The Image of God — Carter Conlon

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Bless God.

The Image of God and the Need to Behold Christ

If you'll turn in your Bibles to Ezekiel chapter 8, please. In the Old Testament. Isaiah. Jeremiah. And you'll go to Ezekiel not long after Jeremiah. Ezekiel chapter 8, the image of God. Now, Father, I thank you, Lord, with all my heart for the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

God, without your anointing, I could neither convey this and nor could we understand this. You've got to lift us into the realm of supernatural life and thinking. You've got to empower me to speak and you've got to empower the people to listen.

I appeal to your mercy this morning, Lord Jesus Christ. And I ask you to come and walk down the aisles and throughout the candlestick of the testimony of this church in New York City. Prove us, reprove us.

My God, we have to have your glory here. Your very person, your presence has got to be in our midst. Otherwise, we will only compare ourselves among ourselves and become unwise. Help me to speak this.

I cast myself upon you. I lay my life out as a living sacrifice that you may use me. But, Lord, this is about you. It's about your church and about your kingdom. So come and do what only you can do. Take me far beyond natural ability and all reasoning that you give to me.

I give the glory back to you, Lord. God, it's all come from your hand and it all goes back to you. You're the only one that's worthy of praise. We thank you for this in Jesus' name. Now, just hold your Bibles there in Ezekiel chapter 8 for a moment.

We're talking about the image of God. Paul, in the New Testament, makes it very clear that as we behold the image of Christ, we are changed into that image by the spirit of the Lord. Little by little, day by day, we move from the natural.

We move from the carnal to the supernatural and to that which truly represents God. It's the heritage of the church, really. But in order for this change to transpire, we have to be beholding the real Christ.

Now, the devil knows this, and he also knows the danger that will come to his kingdom when there are people who truly see Christ. They have an unhindered vision of him. And so, it has been one of his tasks throughout history to put a distorted image of God and in this generation of Christ before the people.

And knowing that the people will be turned into something powerless. Paul the Apostle says in the last days, there's going to be an incredible apostasy of falling away. But this apostasy, strangely, if you read it in Timothy, is going to have a religious face to it.

Paul said the people are going to have this form of godliness. They'll be going to church, probably even carrying Bibles. They don't know the extent of it. But it's a form. They're looking at a form that is not the true Christ.

And they're turning into this form of whatever it is that they're looking at. And it's rendering the last generation virtually powerless. A form of godliness. But there's no power in it to actually be the very thing as the church that Jesus Christ has destined us to be.

Biblical Warnings About the Last Days

Now, hopefully we can learn from history. Because in history, we see the patterns. As a matter of fact, Paul said in Corinthians, the things that happened to them are written down for our admonition. Upon whom, especially now, the ends of the world have come.

The folks were living in the last days. I just say that straight out. Let it fall where it may. We're living in the last days. And I'm not a gloom and doomist. I'm as optimistic as any person out there.

But only in Christ. My optimism is in Christ. It's in the life of Christ, the power of Christ, the glory of Christ, the purpose of Christ. And eventually Christ is coming for his church. Thanks be to God.

But we're living in the last days. And Isaiah says in one hour, everything is going to change. And we'll probably be here to see the fulfillment of what God spoke about through Isaiah. Now, in Ezekiel chapter 8, I'm going to begin reading at verse 1.

And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.

And I beheld in low alikeness as the appearance of fire. From the appearance of his loins even downward fire. And from his loins even upward as the appearance of brightness and as the color of amber. Now, don't turn there, but if you looked in Revelation chapter 1 verses 14 and 15, John saw this same image and the appearing of this image as it is of God was Jesus Christ in Revelation chapter 1.

Verse 3 says, he put forth the form of a hand and took me by a lock of mine head. And the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven. And brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem. To the door of the inner gate that looks towards the north.

Where was the seat of the image of jealousy which provoked it to jealousy. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there according to the vision that I saw on the plain. Then he said unto me, son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way towards the north.

