Weekly Devotional 9:27-21 Genesis 1:26-27
Let Us – In the creation account of Genesis Moses, quoting God, wrote: “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 the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’” The pronoun us denotes plurality giving the concept of more than one God (a plurality of Gods) but such passages as Deuteronomy 6:4; 1st Corinthians 8:4; Galatians 3:20 and 1st Timothy 2:5 clearly show that God is God alone. There is no other God besides Him. So we must understand the pronoun us as meaning something else and this is where the concept of God being one God but in more than one person comes from. The Bible clearly teaches that the Father is God, that Jesus is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God, thus the us of Genesis must be understood to mean that God is a triunity.
The word “Trinity” is not found in Scripture, but the concept is found throughout. It is a term used in an attempt to describe the triune God—three coexistent, co-eternal Persons who are God. In Isaiah 48:16 and 61:1, the Son is speaking while making reference to the Father and the Holy Spirit. Compare Isaiah 61:1 to Luke 4:14-19 to see that it is the Son speaking. Matthew 3:16-17 describes the event of Jesus’ baptism. Seen in this passage is God the Holy Spirit descending on God the Son while God the Father proclaims His pleasure in the Son. Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:14 are examples of three distinct Persons in the Trinity.
Let Us Make Man in Our image, according to Our likeness.
God said in Genesis 1:26-27 “26 let us make man (human beings) 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 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.
Adam and Eve were created in God’s image after His likeness but what does that mean? The last part of verse 26 seems to begin to give an answer “let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
God’s plan for humans included giving them responsibilities on the earth: “And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” As God is sovereign over all of creation, man was to have dominion over all things of earth. God’s likeness in some sense denotes man’s capacity to rule over creation. In another sense God created man to be in relationship with Him. This necessitated certain abilities that were/are not found in all other earthly creations. Humans were given reason, intelligence, speech, moral consciousness, creativity, rationality, and choice.
Adam and Eve were created with those perfections, but what about their offspring? All their offspring have some level of reason, intelligence, speech, moral consciousness, creativity, rationality, and choice but is it the same as that which was found in their parents (Adam and Eve). It seems not for we read in Genesis 5:1-3: “1 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. 3 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.”
We note that it is said that Seth was born in the image of Adam, not created in the image or likeness of God. Why does it say this? Because Adam had become a fallen creation. He disobeyed God and took of the only prohibition given, took of that which was forbidden. In the prohibition God warned that in the very day, if Adam disobeyed, he would die spiritually toward God. We know the story; he took of the fruit and immediately was changed. God’s image and likeness borne by him was altered. Thus the image of God in all his offspring was/is altered.
Genesis 9:6 and James 3:9 does say that man was created in the image of God, but those passages speak of the original creation. No one other than Adam and Eve were/are created. All other humans are born (a reproduction) not created. All humans are born with a nature that has been changed. This is why Jesus said to Nicodemus that a man must be born again to see or enter into heaven (John 3:3; 3:5) And the apostle Paul was led to write that we who are born again are being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ who is God (Romans 8:29). One does not have to be conformed to something that he already is.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the preeminent and perfect image of God: “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God” (Hebrews 1:3, NLT; see also 2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15). As we are being conformed to the image of Christ we are being conformed to that image and likeness of God as were Adam and Eve. Amen!
Praise God, we are being conformed (changed). Who wants to stay as he or she now are? Not I. I find myself not considering or treating others as I should. Often-times I leap before I look. Many times I don’t seek God’s face in a matter but jump headlong into said matter knowing all along that my decision will not be/is not pleasing to God. I take no pleasure being this way but find it hard to be elusive of them. But thanks to the work of God in my life I am being conformed. Some day I will be as God intended. Hopefully this is the same with you. Not that you are struggling with these same things but that you are being changed from the person you now are to the person God would have you to be. If change is not occurring in your life perhaps you are not one of God’s children. It is only His children that God chastises. It is only His children that He is conforming to the image of His son.
Blessings
Steve
Stevelampman.com
Transforming Power; the Work of God on Behalf of Man