We Are to be Like God!

by Leonard V Johnson

This last Sabbath, I suggested for the Sabbath sermon, “You Were Born to Rule! – Part II.” In fact, human beings were created in the image of, and according to God the Father’s and our Lord Jesus’ likeness. 

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; …’” – Genesis 1:26.

Man was created in the very image ── meaning in the same shape and form as God. Now God (and by God, I mean Elohim, the family of God – which at this present time consists of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ) is composed of Spirit, yet they formed man of physical matter. We are not composed of spirit as God is.

The LORD God creates in a system of duality. Not everything is created all at once, there are two stages of creation. We see this clearly throughout all of God’s living word ── the Holy Bible. The creation of man first began with the physical; then there will be the spiritual creation of man and that begins in Christ Jesus. Adam, a physical man, our Lord Jesus was the spiritual Man that came from the upper heavenly realms. So, everything that God creates is of a dual nature. 

Angels themselves were not created complete all at once. God could not create godly character within them by fiat, and neither can it be created all at once within mankind. The spiritual creation is the inspiration of godly, holy, and righteous character within us. 

Now… we have to make the decision, we have to be willing to accept, we have to hunger and thirst for it, but it comes from the LORD God. Because it’s not our righteousness. It’s not our holiness. Because any righteousness that we think we might have ── because as “good” as we might think we are, we are “all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” – Isaiah 64:6. It is the very righteousness of the LORD God, which is given by His Spirit placed within us. 

So, mankind was created in the very form and shape of God, with a spirit within us, which needs another Spirit to go with it. The spirit in man needs the Spirit of God. This spirit within us provides us with brain, with mind power - see 1 Corinthians 2:11. Truly, knowledge can only come to us through our five basic senses. Sight, hearing, tasting, touch, and smell. We cannot know anything naturally except what we come to know through our five basic senses. And we cannot know the spiritual things of the LORD God, and the glorious things God has prepared for those of us they love ── and the majority of God’s living word is spiritual knowledge ── unless the Spirit of God is combined with our spirit. 

Turn in our Bibles to the Book of John chapter 14, and notice verses 8 and 9 ── 

“Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.’ 9) Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?’”  

What our Lord Jesus Christ means by this statement is ── He looks exactly like the Father.

God of the Old Testament 

Up at the podium, back in the year 2014, I actually heard a Pentecostal minister say to his audience, “I don’t like very much that God of the Old Testament. He was often cruel and stern!” I just shook my head in utter disbelief! I reminded myself that it was the LORD God ── inspired by their Spirit ── that wanted me to see firsthand and hear in Memorex what these worldly churches are teaching their people.

Because… what the LORD God has taught me is that the God of the Old Testament is … “as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who [reverently] fear Him; As far as east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who [reverently] fear Him.” – Psalm 103:11-13. He is a God of immense love and mercy. That is what the LORD God has shown me in His living word. Apparently, that Protestant minister never read that. We see the Apostle Paul writing to Timothy ── who would later become an evangelist and go out preaching the kingdom of God and of our Lord Jesus under Paul. He wrote ── 

“and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures [speaking of the books of the Old Testament; the only Scriptures that Timothy had known], which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” – 2 Timothy 3:15.

So, the books of the Old Testament “are able to make [us] wise for salvation … which is in Christ Jesus.” Notice this also, the Apostle Paul had written to the church in Corinth. That the things written in the Old Testament were “examples … written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” – 1 Corinthians 10:11. In fact, the Church of God is built upon the very foundation “of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.” – Ephesians 2:20.

Well… do you know… and I’ve spoken about this before in our sermon “The Feast of Trumpets and the Church” ── there were almost no prophets mentioned in the New Testament Scriptures? Go ahead and look it up in your Bible help books, maybe your concordance, and see how many you can find. In fact, there were really only FOUR PROPHETS spoken of in the New Testament, beginning with Simeon. Also, there was the Prophetess Anna, who was of great age and served God with fasting’s and prayers, night and day, gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem (Luke 2:25-38). Their whole commission was truly to receive messages direct from the LORD God and take it to the apostles. They did not go to the people, and they didn’t preach. And it is true that in the Koine Greek language the word “prophesy” not only means foretelling, but it also means preaching under inspiration. So, the LORD God’s end-time prophets (see Revelation 11:3-12; Matthew 24:9-14) will certainly be witnessing and prophesying with real fire, and with full earnestness, and great power. And they will ultimately be murdered in the streets of Jerusalem!

A great deal of the New Testament is but quotes from the Old Testament. And those things were written for our admonition. And the Church of God is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with our Lord Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. 

Where did the Body of Christ – the Church of God – receive its knowledge? Where did it receive its doctrine, its understanding, and what it is supposed to believe and teach? Well… the Body of Christ did not receive it from a General Council of Churches. It did not receive it from a First Council of Nicaea, or a second ── or even a seventh ── all who said, “Let’s decide what it is that we’re going to believe!” The Church of God certainly didn’t receive it from Emperor Constantine the Great, who was not a true Christian, but was in all respects a fraud. Yet, he was the one who announced, “I’m making this official; you’ve got to believe in the doctrine of the Trinity!” as an example.

