In Their Image

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

IN THIER IMAGE

Gen 1:24-31

24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." 29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground — everything that has the breath of life in it — I give every green plant for food." And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning — the sixth day.

NIV

It is the sixth day and this is when God brought all living beings upon the earth. First, He made every kind of animal there ever was upon the earth. We also note that he gave every living thing, everything that had the breath of life in it God gave them every green plant for food. This would have meant even the saber-toothed lion or tiger ate plants. It is also interesting that lizards continue to grow their entire lives, and thus as they continue to eat all the green plants on the earth, they became known as being so large that man today calls them dinosaurs. However, we do find that at that time on the earth, the lamb does lay with the lion because both ate upon all the green plants of the earth, there was no predatory system as it was a perfect paradise where God was going to make his final act of creation, by forming with his own hands the man who he made in their image. We are the crowning glory of the Master's work. We are the only living beings on the earth that God did not speak into existence. God came down from heaven and formed us from the dust of the earth and he did so with his own hands, making sure we were an exact replica of all three persons of God. Then after he was finished with our form, he breathed his very breath into our lungs. How powerful it is to know that we are the image bearers of God and that we have the very breath of God in us. Every breath we take is God’s breath. Of course, we know God is three in one, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and thus we bear that same image. We are a spirit with a soul that lives in a body. We are three in one, just as God formed us in their image. God made man in the form of male and female so they could multiply and fill the earth, which is what man eventually did. Man did not stay in the perfect paradise of God because he made man in their own image, man could make his own choices which we know was one of them was not the correct choice. God made man to live in a perfect place and to choose to live under his influence, in fact, God liked to walk and talk with man in the cool of the day, spending time with him, and telling him so many wonderful truths. We know that man did not listen carefully enough to the voice of God, and followed the advice of another, and thus we have sin. Yet today we still have the same choice, we can follow the voice of God or the voice of either self or the evil one bent on our destruction. We know the Greek word Charis, which is translated mostly as grace, but it also carries the meaning of the divine influence upon our hearts and how that is reflected in our lives. We know Jesus asked the Father to send us the Holy Spirit to fill us and be our guide into all truth, and to be the internal influence upon our hearts so we live with faith in God, accepting his provision, Jesus, for our redemption and salvation. Therefore, it is imperative we listen only to the voice of God, shutting out the voice of self and of the evil one. We cannot serve two masters; we cannot serve God and serve self. Who made us? Who formed us? Who breathed life into our being? Who redeemed us? Who saved us?  Who then should we live for? Who should we be listening to? Who should we believe is the truth? Let us live completely under the influence of God forsaking all else and be the image he made us to be, the image bearers of God.