06 January 2010 Devotion for Today "In the Image of God" Genesis 1:26-31

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

10:20 AM

 
 

^{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[b] the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."}

^{29 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:26-31)}

 
 

How do we know we are special then? Because we are made in God�s image.

HOW ARE WE LIKE GOD?

 
 

Now, you may be asking, how are we like God?

We could list of several features such as:

 

1. We have a spirit. God is also spirit. Jn 4:23 says "a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.�"

 
 

We relate to God on a spiritual level - spirit to spirit.

 
 

2.We have a free will. We were created with a freedom of choice to determine whether we want to follow God or our own desires. Thus Joshua could rightly say to the people of Israel - Josh 24:14-15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

 
 

3.We have a Created with a moral dimension (Eph 4:24). A conscience which tells us what is right and wrong. We are able to reason what it is that God would have us do.

 
 

Dr Lloyd Jones says: "Man was made intellectually and morally in such a way that there was a kind of integrity about him, nothing false, nothing imperfect, nothing wrong. There was a straightness, and uprightness. There was a truth. His nature was one; it was balanced; it was exactly what it was meant to be: moral and intellectual integrity, expressing themselves in "righteousness and true holiness."

� We have a rational nature. That means that we are able to reason or to think intelligibly about things. Yes my dog can do this to a limited extent, but she is no where near on the same level as a man or a women. We are able to analyze situations and meditate on God and his goodness.

 
 

1. Lastly, we were created to have dominion over nature. Now many people jump on this phrase and see that the idea that we are to rule over and subdue the earth means that we can do whatever we want. But God is not giving us a license for recklessness. The idea of rule and subdue means to organize and care for. In fact, in Genesis 2 God tells Adam to tend the Garden that He has given men. This is more the idea of being a faithful steward than it is to dominate. We are to be more like gardeners than we are miners.
   

    
    

   Think of what it would mean if someone told you to rule over the fields of their farmland and subdue it? Where I live in eastern North Carolina, we have vast expanses of farmland. Would that mean you could do whatever you wanted on that land? Would you drive around with your friends in your pick up trucks and make all kinds of neat tracks in the mud? Would you put your garbage out in the fields? No. The person who told you to rule and subdue the farmland was really telling you to make it productive. They meant you should cultivate the ground and subdue the weeds and bugs. Having dominion over the earth does not give us license as much as it gives us a responsibility. God has entrusted us with the task of taking care of His creation. It is a job that he hasn't given to any other creature I mean when was the last time you saw a lion pulling out weeks. We are like God because we have been given responsibility. We have not done a very good job.
   

    
    

   Note that each of these four items are not dependant upon you as an individual, your training, your success or other. They are intrinsic to being human. You have a spirit, a conscience, an intellect and a responsibility because you are a human and no other reason. Note also that they are in no way diminished because of the fall. The fact that we have rebelled against God. We are still, regardless of our spiritual condition, images of God.
   

    
    

   A picture of this relationship is seen in Jesus relationship with his Father. Because he was a man, Jesus too was created in the image of God. He shared the attributes that we too share, but his relationship with God was perfect. You want to see what God wants from our relationship- look at the relationship Jesus had with his Father : total commitment, total dependence, total obedience and regular communication. All this worked itself out in terms of a love for his fellow man. This is what we need to model in our relationship with God.
   

    
    

   Prayer: Help me see, dear God, myself as created in Your image, and the responsibility that I have in this relationship and to develop every aspect of this relationship that I may represent You as totally and as completely as I can. In Jesus Name, Amen.
   

    
    

   Have a blessed day!