Stephen Jones — Anthropology
b4 — The Laws of the Second Coming
Imago Dei Restoration and the Corporate Son
Jones defines the ultimate purpose of creation as bringing forth a corporate Son in God’s image:
“God’s ultimate purpose in creation is to bring forth a corporate Son in His own image. This was the real meaning of His command in Genesis 1:28, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it.’ If Adam had brought forth children before his fall into sin, he would have brought forth children in the image of God, after whose image he himself had been created. Instead, however, all of his children were born after he had lost the glorified body. Thus, all of his descendants have been born mortal, carnal, and imperfect, lacking the original glory of God that once permeated Adam’s being.” (Ch. 14)
The creation mandate (Gen. 1:28) was intended as multiplication of the imago Dei; the fall interrupts this purpose. Its restoration is the central soteriological motif of the book.
Christ as the exact representation of God’s nature (Heb. 1:3):
“Hebrews 1:3 tells us of Christ’s nature and character: ‘And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation [Greek: charakter, ‘imprint’] of His nature [Greek: hupostasis, ‘substance’], and upholds all things by the word of His power.‘” (Ch. 14)
Jones positions Christ as the normative image toward which humanity is restored.
First and Second Adam
The restoration trajectory of humanity is formulated as a journey from the first to the second Adam’s image:
“It is not a journey from earth to heaven, but a journey on the earth from death to life, from corruption to incorruption, from the image of the first Adam to the image of the Second Adam. This is the great secret of creation that has been largely hidden from the world and even from most believers throughout history.” (Ch. 14)
Restoration is an earthly, progressive movement — not a heavenly escape. Jones explicitly contrasts the two Adam figures as the starting point and endpoint of the human journey.
Mortality as Adam’s inheritance (Rom. 5:12):
“As we will show, leprosy depicts our mortality, which we inherited from Adam, even as Paul says in Romans 5:12, ‘and so death spread to all men.‘” (Ch. 10)
Restitution of Adam’s Glory: The Three Feast Days
Jones connects the three Israelite feast days directly to the pattern of anthropological restitution:
“The feast days of Israel were designed to reveal to us the pattern of restoration to the glory, which Adam enjoyed before sin entered the world. The feast days are not an end in themselves, but a means to an end. The feast days are a progressive pattern, a journey from the depths of bondage and sin to the heights of the glorious liberty of the children of God and the glorified body.” (Ch. 14)
The three phases correspond to progressive stages of human restoration:
“Jesus’ work on the Cross did not complete the Pentecostal work, nor did it complete the Feast of Tabernacles work. Instead, His Passover work on the Cross made possible the fulfillment of the other feasts.” (Ch. 10)
The Feast of Tabernacles as the feast of bodily redemption (Rom. 8:23):
“In this chapter our purpose is to show that the Feast of Tabernacles is the appointed time for the bodily change — what Paul calls ‘the redemption of our body’ (Romans 8:23).” (Ch. 7)
“The apostle also says in 1 Corinthians 15:51, ‘Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.’ In other words, we will exchange one body for another.” (Ch. 7)
Sonship as the Calling of Humanity
Jones establishes sonship as the central purpose of Christ’s second coming:
“Joseph was a fruitful son, and Sonship is the purpose of His second coming. He is bringing many sons into glory (Heb. 2:10).” (Ch. 14)
The formation of Christ in the believer (Gal. 4:19):
“The Apostle Paul established the Galatian church. He pictured himself as the midwife, or the primary caregiver during the church’s pregnancy. And so he says in Galatians 4:19, ‘My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you.’ The Christians in Galatia had accepted the truth of Jesus Christ and had, in essence, been married to God. The Holy Spirit had come upon them to engender Christ in them, and Christ was now being ‘formed’ in them as they matured in Christ.” (Ch. 14)
The Manchild as the fulfillment of sonship:
“This is the birthing of the Manchild, who is ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (Col. 1:27). It is the moment when we are made fully in His image and likeness.” (Ch. 10)
The mystery (Col. 1:26-27):
“that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Ch. 14)
Firstfruits Concept
The overcomers as firstfruits of the cosmic restoration:
