This is part two of a series on being revealed as the image of God that you're already created to be.  If you haven't had the opportunity to read part one, "It's Time For You To Be Revealed!”, please go back and read it first. The following may be more clearly understood.

For the sake of time, here's a quick recap:

1.     Revelation: On a weekend in the woods, in my heart’s cry to be made into something more than the broken man I had become, God explicitly responded with, "Stop asking to be made! You're already created. It's time for you to be revealed."

2.     Confirmation: In the next couple of days, as friends and family sat in an ICU waiting room while a dear friend suffered her last with cancer, God's word fell open in my lap to Romans chapter 8. Specifically verses 18 and 19…confirming what I had just heard.

3.     Validation: There I stood…within a few weeks…looking at Michelangelo's prisoner, Atlas, at the Academia museum in Florence, Italy. An unfinished sculpture, that looked somewhat like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, but nothing within his own power to escape his bondage. Down the hall was Michelangelo's David…fully revealed.

4.     Process: The process of our revealing isn’t much different than the process the stone goes through as the sculptor reveals the image within. Being revealed is a process which first requires restoring what was lost.

What was lost? 

Creation

"Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:26,27 NIV

Genesis begins by telling us the story of creation. Chapter one is a somewhat Cliffs Notes version of creation. The complete majesty and beauty that surrounds us, not only of our world but the universe as well, is summed up in only 31 verses. In all of creation, only one part did God see fit to describe to us a little further; the story of humankind. Chapter two describes the creation of man and woman in more depth and provides some very enlightening detail that is often missed and/or misrepresented (especially if you grew up in any church environment).

"This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth (Or land) and there was no one to work the ground, but streams (Or mist) came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." Genesis 2:4-7 NIV

How many of you thought that Adam was created in the garden of Eden? I did too. At least that's what the stories from church had led me to believe.  Adam was created in the wilderness. There were no shrubs, no rain, and no one to work the ground. Doesn't that sound like the wilderness to you?

"Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed." Genesis 2:8 NIV

&

"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die. " Genesis 2:15,16 NIV

God had already created man, then placed him into the Garden of Eden (which he had also just created). John Eldredge goes deeper into this idea of what was originally intended of the masculine heart in "Wild at Heart." I won't recap it here, but if you haven't read the book, I highly recommend putting it on the top of your reading (or listening) list.

Continuing in the story of creation…this gets into my favorite part!

In every stage throughout creation, God said it was good…until he created man. What is described next in Genesis 2 is staggering to me.

"The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18 NIV

And again, in verse 20, "…But for Adam (Or the man) no suitable helper was found."

This is what God says before and after parading the animals of the earth before the man to see what he would name them. Suitable Helper. Does that sound like every job description you've read? Here's another example of truth getting lost in our translation of translation and why a couple of fundamental thoughts about scripture must be addressed before moving deeper.

1.     Yes! Scripture is the inspired Word of God. Which means the Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the bible and therefore doesn't exist within the pages of the bible. It is the movement of the Holy Spirit within us that make the words on these pages come to life.

2.     The bible is a book of examples and not exceptions. This simple shift in mindset, makes the living words of the stories within the text accurately speak within your own story.

The bible is a God inspired book of examples to teach us; reveal to us God's desire and love for us.

There's a grand story and much to be written on the creation of Eve, the feminine heart of God...strong and beautiful…we'll look more into this "Suitable Helper" with a later post. The pinnacle of creation deserves a more dedicated writing.

What we want to focus on here is the lost part of two becoming one flesh.

My favorite part…

"That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." Genesis 2:24,25 NIV

Boom Baby! How awesome is that!!!

It's so awesome that it's precisely when Satan shows up.

At that moment, Adam and Eve had what Satan never could. They were a complete image of God…in the flesh. Which is exactly why they succumbed to the temptation. As a result, we have the curse on all humanity, but horrifically and specifically at the level of gender and both working against each other. The exact opposite of what we just read in Chapter 2. This makes me "Jesus clearing the temple" mad!

Adam immediately goes from writing poetry and in complete awe of his bride to blaming her. He was right there with her and did nothing. He went limp and didn't fight for her or him or them.

"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it." Genesis 3:6 NIV

(Rabbit Trail: I often think that Satan came to Eve first, because of her strength and not because of her weakness. That's also where he takes you out…your strength!)

