skip to content
Buy Gene’s Books Search

Feb 01st 1994

Debrecen Messages #7 – The New Man: God’s Visible Image and Rule on the Earth

Eternal Purpose Genesis New Testament

In Debrecen #7, Gene Edwards brings the entire Debrecen series to its theological and experiential climax. This message reveals why God created, what Genesis 1 truly points to, and who now bears God’s image on the earth.

The teaching begins by returning to a foundational truth: everything that happened before creation was hidden at the moment creation began. Christ before creation, the Lamb slain, the book of life, the choosing of a people in Christ—all of it became mystery. Genesis 1–2 does not explain these realities openly; it hides them in symbols, shadows, and images.

Gene Edwards emphasizes that Genesis 1–2 contains no sin, no fall, and no damage. Everything is declared good—very good. These chapters reveal God’s intention, not humanity’s failure. To understand them, Scripture must be read backward—from Christ to Genesis—not forward from Adam.

At the heart of Genesis 1 is a staggering declaration: “Let us make man in our image… and let them rule.”
This was never about an individual. It was always about a corporate humanity—a them, not a him.

A major revelation of this message is that the new man precedes the old man. The new man was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. The old man—the fallen Adamic humanity—was crucified before he ever appeared in history. The cross did not react to the fall; it preceded creation itself.

This overturns conventional thinking. The new creation is not God’s backup plan—it is His original reality. Adam is a picture; Christ and His body are the reality.

Gene Edwards traces how all creation points to Christ:

  • Light reveals Christ
  • Trees reveal Christ
  • Fish reveal Christ
  • Birds reveal Christ
  • Cattle reveal Christ as servant and sacrifice

These are not metaphors invented later—they are shadows of realities that existed before creation.

The message then moves to the earthly life of Jesus Christ. For a brief moment, Genesis 1 became visible reality. God walked the earth in a man. The image of God was seen. Dominion was exercised. The serpent was defeated. But there was still one command left unfulfilled: “Be fruitful and multiply.”

That command was fulfilled at the cross and resurrection. Christ, the true seed, fell into the ground and died. On resurrection—and ultimately at Pentecost—He multiplied. A them appeared. The Ecclesia was born.

The church is not an organization, meeting, sermon, or system. It is the visible image of the invisible God, moving on the earth as Christ once did. Where the church truly functions as a body, Christ is seen. Where believers merely sit and listen, Christ remains hidden.

This message makes a bold claim: until Christ returns, the church is God’s visible image on the earth. She bears His likeness. She exercises His authority. She displays His life—not as individuals, but corporately.

Gene Edwards concludes with the burden that fuels his life and ministry:
God will have a visible people who show forth His Son.
Not someday.
Now.

Download Transcription Play Audio

He made man to be his image. He made man to rule the earth. He made man to subdue. And man will rule the earth. And it will be a corporate man, it will not be an individual. And we will bear his image. This is an accomplished fact, because one of the other things we found out before, that God did before he created, was what? Somebody tell me. He finished all things before he began. He finished everything before he began it. And the brothers from Poland will hear this message and they won’t understand it. And they will join a great multitude of people who will hear “He finished all things before he began all things,” who don’t understand that. Only God understands, or will understand it.

All right.

At the center of God’s dream, there’s not angels, or heaven, or earth. The center of God’s dream for creating is man. Think about it. God is invisible, and God wants something visible. That looks like Him. Forget the Fall. God wants something visible that looks like He who is invisible. God will have this. In fact, God is having this.

What’s the center of creation? Earth. What’s the center of earth? Man. Be more specific. The garden. And man. That’s rests, the garden rests upon the earth. And in the very center of that garden is a man. And it is a man who is to be many men. And it is a man who is to be many women. He did not give this to Adam, He gave it to mankind. I want to say it again.

To have His visible image on the earth. And to rule over animals and snakes. It’s important that you know that man is supposed to rule over snakes. Now. What’s another word for snake? Serpent. From the snakes, the serpent. And that is a picture of Lucifer. The greatest of all the snakes.

Image. Rule. Dominion. Authority. Corporate Expression of God, of them, not him. I want you to get these words really clear.

Now. I’m going to begin. By asking you a question. You’re not going to get this. What is Man? What is Man? Okay. Let me come back to it. What’s a bird, David. Give me the first answer you gave just a few minutes ago. That’s the correct one. A picture of Christ. A bird is a picture of Christ. An image. What is Man? Man, something supposed to be like God. An image of God. No. It’s not an image of God. It’s something that must be transformed. In chapter one, the man is not completed. That’s correct. It’s something that God wants to be complete. To be right, but not a man like just one. Not just one.

Okay. Okay. Let me approach this from another angle. Have you ever heard the term “old man?” Old man. Why did he get to be called old man? Because he was old. He was wrinkled, and he was dying. And he had a tendency to die. He also had a tendency to sin.

Now, I’m going to ask for a show of hands here, for hands. Who comes first? The old man or the new man? Anybody got a hand? For which one? Which comes first? The old man or the new man? You tell me. Anybody thinks they know. Who comes first?

I’ve got a whole room full of panicked people here. Who comes first? The old man or the new man? I ask a question that has never been put to you nor to any other audience in the history of the world.

Which came first? The old man or the new man? The old man or the new? Ah. Wonderful. We’ve got two answers here that are diametrically opposed.

The new man. Who. The new man came first? You really believe the new man came before the old man? You believe that? Listen to these words. You were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

More from the archives