Here We Come Series

“Here We Come” Genesis 1:26-2:7

So it’s the end of the sixth day and here comes man, saved til last to complete God’s perfect creation. I have to wonder if the angels and animals watching were thinking “Oh no, here comes trouble”. If they had only known, yet God seems to be very excited about His upcoming creation.

What are we worth? It is estimated that the chemical components of a normal 150 pound human are worth about 12 bucks. The rest is water and is free. When we think about the electrical power we generate, it is figured that we would produce about 11,400,000 kilowatts per pound if it could be harnessed, so if we calculate this in terms of energy production, a 150 pound person is worth 85 and a half billion dollars, and this is thirty years ago.

But what are we worth to God? Well, it’s like the Mastercard commercials - Priceless. Let’s look at:

A. Our Creation

i. How? Did he create us

“Let us make man in our image” “God created man in His own image” “God formed the man out of dust”

Everything else in creation is simply created by speaking it into existence, but man was both created and made, or formed from the earth. This indicates the special significance of man. One way to look at it is that He created man, the person or soul, and made man, the body, to house the soul and spirit in the physical realm. God breathed life into the man, not as though he literally blew air into his nose, but more like how he sends the Holy Spirit which is best translated as wind which energized, or “turned the man on”. The trinity worked on this together and intentionally made man with the qualities that the Godhead himself has.

What is “their image and likeness”? Many say we must look like God, but God isn’t physical. Yet He could hear, see, smell, touch, and speak, and created us with bodies that could also do these things. And of course, God came to earth in a human body. Jesus was the perfect image of God because He was God, but man is more like a reflection in a mirror which has some imperfections because the mirror is not perfect either. I think of our children, they bear some resemblance to us but are not exact replicas either in looks or behavior.

This is what is meant by God’s image in the words of Elmer Towns:

a. Intellect. The ability to think, abstractly, i.e., put words to ideas, think in cause-effect relationships, remember, etc. Man has the ability to know the difference between right and wrong.

b. Emotions. The ability to feel passion and patience, and so much more.

c. Will. The ability to make judgments, decisions, i.e., choices based on intellect and emotions.

d. Self perception. The ability to know one’s self and discern one’s self beyond physical sight, i.e., self consciousness and self awareness.

e. Self direction. The ability to plan, dream or vision.

We are triune as God himself is. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are body, soul, and spirit. The Scriptures teach that man is a triune being. "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit…" (Hebrews 4:12). This truth is repeated again in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Some say that one way to make sense of the Godhead trinity is to see the father as the “soul”, the Son as the “body”, and the Holy Spirit of course as the “spirit”. I don’t think there is any scriptural backing for this man-made interpretation, but it may be a useful analogy for understanding the difficult idea of God being three and one. The soul being the core of our being where understanding, will, and the power to act reside, with the body being the material representation, and the spirit being the immortal power source of the soul. As with Christ, the earthly body is temporary (because it is made of stuff) but the soul and spirit are eternal (because they are created out of nothing).

ii. Why? Did he create us

The easy answer is to have dominion over the earth. In other words God created us in His image so that we could be the physical caretakers over the earth, like His assistants. Don’t we all want our employees or assistants to be just like us? We needed the same qualities as God in the flesh in order to oversee His creation the way he would want.