God is good, infinite in goodness, mercifulness, and love. Because man is the image and likeness of God, he is identified by these qualities.
Christ Jesus instantly released the palsied man from the sin that was responsible for the physical depiction. What reassurance and comfort came with the words the Master spoke to him, "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee" (Matt. 9: 2)! When the scribes questioned his words, the Master replied: "Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house." And the man obeyed and went to his house.
Whence came this power to forgive sin, a power which the Master manifested? It was his Christly reflection of God's infinite goodness that exposed the nothingness of evil in whatever form it appeared. Christliness comes with the absolute acknowledgment that God is All and that man is His image and likeness, His individual manifestation.
