Day 1 – God and Man
Gen 1:27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
We are not here by a mistake. We are not simply the result of time plus energy plus chance. Before there was anything, there was God.
God desired a creation that could have fellowship with Him – a race of beings that shared many of His characteristics so they could relate to Him on a number of levels. He wanted to share with mankind the true companionship, love and fellowship that the triune God had always known. So God created mankind. As it says in Gen 1:27, we are “created in His image” – like Him.
Most of us have heard this before – “created in His image” – but what does it really mean? When comparing ourselves to God today, we’re probably more aware of our differences than our similarities. But when God envisioned us, He saw us relating closely with Him, understanding Him, loving Him and pleasing Him. And this is how we were created in the beginning.
He created us as 3-part beings: spirit, soul and body (1Thess 5:23). The spirit is the essential part of us – our true selves. This is the part that connects directly with God, who is also spirit. The soul consists of the mind (reason, memory, and imagination), emotions and our will. The body is the physical part of our being. These 3 parts are distinct, but intricately connected.
We read in the Book of Genesis that God created Adam and Eve with purpose: they were to fellowship with God, fellowship with one another, fill the earth with offspring and take good care of the earth that had been entrusted to them. And this is exactly what happened. They were like God in that they were active, spiritual and rational beings that were sinless, pure and holy. Their fellowship was perfect, unmarred by selfishness or jealousy. They loved God and each other, and they lived in a state of unspoiled harmony.
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good (Gen 1:31).
Consider:
If we believe we are here by chance, what room does that leave for God in our thinking?
What would it be like to have a perfect relationship with someone?