In Genesis 1:26-27, something very profound is revealed. Verse 26 begins with “Then God said…” What did God say? He said that He created man in His image and in His likeness. Listen carefully to the words of these two verses as God says, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle,
over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image;
in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:26-27
What does it mean to be made in the image and likeness of God? Every human being, every man and woman, is an expression of God’s image and likeness. In John 4:24, Jesus tells us that “God is Spirit.” Therefore, every man and woman is a spirit-being, who lives in a physical body, because they are made in the image and likeness of God. God created man with the capacity and the ability to express and experience His divineness, what we would call the God-kind of life. This capacity and ability were diminished, not destroyed, radically after Adam sinned, also referred to as the “fall of man.”
However, in Romans chapter 5, we are told that what was lost through Adam’s disobedience was restored through Jesus Christ. In other words, the capacity and ability to express and experience God’s supernatural divineness, the God-kind of life, that was lost through Adam’s disobedience was restored through the sacrificial and redemptive act of Jesus at Calvary. The revelation of this incredible truth is given to us in verses, 12,14,15, and 17 where it says, “Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all people, because they all sinned…. Yet death ruled over mankind from Adam to Moses the Lawgiver, even over those who had not sinned as Adam did. Adam is a type of Him (Christ) who was to come, but in reverse—Adam brought destruction, Christ brought salvation. But the free gift of God is not like the trespass because the gift of grace overwhelms the fall of man. For if many died by one man’s trespass, Adam’s sin, much more abundantly did God’s grace and the gift that comes by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to benefit the many…. For if by the trespass of the one (Adam), death reigned through the one (Adam), much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” Notice, it says we are to “reign in life” through Jesus Christ. Another translation says we are to “rule in life.” Through the God-kind of life, we are able to overcome and live a victorious life.
Jesus, sometimes referred to as the “Second Adam,” restored the ability, for all those who would believe in Him, to have and experience the supernatural “God-kind of life” abundantly. In the Gospel of John chapter 10, Jesus makes it absolutely clear why He came. In verse 10, we hear Jesus say, …… “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” The word “life” in this verse is the Greek word Zoe. Vines Expository Dictionary defines the Greek word Zoe as “life as God has it” or you could also say “the God-kind of life.” Jesus came so that mankind could have and experience the “divine” and “supernatural” life of God.
“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10
In 2 Peter 1:3-4, we are told by the Holy Spirit that we are given God’s divine power and we have become sharers of His divine nature. Listen to the words of verses 3 and 4 as they say, “For His divine power has bestowed on us absolutely everything necessary for a dynamic spiritual life and godliness, through true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has bestowed on us His precious and magnificent promises of inexpressible value, so that by them you may escape from the immoral freedom that is in the world because of disreputable desire, and become sharers of the divine nature.” We just heard that we have become “sharers” of God’s divine nature. In other words, Jesus came to give us “the God-kind of life.”
“For His divine power has bestowed on us absolutely everything necessary for a dynamic spiritual life and godliness,
through true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
For by these He has bestowed on us His precious and magnificent promises of inexpressible value,
so that by them you may escape from the immoral freedom that is in the world because of disreputable desire,
and become sharers of the divine nature.” 2 Peter 1:3-4
Someone might ask, how do you receive this “God-kind of life?” For the answer to that question, let us look at John 3:16 where Jesus says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” By believing in Jesus and receiving Him as our personal Lord and Savior, we “have,” not going to have, everlasting life. Again, in John 5:24 Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me “has” everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (emphasis mine) This “life” Jesus speaks of in both of these verses is Zoe, the God-kind of life. Notice, Jesus said he who believes in Him “has,” not going to have, everlasting life. In other words, you have the God-kind of life now. You don’t have to wait until you get to heaven to experience the divine and supernatural God-kind of life.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me
“has” everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” John 5:24
In the beginning, man was created and designed by God to live life supernaturally, which means living above the natural. Since the time of Adam’s Fall in the Garden of Eden, living the Zoe life was not possible for any human being. It wasn’t until Jesus came, died on the Cross, and was resurrected on the third day, that men and women, through faith in Jesus, could once again live and walk in the Zoe life, the supernatural God-kind of life. However, if we are not aware that God, through Jesus, has restored the Zoe life, we will not walk in the light of that truth and we’ll never experience its supernatural realities.