And both Roman Catholics and Protestants has accepted it ever since. And, if you want to believe in a Trinity, you’re more than welcome to do so, but as for me ── I have proven beyond any shadow of doubt that the doctrine of the Trinity is a false doctrine. The LORD God is much more than any trinity!

 The LORD God is Greater Than Anything You Might Imagine! 

If you will, turn in your Bible to the Book of Isaiah, the 40th chapter. I remember back in the 80s when I was young (er), we would travel to Government Camp up on Mount Hood in Oregon to the commissary. Mount Hood is a part of the Cascade Range of mountains of North America. I can still remember the feeling of awe seeing the grandeur of Mount Hood from where we lived in Stayton, Oregon! Anyway, let’s read a little of this, beginning with verse 12 ── “’ Who has measured the waters in the hallow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance?’”   

Now… are you able to do that? Are you able to think of one man that can measure the universe in a span, or can weigh a mountain in a scale? Yet, the LORD God ── the Creators of both heaven and earth ── certainly can!

“’ Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has taught Him? 14) With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding? 15) Behold, the nations [and there are currently some 195 countries in the world, with an approximate land area of 148.94 million square kilometers!] are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; …’” – Isaiah 40:13-14, 15. 

The “small dust” that would be on the scale that you weigh things, a speck of dust that you likely couldn’t even see with your naked eye ── that’s the totality of all the nations that are on planet Earth!

“ … ‘the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. 16) And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. 17) All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.’” – Isaiah 40:15, 16-17.

In this strong hyperbolic expression denoting the utter insignificance of the nations as compared with the LORD God, and yet mankind has an awesome potential to become a God! As great as the LORD God is, except that God the Father and our Lord Jesus will always be supreme in authority. The Father is supreme in authority over the Word, who became our Lord Jesus, as He Himself says, “ … ‘the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.’” – John 12:49. Our Lord Jesus Christ always and forever being obedient to Father God.

Let’s see a little more on the greatness of God ── notice again the 40th chapter of Isaiah, beginning in verse 25 ── “’ To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?’ says the Holy One [which is, of course, YHWH, the One who became our Lord Jesus Christ!]. 26) Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing. 27) Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: ‘My way is hidden from the LORD, …’” And then the Prophet Isaiah continues, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. …” – Isaiah 40:25-26, 27, 28.

So, the LORD God never gets weary, never gets tired. Now… God “rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done” – Genesis 2:2. Not because He was tired, but He rested to place His own presence on that day, and it’s been there ever since ── setting the day as holy.

My Initial Calling 

I became interested in receiving The Ambassador Bible Correspondence Course through the Worldwide Church of God in the spring of 1981. I began attending the Albany, Oregon, congregation with my paternal grandmother soon after completing the course. Then the following 3½ years I was taught a firm foundation that I could believe what God’s living word truly says.

As our Lord Jesus Christ, in person, had taught His apostles, and had taught the Apostle Paul in the Arabian desert for some three years ── even though He had already ascended to the upper heavenly realms. The Apostle Paul mentions that he had seen Christ, that he had been with Christ – Galatians 1:11-12. Now, the Holy Bible is the word of God in print. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Word of God in person. They are the same. I was taught upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets of the LORD God, our Lord Jesus being the chief cornerstone. I was taught the living Word of God, the Truth of God, and the Plan of God in print. Before being taught upon God’s foundation, I was a virgin ── spiritually speaking.

Let’s read just a little more of chapter 40 ──

“He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. 30) Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31) But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:29-31.

Sadly, so many people tend to not think just how awesome and mighty the LORD God is. The great giver of life, who wants to give us such wonderful and glorious things. And as I cried unto God the other night in prayer, I asked Him to give me that which I can use in serving Him ── that if there be anything else He requires of me, to just let me know. I don’t ask of this for myself; but I ask it that I can better serve you who is reading this.

Why is the LORD God Concerned About You? 

The observable universe is some 93 billion light-years in diameter! One light-year equates to about 5.88 trillion miles. Yet, the LORD God is concerned about you! Turning into the Book of Hebrews the 2nd chapter, we see what King David had written in the Book of Psalm, but the Apostle Paul goes a little further ── 

“For He HAS NOT put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.” – Hebrews 2:5.

What, in the world, is he talking about? “ … the world to come, of which we speak, …”? The world to come is going to be the kingdom of God – the government of God! And he says, “ … He has not put the world to come … in subjection to angels.” It means, and I’ve been saying this for some time now ── we learn from God’s living word that angels were never meant to rule the earth or the universe.

Continuing … “But one testified in a certain place, saying: ‘What is man that You are mindful of him, …’” – verse 6.

So, here we are in the 21st century, where all the nations continue to be but a drop in a bucket compared to the LORD God. In the Book of Psalm chapter 53, we are told, “God looks down from heaven, upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.” The LORD God is that AWESOME!

“But one testified in a certain place, saying: ‘What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him?’” – Hebrews 2:6.

Why should the great LORD God be concerned about a relatively small planet ── the third planet from the Sun ── located in the Orion Arm of a relatively average size Milky Way Galaxy, with us on it? What is our potential? Was it just to invent writing in ancient Sumer and Egypt? Was it to create a city in Uruk, Sumer, and Mesopotamia? Was it to create the first word dictionary in Mesopotamia? A crossbow in ancient China? What about the first analog computer, the Antikythera?

Yet here ── 

“’ You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands [and what are the works of His hands? Recall the Prophet Isaiah, “’ Lift up your eyes on high, And see who created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, …’”]. 8) You have put all things in subjection under his feet.’” – Hebrews 2:7-8.

What of this ‘have put all things in subjection under his feet’? Surely not everything? Notice chapter 1 of the Book of Hebrews ── “has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, …” – Hebrews 1:2.

In Greek the phrase “all things” is pás, which means a term used to denote completeness or totality, everything. As in the whole of the universe and everything in it.

“ … For in that He [the Lord GOD] put all in subjection under him [speaking of mankind], He [the Lord GOD] left nothing that is not put under him [again, surely not everything? but let’s read on]. But now we DO NOT SEE all things put under him [under mankind].” – Hebrews 2:8.

No, not yet. The LORD has, however, let us have “dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” – Genesis 1:26. Mankind can now go down into the depths of the Mariana Trench ── an oceanic trench located in the western Pacific Ocean, at a maximum depth of 69 km (43 mi)! Mankind now has had the Blue Origin NS-35, a sub-orbital cargo spaceflight mission, operated by Blue Origin which launched on September 18, 2025, using the New Shepard rocket. And, of course, the actor William Shatner was finally able to go where no other 90-year-old man had gone before, aboard Blue Origin’s NS-18 sub-orbital flight. Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocket! Yet, even all of that doesn’t excite me as much as the fact that the Lord GOD has commissioned me, as a servant, to proclaim with His message, to those who are willing to hear (Matthew 11:15; Mark 4:9, 23; Proverbs 1:5; John 8:47; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). And the LORD God has provided me with the means and ability, that I try and use, not using it for my own purposes. 

What Is Our Lord Jesus Christ Doing ── Now?

So, no. Not everything is under mankind’s control. But what do we see? “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death [eternal death] for everyone.” – Hebrews 2:9. So, we see JESUS, who was scourged and spit upon, crucified, raised by a resurrection from the dead, and who then ascended up to the upper heavenly realms. And where He is now at the right-hand of God Most High as our living High Priest and Advocate. 

Well… what is our Lord Jesus doing today? 

Sadly, most people ── those who actually have an inkling of how far across the known observable universe is ── well… and I actually say, some. Some people believe that He never existed, or that He just died, or that He went far away from Earth. No, in fact, our Lord Jesus is our High Priest; I personally look to our Lord Jesus every day. I look to Him for wisdom and strength. I have proved beyond any shadow of doubt that God our Father and God our Savior mean what they say! Like what Dr. Seuss has emphasized – though slightly altered here – He means what He says and says what He means! 

“ … we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, …” – Hebrews 2:9.

He is already wearing a crown! He has gone to the upper heavenly realms ── which is spoken of in Isaiah 14 – “ … On the farthest sides of the north; …” ── to the very throne of God the Father and has been given a crown of rulership (a coronation is a formality which commemorates the new leader’s accension; see Daniel 7:13-14). The LORD God forever be praised ── after our glorious resurrection (God willing), we shall be in low earth orbit in attendance for this coronation! Our Lord Jesus returning to Earth (Zechariah 14:4) in all “power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” – Revelation 5:12. As King of kings and Lord of lords to rule all nations, and to bring the nations true and lasting peace.

You know ── and Minister Guy LaMar has spoken of this before as well. “A Message of Only Doom!?” ── there are some people, because we preach from God’s living word, accuse us of preaching a doctrine of doom. Yet, instead of preaching doom, we preach just the opposite. We preach and teach the greatest and most magnificent potential that Almighty God has for all mankind; that not too many others appear to be preaching.

Let me just add here ── “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” – Hebrews 9:27. 

“For it was fitting for Him [our Lord Jesus, because He created us; John 1:1-3, 14], for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bring many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11) For both He [our Lord Jesus] who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” – Hebrews 2:10-11.

Our Lord and Savior, Jesus of Nazareth, received again His glory and honor as God by a resurrection from the dead. “ … that He might be the FIRSTBORN among many brethren.” – Romans 8:29. And He will not be ashamed to call us “brethren.” 

“who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things [again, the Greek word pás, which means a term used to denote completeness or totality, everything. As in the whole of the universe and everything in it] by the word of His power, …” – Hebrews 1:3.

O’ last night I was watching on YouTube the glorious and wonderous metamorphosis of a butterfly! In which the host could not answer why many creatures metamorphose ── as he asks, “Why is living your life as multiple life forms such a great recipe for evolutionary success?” Of course, as usual, not giving any acknowledgement or credit to our great and awesome Creator!

HOW GREAT IS OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST! The firstborn of many brethren! Who has set us an example that we can follow! □