01/11/2023
Who are we as men, and when we look at ourselves as God’s creation what do we see? Moreover, what does God see when He looks upon us? Do we see ourselves as being the joining of two independent and separate creatures, one that is physical and earthly, and another that is spiritual and heavenly, or do we see ourselves as one being, that is both of these manifestations simultaneously? Does God see us as spiritual beings trapped in a fallen earthly body, or a joint creation of both body and spirit that are one, inseparable, and in need of a single redemption and forgiveness that includes both?
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
Genesis 1:27 ESV
In one short sentence we read of the creation of man, but in that sentence the word created appears three times. He created us in his own image. He created us in His image as God, and he created us to be men and women in a physical image. This can be difficult to understand on its own, but when we join it with God’s greatest commandment we begin to bring the picture of this image into focus…
““Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 ESV
Before beginning we are told that God is one, then, In this commandment we are told to love God with all our heart, soul, and might… or in other words in the same way we were created… with the love of a child for a parent (storage), with the love between man and God spiritually (agape), and with all our physical selves as friends (Philia). Can we see the similarity here?
We take certain liberty in joining these two, but they help us by showing a continuation of thought, and how God’s desire for our love fits with our creation like a glove.
So how do we envision ourselves today following the fall of man in the Garden of Eden? Did only one of these manifestations fall, or are we one as God is one and thus fell in our entirety? Seeing ourselves in the complexity of our original creation is difficult indeed. It is much easier to separate our parts and deal with them individually, but just as they are together in God, and one in Christ who was all man, and all God, so we are one creature, and our faith must encompass us, and our righteousness depends upon our entirety. We can’t sin with our body and have a pure spirit, or sin in our mind and have a pure body and spirit?
“who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Philippians 2:6-8 ESV
So when we pray for forgiveness we must include our entirety… body, mind, and soul. These are inseparable and interrelated; none stand on their own. If any one of them sins, then we have sinned. Are we living our lives if faith as we should be, and are we praying for forgiveness with a full understanding off our creation?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for creating us as such complex and wonderful creatures. Thank you for not only making us like the creatures of the earth, but like the spiritual beings in heaven, and Luke you. Help us Lord to grasp our complexity when we face the many forms of temptation and sin in our lives, and to resist them in all their forms. Hear our prayers of contrition, and forgive us our sins, bodily, spiritually, mentally, and in their every form. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God, who has created us in your image, and loves us so perfectly. Praised be your name for all our many parts, and their ability to reveal the sin of one another to us as we kneel before you and ask for your forgiveness. Wash us clean with the blood of your Son Jesus Christ that seeps into every crevice of our being, and cleanses us. Transform us into His likeness so that we become a more perfect image of you both. Forgive us Father for we have sinned, and on the day of our judgement see not our past sins, but the ever present image of Jesus who has redeemed us and who intercedes for us even now. Call us your children, and seat us at your table forevermore. Let us walk with you throughout eternity and love you as we pray… without ceasing! Glory to you forever for Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who was, and is, and is to come.
Rich Forbes