So I lifted up mine eyes the way towards the north. And behold, northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. Now, the nation of Israel was under judgment. This judgment of God that had come on the country was happening in stages.

It was over quite a period of years really. And enemies were coming in and there would be this forced deportation as it is of people. It had come in these successive stages. Now the day was quickly approaching when Jerusalem was going to be completely overthrown.

Now a lot of people of that time didn't believe it was going to happen. Even the people already in captivity had some false prophets that had been taken there with them. And the false prophets were saying, no, this is only going to be temporary.

Thus saith the Lord, two more years and the kingdom of Babylon is going to be overthrown. And we're going to have great victory. We're going to go back and we're going to be singing and dancing in the streets again.

Now, one of the things that God gave to Ezekiel was he said, Ezekiel, I'm going to show you the reasons why judgment has come to the nation. I'm going to show you the length of the judgment. I'm going to show you the completeness of the judgment.

Now, at this time, Ezekiel was part of one of these deportations into Babylon. But Jerusalem was still standing and many people believed not only in Jerusalem, but outside in Babylon that there was going to be a return there and everything was going to be just fine.

And God spoke to Ezekiel and said, no, it's not going to be fine. Jerusalem is going to be destroyed. There's going to be a virtual complete overthrow of what was and is the land of God. He was Ezekiel was to show the people who were already captive, why this judgment had come.

Now, in chapter eight, Ezekiel was in his house in verse one and says, in the hand of God came upon me. Folks, when the hand of God comes upon you, God will begin to speak. He will speak things we want to hear.

And sometimes he speaks things we don't want to hear. But God will speak when his hand comes upon you. And in verse two, Ezekiel saw the image of God, the same as John in chapter one of Revelation. And the same as he saw in chapter one of Ezekiel, actually, let me just read it to you.

Ezekiel had already seen this image of God in chapter one in verse twenty six. He said above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne and the appearance of a sapphire stone.

And upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. I saw the color of amber as the appearance of fire roundabout within it from the appearance of his loins upward and the appearance of his loins downward.

And I saw as it were the appearance of fire and it had the brightness roundabout as the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain. So was the appearance of the brightness roundabout.

And he says this was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face and I heard a voice of one that spake. Ezekiel had seen this likeness of God's glory.

He had a vision as it is of what God truly looks like. He knew in his heart what holiness looked like. He understood who God was and he saw this incredible duplicity taking place. You'll see it as we go on.

He's taken by the hand of God in verse 3 to be shown why judgment had come. And he said he was taken to the door of the inner gate that looks towards the north. From both perspectives, he's going to see this where was the seat of the image of jealousy which provokes to jealousy.

False Images and Religious Compromise

Now, the doorway into the temple is a place where people enter. It's a place where people enter into worship and an image. There was a lot of discussion about what this image was. Nobody is really sure when you read the various commentaries on it.

But they are sure of one thing. A likeness of something had been set up at the doorway of the temple. And as people are coming into the temple, this image would be the first thing that they would see.

It would be a declaration in effect to all who entered the temple. This is what God is like. You see, everything that would go on behind it would in effect be in relation to that image. In a sense, this is God.

And now you're going to enter beyond this image that's there. And now everything that's going to go on inside the temple is going to be based on this image that we have conjectured in our minds of what God is like.

And of course, the scripture tells us, calls it in King James, an image of jealousy. The New Living Testament says, Beside the entrance to the gate of the altar stood the idol that had made the Lord so angry.

This was an image of God that had been fashioned out of the minds of carnal men. It had been placed at one of the entrances into the temple. And people are being confronted by this. The curious onlooker is coming in.

Oh God, help us to truly represent Jesus Christ. That when people come into Times Square Church, that we're not conveying an image of something other than the living Christ, who He is. What His church is to be.

What He has called us to do. That our voices and our countenances and the things we do and how we conduct ourselves are not conveying another image. But then the image that God says is supposed to be upon my people.

Now an idol is something that is fashioned out of the carnal mind of man, which he thinks looks like God. It's also what he would like God to be. From the golden calf, down at the time of Exodus, at the foot of the mountain, while Moses was up receiving the commandments of God.

