Genesis 1:26-30
Here’s the thing about creation. It is an absolutely
ridiculous idea. God was and is without lack. In Him there is no thing that He
does not have, does not experience. Within the realm of His existence He is
fully filled with the relationship of Father, Son and Spirit. He is at all
times worshiped by the seraphim and the elders. He is at all times stunning and
radiant. He at all times sits on a throne that is surrounded by things of
amazement. In Revelation 4 we are told:
And He
who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne
was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne
were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders,
clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning,
and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning
seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were
a sea of glass, like crystal.
And
around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full
of eyes in front and behind: 7 the
first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the
third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature
like an eagle in flight. 8 And
the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all
around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy,
holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
who was and is and is to come!”
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and
thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four
elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who
lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
To say the least, this is a pretty cool place with plenty of
things going on. So to be sure God was doing just fine without birds and trees
and creepy things and stuff. So He certainly didn’t need the headache of man.
And yet in Him there was such great love, such desire to birth us, all the
while knowing the end of the story. Stunning thing A: God made all things
according to their kinds. This is critical. All things were created to
replicate the kind of thing they would be. So for instance God makes a maple
tree and that tree will make seeds to make more maple trees. The maple tree is
in and of itself unique. It is a kind of new thing. But there is a critical
shift as God readies himself to make man. Stunning thing B: As God is making all
the background stuff God is just calling things into existence but He gets to
man and says, “Let us make man in our image.” Ok that is stunning thing C as
well. Because God readies the other two for this one. He knows He is about to
embark on what will be heartache, and rejection and the death of His son and He
tells themselves, “Get ready. Here we go.” This is a moment of inhale-don’t
breath-look around-silence and then it is started. Stunning thing C is simple
and complex and impossible to even comprehend because everything else was made
of a new kind, something from nothing. But God looks about and says let’s make
man from our image, from our kind. We are His seed, the image of the mighty
one, the ancient of days. We are not a new kind. We are made to be like Him. We
will make more people just like maple seeds will make more maple trees. We are
seeds that were intended to make more image of God people. There is an obvious
sidetrack and a squiggly line and a few zig-zags thrown in. But it is clear
than when Jesus shows up for project redeem the earth and when He says, “follow me and I will make you become
fishers of men.” He knew exactly what He was talking about because He was there
on that day when they all got together and made man in their image. He came to
the earth and started creation anew. He intended that we would be reproducers
of the image of God and now He came to walk the planet to show us how to do what
was always intended. Make more
people in His image. It’s all pretty obvious, sort of.
