Before we continue with the matter of Christ as the meaning of human life, let us review some of the points covered in the preceding chapters. We have seen that man as the meaning of the universe is the expression of God and the representative of God. We have two wonderful words for these two points. For the first point the wonderful word is image. We have the image of God. The wonderful word for the second point is dominion. We have the dominion of God.
In the Gospel of Matthew, which is the book of the kingdom, we have the term kingdom—the kingdom of the heavens. The kingdom of the heavens simply equals the dominion of God. Hence, kingdom and dominion refer to the same thing. When man became fallen, he was fallen from the dominion, the kingdom, of God, not from the heavens. So man has to return to God's dominion, not to the heavens.
Dominion is an Old Testament term used in the first book of the Old Testament. But in the first book of the New Testament, the term used is kingdom. "Repent, for the kingdom..has drawn near" (Matt. 3:2). You have to realize that you are fallen from the dominion, the kingdom. Now you need to turn back to the dominion, the kingdom. Do not let your thoughts be so much on the heavens. Unfortunately, Christianity preaches too much on the heavens. But John the Baptist did not say, "Repent, for heaven has drawn near. Go back home to heaven." Rather, he told people to repent for the kingdom. The kingdom is the dominion from which you were fallen. Now you need to return to the very sphere from which you were fallen, that is, the kingdom, the dominion.
Then in the book of Matthew we also have the phrase the righteousness of God, which equals the image of God in Genesis 1. To have the righteousness of God does not mean merely to be right with God but to be right according to what God is. To be right with God is one thing, and to be right according to God is another thing. The religious people stress the matter of being right with God but often neglect the matter of being right according to what God is. So what is the difference between these two things?
Let me give you a little illustration. Peter received the revelation of Christ as the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16-17). He also saw the vision of the transfigured, glorified Jesus (17:1-5) and even had the experience of the outpoured Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-41). Yet in Acts 10 Peter was so religious. He went up on the housetop to keep his prayer time. While he was praying, a trance came upon him (vv. 9-10). In his trance he saw a vision: "A certain vessel like a great sheet descending, being let down by four corners onto the earth, in which were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and birds of heaven" (vv. 11-12). These animals or beasts were considered common and unclean by the Jews according to the Old Testament ordinances. But a voice came to Peter, saying, "Rise up, Peter; slay and eat!" (v. 13). But what did Peter say? He said, "By no means, Lord" (v. 14).