"Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth." So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female. God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth." God also said, "Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth -- everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day." [Gen 1:26-31 HCSB]
What did God say?
What did God say?
- "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth."
- "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth."
- "Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth -- everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food."
And we've got the first mention of food in the Bible! Amazingly, and I do mean amazingly, it's not In'n'out. *sigh* No, but really, there is so much in these five short verses. I couldn't just add them on to the last post. There is so much in these three commands. So much. First, God establishes that He made man in His image, according to his likeness. The first thing God does for man is establish his value and his worth. We have been made in the image of God, according to God's likeness. What does this mean? If I put these sentences in my own words, I might say: we were designed to be small replicas of God. THAT IS CRAZY! No other creature no matter how colorful, creative, or amazing was designed in God's image. Only us. Everything about us was designed to reflect part of God's nature. God placed such a high value on us! We are so super valuable to him! It is so easy for me to forget my value and my worth-- and of course that makes it easy to forget the value and worth of others. I think this has become one of my defining questions when it comes to how I treat others: Am I treating them like they were created in God's image?
Then, God establishes what humans will be doing. They will be rulers. We were created rule. We were created to be powerful. They say that absolute power corrupts absolutely (I say this, I'm a history teacher), but God gave humans absolute power over creation here. Was it the power that corrupted him? I think there is a deep fear of power that exists in the church because we fear our own potential to use power unwisely. We fear our own potential to abuse power. And to some extent, it seems like a healthy fear. But to some extent, it is also an excuse for laziness. Because learning to use power altruistically is hard. Learning to use power the way God seems to have intended us to use it is not easy. And yes, in the learning process, we may make mistakes, and that is scary. That's also normal. I maintain that if it is one of the primary things that God intended us to do (be rulers, have power, use it wisely), it must be a lesson worth learning. It must be a path worth pursuing. Is it possible to learn humility for the times when we make mistakes and to apologize and keep learning? Don't powerful people know how to make powerful apologies?
Like I said... there is SO MUCH here... I only got through the first thing God said! What do you think I missed?
Then, God establishes what humans will be doing. They will be rulers. We were created rule. We were created to be powerful. They say that absolute power corrupts absolutely (I say this, I'm a history teacher), but God gave humans absolute power over creation here. Was it the power that corrupted him? I think there is a deep fear of power that exists in the church because we fear our own potential to use power unwisely. We fear our own potential to abuse power. And to some extent, it seems like a healthy fear. But to some extent, it is also an excuse for laziness. Because learning to use power altruistically is hard. Learning to use power the way God seems to have intended us to use it is not easy. And yes, in the learning process, we may make mistakes, and that is scary. That's also normal. I maintain that if it is one of the primary things that God intended us to do (be rulers, have power, use it wisely), it must be a lesson worth learning. It must be a path worth pursuing. Is it possible to learn humility for the times when we make mistakes and to apologize and keep learning? Don't powerful people know how to make powerful apologies?
Like I said... there is SO MUCH here... I only got through the first thing God said! What do you think I missed?
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