In Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” However, 1 Timothy 1:17 says that God is invisible. Since God is invisible, how could He have an image? Is this contradictory? Speaking of the Son, Colossians 1:15 says, “Who is the image of the invisible God.” God is invisible, but the Son of His love is the image of the invisible God. God cannot be seen, but one day Jesus Christ, who was the image of God, came. Hence, when God said, “Let Us make man in Our image,” that image referred to the Lord Jesus. God created man in the image of the Lord Jesus. We all were created in the image of the Lord Jesus.
Let us consider a suit as an example. My suit has two sleeves; hence, we can be sure that it was made according to my two arms. If another person were to wear this suit, it would not fit him, because it was not sewn according to his measurements. However, the suit fits me because it was sewn according to my measurements. If the suit is left in the closet, it will not have any meaning. If the suit had feelings, it would feel empty and bored. When I wear the suit, it has meaning; it fulfills its purpose.
We were created in the image of the Lord Jesus. This means we were created in a way that matches Him so that He can enter into us. This is the meaning of the universe. The meaning of the universe is for God to be expressed. Wherever God is expressed, the universe has meaning. God gains His expression in a subjective way, not in an objective way. Since God desires to enter into man and be expressed through man, God created man in His image. This is very special. Every light bulb emits light for the sole purpose of expressing electricity. However, if electricity is not transmitted into the light bulb, the light bulb loses its meaning of existence. The meaning of our human life is for God to enter into us and be expressed through us. The meaning of the universe is for a group of people to receive God into them to be their content. Hence, to be saved means to be rescued by God out of a human life that is void of meaning into a life that is full of meaning. Now that we are saved, we have the meaning of our human life. Our life is meaningful because the Lord Jesus is in us.
We should not think that man needs salvation merely because he is sinful. Even if man did not have sin, he would still need to believe in the Lord Jesus. Man needs to believe in Jesus not mainly because he has sins but because without Him man has no meaning in life. This is just like a suit that needs to be worn in order to be meaningful. Man needs to believe in Jesus not merely because man is sinful. Even if man were not sinful, he would still need Jesus, because man was created in God’s image to express God, and thus, he needs to receive God. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, but they did not receive God’s life into them. Even if they had not sinned, they still needed to receive the life of God.
This also applies to us. It is not until we believe in the Lord Jesus and He comes into us that our human life becomes meaningful. The Bible uses the expression believe into (John 1:12; 3:16), meaning that we believe into the Lord Jesus. When we believe into the Lord Jesus, we also receive Him into us. Thus, we not only have His image but also His life. Not only so, He operates within us to transform and renew us so that we are conformed to the image of the Son of God. We all are in this process of conformation. The Lord Jesus in us is the meaning of our human life.
In my youth I heard educated and learned men say that they do not need Jesus. They said that only sinners, the poor and pitiful people, need Jesus, but people who are highly educated and have a high social status do not need Jesus. They said this because they did not know what it means to believe in Jesus. From now on we need to preach a high gospel. Everyone needs this gospel. We must go and tell people that they were created in God’s image in order to express God. Man was created in the image of the Lord Jesus. Man is an empty vessel and needs to receive the Lord Jesus into him to be his content. Only then can man find real meaning and satisfaction in his human life in this universe.