Created In His Image

The Book of Genesis Day 9 Ge 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." The first thing we see in this passage are the pronouns “Us” and “Our.” It leads me to ask, “who is God talking to here?” The obvious answer is the Son and the Holy Spirit….the Trinity. But rather than zero in on the question of “who was God talking to,” let’s zoom in on what God was talking about. He was talking about creating man in His image, according to His likeness. Does that mean that we will all have the physical characteristics of God? Not! Jesus informs us in Jn 4:24, that God is spirit, and spirits have no physical characteristics, therefore the image or likeness of God must be a spiritual likeness. This ”likeness,” is one of the things that separates us from the rest of creation. The word “image,” in the Hebrew means “a resemblance or representative figure.” So, our “spiritual” (read that unseen qualities) were meant to resemble those of God! Things like compassion, empathy, generosity, honor, humility, integrity, kindness, love, and free will to name a few. In the beginning, these qualities were unstained by sin! So God placed man, (who was to be a “representative figure,” over His creation, and things were humming along fine, until the exercise of free will allowed sin into the mix. These spiritual qualities became flawed, and then acted out in the flesh brought about what was spoken of in Jas 1:15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. It’s been a big mess ever since! But God promised Adam and his descendants that one day He would send a Redeemer to mankind. Someone who would be in the business of restoring man to His original sinless condition. That Day will come perfectly when Jesus returns. In the meantime, through baptism , the indwelling Holy Spirit, and enduring faith, we have a promise of forgiveness of our sins, and a renewed determination to serve as stewards of God’s creation in accordance with His spiritual likeness. Jesus is our Savior and Lord, and our trust in His lordship is evidences as we respond obediently to His Word, and when we fall short, (and we will) He is always there forgiving and urging us to try again! Reflect: Have you ever been told you look like someone else? What unseen qualities have you inherited from your parents? What unseen qualities have you inherited from God? Ga 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Pray: Father, forgive me for all the times I represent you in a flawed way. Help me to daily yield to Your Holy Spirit by responding obediently to Your Word, that I may more accurately reflect You in my world today. Holy Dopplegangers