Scripture：Genesis
1:11-31
1.
Prayer
2.
Reading
3.
Meditation
My
meditation: The third point that attracts my attention in today's
Scripture is that God created man in their image. What matters is not only the plurality
of God (Elohiym) but also the IMAGE of God. We have reason to believe that
people are indeed looking like God even physically. Of course, the Bible also
said that no man has seen God at any time; the only
begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. (John
1:18; KJV). Fortunately, the Lord Jesus Christ did come in flesh to us so that
we can see that God really looks like a man. A person’s name and hence his image is kind of equivalent
to the person as someone’s name is the conduit of someone’s soul energy (liveliness)
in Orthodox Judaism. Just
as Christ is the visible image of God the Father, Adam was the representative of God in His creation. In fact, we can
see that man is God's delegate over His
creation according to Genesis (1:28). This representation gives human
beings both special rights as well as solemn obligations. Yes, rights and obligations are inseparable.
On the
contrary, we can ask, “How much difference would it make if no man in the image
of God is made? Here are some of the possibilities I think of:
Ø There
are no people to manage the Earth and the living things. Of course, God can
select another living creature to look after His creation. Nevertheless, such
an arrangement might lead to "equality" issues.
Ø Unless
there are other non-human creatures to be made after the human personality and
characteristics, the universe may become mechanical and dull as "fun and the
human emotions" will not exist in the unmanned universe!
Of
course, you can think of other possibilities as well. However, you may arrive
at a similar conclusion as mine, that is, there
will be a shortfall if no one were made in God’s image in His creation. One
of the reasons will be read in subsequent Biblical verses which tells us that
the spirit of man is coming from the breath of God. Thus, man is a living soul.
Remembering that God is a Spirit, only a spiritual man can communicate with God
spiritually. Indeed, human beings partake
God’s divine personality and nature (2 Pet 1:4) which reveals the importance
of spirituality. The aforesaid also brings out the concept of the Earth as the spiritual center of the
universe.
Question:
If God
did NOT create human beings, how would His Creation be different?
Howard
