Jesus has a body yesterday, today, and forever. Genesis 1:26, 27
I cannot tell you how amazing and blessed it is to read the Old and New Testaments and clearly realize that Jesus is God who has a body from eternity to eternity. How dare humans resemble God! Angels were created as servants from the beginning, but humans were created as sons of God when they were created. From the moment God had the thought of creating humans, humans were God’s children. Just as children resemble their parents, God made humans to resemble Himself. Psalm 49:20 says that humans were made noble, but those who do not know this fact are like the beasts that perish.
According to commentaries, books on Genesis, and sermons by pastors, the words in Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,” refer to the image and form as resembling God’s inner nature. They do not explicitly state that humans were created in the image and likeness of God at face value. They are the fact that we were created in the image and likeness of God. From now on, we will examine the cases where God appeared to man in a body to see if it is true that our shape and form resemble God. In order for us to resemble God, God must have a form from Genesis. In order to find out whether God really has a form, we must first understand the meaning of the words that Jesus is the body of God.
First, Jesus is the body of God.
1. The meaning of the body of God
The Bible often says that ‘Jesus is the body of God.’ The word body means the fundamental body. It means the body of God. As far as we know, we mistakenly believe that God does not have a body. Satan has deceived us. The Bible says that God has a body. However, it does not mean that all three persons of the Godhead have bodies. It means that only Jesus has a body. Jesus has had a form, that is, a body, just like us humans from eternity. God is a Trinity. This means that the Trinity has one body. God the Father is a spirit. God the Holy Spirit is also a spirit. It means that there is no body. However, God the Son has a body. This body is the body of God the Father, the body of God the Holy Spirit, and of course the body of God the Son. The body of God the Son is shared by the Trinity. To see God the Father is to see the body of God the Son.
John 14:6-7, ‘Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you knew me, you would know my Father also. From now on you know him and have seen him.’
This verse is very important. In verse 7, the words ‘From now on you know him and have seen him’ mean that knowing Jesus and seeing him is knowing and seeing God the Father. In a conversation with the Pharisees, Jesus said in John 8:18-19, ‘18 I am one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.’
Then the Pharisees asked him, ‘….where is your Father?’ Jesus answered, ‘You neither know me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.’ He said.
At that time, not only the Pharisees but also Jesus’ disciples did not know much about Jesus. In John 14:8, Philip asked Jesus, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it will suffice us.’ Jesus answered, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how is it that you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ If you do not understand that the Trinity shares one body and that Jesus is the essence of God, you will not understand what this means.
Seeing Jesus is seeing God the Father. Seeing God the Father is seeing Jesus. The appearance of God the Father is the appearance of Jesus, and the appearance of the Holy Spirit is the appearance of Jesus. The statement that ‘God is one’ (John 10:30) can be said to mean that ‘the Trinity is one body, but the body is one.’ That body is Jesus’ body. This is because the Trinity shares one body. ‘I and The Father is One.’ This means that the Trinity has one body.
2. Bible verses on the body of God
Let’s look for verses in the Bible that express ‘Jesus is the body of God.’
1. 2 Corinthians 4:4, ‘Christ is the image of God.’ This means that the Father and the Holy Spirit have no form, but Christ has a form and is the form of God.
2. Philippians 2:6, ‘Who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.’
3. Colossians 1:15, ‘He is the image of the invisible God…’ This means that God the Father and the Holy Spirit are invisible, but Jesus is God with a visible form.
4. Hebrews 1:3, ‘He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.’ This means that Jesus exists as a form.
5. Genesis 1:26, 27, ‘And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…’ Here, it says our image, but how can it say ‘us’ when the Father and the Holy Spirit have no form? It means that the Trinity God shares the body of the Son of God. The image and form of the Trinity God refer to the form of the Son of God, Jesus. Jesus is the image of the invisible God and the very substance of God.
In verse 27, it says, ‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.’ In verse 26, the plural pronoun ‘us’ was used, but in verse 27, it was changed to a singular pronoun. Instead of ‘us,’ it was expressed as ‘his own or God’s image.’ In verse 27, ‘his image’ or ‘the image of God’ refers to the image of Jesus. He has the same form as the invisible God from eternity to eternity.
