2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away."
When our Heavenly Father created the flesh and blood body for the spirit to dwell in, He made a man in His Likeness and Image who could (and would) function in two realms simultaneously. Genesis 1:27 (Amplified) says, "So God created man in His Own Image in the Image and Likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them." In Genesis 2:7 (Amplified) God formed a body for the spirit man to dwell in and function in the natural realm of the earth. Thus, it says,"Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of spirit of life, and man became a living being."
God also made a "counterpart" for the male species of man, and Adam declared in Genesis 2:23 (Amplified), "This (creature) is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man." Both Adam and Eve were capable of living in two realms of life at the same time. Their spirits were made in God's Image and Likeness. Jesus said in John 4:24 (Amplified) that, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality)." Adam and Eve were spirit beings, who were given earthly bodies to dwell in, that were able to operate by their spirit while still operating in authority in the natural realm of the earth.
God gave this "God-man" dominion over the earthly realm, to govern by the spirit (which is to be subordinate to the very Spirit of God Himself). Man was never intended to be a rogue being, but was an offspring of God Himself and was supposed to be taught and raised into being kings and queens over the work of the Father's hands. Now man was able to bring forth children in his image and also the Image of God simultaneously. Man now had the best of both worlds.
The new creation being who has now come from the Resurrected Christ, has once more been placed into this realm and the dominion that was always the heart of the Father. Like Jesus, we were created to once again have dominion in both realms at one time. We were to rule the very elements of this earthly realm, while maintaining authority of spirit beings, according to Ephesians 6:10-18 (Amplified). Verse 10 is probably the most important one in this entire chapter, because it is the part that Adam failed in from the beginning. Thus, Paul says, "In conclusion, be strong in the Lord (be empowered through your union with Him); draw your strength from Him (that strength which His boundless might provides)."
God would never put us in a place that was beyond His provision and strength to care for us. Adam made the mistake of trying to operate in his own authority, not realizing that all authority comes from the Lord. Aside from the delegated authority given by the Lord, there is no authority at all. The only authority satan operated in, was that which was given by God to Adam. The devil usurped Adam's authority for his own perverted use.
God had given man authority to rule and govern this earthly realm and it became legal for satan to use man's authority (even though it wasn't meant for him to use). As long as man had dominion, satan could deceive man into giving that dominion over to him and satan could now, by legal use, rule man by his own dominion. Man had been legally given dominion by God. God was left to devise a way to transfer the dominion and authority He gave to man (and man gave to satan), back to man legally.
In this new creation being, God, Who made man in His Image from the beginning, (however strange it may sound to the carnal thinking) had to be made in man's image, in order to restore balance to where it should be. To dethrone satan and put things back in order, God needed to take upon Himself the image and likeness of man.
We see a portrait of what we've been discussing, in Philippians 2:6-7 (Amplified), which says, "Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God (possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God) did not think this equality with God was a things to be eagerly grasped or retained, But stripped Himself (of all privileges and rightful dignity) so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being."
To the religious mind and by human reasoning, the above scripture is beyond anything we've ever been taught, heard or learned. Thinking about man's being made in God's Image and then God being made in man's image to restore the authority and dominion He had initially given man, is difficult for the carnal mind to grasp. Now you can see how we are a new creation people, who have become one one with God like Jesus said in John 17:22 (Amplified), "I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one (even) as We are One."
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