The verses that follow tell of the man and the woman running to hide as they hear God walking in the cool of the day. God calls out and the man says he is hiding because he was naked and afraid. (Remember they were just naked and not ashamed!) God asked if he had eaten of the tree from which he was told to stay away and here's the man's response:

“ The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Genesis 3:12 NIV

Do you see the man pointing his finger at the woman?! Man has been passing the buck and blaming the woman for his problems ever since! She was created for unity and to be the delight, inspiration, and desire of her husband. He was created for unity and to oversee of all creation. Together they were to rule and subdue…and create life! They were equal parts to a whole. However, Chapter 3 continues to tell us that the fall meant Eve's pain would be increased in childbearing (increased means that childbearing was already part of the plan). Her desire would be for her husband, but he would rule over her. Adam is cursed to work the ground and eat by the sweat of his brow. Gender equality was the original design. Only in the fall, through the curse of sin has man been a domineering presence over the woman. The curse today has grown into a confusion of ‘equality’ being synonymous with ‘same’. Man and woman are created equal, but they’re not the same. And that is a beautiful thing!

On my journey of restoration for my own heart and in pursuit of Lori's, the Holy Spirit has spent a lot of time with me in the first three chapters of Genesis. I'm convinced of these truth's as revealed within the text.

1.     Man was created in the male image of God

2.     Woman was created as the female image of God

3.     Two very different beings, but equal parts of an image of God

4.     Together in marriage they are to become one flesh.

a.     Two halves coming together as one for the creation of life!

b.     Only something that God is capable of doing.

5.     God's intention all along was to setup this model of relationship, not for the sake of relationship but for the sake of unity.

That's what was lost. Creation. God's original design…or was it? Why did God allow this to happen? Why on earth didn't he warn them? If God is an all-knowing God, why did he give them one rule while knowing they would break it?

Because he's all knowing.

God allowed this to happen because he had a better design in store. Every story has a beginning, right? We think that Genesis is the beginning, but then there's that passage quoted at the "beginning" of this series (see part one).

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." John 1:1-5 NIV

Remember that God is spirit and exists in the form of the Trinity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The pinnacle, the crown if you will, of the message to which God has called Lori and I with Revealed Image Ministries is to partner with Jesus in restoring what was lost and revealing what God indented in marriage from the beginning.  Taking Genesis Chapter 2 and dropping it right into John Chapter 17 (where Jesus prays that all who would believe would be one, unified, with him as he is with the Father).

Man created in the image of God as the male. Woman created in the image of God as the female. Together as one flesh, a complete image of God, but one in spirit with God through Jesus. This is the trinity of marriage and exactly why Satan showed up in the first marriage and continues to relentlessly attack marriages today.

How many marriages do you know of now that are falling apart? How many friends are currently talking about or going through divorce? Is it your marriage? How many men are striving to prove they have what it takes or have given up and don't at all, and only produce thorns and thistles in relationship, then go on to pornography, sports, gaming, drugs, alcohol, or anything that gives a sense of relief or power for the easy and cheap counterfeit? How many women are forced into prisons of darkness and pain due to disqualification and rejection by way of abandonment and diminishment? Not to mention the many horrific and deplorable ways in which evil manifests itself behind closed doors to women and children and even men. There are many more people, both those who believe in Christ and those who don't, that we are not aware of who are suffocating in these prisons. We've gotten so good at hiding it, just like Adam and Eve. We put on our fig leaves and hope no-one sees.

This is why sexual sin is so powerful and exactly why Satan came against the marriage from the very beginning of the story of humanity. Paul spoke of this in 1 Corinthians Chapter 6:16-20. Here it is from the Message translation.

"There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, “The two become one.” Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never “become one.” There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for “becoming one” with another. Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body."

Sex and becoming one was never for the sake of creating (making babies). It was for unity. Out of this unity was the intended purpose to create with the Creator. There is so much more that can be said, and is to be said, but some of these things really are mysteries that only the Holy Spirit can unpack for you. Lori and I are walking this journey of restoration and revealing ourselves. As individuals and as one flesh, seeking to be one in spirit. We're in the throes of this process as well, but the message so clearly given to us is not one that we can hold onto for ourselves. The deeper we grow into unity with God and the trinity of marriage, the more boldly we stand in Christ against the enemy and his attempts to shut us up and take us out.

Which brings us back to Romans Chapter 8.

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God." Romans 8:18-21 NIV

We want this for you as well.

Whatever your story, whatever your pain, your present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in you. Submit to the process of allowing Jesus into your story and into your pain, restoring what has been lost in your life and revealing what God intended of you from the beginning of your story. It may hurt like hell to step into your story. That’s because hell has delivered the wounds and the lies. I promise you, it leads to freedom. It has for Lori and me. Therefore, the prisoner, Atlas, and the David in the Academia were so profoundly validating as God gave us this message. That’s what it looks like. The image God placed within you is there, let him reveal his masterpiece.

In God's Peace; Be Revealed,

Joseph

Men: If you are interested in stepping into this journey of restoration and revealing, we're having a boot camp June 8 -11, 2017 in Central Virginia. For more info, please follow the link below.

Trinity of marriage