God said...

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  Genesis 1:26

What does it mean to be made in the "IMAGE OF GOD?" Scripture gives us many clues as to the characteristics of God. He is Holy. He is love. And, in fact, He expects us to be the same. However, for the purpose of this lesson on the creation of man what does scripture tell us?

The first clue is...God has creative power. "Let us make..."
The second clue is...God is plural. “...in Our image".
The third clue is...God is in charge...and let them rule..."

So, God created us with creative minds...far beyond the brains of all the other living things He created.  This a serious thing. When God created the world as we know it, He created it with design and purpose. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans that all of creation reflects the Divine nature of God. I imagine He expects our creative powers to reflect His divinity as well. It means we cannot squander this creativity on selfish promotion or venal aspirations.

God is also plural. We understand, from the whole of scripture, that God is composed of three persons in one. He is a Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Or, Mind, Body and Temperament. In His likeness, we see that we have been created with the same wholeness and complexity. Our Mind is the eternal, never ending part of our being. Our Body is the part of our being that gives us physical substance while we dwell on earth...and is mortal. Our spirit is residence to our emotions, intellect and intentions. In the sense that our spirit is reflected through our minds and our bodies...it is eternal as well.

Finally, God has sovereignty over all of creation. In his likeness, He has given us sovereignty as well, over all the other living things in creation. God said. "rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you".

What all this tells us is simple. We were created with purpose and destiny. Our purpose is to reflect the very nature of God while our destiny is to rule over everything He created. It doesn't leave a lot of idle time and it requires focus. We should examine ourselves every evening before we go to sleep and ask one simple question: "Do I look like God?"

Live boldly out there today...

 kkg