Genesis Part 2 - Humanity

Then 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 all the creatures that move along the ground.” Genesis 1:26

God had done it. The Artist put upon His canvas a beautiful background of the starry heavens above, the sky, water, and ground. He filled the earth with amazing, unique, beautiful, and strange creatures to fly through the sky, swim through the waters, and tread upon the earth. But all of that beautiful backdrop was just a setting for his most amazing creation: Humanity.

Unlike all the other creatures on the earth humans would be something special. Not just amazing beings dreamt up from God’s great imagination, but something worthy of God’s companionship, friendship, creatures to walk with God Himself.

The Greek Philosophers defined the difference between humans and other creatures as mankind having a divine spark, a fragment of God. The Hebrew word for the human soul is Neshama. God breathed a part of Himself into us when we were created. Our ability to reason, comprehend, fashion and shape objects, and to become artists like the Great Artist Himself all comes from that divine spark. Though we are not God, we are godlike because He made us like Himself.

If we ever get a full revelation of the fact of our godlikeness we will have a better understanding of much of what follows in the Bible.

So God created mankind in his own image,

    in the image of God he created them;

    male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

So we have this perfect garden set within a perfect creation. Then God makes humans in His image/likeness. Everything is going very well. What happens next has been a question for theologians to debate for centuries. 

God gave humans free will. We have the ability to decide things for ourselves apart from God’s will. He could have made humans into robot-like creatures who simply did everything they were told. But He wanted beings to interact with Him, to be companions who could choose and reason. People who could decide to worship God and be part of His family.

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:8-9

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Genesis 2:15-17

All Adam and Eve had to do was take care of the Garden of Eden and enjoy being with God. The only rule they had to follow was to leave a single tree alone within the Garden of Eden.

I do not believe God was shocked when Adam and Eve ate fruit from the forbidden tree. God was “playing 3D Chess” as it were. He was many moves ahead and had already prepared for what was to come and how He would see humanity ultimately placed into a position worthy of full fellowship with Himself.

God at some distant point in the past had dealt with one rebellion already. A being called Lucifer had turned against God and led astray a number of angels in a revolt against God. (Isaiah 14:12, Revelation 12:3-4). Humanity’s rebellion against God’s law would come early and their redemption would unfold in an elaborate plan that is woven throughout the Bible and culminates in the arrival, life, death, and resurrection of God Himself on earth in the Person of Jesus. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit would work to save humanity from the fate of an ultimate death and separation from the Creator.

Something I want to touch on regarding our likeness to God is how closely it is connected to God’s anger, His great wrath toward sin. There are sins we commit against God personally, acts of rebellion, misusing His Name, and acting in an ungodly manner. But God is equally as angry toward the sins we commit against each other.

When we sin against each other, mistreat or abuse each other in numerous ways, we are hurting a godlike being. God takes such actions personally. Because we are made in God’s image our sins are an insult to God’s holiness and perfection. God did not create us to wallow in filth like hogs, or to maim and kill each other. Such actions bring on God’s wrath and judgment.

 

Jesus came to earth to free us of our tendency to sin. Jesus gave Himself as a sacrifice to re-establish the relationship we had with God in the Garden of Eden. And to move beyond that early stage of humanity to become members of God’s family through a new relationship, a Covenant between ourselves and God made through our acceptance of Jesus as the atonement for our sinfulness.

God the Creator of everything made mankind to join Him in the heavenly realm. It began on earth as an elaborate plan that would unfold over thousands of years. God had this story written in His mind before the first page of Genesis was ever recorded. He knew what He was doing. Our Sovereign God in His kindness and mercy not only made us, He wants us to be with Him in an eternal Holy relationship. God made us to be like Him and with Him forever. No wonder we praise, worship, and love our Lord.

Prayer: dear Lord, in Your amazing grace you created humanity knowing we would be weak and sinful, and yet You chose us to become like You and to dwell with You forever. Thank You for Your Love and Mercy which is beyond our full comprehension. Bless You Lord, we will praise You eternally. Amen.