When we read the Book of Acts, we see the Zoe life demonstrated by the Apostles as healings, miracles, and many supernatural “signs and wonders” that took place. In Acts 14:3 we read, speaking of the Apostles, “Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.” In Acts 3:6-8, we read about Peter healing a 40-year old lame man who was lame since birth, who never walked a day in his life. Here is the recorded account where it says, “Then Peter said, ‘Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’ And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.” In Acts 20, we read about Paul bringing back to life a man named Eutychus who fell three stories to his death.
Some Christians think these things were only for the Apostles, because they don’t understand that the “signs and wonders” came through the Apostles because they were ministering in the power of the Zoe life, the supernatural God-kind of life, they had been given through their faith in Jesus. In Acts 6:8, we are told that Stephen, not one of the Apostles, but one of the seven men chosen to wait on tables, had the Zoe life manifesting through him where it says, “And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.”
And again, in Acts chapter 8, we read about Phillip, not one of the Apostles, but one of the seven men chosen to wait on tables, had the Zoe life manifesting through him when he went down to Samaria. Listen to the record of what happened where it says in verses 5 through 8, “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.”
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord
heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits,
crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed
and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.” Acts 8:5-8
In the light of these verses, we can see God intended the Zoe, God-kind of life, to be for all Christians, not just the Apostles. Another confirmation of this is found in 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul teaches on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit which are available to all Christians. In verses 7 through 10, Paul lists nine supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit which exemplify the God-kind of life which God has given to us. Listen to the words of these verses as they say, “7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, 10 to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.” Notice verse 7 says “the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one.” This means that every believer has been given the capacity and the ability to live the Zoe life. Every believer has been given the capacity and the ability to live and minister supernaturally because every believer has the Holy Spirit. However, to experience the reality of the Zoe life in us and through us, we need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit.
“7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles,
10 to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues,
to another the interpretation of tongues.” 1 Corinthians 12:7-10
Even though every Christian has the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, not every Christian has been “filled” by the Holy Spirit. To experience the reality of the supernatural God-kind of life, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with His power and supernatural ability. We see in Acts 2:4, in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost, everyone was filled by the Holy Spirit. And in Ephesians 5:18, we are exhorted by Paul with these words as he says, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” In the Greek, the phrase “be filled with the Spirit” literally reads “be being filled with the Spirit.” In other words, being filled with the Holy Spirit is not a one-time event. We need to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. It’s like we have a Holy Spirit battery in us that we need to keep charged with power. If we let the power run low, by not charging it, we will not experience the full reality of the supernatural God-kind of life. One way to make sure you are fully charged with the power of the Holy Spirit is to make it a part of your daily prayer. As an example, during my morning prayer, I ask the Holy Spirit to fill me “anew” and overflowing with His supernatural power, ability, and wisdom.
“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18
God wants each of His children living and walking in the fullness of the Zoe life because that is why He originally created man and that is how He originally intended man to live out his full potential as one who is created in the image and likeness of God.
Let us pray:
Dear Heavenly Father,
You have made man in Your image and likeness so we could live and act supernaturally like you. Through Your Son Jesus, You have restored the God-kind of life so that we can live and act supernaturally once again. Teach us and help us to walk in the light and truth of Your supernatural Zoe life for Your glory and for the salvation of souls. Grant this, we pray, for we ask it in the holy, mighty, and precious Name of Jesus. Amen.
© 2020 Richard A. MacKinnon, All Rights Reserved
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