Day Six - Kinds and Images

Hi! I'm back after a long hiatus and I hope to be posting far more frequently from now on. Now, to the Scripture.

Gen 1:24-31 (ESV) And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds--livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then 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 livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Here we have the most unique of all the creation days, for here God creates all types of land animal life but doesn't stop there. Instead, the Creator God embarks on the creation of the pinnacle of His creatures, man himself. It just goes to show that God's power was not limited to one type of miracle in a day! Not only that, but God also shows that He creates the land animals and human beings in a different manner as well. Note that these animals were created "according to their kinds." However, man is made "in our image, after our likeness." Two things stand out here. First, man is not created in the same way that all other life was created; man is fashioned in the image and likeness of his Creator! Second, the word our is being applied to God. What are we to make of that? God is clearly a single entity. The entire focus of the Old and New Testament teaches that God is ONE and not many. Yet the singular God is referred to in plural terms here. This is one of the ways we can see that the nature of God is the nature of a being, a being that exists as three-in-one.

What an incredible privilege it is to understand that the human race was originally designed to exist in the image and likeness of the Holy Creator of the Universe! Contemplate that the next time you feel downgraded and depressed by circumstances or because of the judgments of others. The very image of God exists within each person, and it can become fully realized when you become one with Christ. As we will see, our original parents failed to grasp the grace of God and made the choice of sin. Jesus came to reverse that curse upon mankind through His sacrifice on the cross. If we take hold of the offer of grace made possible by the cross, we can begin to truly understand the original design and purpose of God who created us in His image and likeness. I pray that you know that in your heart today.

Your joyfully loquacious believer,
LEE