“This will begin, of course, with the overcomers, whose corruptible bodies (Jericho) and mortal natures will be ‘conquered’ by Jesus Christ and fully ruled by divine law. These are the firstfruits of the creation, for whose manifestation all creation groans. Even as Jericho was the firstfruits of Canaan in its conquest, so also is the conquest of the overcomer body the firstfruits of the world.” (Ch. 7)
Presentation of the firstborn on the eighth day (Lev. 9; Ex. 22:30):
“This event comes on the eighth day, according to the law of presenting the firstborn to God, as we have seen in our study of Exodus 22:30.” (Ch. 8)
The first resurrection and the priesthood (Rev. 20:6):
“Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” (Ch. 8)
The Fall: Inheritance of Mortality and the Adamic Nature
Adam’s sin as debt — loss of the living body:
“In the redemption of our body, the LIVING body that we lost through Adam’s sin (debt) will be redeemed. This is our true inheritance, our true Promised Land on the highest level of meaning.” (Ch. 7)
The Adamic nature as captivity — personal and systemic:
“We are certainly in a captivity to the old Adamic nature; however, in addition to this, we must hasten to say that this Adamic nature has manifested itself in the world political, religious, social, and economic systems throughout history.” (Ch. 7)
Jones distinguishes a personal (internal) and cultural (external) dimension of the inherited Adamic nature. The fall carries both individual and systemic-collective consequences.
The dominion mandate of Adam (Gen. 1:28) and its transmission:
“The dominion mandate had been given to Adam in Genesis 1:28, and this right to have dominion over the earth had been passed down to Seth, Methuselah, Noah, Shem, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David, and finally to Jesus.” (Ch. 7)
Restoration of Humanity: The Two Works of Christ
Jones develops a two-phase restoration schema based on Lev. 14 (leper cleansing) and Lev. 16 (Day of Atonement):
“The first bird was killed to provide a blood covering for the second bird. The first bird’s death imputed life to us, while the second bird, when released into the ‘field’ (i.e., the world), will infuse us with inherent immortality and life. As for the two goats in the ritual of the Day of Atonement, these deal not with the death question, but rather the sin question. Again, there are two stages by which our sin is eradicated. The first goat covered our sin; the second will remove it.” (Ch. 10)
- Phase 1 (imputed): Passover — justification, blood covering
- Phase 2 (inherent): Feast of Tabernacles — inherent immortality, complete removal of sin
Old covenant vs. new covenant and moral responsibility:
“The old covenant attempts to reform Adam by teaching him how to behave righteously. The new covenant was given because of the failure of the old covenant to restore Adam to the place of righteousness. In the new covenant, God makes demands upon Himself to do what Adam could not do. Through this new covenant, He brings forth Christ in us.” (Ch. 14)
Bodily Metamorphosis: The Seed and Transformation
Jones employs the caterpillar-butterfly metaphor for bodily transformation:
“This holy Seed is in the womb of your soul, growing and maturing until the time of full birth. This Seed is, in fact, the real you. That Seed is what you are becoming. It is not of your Adamic flesh. This is best illustrated by observing the butterfly. It begins as a worm, or caterpillar, which wraps its entire body within a cocoon, except for its head, which soon dies and falls away. Yet by the process called ‘metamorphosis,’ it is transformed into a living butterfly. In the same way, we have a living Seed within us that makes it possible for us to be transformed into a new creature. When this metamorphosis is complete, and the old Adamic head falls away, we will be birthed as a new creation in the image of Christ.” (Ch. 14)
The soul as womb of the Seed; the Seed as the true subject of the human person — not the Adamic flesh. Restoration is metamorphosis, not reformation.
Baptism as public testimony of already-accomplished work:
“Baptism itself does not justify the sinner or make mortals immortal. Baptism is a public testimony of a work that God has already done.” (Ch. 10)
Immortality and the Firstfruits of the Resurrection
“There is an intensely personal, individual picture that the Scriptures paint for us to show us how to mature and progress to the incorruption and immortality of our ‘Promised Land.’ The picture shows us three ages, the Passover Age that is long past, the Pentecost Age that has now ended, and the Tabernacles Age that is now ready to begin.” (Ch. 14)
“It is also possible that this may prophetically imply that some will be born at Tabernacles in the first resurrection, while the majority will be birthed later at the general resurrection of the dead.” (Ch. 14)