It’s In The Garden (Part 1)

Genesis 1:27 tells us that “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” The Message Bible says it this way: “God created human beings; He created them godlike, reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female.” All of what we are and what we are capable of doing as human beings came from the very mind of God. We did not become human through a series of natural events or after being something else in some earlier life form.

Genesis 2:7 says that “The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” God came up with the idea for a perfect man in His mind, then made an exact physical likeness of those thoughts, and then finished by giving life to His creation. Like a potter with a wheel and a lump of clay, He formed Man and made him a living human being. It was one action, at onetime, and finished in the same day.

So, what does it mean to be “made in the image of God?” Well, think about how an artist paints a picture or writes a piece of music “from scratch.” Of course God’s ability to make or create things is far better than ours, but even a human artist can’t avoid having his character (the way he acts and thinks) show through in the things he creates.

Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony tells us something about what Beethoven was like, and da Vinci’s painting of The Last Supper tells us something about what da Vinci was like. After listening to different pieces of Beethoven’ s music or looking at many of da Vinci’s paintings, we would be able to quickly identify their works without first being told who created them.

Well, because God made all of His creations, including Adam, “from scratch” and they were perfect as He made them, those creations tell us a lot about God. The same goes for God’sWord that is alive (Heb. 4:12), perfect (Psalm 19:7), and true (John 17:17). When God made something, He “put Himself” (all of what He is like) into it, and so we can look at God’s creation or read or hear something from His Word and say for sure, “Hey, that’s God!” Why? Because perfection was a part of us at one time and we are able to recognize it, even though we ourselves are no longer perfect.

God’s Word may make us uncomfortable because something that is perfect comes face to face with something that is not perfect. But, if we will open our hearts in faith, His Word will reach into the depth of our souls and tell us, “This is perfect truth, because this is God”