The Likeness of God

"These are the family records of the descendants of Adam. On the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God; He created them male and female. When they were created, He blessed them and called them man.  Adam was 130 years old when he fathered a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. Adam lived 800 years after the birth of Seth, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Adam's life lasted 930 years; then he died.  Seth was 105 years old when he fathered Enosh. Seth lived 807 years after the birth of Enosh, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Seth's life lasted 912 years; then he died." [Gen 5:1-8 HCSB]

Observations:

• Who did what? 
• God made man in his likeness; He created them male and female. 
• God blessed male and female and called them man. 
• Adam had a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth when he was 130 years old. 
• Adam lived to be 930 years old. 
• Adam fathered other sons and daughters. 
• Adam died. 
• Seth fathered Enosh at 105 years old. 
• Seth fathered other sons and daughters
• Seth lived to be 912. 
• Seth died. 
• What is the long term impact of the choices that were made? 
• God created humans in His likeness... that means all human beings from all of history have been created in the likeness of God.
• Adam and Seth both became fathers multiple times over. This helped populate the earth. 

Applications:

• Today, are humans still made in the likeness of God? Absolutely. But I don't necessarily think that we always treat each other this way. A lot of times what I see rising up in our hearts is a we/they dichotomy, where people who are similar to us in some way make up the "we." and people who are different than us in some way make up the "they." Historically the similarities have been things like race, religion, or culture. Today, in America they seem to be more subtle things such as values, beliefs, and political views. When we separate ourselves this way, there is a definite tendency to demonize and exaggerate the weaknesses of the other.. which often really doesn't help anyone, and definitely, I believe, isn't a practice we should get in the habit of if we really believe that every human being is/ has been made in the likeness of God. 
• Today, do we live as long, have as many children, or populate the earth at the same rate? Nope. Today we have our children in our 20s and 30s (mostly). If we waited til we were one hundred most of us would never have children. But I want to think about what this would be like... if I could wait until I was 100 something to have children... how much more wisdom I would have as a parent! But, that also brings up the interesting observation, that it wasn't necessarily the women who were having children at these ages, it was the men. I like to assume that their wives were similar ages to them, but I really have no way of knowing. Anyways, I always find these differences a fascinating line of thought to travel down... maybe that's the history nerd in me :)
• What do you think? What does it mean to treat other human beings like they were created in God's likeness? 

Humbly Yours, 

Jordan