The Eternity of Christ and the Image of God

In Genesis 1:26 we are told that God says "And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

There has been massive debate over the exact meaning of this sentence. Many say that being make in God's image means we look like God. Others say it is a functional view, meaning that we are given stewardship over the earth. I say it is both.

Being made in his image means we are created in the image of Christ. You see, Christ is eternal. He is God in the flesh. (John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.) Christ, from before the foundations of the Earth, was in the shape of a man. Whether he decided this shape early on or always has been this shape, I cannot say. I can simply say that we were created with this in mind.

Some may argue that he simply inhabited a humanly body and died on the cross over two thousand years ago, but God works differently than our minds can comprehend. As far as God is concerned, Jesus was always on the cross, is still on the cross, and will always be on the cross. The way this works is that God doesn't exist in our mindset of time. He is the Lord, meaning he is master of time as well as everything else that exists. Revelation 22:13 states "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.", which being spoken by Jesus tells us that he always has been and always will be. Despite the fact that he is on the cross eternally, he is also always NOT on the cross. He can be near us or far from us. He is everywhere at once. It is because of this he can offer us grace and remission of sins. The perfect sacrifice for sin because he was blameless, because he is God and because it is eternal.

We are told in Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.", which is to say that because Jesus died on the cross, we can be forgiven for sins. You see, Christ paid the price for something he didn't do. If you sin you die, so we are all deserving of death. Christ came down from his heavenly throne and died, in essence since he paid the price for something he didn't do, he could ask anything of himself, so he said "I want to forgive man, so he can be with me eternally."

The second part, a functional image, is inherent in the same verse. He said let them have dominion over everything on the Earth. There should be no debate over this passage because the sentence is divided into two parts. He said first in our image, then after our likeness. I don't feel this needs elaboration any further.

The best news of all of this? That every sin we have ever committed, are committing, or will commit in the future are all forgiven already because God is already at every point in our lives even before we reach it. There is only one condition; we have to believe. If you believe in Christ and confess him, you are forgiven already. Romans 10:9 - "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."