Page 272 - Bible Writers Theology Original

256 ♦ Bible Writers' Theology Chapter Eight
of God (Ephesians 1:4-11; Colossians 2:9-14; Romans 8:29-30; I Peter
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1:23-25; II Peter 1:2-4; Titus 3:4-8; John 1:12-13; 3:3-6).
"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and God was the Word (see Greek Bible)... And the Word that was with God was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory
2is of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth" (John 1:1,14; John 14:6-10; I John 1:1-3).
Coming back to Genesis, we find that "God formed man of the dust of the groimd, eind breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7), However, he was not found to be completely in
the spiritual image of his creator, because God is Word and Spirit.
God, who is omniscient, foreknew the fall of man. Man was created with a free will to choose between good and evil. God had before the foundation of the world predestined man to be conformed to the image of His Son, the brightness of His glory and the express image of his person. Man was pre planned to be changed into the perfect image of God (Ephesians 1:4-11; Romans 8:29-30). The Biblesays, "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures" (James 1:18; Colossians 3:10).
How can the man from the dust, under the bondage of sin and death, be changed into the image of the Son of God? The love of God is the answer. Thisiswhatsalvationisallabout. Itisthegrandpurposeofthemanifesta tionofGodintheflesh. Theredemptionofmankindwasmadepossibleby the atoning death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. When He came to ful fill the promise. He first came to the Israelites, His chosen people. His own received Him not (John 1:11-12; Ephesians 1:4-11). The Gospel of John decleires, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12).
Christ, the author of our salvation, was the first to reveal the mystery of this second birth. He declared in the ears of a ruler of the Jews, "Verily, ver- ily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom ofGod," and added, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spir it. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again" Qohn 3:1-8).
It seems that, as a religious leader of the Jews, Nicodemus should have