Created in His Image

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness . . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:26-28)

Man was God’s prized possession at creation. We were the only part of creation created in His image, after His own kind, in His likeness. Created good, for good. To fill the earth, rule over the earth, and subdue it.

And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:8-9)



He breathed life into mankind, provided an abundance of beauty and nourishment.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:15-17)

He gave us responsibility, work to do in the garden. He gave us much, even choice. A choice to love and respond in obedience.

He gave us all but one thing . . . of this you shall not eat . . . the consequences are heavy Mankind. If you eat of it . . . you will die. He won’t force you to choose obedience, He won’t force you to love Him.

He will bless you with abundance and leave you with this choice.

A choice to trust in His provision and restriction, blessing and warning. Will you believe that He is good? His provision and restriction are for the best? To trust in His ways or will pursue your own? Oh the decision made in the garden that day . . . the decisions made in my heart every day . . .

In the beginning . . .

God.

Created man in His image.

Provided abundance.

Provided a choice.

A choice that leads to a decision . . .

To believe a lie.

To fall.



"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (Psalm 16:11)