In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and on day six of Creation Week in Genesis 2 verse 7, It says “The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” The word used for formed commonly referred to the work of a potter In 127 it says, So God created man in his own image.
In the image of God, he created Him, male and female, He created them. Of that passage, Jonathan Sarfati in the Genesis account says, “This seems like a strange thing to say since God is invisible. But it’s vital to understand since this is the most important distinction between man and animals.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God, He created him. Theologian James McEwan says “the corollary of this is that God can have a closer relationship with humans,
than with animals. To put it another way, if God was to appear on Earth, it would be inconceivable for him to appear as an animal, but perfectly appropriate for him to appear in human “.
So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, He created Him male and female. He created them. The Hebrew word for image and the Hebrew word for likeness refers to something that is similar to but not identical to the thing it represents or is an image of. So whereas we share Gods attribute such as reason, love, will, discernment, morality, language, we are not identical in that we are creatures created. If anyone has any doubt that we were created by God as humans,
Get back to reading the Genesis account as the reliable historical document that it is. The Bible really is true and science supports it. Receive other Worldly theories with a healthy dollop of skepticism. Believe God. Some scientists have tried to eradicate God from the history of this world.
Bear in mind that science is a vehicle and the journey is certainly marvellous in the right hands and science, in and of itself does not contain true truth, but needs by nature to be self-correcting. For truth to be arrived at. Which means if you think about it, thats any one time, it is wrong. For some interesting science resources on creation, look at creation.com
So God was pleased to create the world and everything in it.
Adam and Eve were made by the hand of God to have both life and moral discernment and to enjoy a loving and close relationship with God. But after being persuaded that God didn’t really matter that much, they decided to go the route of independence from God.
This led to restrictions on mankind known as the curse, which included death and a restricted lifespan for one. They felt shame for the first time and wanted to hide from the very God who formed them. Our nature contains the same urge to hide from God, to deny him, to live and do without him. Fast forward through the Old Testament to where BC meets AD and
God sends His Son Jesus, the image and fullness of God in human form. John, 1 verse 4 says “in Him, was life, and that life was, the light of man” and in Matthew 3 17, God says, “This is my son whom I love with him I am well pleased” God was pleased to send his son Jesus. And His is a truly amazing history.
In brief, He was born of a virgin, lived to serve God, was betrayed and hated by the way, was killed, crucified, died., and was buried in a tomb. After three days, he rose from the dead and appeared to many before ascending into heaven.
The Gospels and Acts give us this incredible history from four different perspectives. If we have any doubt about the resurrection, it’s worth remembering that the disciples didn’t have a clue that he would rise from the dead. They thought he was a Messiah who would establish an earthly kingdom by defeating the occupying Roman forces.
Seriously, rising from the dead. Jesus took them all by surprise.
But God can do anything. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 21 says “For since death came through a man the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man for as in Adam all die, so in Christ, all will be made alive.”
Mankind was built and shaped by the master potter independence from the potter was mankind’s downfall. Jesus was shaped, and built, crushed by man and rebuilt by the master potter. We too live in a crushed state. And we too can be built again by trusting in Jesus. As his death, bridged the gulf between us and God and just like this imperfect model,
We are a work in progress.
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