And subsequently, it's what he as a godly person, in his own estimation, he thinks a godly person should look like. This is what carnal man does. He says, well I think God should look like this. And I think God should act like this.

And you see, because he knows, if I can get God to be like this, then God will accept me the way I am. Or I can somehow, looking upon this image of what I think God should be, then God will accept these desires that are unsurrendered in my heart.

And I can head out and I can be rich and famous and influential and powerful. And you see, this God that I've created at the doorway to the temple will have to accept this. This will be the image of God that I'm presenting before the people.

The Rejection of the True Christ

John chapter 1 and verse 11 says about Jesus, he came to his own and his own received him not. Now why didn't they receive him? The scripture had clearly given clear testimony of who he was. And Isaiah said he was an ordinary looking man.

He said there's nothing about him that we should desire him. It's all in the scriptures. It talked about him being lowly, taking upon himself the form of a servant. It was all there. It was very plain.

But then when he finally appears, his own don't receive him. Now you ask yourself the question, why? Why don't they receive him? Why couldn't they see him? It's simple, folks. He just didn't fit their image of who they thought God should be.

It may have been in the Bible, but it didn't fit the image of the culture. A whole religious culture had developed in Israel. And they really didn't want this image of God as he's conveyed in the scriptures.

So they created their own image of God. And they brought this image into the temple. And their image of God according to Jesus Christ because he confronted it. It's one of the few times that you really see and experience anger in the voice of Jesus Christ.

Don't tell me he's got a smile on his face when he's throwing the tables over and kicking the goat sellers and such out of the temple. Because the scripture says he's also using a whip at the same time, a scourge of cords.

But you see, this image of God allowed men to seek titles, to seek the recognition and praise of men. You love titles. You love to be called teacher, teacher. You love the greetings, he said, in the marketplace.

It allowed them to teach others without themselves being partakers of what they taught. He said, woe to you lawyers. He said, you lay grievous burdens on the people. You're not even so much as lift a finger yourself to help one of them.

I think they saw some things in here and they would preach it. But they would never lift a finger to do anything themselves. Their image of God allowed them to pass by struggling humanity on their way to worship.

Jesus addressed it in this road to Jericho parable. It allowed them to be self-focused. It allowed them to outwardly display religiousness without inward change. He said, you're like whited graves. He said, you appear all clean on the outside.

But inside, he said, you're full of dead men's bones. You have all these exterior things that you do, but there's no inward change. It allows them to pray with hearts that are far from the heart of God.

They stand in meetings. They fast. They pray. They tithe and say, oh, God, thank you that I'm not like other men are. Thank you, Lord, that I'm just so different. I'm so holy. I'm created in this image that I've made myself into.

It allowed them to evangelize and bring multitudes of men to worship before the wrong image of God. Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 23, 15. He said, you compass sea and land to make one proselyte.

And when he is made, you make him twice the child of hell that you are. These are the words of Jesus. This is red letter. Folks, he walked into the midst of this system that declared itself to be something that represented him.

And he says, you're going all over to the nations as it is. But all you're doing is producing more children of hell because you're bringing them to the wrong image of God. In Ezekiel's day, we look at this image of God in the doorway.

And here's what it did to the people. Verse 10, he said, I went in and I saw every form of creeping thing and abominable beasts and idols of the house of Israel portrayed upon the walls roundabout. And there stood before them 70 men of the ancients of the house of Israel.

And in the midst of them stood jazz and I, the son of Shefan, with every man, his censer in his hand and a thick cloud of incense went up. Then he said to me, son of man, have you seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark?

Every man in the chambers of his imagery, for they say the Lord does not see us. The Lord has forsaken the earth. You see, this wrong image of God allowed or opened the door to uncalled and unfaithful men acting as spiritual leaders.

And when you read Henderson's commentary, the fact that they had a censures in their hand, they were taking on the role of priests in the temple. But they were not called to do this. And a wrong image of God allows the uncalled to step into pulpits, allows the uncalled to begin to lead the people.

