God’s Purpose in Creating Man vs. God’s Purpose in Dealing with Jacob (Integrated Comparison)

 

God’s Purpose in Creating Man vs. God’s Purpose in Dealing with Jacob (Integrated Comparison)

Genesis 1:26 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 every creature that moves along the ground.”

Genesis 47:7 Joseph brought his father Jacob in and stood before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

Genesis 32:28 The man said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome them.”

Genesis 35:10 And God said to him, “Your name was Jacob, but from now on you shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel.” So God named him Israel.

I. Core Comparison Table

Item	God’s Purpose in Creating Man	God’s Purpose in Dealing with Jacob	Integration / Connection
Main Scriptures	Gen. 1:26-28	Gen. 32:28; 35:10; 47:7, 10; Rom. 9:11; 2 Tim. 1:9	The former is the declaration of the goal; the latter is a living sample of that goal being realized in a man
Source	God’s eternal purpose (Eph. 1:4-5; 3:11)	The same purpose: God’s choosing took place before the twins were born and before they had done good or evil (Rom. 9:11), according to His own purpose and grace (2 Tim. 1:9)	Creating man and dealing with Jacob issue from the same purpose
Image	Man was created in God’s image and after His likeness, to express God	Jacob was dealt with until he was transformed into “a prince of God,” bearing God’s image to express Him	Creation gave man the organ and capacity for the image; dealing constitutes and transforms man in life and disposition, making the image a reality
Dominion	Man rules over the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the cattle, and all the earth (Gen. 1:26), representing God	Jacob was renamed Israel, for he “strove with God and with men, and prevailed” (Gen. 32:28), and he blessed Pharaoh (Gen. 47:7, 10)	Man has dominion in order to represent God. Jacob’s blessing of Pharaoh shows that he could now exercise God’s authority as a prince of God
Man’s Original Condition	Man was created with God’s image and the charge of dominion	Jacob in his natural man: grasping the heel (Gen. 25:26), deceitful, relying on his own ability (Gen. 27)	Fallen man lost the reality of expressing and representing God and must therefore be dealt with
God’s Way	Creation: God made man directly according to His desire	Dealing: God sovereignly arranged circumstances (the struggle in the womb, the flight, Laban’s discipline, the touching of the hollow of his thigh at Peniel)	Creation is the beginning; dealing is the process. God’s work on man continues from creation to transformation
Nature	Giving and establishing	Not punishment, but transformation and maturity (Gen. 35:10)	Dealing is not negative chastisement but positive transformation and perfecting
Result in Man	A man who can express God and represent God	Jacob (the supplanter) became Israel (a prince of God, one who strove with God and prevailed)	Jacob is a type of the transformation of a natural man into one who matches God’s goal
New Testament Counterpart	Rom. 8:29 (conformed to the image of the Firstborn); 2 Cor. 3:18 (transformed into the same image); Eph. 4:13; Col. 3:10	Same: a believer’s whole life is a process of being dealt with and transformed by God	Jacob’s experience foreshadows the growth and transformation of the New Testament believer’s life
Ultimate Consummation	The New Jerusalem: having God’s image (Rev. 21:11) and reigning as kings in God’s kingdom (Rev. 22:5)	The twelve tribes of Israel and the kingdom of God (the blessings and prophecies of Gen. 48-49)	The two lines converge in the New Jerusalem: man expresses God and reigns on His behalf

II. Key Points from the Ministry of Witness Lee

1.      God’s economy and His purpose in creating man: God created man in order to dispense Himself into man, joining man to Himself so that man would become His expression. The image is for expression, and the dominion is for representation.

2.      Jacob and Israel: In the Life-study of Genesis, Brother pointed out that Jacob was a “natural man” who became Israel through God’s dealings. Jacob’s life represents God’s dealing with man, and the God of Jacob is the dealing God.

3.      God’s dealing is not punishment: This agrees with your outline (II.2.2). God’s hand rules over the environment in order to break the natural man so that God’s life can be constituted into him.

4.      “Transformation,” not “improvement”: The goal is a change in life and disposition (2 Cor. 3:18), not an improvement in behavior. This also echoes Rom. 9:11: God’s choosing is not based on works.

5.      The overcomer and the prince of God: Israel means “a prince of God” or “one who strives with God,” referring to one who can exercise dominion and represent God, corresponding to the dominion in Gen. 1:26.

III. Summary in One Sentence

Creation established the goal: man is to have God’s image to express Him and God’s dominion to represent Him. God’s dealing with Jacob is the process of realizing that goal: through circumstances and direct dealings, God transformed the natural Jacob into Israel, making God’s image and authority a reality in man.

 

*Please refer to the 2026 Autumn Training for Elders and Responsible Brothers, General Topic: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Part Seven: Chosen, Dealt with, Broken (Jacob's Dealing)