Second, Jesus before the incarnation
What kind of image and form did Jesus Christ have before the incarnation? In the Old Testament, the God who relates to people, appears to people, and saves people as ‘Jehovah God’ is mostly the Son of God. When He appears to us people, He sits on a throne, moves with cherubim or angels, and sometimes appears as a simple man, and sometimes appears as a majestic being shining in the glory of God.
1. Genesis 1:26,27, ’26 Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and 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.’ God, who created in this way, walked in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.
2. Genesis 3:8, ‘8 They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’
Here, ‘they heard the sound of God.’ It says that Adam and Eve fled from the ‘presence of the LORD God,’ and that the LORD God called to Adam. Adam and Eve often walked with the Son God in the form in the Garden of Eden.
3. Genesis 12:7, ‘The LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built an altar there to the LORD who appeared to him.’ This means that he actually appeared in a form.
4. Genesis 15:1, ‘After this the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not fear, Abram; I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.’’
When the appearance of the LORD is in the form of a figure, it is said that he simply appeared, but when he appeared in another way, that is, in a dream or vision, the Bible clearly states that he appeared in a dream or in a vision.
5. Genesis 17:1, ‘When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be blameless.’’
6. Genesis 18:1-2, 33 ‘The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre. He was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. 2 When he lifted up his eyes and looked, three men were standing opposite him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed down to the ground.
22 So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom. But Abraham still stood before the LORD……..
33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he went away, and Abraham returned to his own place.
7. Genesis 26:1-2, ‘1 Now there was a famine in the land, following the first famine that occurred in Abraham’s days. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. 2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I will tell you about.’
8. Genesis 28:12, 13, ‘12 In his dream he saw a ladder set up on the earth with its top reaching to heaven. And he saw the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And he saw the Lord standing above it and saying, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants.’
9. Genesis 32:24-30, ‘Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When he saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck the socket of Jacob’s thigh, and it broke in two. 26 He said, “Let me go, for the day dawns.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” 27 The man said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked, “Tell me your name.” And the man said, “Why do you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. 30 Therefore Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life has been preserved.”
Angels cannot bless people. In this passage, the One with whom Jacob wrestled is God.
10. Genesis 35:1, 13, ‘God said to Jacob, ‘Arise, go up to Bethel and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.’ 13 So God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him.’
11. Isaiah 6:1-3, ‘The Lord was sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood seraphim, each with six wings: with two they covered his face, with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew. They called to one another, saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’
12. Ezekiel 1:25-28, ‘25And there came a voice from above the firmament that was over their heads (the cherubim), and when the living creatures stood, they let down their wings. 26 Above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire, and on the likeness of the throne was a likeness as in appearance a man. 27 Then I saw the appearance of his loins, as of amber, and from the appearance of it as fire all around, and from the appearance of his loins down I saw the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about. 28 As the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. It was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell on my face and heard the voice of one speaking.’
13. Daniel 10:5, 6, ‘Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and there before me was a man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with pure gold of Uphaz. 6 His body also seemed like beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as torches of fire, and his arms and his feet like burnished bronze, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.’
14. Daniel 3:25, 26, ‘Then the king said, ‘I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are unharmed, and the appearance of the fourth is like the Son of God.’ 26 Nebuchadnezzar He came near the blazing furnace and called out, ‘Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out and come here.’ And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire.’
Thirdly, Jesus incarnated
When he appeared to people in the Old Testament era before the incarnation, it was confirmed that he came in a body. Before the incarnation, Jesus’ body was a body that transcended time and space. Also, it was a body that appeared to many people at the same time as one body. However, the body at the time of the incarnation could not transcend time and space. When he was born as the body of his mother Mary at the time of the incarnation, he became the same body as us, unable to transcend time and space. He had to have a human constitution in order to take on the sins of mankind. He had to be thoroughly human, and at the same time, he had to be true God. However, the mysterious thing is that the Lord could transform into the glorious image of God at any time if he wanted (Matthew 17:2). He could mobilize twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:53).
Jesus came to us and told us many amazing facts about God the Father. Among those facts is the fact that God is the Trinity. And the fact that God the Father and God the Son share the body of the Son. John 14 tells us that the day Jesus was crucified was not far away. ‘Jesus said to them, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; from now on you know him and have seen him.’ 8 Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it will be enough for us.’ 9 Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’’
If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; from now on you know him and have seen him. This means that seeing Jesus means seeing God the Father. Knowing Jesus and seeing Jesus means knowing God the Father and seeing God the Father. This means that the Trinity shares the body of God the Son, but God the Father and God the Holy Spirit are formless, so seeing Jesus means seeing God the Father.
