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The Beginning

Episode #73 – And God made mankind in their image. Their? Yes, their. Genesis 1:26 says “Let us make mankind in our image.” Plural.

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Kingdom Winds
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The Beginning
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The Jesus Habit: Daily Devotional

Hosted by David Lindner

AUDIO PODCAST

Gen 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

If you’re a skeptic, you are already having a problem with me. Yes, I believe God created the earth. I know not everyone believes that. If you don’t believe that, if you can, please consider setting aside your disagreement with me for a moment to listen to the story. I’m not trying to argue with you, simply explain from the narrative of Scripture why we needed Jesus to come.

So, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, separated the land from the water, made the plants and animals and so forth. Then, on the 6th day we read this: Gen 1:26 – 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

As we discover in Genesis 2, God made Adam from the dust of the earth and then breathed life into his lungs. There is something special about life. All of life is special as it was created by God himself. But, as we read in verse 31 “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.” Everything else God had made was good. But on the day God made mankind, it was very good. (I should say that everything else was good except the darkness – God did not say the darkness was good.)

Then, in the midst of all this goodness, we discover a second thing that was not good. It was not good for man to be alone. So, God went about creating again and made Eve from the rib of Adam. God takes Adam and Eve and places them in this amazing Garden he had created called Eden. The name Eden literally means “pleasure”. God placed Adam and Eve in a garden called pleasure.

This garden had everything they needed to thrive, including God himself. In Chapter 3 we’ll read that God walked through the Garden. And Adam and Eve were familiar enough with the sound God made to know that it was God. God’s original plan and design for humanity was for us to rule over His creation as His representatives, the people made in His image. He wanted us to enjoy Eden. And He wanted us to enjoy himself.

There was one rule. Gen 2:17 – “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Adam and Eve had one rule, just one – don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil.

Have you ever thought about that? Spoiler alert. Prior to the moment they chose to disobey and eat that fruit, they didn’t know good or evil. They only knew God. They only knew what it was like to live in the pleasure of God’s paradise. There was no weighing between options. They didn’t have to stress about the right decision. None of the concerns we are overwhelmed with today were on their minds. It was enjoyment of God and his creation.

God created all this stuff just for fun. He created flavors and colors. He created the cow and the aardvark. He made fruits and vegetables, not only the water in the creek but the babbling sound the brook makes. Not only the force of the ocean but the enjoyment of sitting on the beach in the sun. God created an amazing world.

And God made mankind in their image. Their? Yes, their. Genesis 1:26 says “Let us make mankind in our image.” Plural. No that does not mean there were many gods. It’s God the Father, God the Son (who existed in a different form prior to being born as a human) and God the Spirit. We call it the trinity even though that word isn’t in the Bible. God in three persons.

God made us in their image. The image of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Imagine with me for a moment that you are an alien from a different planet. You arrive on earth not long after God had made Adam and Eve. You come to the garden and you spy them walking around doing their thing, God showing up once in a while to be with them. As that alien, if you were to look over all the other living things on the planet and compare them to God there would be no doubt in your mind which one is the most like God. People. As we look around us today, it’s still easy to see that there is nothing like people in all of creation. We are unique in so many ways.

God made us in their image. We are sons and daughters of the maker of all things. God made us to enjoy Him and to enjoy His creation. We were made to experience pleasure. Pleasure isn’t a bad thing, it’s a God thing. We just use it in all the wrong ways now. But in the beginning, God saw that it was good – that’s pleasure. And it was good for God to be in the presence of His children.

That is, until it wasn’t. That was the world God created in the beginning. God created a world in the beginning where people enjoyed being in His presence and He enjoyed being in theirs. He was our God. We were His people. Tomorrow, we’ll see how all of that changed.

The views and opinions expressed by Kingdom Winds Collective Members, authors, and contributors are their own and do not represent the views of Kingdom Winds LLC.

About the Author

David Lindner is a husband to (the amazing) Bekki (Chasingsupermom.com), Father to four, Pastor at SixEight Church in Vancouver, WA (68church.com) as well as an author/blogger/podcaster (davidlindner.net)