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Writer's pictureafmincanada (Bible Study)

You are the image of God for God's purpose. (Ps T L Mukumba) 12-June-2020

Scripture: Genesis 1:26-27

I will address two very important questions to understand where we come from and what human being are in this writing, looking into different worldviews.


Where do we come from?

After God had formed the sky filled with heavenly luminaries and flying birds and forming the seas and filled the with various aquatic creatures. On the sixth day he filled the land with animal life from the ground and then He created man who with his wife would dominion over the earth and its creatures.


The creation of man is special occasion for there was consultation before the event. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:26). “Let us make man in our image: sounds like a conclusion of divine deliberation among the person of the Godhead. God was not talking to angels about His plans because angels were not made in our likeness or God’s likeness. Angels hand nothing to do with the creation of Adam. The Hebrew word for God is Elohim, which is plural, and represents the trinity of God, i.e. God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The key word is the image of God. The author and cause of the great work of creation is God who made us in His image. God created man in His image and in His likeness. The scripture is very clear, it say we are like God though we depend on Him because He is the Creator and we are the created (creature).


Genesis 2:7 says, “And 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”. The word formed suggests the potter making a work of art in his skilled hands. The Human body is indeed a work of art that is an amazingly complex organism that only the wisdom of God could design and the power of God create. The physical matter for Adams body came from the ground, for name Adam means “taken out of the ground”, but the life Adam possessed came from God. Of course, God is spirit and doesn’t have lungs for breathing. Several important facts must be noted about the origins of humans. First, we were created by God. We are not the products of some galactic accident nor are we the occupants of rung of an evolutionary ladder. God made us, which means we are creatures and wholly depend on him. Secondly, we are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27).

What is a human being?

Unlike angels and animals’, human beings can have an incredibly special relationship with God. God gave us personality, minds to think with, emotions, power to make decisions uncoerced (will power) and He also gave us an inner spiritual nature that enables us to know and worship Him. We are able to act on our own according to our own personal independent uncoerced characters. No two people are alike. We are different in the way we react to things and in many areas. Our characters are the ones that make us who we are. It’s very important to note that our live should give reverence and worship to align ourselves as to God’s beautiful character. Some characters are wayward. Personality is chief thing on human beings and it’s good if it we align our different personalities to the God’s personality. God’s personality is the word of God. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. As human being we also have got desires just like our God have got desires. Our key are, “in the our image and according our likeness”. Since God is the designer and we are the design in His likeness, this means we 100% depend on Him even the dominion that He gave us.


Human beings are created to have dominion over the earth (Genesis- 1:26,28). Adam and Eve were the first overseers and managers over God’s creation (Psalm 8:6-8). The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men (Psalm 115:16). David surveyed God’s creation and asked, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:4). The earth is a tiny planet orbiting on vast galaxy and yet “the earth is the Lord’s” Psalm 24:1). It’s one plane that the Lord has chosen to redeem. The heavenly creatures before God’s throne praise Him for His creation (Revelations 4:11), and so should we. What should thank Him for the food He provides, the sun, the rain, seasons and all things for His generosity towards us.


As human beings we must be good stewards of the earth. We should respect our fellow human beings because like us they are also the in the image of God. We accept creation as a great gift from God and guard it as precious treasure. This is all for the glory of God. We must give glory to the Lord for His grace towards human beings that even when we had sinned and come short of the glory of God. He sent His only begotten sun to redeem us from sin and death. God deserves our worship, praise and obedience for His greater mercies. Psalm 145:9 says, The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

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