They step out of colleges and they might have four degrees under their name, but they don't have a calling of God. What a dangerous thing to be sitting under ministries that are not called of God. There's no life in it, folks.

There's no life. There's a lot of clever techniques. There's a lot of fancy speech, but there's no life. There's no quickening of the Holy Ghost. There's no faith in it. They're standing there with their censures, but they say the Lord's not here.

The Lord's forsaken the earth. God doesn't see us. They're faithless men, but they're taking on the roles of spiritual leadership. And all of these images on the walls are things that they're conjuring out of their own minds.

These are plans. And God saw them as evil things. He saw them as creeping things and evil beasts. They're plans that come from the minds of men. God help us if we're ever led by the plans of men in the church of Jesus Christ.

This is not a fleshly kingdom. This kingdom is built upon the cornerstone of Jesus Christ. We are led by the Holy Spirit of Almighty God. Verse 14 shows us, says, He brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house, which was toward the north, and there were women weeping for Tammuz.

Now, I don't have time to get into all that this signifies, but suffice to say that this type of worship had produced people, and these women I see as types of the foolish virgins that Jesus spoke about in Matthew chapter 25.

They are involved in worship which is produced out of their own sensual natures. It's sensual worship, folks. It's not based on spirit. It's not truth. They're not coming to the image of God in Christ Jesus.

They're not desiring to be changed into that image. They're worshiping now the desires of their own senses. One is worshiping a desire to be more magnificent, another to have a greater destiny, another to be more wealthy, another to be more powerful.

It's all out of their carnal nature now, their worship. It's not worship that's based on truth as found in the scriptures because they really don't want to worship the image of God. You see, in Ezekiel's day, the true image of God is hovering over the temple, very, very slowly withdrawing as this other image has been set up in the doorway.

And don't for five seconds try to tell me this is not where we are in America today. God help us. God help this nation. God help our future. Folks, something very tragic is happening and so few are even aware of it in our time.

Turning From the Altar to Human Optimism

Verse 16 says, He brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and behold at the door of the temple of the Lord between the porch and the altar were 25 men with their backs towards the temple and their faces towards the east, and they worshiped the sun towards the east.

And there's the end result of standing before a wrong image is that the people are led to a theological perspective that's based on optimism and not on sacrifice and truth. You see, the altar represents sacrifice.

The altar represents Christ. The altar represents the cross. The altar represents the call of God. The altar represents that which is holy, that which leads to life. But these men now, the leaders, have turned their backs on the altar.

And the sun, they're looking at the sun saying, Oh, another good day is coming and a better day is coming tomorrow. The whole theology is on a base of human optimism now and not on the truth of what God is speaking because they have put before themselves a false image of God.

Ezekiel had to contend with this in Babylon because a lot of these false prophets had been dragged in into captivity. But even in captivity, they still would not give up their foolishness. They still were misleading the people with these visions of their own hearts, still telling them, it is going to be a better day.

God said, No, Ezekiel, tell them. I'm going to bring the whole thing down. It's all coming down. The captivity is going to last for 70 years. It's going to be a long and a difficult time. But my mercy will be found at the end of the season of captivity that is coming.

Seeking the Real Christ

Now, folks, we have to ask ourselves. It's an important question. How can I know that I'm not creating a wrong image of God in my life? And how will God keep me from this? How can I know that I'm not creating this wrong image of God?

Because the human heart is deceptive, folks. And if we're not coming to the real Christ, if we are making the tragic mistake of the Pharisees and we're skipping the tough verses and going to the easy ones, we're actually fashioning, just like Aaron did, we're fashioning a Christ that is very palatable, a Christ that comes to our door and says, What would it take to have you come to church?

Would you like a bowling alley, a swimming pool? How about a social club? What day would be more preferable for you? We're fashioning this palatable Christ as it is, out of our own hearts and out of our own minds, because we're not wanting the Christ of the pages of Scripture.

