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"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are
escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more stay upon him that smote them; but shall
stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the
remnant of Jacob, unto THE MIGHTY GOD (El Gibbor Hebrew)" (Isa. 10: 20, 21).
The first occurrences of the Hebrew word yatsar `form' are in Gen. 2: 7, 8:
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground . . . . . the man whom He
had formed."
This man was made in the image and after the likeness of his Creator, and in
Gen. 5: 1-3 that `image' was passed on to Seth, who was begotten in his father, Adam's
likeness. We must consider this revelation further, but before we do let us consider a
related theme. The three outstanding passages in the N.T. where creation is ascribed to
Christ, are the three passages where we have the title "Word", "Image" and "Express
Image", namely in John 1:, Col. 1:, and Heb. 1: The one passage where Christ is
seen as originally existing in the `Form' of God, the application to Him of the words of
Isa. 45: 23, 24 have already been considered.
Before we attempt any further explanation, let us frankly face the fact that it must of
necessity be beyond the ability of man to comprehend the essential nature of God. We
speak of the "Being" of God, as "Absolute" and "Unconditioned", but if we are honest,
we shall agree that we might as well use the symbol X--the unknown quantity. God has
condescended to limit Himself to the capacity of our understanding, to employ terms that
are within our cognizance, and above all to tell us that all we can hope to know of
Himself, during the present life, will be learned as we see His glory in the face of Jesus
Christ. In all our acquisition of knowledge the mind is comparing, contrasting, labeling
and drawing conclusions. Into what category must we place God? He is Spirit. What do
we KNOW of the conditions and modes of a life that pertain to pure Spirit? Just nothing.
An infant on its mother's knee could more readily be expected to grasp the meaning of
the fourth dimension than a man can be expected to understand the nature of Infinite
Being. God has no COMPEER, therefore there is nothing with which we may
COMPARE Him. We are halted at the start. He has no equal.
"To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?"
"To whom then will ye like Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One" (Isa. 40: 18, 15).
"To whom will ye liken Me, and make Me equal, and compare Me, that we may be
like?" (Isa. 46: 5).
"For who in heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of the
mighty can be likened unto the Lord?" (Psa. 89: 6).
Whenever a comparison is instituted between things, there must follow:
(1)
Either absolute equality in every particular will be established. But this is a
contradiction in terms, for wherever there is absolute equality in every particular,
there is identity.
(2)
Or there will be manifested differences. Now one may differ from another because one
is inferior or because one is superior.