THE MYSTERY OF MAN
Now let us come to see the second great mystery in the Bible, which is the mystery of man. Actually, the mystery of man is the mystery of you. All the abstract, invisible, spiritual, living things are surely mysterious, but our human body is also mysterious. Our eyes are more complex than the most advanced cameras today. Even the hairs of our body are mysteries. All the hairs in our body grow downward; only the hairs in our trachea grow upward. Some up and some down: what a mystery! This mystery is very logical. If the hairs on our body were to grow upward, it would be inconvenient for us to take a bath or shower. But if the hairs in our trachea were to grow downward, we would be in trouble, because all the dirty things would go down and accumulate in the lungs; we would not even be able to cough out phlegm. Is this not marvelous?
The first mystery in the Bible is the universe, and the mystery of the universe is God. Man also is a mystery, and the mystery of man is God. We must ask ourselves: Do we have God? How much do we enjoy God? Just to have the name and understand the theory are not enough. You must enjoy God in reality as the meaning of your human life.
MAN BEING ACCORDING TO GOD’S KIND
The Bible shows us that God’s creation of heaven, earth, and all things was from the lowest to the highest, with man being created last. Furthermore, all the living creatures that God created were each according to its kind. The fish was according to the fish kind, and the bird was according to the bird kind; so then man must be according to mankind. But according to the revelation in the Bible, man is neither of the animal kind nor according to mankind. Man is superior and is different from the insects, fish, birds, and beasts. Man is of the same kind as God because man was created according to the image of God. Like a photograph of God, man bears the appearance of God. But even though man was created according to God’s kind and bears the image of God, he did not have the life of God.
Genesis 1:26 says, “And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” The Us here refers to the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit wanted to create man in Their image and after Their likeness. But when we reach verse 27, it says, “And God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” The pronoun Us in verse 26 becomes a singular pronoun He. It is clearly Us in one verse, yet the next verse says He. Why is this? If you continue to read the Bible, you will find the answer when you reach the New Testament. Actually, Jesus Christ is the image of God (Col. 1:15); He is the effulgence of God’s glory and the impress of God’s substance (Heb. 1:3). Hence, God’s creation of man in the beginning was according to Christ.
Christ may be likened to the molding pan used by women for making bread. The molding pans used by the northern Chinese have seven different shapes: a dog, a tiger, a rabbit, a bird, a persimmon, a peach, and an apple. If you put the dough into the molds, you can make snacks of different shapes. Christ is the mold, and we are the clay. God created man with Christ as the mold. Therefore, man had the image of Christ, but he did not have the life of Christ. Why did God create man in this way? It was for the purpose that one day He could put Christ into man. This may be compared to making gloves. All the pairs of gloves are made for the purpose that one day men could put their hands into the gloves. Christ is the content of man as a glove. If you do not have Christ within you, then you are an empty glove; you are deflated. When you receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior, He enters into you. Then you are no longer an empty glove, but you are filled and satisfied. Man was created according to Christ and for Christ, just as a glove is made according to the hand and for the hand. Without the hand, the glove is meaningless and empty. Without Christ, man is empty and unsatisfied. In creation, man had only the image of Christ but not the life of Christ.
(Five Great Mysteries in the Bible, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee)