Fourth, the resurrection, ascension, and God sitting at the right hand of God’s throne in a physical form, Jesus Christ
1. After the resurrection, he stayed on earth for 40 days, showing people his resurrected body, letting them touch Him, and even letting them eat with Him. The resurrected body of Jesus was physically the perfect body of God, but His appearance was the same before his death on the cross and after his resurrection. If it had been different, Jesus’ disciples would not have recognized the resurrected Jesus. If that had been the case, the disciples would not have believed in Jesus’ resurrection. Although Jesus’ appearance before and after his resurrection were the same, the constitution of his body before and after his resurrection were completely different. His body before his resurrection was a pure human body, but his body after his resurrection became completely the constitution of God’s body. His body before his resurrection could not transcend time and space, but his body after his resurrection was a body that completely transcended time and space.
Luke 24:36-43, ‘While he was saying these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ 37 They were terrified and frightened, and thought they were seeing a spirit. 38 Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me and see. A spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.’ 40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While they still did not believe because of joy and were still amazed, he said to them, ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’ 42 So they gave him a piece of broiled fish. 43 He took it and ate it in their presence.’ The resurrected body has flesh and bones, but it transcends time and space and can eat and drink.
2. Acts 1:10-12, ’10 While they were looking intently into the sky as he was going, two men in white stood beside them. 11 And they said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’
The Bible clearly reveals to us the scene of his ascension with the same face and appearance that he showed to his disciples after his resurrection.
3. Acts 7:55-56, ‘But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ Stephen says that the one standing at the right hand of the throne in heaven is Jesus.
4. Appearances of Jesus in Revelation 4 and Isaiah 6. The appearance of Jesus on the heavenly throne that Isaiah saw 2,700 years ago is the same as the appearance of Jesus on the heavenly throne that Apostle John saw 2,000 years ago.
Revelation 4:2 ‘Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and on the throne was One who sat. And He who sat had the appearance of a jasper and a sardius stone. And there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.’ He sits on the throne because He has a body.
5. The appearance of Jesus in heaven after ascending in Revelation 1:13-16. He has the appearance of a human.
’13 And in the midst of the lampstands, one like the Son of Man, clothed in a garment reaching down to his feet, and girded about his chest with a golden belt. 14 His head and his hair were white like white wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire. 15 His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. 16 He had seven stars in his right hand, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in its strength (same as Ezekiel 1:27).’ The Bible shows that Jesus always had a body in both the Old and New Testament times.
6. Revelation 19:11-16, ‘Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on it was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that no one knew but himself. . . . 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations; and he will rule them with a rod of iron; and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.’ The body of the Lord who will go at the end of the world shows us the same. Likewise, the appearance of the Lord who will come to wage the war of Armageddon is also in the form of a man.
7. Revelation 22:3-4, ‘There will be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.’
The statement that we will see his face means that we will see the face of Jesus again in the holy city, New Jerusalem. Just as Adam and Eve saw Jesus face to face in the Garden of Eden, and as Jesus’ disciples saw each other’s faces when Jesus was incarnated, we too will see the Lord’s face face to face in the future. Jesus, who walked in the Garden of Eden, will walk with us in the holy city of New Jerusalem, along the path of the lush forest of the tree of life on both sides of the river of life.
In this way, Jesus had a form and a body from eternity past, and when he was incarnated and ascended to heaven, he had a form, and Jesus Christ will have a form forever. After completing his incarnation and ascending to heaven, we saw Jesus in heaven in the form of a man. Jesus is the substance of God, and he had a form, a form, a form, and a shape from eternity past, and he will have it forever. The Lord, who appeared in the flesh to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Old Testament era because He had a physical body, came to this earth in the flesh, and said that He would return in the same form when He ascended to heaven. After He ascended to heaven, Stephen saw Jesus sitting at the right hand of God’s throne. Just as He appeared in the flesh to people in the Old Testament era, in today’s real world, God appears in dreams, visions, and in the flesh to the people He wants at the time He wants. We don’t know how many stories there are of people meeting Jesus around us. Hallelujah, Amen.
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