Folks, it's so important now, because difficult days are coming. And all these false Christs are not going to get through this. They're going to cast away the false confidence that they have. Isaiah says they're going to take their gold and their silver and they're going to cast it to moles and bats.

They're going to cry for the mountains to fall on them, because the day of the Lord is going to be a terrifying day for those who do not understand who God really is. Let me tell you how the Lord will keep us from this.

Number one, He appears to those who are honestly seeking Him. It's as simple as that. I was in my house, Ezekiel 8, 1, and the hand of the Lord God there fell upon me. That's where it all begins. When you go home, when you open this book, Jesus, talk to me.

Reveal yourself to me. I want to know the real Jesus. I don't want the Jesus of some snake oil television preacher. I want the real Jesus. Jesus, I want to know who You are. I want You to speak to my heart.

I want You to overthrow every religious table. I want You to kick every dove and goat out of my life. God Almighty, I want to know who You are. If that's the honest cry of your heart, He'll come to you.

He'll come to you right in your house. He'll begin to speak to your heart, and He'll make His image known. It's as simple as that. Hallelujah. You'll seek me, He said, and you'll find me when you search for me with all of your heart.

I'm not looking for a palatable Jesus. I'm not looking for an American cultural Jesus. I'm looking for the Jesus of the Bible. I want the real Jesus. The Word was made flesh, John says in John 1, 14, and dwelled among us, and we beheld His glory.

The glory is the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John's just an ordinary boy. His father's a fisherman, but he had an honest heart. And when all the Pharisees are playing their religious games, and setting up the wrong images of God in the temple, here's a young boy who says, We saw Him, my brother and I, we saw Him.

Peter the fisherman, he saw Him. Matthew the tax collector, he saw Him. Mary the prostitute, she saw Him. We saw Him. We knew who He was. He was full of truth. And not only truth, but the grace to turn every man who sees that truth into the same image from glory to glory.

We saw Him. We saw Him. If ever there's a time to see Him, it's now. If ever there was a time, Oh God, let me see who You are. It's now. And secondly, He walks into the testimony that we have established of Him.

Christ’s Examination of the Churches

If we invite Him. In Revelation, these churches are only a stone's throw from the cross. And they've established a testimony as it is an image of Christ. And so the real image of Christ comes to the testimony.

And He begins to walk in the midst of this image as it is of Christ that's being testified to through the churches. And in Sardis, for example, He says to them, Now you see life, but I see death. He brought a warning.

He said, I don't see a true image of God here. He said, You're doing a lot of things. And you even have a reputation in the community. But I know that what you're doing does not have its life source in the Holy Spirit.

And He said, So you see life, but I see death. It's an image, folks. God help us, if we're ever portraying any image of life, then the life that comes through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit by the grace of God and the grace of God alone.

To Laodicea, He said, You look at yourselves and you see no need. But He said, Have you considered here? And have you considered here? And have you considered here? He begins to show, No, there's a shortness here.

And this shortness is going to cost you in the long run. To Thyatira, He said, You see your own faithfulness, but I see compromise. Now, you can read it yourselves. And I know I'm paraphrasing this. But He says, You see your works and you see your faithfulness.

But I see a compromise coming into you that ultimately is going to cost you the image of God. You've got to get a hold of this. You've got to overcome this. There was an open door in the minds of the people to a seductive spirit that was calling them as it is to another image of Christ.

And Jesus himself said, You've got to shut this thing down. You've got to turn away from it. Also, to Philadelphia, He came to them like many here today. And He said to them, Many of you think that you're not going to make it.

And this is the image, actually, that they had of themselves. There was great opposition to this church, great opposition, such as many of you are experiencing today in going forward. And a sense of hopelessness as you look to the real Christ and you don't see how will I ever become what God wants me to be.

And voices to the left and to the right are calling and saying, Over here, there's another Jesus. You know, 1995 for this one, 2350 over here for this one. And all these voices are calling with these other Jesus that are on a broader path that don't require quite as much faith as it is to achieve, are not as difficult.

