Col 1:15 ASV - who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;

 The word Church is not a building made of wood , hay and stubble brick and mortar . It is not physical it is spiritual .   Gal 2:20 ASV - I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.


1Cr 6:15 ASV - Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? shall I then take away the members of Christ, and make them members of a harlot? God forbid.
1Cr 6:18 ASV - Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
1Cr 6:19 ASV - Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own;
1Cr 6:20 ASV - for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body.


 Jhn 2:14 ASV - And he found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Jhn 2:15 ASV - and he made a scourge of cords, and cast all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers' money, and overthrew their tables;
Jhn 2:16 ASV - and to them that sold the doves he said, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise.
Jhn 2:17 ASV - His disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for thy house shall eat me up.
Jhn 2:18 ASV - The Jews therefore answered and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
Jhn 2:19 ASV - Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
Jhn 2:20 ASV - The Jews therefore said, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days?
Jhn 2:21 ASV - But he spake of the temple of his body.
The Jews loved their structure it also took forty six years to build.  And their God was in the building  their witness is if you want to see God there he is we have manifest him in our building . Look at all religions and see they manifest their God in their earthly structures and the pomp and the pageantry.
Granted A body of believers needs a place to gather and fellowship in their savior not forsaking the fellowship of the brethren.  Now the church is also what they call this building and the people are called Christians .  With all the emphasis on the structure and the building than the Church.  When it says Gods called out ones, what are they called out of where are they called to go.       1Jo 2:14 ASV - I have written unto you, fathers, because ye know him who is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the evil one.
1Jo 2:15 ASV - Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jo 2:16 ASV - For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jo 2:17 ASV - And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.


     The word Church  Greek: ekklesia

Assembly:
from ek, "out of," and klesis, "a calling" (kaleo, "to call"), was used among the Greeks of a body of citizens "gathered" to discuss the affairs of State, Act 19:39. In the Sept. it is used to designate the "gathering" of Israel, summoned for any definite purpose, or a "gathering" regarded as representative of the whole nation. In Act 7:38 it is used of Israel; in 19:32, 41, of a riotous mob. It has two applications to companies of Christians,

(a) to the whole company of the redeemed throughout the present era, the company of which Christ said, "I will build My Church," Mat 16:18, and which is further described as "the Church which is His Body," Eph 1:22; 5:23,

Greek: christianos

Christian:
"Christian," a word formed after the Roman style, signifying an adherent of Jesus, was first applied to such by the Gentiles and is found in Act 11:26; 26:28; 1Pe 4:16.

Though the word rendered "were called" in Act 11:26 (see under CALL) might be used of a name adopted by oneself or given by others, the "Christians" do not seem to have adopted it for themselves in the times of the Apostles. In 1Pe 4:16, the Apostle is speaking from the point of view of the persecutor; cp. "as a thief," "as a murderer." Nor is it likely that the appellation was given by Jews. As applied by Gentiles there was no doubt an implication of scorn, as in Agrippa's statement in Act 26:28. Tacitus, writing near the end of the first century, says, "The vulgar call them Christians. The author or origin of this denomination, Christus, had, in the reign of Tiberius, been executed by the Procurator, Pontius Pilate"    Col 2:6 ASV - As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,

The Apostles call Gods true people Saints and what is the criteria for being a saint. Can a believer be a Saint . Some people set themselves up as the last word in truth and they have all the answers .   But  Gods word is the answer to all our questions.   There is only one gospel

Greek: hagios

Holiness, Holy, Holily:
 This sainthood is not an attainment, it is a state into which God in grace calls men; yet believers are called to sanctify themselves (consistently with their calling, 2Ti 1:9), cleansing themselves from all defilement, forsaking sin, living a "holy" manner of life, 1Pe 1:15; 2Pe 3:11, and experiencing fellowship with God in His holiness. The saints are thus figuratively spoken of as "a holy temple," 1Cr 3:17 (a local church); Eph 2:21 (the whole Church), cp. Eph 5:27; "a holy priesthood," 1Pe 2:5; "a holy nation," 1Pe 2:9.

"It is evident that hagios and its kindred words... express something more and higher than hieros, sacred, outwardly associated with God;... something more than semnos, worthy, honorable; something more than hagnos, pure, free from defilement. Hagios is... more comprehensive... It is characteristically godlikness"    The word says God made man in his own image.  And  not his own flesh People always see God having a body like theirs . The bible says God is a spirit he has no body Jesus was his body on this earth . So God wanted to revel to you that if you see Jesus you see him.  It says he was the image of the invisible God.         Rom 8:29 ASV - For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren:
1Cr 15:49 ASV - And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Col 1:12 ASV - giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;
Col 1:13 ASV - who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love;
Col 1:14 ASV - in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins:
Col 1:15 ASV - who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
Col 1:16 ASV - for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him;
Col 1:17 ASV - and he is before all things, and in him all things consist.
Col 1:18 ASV - And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19 ASV - For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell;
Col 1:20 ASV - and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens.

