into a woman, and brought her to the man.
Man is birthed anew in the image of Christ:
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
(John 3:3)
those whom He foreknew and predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son
(Romans 8:29)
God glorifies God:
You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, YHWH your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
You shall not take the name of YHWH your God in vain, for YHWH will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
I am YHWH, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images
(Isaiah 42:8)
Adam glorifies Adam:
He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory
(John 7:18)
Lord Jesus glorifies God:
he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him
(John 7:18)
Adam served himself:
he ate
(Genesis 3:6)
The Son served the Father in Heaven:
My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
(John 4:34)
He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.
(John 8:29)
A person produces works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21), or a person has fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
Fleshly Adam did not know good and evil before he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:22); therefore, Adam did not willingly subject the creation to futility (Romans 8:20-22).
No one is good except God alone (Mark 10:18), so Adam was evil, even before the tree of the knowledge of good and evil hit his fleshly lips, even while it was in his hand but 2 centimeters away from his open mouth as he prepared to eat.
We Christians are conforming to the image of Christ wherein we are forgiven of serving ourselves and we in Christ increase in serving God.
Our heart is the difference between all of us Christians bearing the image of Christ as compared to all of those bearing the image of Adam, that is, flesh; moreover, the initial state of every person is bearing the image of Adam in the flesh (1 Corinthians 15:44-49). Each one of us Christians is separated from Adam's heritage of evil into God's glorious good in Christ as the new man (2 Corinthians 5:17) whom God alone chooses us to be Christians without any input from us (John 15:16), (John 15:19).
God's Plan of Redemption through the Christ for mankind before the foundation of the world is very good (Ephesians 1:1-14, Ephesians 2:13), and no person can thwart God's Plan (Job 42:2).
God delivers us Christians from the bondage of sin in whole, not in part, and He lovingly chooses to saves us, unilaterally, from the wrath of God (John 15:16; John 15:19)!
The evil person in flesh always chooses against God, but the good person in Christ bears fruit of the Holy Spirit of the Living God!
To God be the glory forever, Amen!