And many in Philadelphia may have been in this place and many are even in today as they sense and see this call of God upon them. But Jesus said, You think you're not going to make it. But Philadelphia, I see an open door before you that no man can shut.

I see an open door. You have only a little strength and you've not denied my name. And folks, that's the testimony of many today. If you'd say, Pastor, that's me. I've got a little strength and I've not denied his name.

I still want the real Jesus. And Jesus says, Now I see something that you don't see. I see an open door before you. I've opened it and nobody can shut it. And I'm calling you through this door. I'm calling you to go through this door.

You see, there was a door into a temple that passed by a false Messiah as it is in Ezekiel's day. But he says, No, this is the real one. This is the real temple. This is the real life of God. I've opened the door to you and I'm calling you into my presence.

That's where this door leads to. It leads to the image of God in Christ. Where everything unlike Him suddenly becomes filthy rags. This is what happened to Isaiah. He was drawn through this door into the presence of Christ.

And he could write later on in chapter 64 and verse 6, All of our righteousnesses are filthy rags. All the things that we think are good. All the things that out of our minds we crafted and think they're God.

I stood in the presence of God, Isaiah says, and they were all filthy rags. They were unworthy to be in His presence. It's where we see ourselves as we truly are. And we're brought into agreement with God and are touched by His mercy.

Isaiah was lifted up. He saw the holiness of God. He saw the real image of God. He saw heavenly beings crying, Holy, holy, holy Lord God. Almighty heaven and earth are filled with your glory. He saw things created by the hand of God.

He saw divine order that could only come from the life of God. And then he saw in his own heart, his own life, that he had fallen so short of this glory. Everything he thought he was turned into filthy rags.

And he said, oh my God, I'm undone. Folks, if you are going to know this image of God in Christ Jesus, there's an undoneness that you and I have to pass through. Where everything that we thought we were has to die.

We must take joyfully the spoiling of all of our religious goods and come before this image of the true, the one, the only and the holy God. The moment he says I'm undone, an angelic creation takes a call from the altar and touches his lips.

And immediately he's purged by the mercy of God. Immediately touched by the power of God. Immediately a partaker of the mercy of God. Thanks be to God that I don't have to try to be like Christ because I never could be.

Everything I do falls short of the glory of God. That's why God became a man. That's why God went to a cross. That's why he died to pay the price for my sin. That's why he sent the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

That God himself could come and touch this body and begin to quicken me. And God, by his mercy, begin to turn me from image to image and glory to glory into the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. That I may truly, truly, truly stand and be part of the living church of the living God in this last generation.

Mercy, Transformation, and the Living Church

I can see Ezekiel standing there with these angelic beans shouting, Glory to God! Glory to God! Glory to God! It's all mercy! It's all mercy! It's all mercy! It's all mercy! It's not works of righteousness.

It's not human effort. It's mercy, beloved. It's mercy! It's mercy! It's mercy! No wonder the devil tries to divert the body of Jesus Christ. If people lay hold of this, they will be changed into the image of Christ.

Faith will arise in the heart. The very life of God will become their life. They will stand in the marketplace as they did on the day of Pentecost with another voice, another mind, another heart, living evidence of the reality that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and sits at the right hand of all power.

Thanks be to God for his mercy. Thanks be to God that you and I can shout glory to God in this house. Thanks be to God that we don't have to pretend. We don't have to fashion. We don't have to create some image.

Thanks be to God that Jesus will meet us if our hearts are wanting to know him. Then he hears the voice of the Lord saying, Who will go? Who will tell them? He's just experienced this incredible mercy.

And he knows that order that he's longed for in life can only come from the one that he's now beholding. He knows there's no other way that this could happen. He has been involved in religion up to this point.

He's been a religious boy probably for many years and done a lot of religious things. But now he's seen the image of God. He knows it cannot be attained by any amount of human effort, human fashioning or human religion.

He knows. He knows. You see, if God is protecting you now from all of the falseness that is going to characterize the last days, you are most likely feeling very, very undone at this moment. Because that's the mercy of God.