Image   Greek: eikon

Image:   a) of man as he was created as being a visible representation of God, 1Cr 11:7, a being corresponding to the original; the condition of man as a fallen creature has not entirely effaced the "image;" he is still suitable to bear responsibility, he still has Godlike qualities, such as love of goodness and beauty, none of which are found in a mere animal; in the Fall man ceased to be a perfect vehicle for the representation of God; God's grace in Christ will yet accomplish more than what Adam lost;

(b) of regenerate persons, in being moral representations of what God is, Col 3:10; cp. Eph 4:24;

(c) of believers, in their glorified state, not merely as resembling Christ but representing Him, Rom 8:29; 1Cr 15:49; here the perfection is the work of Divine grace; believers are yet to represent, not something like Him, but what He is in Himself, both in His spiritual body and in His moral character;

(d) of Christ in relation to God, 2Cr 4:4, "the image of God," i.e., essentially and absolutely the perfect expression and representation of the Archetype, God the Father; in Col 1:15, "the image of the invisible God" gives the additional thought suggested by the word "invisible," that Christ is the visible representation and manifestation of God to created beings; the likeness expressed in this manifestation is involved in the essential relations in the Godhead, and is therefore unique and perfect; "he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father," Jhn 14:9. "The epithet "invisible."... must not be confined to the apprehension of the bodily senses, but will include the cognizance of the inward eye also"

2Cr 4:4 ASV - in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them.


Rom 3:4 ASV - God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment.

So we must see here that God created you to be Holy to be a Saint to  manifest all the attributes of Christ .  And created man in his own image , the image of hoilness and perfection . Jesus called it the way the truth and the life. 
Jhn 6:63 ASV - It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.
Rom 8:6 ASV - For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace:
Rom 8:10 ASV - And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness.
The body of this flesh is a vehicle to get us from point A to point B ,  The body is a creation of God and it is a master piece wonderfully made . Why did God make us this way ? He is the potter and we are the clay.     Rom 9:20 ASV - Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus?
Rom 9:21 ASV - Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?
Rom 9:22 ASV - What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction:
Rom 9:23 ASV - and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory,
Rom 9:24 ASV - even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles?

The word says Adam was form in the image of God so for a moment let us look at the spiritual side of this word .  God created Adam to have all the power and strength. The ability to be a super human with Gods understanding . He was not a God he was a creation of God with all the attributes of God were in him.    Adam it says as the animals God created pass by he named all the animals . He was not born as a baby as we were to grow up unto God, he was created in the Image of God.  And every one born after Adam partook of his sin , he disobeyed Gods commands and lost his standing with God. Now I am seeing something much bigger in Gods plan here ,  but the beginning and the end are all planned by our great God.   1Cr 15:45 ASV - So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
1Ti 2:13 ASV - For Adam was first formed, then Eve;  Adam brought the curse of sin by disobedience  to Gods command and every one born after Adam was under that same curse.  So we see here that the body of flesh was not the image of God , it is the soul of a man that is the image of God .   The word tells us to not judge our brothers or speak evil of them for they also are after the image of God created after the likeness of God. 
Gen 1:26 ASV - And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27 ASV - And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Gen 2:7 ASV - And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and Breathed Into His Nostrils The Breath Of Life; and man became a living soul.         The breath here is the Spirit and Life is the Zoe of God,    Gods spirit.

       Life      Greek: zoopoieo

Life, Living, Lifetime, Life-Giving:
"to make alive, cause to live, quicken" (from zoe, "life," and poieo, "to make"), is used as follows:

"(a) of God as the bestower of every kind of life in the universe, 1Ti 6:13 (zoogoneo, to preserve alive, is the alternative reading adopted by most editors; see LIVE, No. 6), and, particularly, of resurrection life, Jhn 5:21; Rom 4:17;

(b) of Christ, who also is the bestower of resurrection life, Jhn 5:21 (2nd part); 1Cr 15:45; cp. 1Cr 15:22;

(c) of the resurrection of Christ in "the body of His glory," 1Pe 3:18;

(d) of the power of reproduction inherent in seed, which presents a certain analogy with resurrection, 1Cr 15:36;

(e) of the 'changing,' or 'fashioning anew,' of the bodies of the living, which corresponds with, and takes place at the same time as, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, Rom 8:11;

(f) of the impartation of spiritual life, and the communication of spiritual sustenance generally, Jhn 6:63; 2Cr 3:6; Gal 3:21." *
2Cr 5:14 ASV - For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died;
2Cr 5:15 ASV - and he died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again.
2Cr 5:16 ASV - Wherefore we henceforth know no man after the flesh: even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more.
2Cr 5:17 ASV - Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new.
So in the end God will not judge our flesh , he will Judge our souls and our souls were made in the image of God.    Gods life was breathed into Adams nostrils.
1Cr 15:50 ASV - Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.   This flesh of ours will die some day its appointed unto us ,     God is not come back for our flesh he is coming for the fruit of Christ in you and just as Jesus resurrected so to will those that believe in his name.

Mat 10:28 ASV - And be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

          Soul  Greek: psuche      Heart, Heartily:
the soul, or life, is rendered "heart" in Eph 6:6 (marg., "soul"), "doing the will of God from the heart." In Col 3:23, a form of the word psuche preceded by ek, from, lit., "from (the) soul," is rendered "heartily."

Hbr 2:14 ASV - Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

 Rom 8:29    For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren: