THIS IS US

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God says it isn’t good for Adam to be alone

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¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” ¹⁹ Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. ²¹ So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.²² And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

²³ Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”

 ²⁴ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. ²⁵ And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

These are amazing words.  We’ve read them many times, but, I’m certain, we haven’t stopped to consider what they’re really saying to us.  Remembering this is before the fall, God says it isn’t good for Adam to be alone (Genesis 2:18).  It almost sounds heretical to say that God recognizes he’s not enough for the continued existence of man, but this seems to be what God is saying.  Then, we read of the parade of animals God had created and called good aren’t suitable. Creation, as it was then, was not complete enough to provide what Adam needed to continue in a wholesome life.

Several times in the creation story, and the fall, where God is referred to in a plural sense.  God is three in one, the trinity, has existed in this relational status for eternity past and into eternity future. Humankind, created in the image of God, Imago Dei, certainly reflects this relational aspect of ‘being’ as part of an inherited image.  We have all manner of theological discussions regarding this aspect of our creation, but the fact remains we are created to be in relationship.   We need relationship!  The scriptures couldn’t state it more clearly!  In John 15:13, there is no greater demonstration of love than sacrifice for a friend.

We are created to be in relationship with God above, and our fellow humans below.  The triune God is an example for us, and we reflect his image.  If you doubt the importance of this inherited attribute, imagine spending your Earthly existence without any social interaction or human relationship.  Love, respect, and obedience are spoken of many times in the Bible and all require relationship – with parents, friends, brothers, sisters. Even Hollywood, despite themselves, creates incredible stories about relationship.  Choose a movie to watch this weekend and contemplate the messages it sends you about your relational nature, deposited within you by God.[/vc_column_text][us_separator height=”25px” size=”custom”][vc_column_text]

By Rich Obrecht

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We’re limited, but when we acknowledge our partnership with God, we become unlimited.

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²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

²⁷ So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them.

 

In Genesis 1:27 we hear God say, “let us make man in our own image, after our likeness.” Knowing we’re made in the image of God helps us learn about what it means to be human. Many of the things we see God doing in Genesis 1 and 2 are reflected in humanity, but there is one way we’re not like God. Just as the moon carries many of the same attributes as the sun, yet is completely different in magnitude and quality, we carry the image of God, but we have limits.

The first hint at our limitation is found in the resources we have to create. God creates ‘ex nihilo’ or ‘out of nothing’. However, human creativity is never out of nothing. It’s a creative rearranging of what God has already created. We notice human limitation when we look at Adam. Adam is limited. He is given work to do. He is not designed to do whatever he wants, he is designed to tend and care for creation. Adam’s purpose is limited. When God says, “It is not good that the man should be alone,” it’s evident something is missing (Genesis 2:18). Again, Adam is limited in by his relational need. Adam has plants, animals, work and God himself, but all this is not enough. He isn’t self-sufficient. He is forced to depend on God. Finally, Adam is limited by his need for rhythm and rest. God created Sabbath as a space to acknowledge limitations in energy and responsibility for the world. After all, Jesus says, “Sabbath was created for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).” Adam is not the master creator, God is. He is limited.

We are limited too. Even though we’re created “in the image of God” and we reflect God in many ways, we will never be God. Thank God! Even before sin entered the world Adam and Eve were limited. If we look at the complexity of the universe and the fact that God “upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3), it is a relief that we are limited. The only risk we run in acknowledging our limits is if we overemphasize them to the point we fail to reflect God at all. We’re limited, but we are the crown jewel of God’s creation, given the highest authority God has bestowed on any of his created things. We’re limited, but when we acknowledge our partnership with God we become unlimited. Stop what you are doing, set a timer for five to ten minutes, close your eyes, and just breath. As you breath remember that the breath you’re given is not made by you. Today, acknowledge your limits and acknowledge that God doesn’t have those same limits.[/vc_column_text][us_separator height=”25px” size=”custom”][vc_column_text]

By Aaron Bjorklund

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Imagination is the imageness of God in us.

[/ultimate_heading][us_separator height=”20px” size=”custom”][us_sharing providers=”email,facebook,twitter,gplus”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]You’ve perhaps used this phrase or you’ve heard others say, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body.”  But, this simply isn’t true. Every bone in your body is creative, because you’re created by God and made in his image. Bearing God’s image as a human being includes many aspects of God’s character. Our definition of creativity might simply be too small. Consider these stories:

Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.  All those about them encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle and with valuables, aside from all that was given as a freewill offering. – Ezra 1:5- 6  (NASB)

Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; ³¹ and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, ³² to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, ³³ in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. ³⁴ And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. ³⁵ He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer. – Exodus 35:30-35 

God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them (Psalm 89:11). Even though God created from nothing, man can create with available resources. And, God stirs up creativity in those willing to be his image bearers. Many times in Scripture, God gives people opportunity to express themselves  creatively. Adam named the animals and cultivated the garden (Genesis 1-3) Noah built the ark (Genesis 6:13-22), Bezalel fashioned the tent of meeting  (Exodus 35:38-20), Ithamar led the direction, craftsmen, embroiderers of the temple (Exodus 38:21-39:42), Paul creatively administers ministry tasks ( Acts 3:5-16) and Jesus’ used masterful imagination for storytelling, for speaking in parables, and for revealing nuggets of kingdom truth (Matthew 13:1-17).

Just as God expresses his creativity in many different ways, you can too. You’re made in God’s image, so you’re designed to be creative too. Just as God stirs up creativity in others, he stirs it up in you too. This is an exciting discovery process. Are you willing? Try different things, different ways, take classes, talk to people, explore your surroundings. Ask God in prayer about a creative expression for you. God is infinite, so are the possibilities. Give yourself permission to discover the creativity given to you by God. Today, try something creative and share it with someone!

 

Imagination is the imageness of God in us.
-Joseph Pearce

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By Donna Burns

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It’s his image in us that causes the need of meaning for us.

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²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

²⁷ So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
-Genesis 1:26-27

 

Every human being has the deep awareness that life was intended to have meaning and purpose. We all long for it, search it out, and need it. That quest in and of itself is a uniquely human endeavor. A dog doesn’t think about the meaning of life – his meaning is defined simply by being a dog. An elephant doesn’t think philosophically about what it means to be an elephant – it’s enough to just be an elephant. The process of complex rational thought regarding the meaning and purpose of life belongs exclusively to human beings, and we often struggle to answer our own question.

In Genesis 1:26-27, the author makes the audacious statement that humanity is created in the image of God. It’s his image in us that causes the need of meaning for us. This becomes clear in the Genesis narrative because shortly after being created, Adam and Eve start to perform their God-given tasks and duties. Their meaning and purpose is intrinsic within their creation, but their calling comes specifically from God. “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). “Keep and tend the garden” (Genesis 2:15). “Name the animals” (Genesis 2:20). “It’s not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2;18). These callings flow forth from the reality that humans are created in the image of God and they in turn create clarity for how we live with meaning as human beings.

The knowledge of the way we’re created has the potential to radically, positively shape a life. By contrast, ignorance towards God’s created purpose can crush a life. When a person doesn’t realize that the image of God lives within them, they will turn a portion of that image into a god for them. Think about, the greatest pulls towards idolatry are based around turning parts of God’s calling for us into our ultimate and only reason for existence. Naming the animals was a creative act – today we see people worshiping creativity and seeking fame. Tending the garden was the call to work and vocation – throughout time we see people working to gain power and wealth, and slipping into patterns of greed. It’s not good for man to be alone is the reality that we’re created for relationships – but we see many people bowing at the altar of romantic love. When we recognize the image of God in us, we can live from it. However, when we aren’t aware we carry the image, we will bow to a portion of it.

Today, take some time to think about the way you have seen the image of God in another person. Send them a text, write a note, or make a phone call to affirm and encourage them.[/vc_column_text][us_separator height=”25px” size=”custom”][vc_column_text]

By Ryan Paulson

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The destiny of the human creation is to live in God’s world, with God’s other creatures, on God’s terms!

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Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ² And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. ³ So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. -Genesis 2:1-4

 

In his thought-provoking book, The Lost World of Adam and Eve, John Walton suggests the original readers of the Genesis creation narrative would have understood God ‘resting’ from his creative act by ‘entering’ his creation. It’s as if God builds a temple when he creates his universe, and then enters it to rule and reign. In Genesis 2, Adam and Eve awakened to be a part of God’s universe after God has already entered and rested there. When God breathed life into Adam’s lungs, he invited Adam to inhabit the same sacred space. That’s why it’s so devastating when Adam and Eve sin and hide from God – it’s an anti-creation act!

Later, God is depicted walking through the garden and calling out, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). He finds Adam and Eve alienating themselves from the very purpose they were created – to walk with him. When sin enters the story, the ideal of life with God is fractured. Humanity is separated from the intimate connection with God they’re designed to have. From the time of Adam to the appearance of the Messiah, the people of Israel long for the day when this relationship would be restored. A day when people would be able to walk with God in the way God intended. A day when there would be no separation between and God and humanity. A day when the “dwelling of God would be with mankind – where they are his people and he is their God.” (Revelation 21:3).

Jesus restores the shattered destiny of humanity. He is the “new Adam” who comes and does what the “first Adam” couldn’t do – live in obedience to God. Through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, humanity is once again called to abide in God (John 15:4). Because of Jesus, we’re invited to “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:10). The destiny of the human creation is to live in God’s world, with God’s other creatures, on God’s terms! You’re designed to walk with God, and because of Jesus, you’re destined to desire and fulfill God’s desire to walk together. Today, take a walk with God. Imagine that you’re with him in The Garden. Talk with him. Listen to him. Pour out your heart to him. Hear his heart for you.[/vc_column_text][us_separator height=”25px” size=”custom”][vc_column_text]

By Ryan Paulson

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Humans are a composite of normal dust and divine breath.

[/ultimate_heading][us_separator height=”20px” size=”custom”][us_sharing providers=”email,facebook,twitter,gplus”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]In 1931, the Dust Bowl swept across the mid-west. The terror and devastation of these storms were overwhelming. It’s hard to imagine a cloud of dust, as high as your eye can see, approaching at an alarming rate. Then, after experiencing a dust bowl, my guess is that it would’ve been difficult to imagine any good use for such a material. This is where we pick up the narrator’s description of the creation of human beings in these verses.

⁶ and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— ⁷ then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. –Genesis 2:6-7

What does the author of Genesis mean when he posits God created Adam out of dust? There is much debate about that question, but one thing it means is that part of being human is to have a physical body. Dust was representative of matter. The fact that we are dust and have a physical body is a reminder of our mortality. I didn’t fully understand the concept of “from dust you were created and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:19) until I held my mom’s cremated body when we spread her ashes in the ocean. She had returned to dust. And one day, we, too, will return to dust – because that’s where we originated from. Dust is the stuff of humanity. Although it was a terrible thing in the mid-west during the 1930’s, dust is a beautiful thing in the hands of God.

However, we’re not only dust. According to Genesis 2, humans are DUST + BREATH. We have God’s breath – God’s life flowing through us. Paul says, “…for ‘In him [God] we live and move and have our being’ (Acts 17:28). Part of what it means to be human is to have our being in God. In fact, every person alive is a ‘spiritual’ being. Humans are a composite of normal dust and divine breath. We are body and soul. We are material and spiritual. To view ourselves as solely one or the other is to deny a large part of what it means to be human.

Today, take some time to appreciate how God made you both dust and breath. Do something physical and something spiritual – go on a walk or a run or simply breathe, then pray, meditate on the Scriptures, or spend time in silence. There is more to you than just a body and there is more to you than just a spirit, you are dust and breath.

 

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By Ryan Paulson

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only God can take dust and breathe life into it

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⁶ and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— ⁷ then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. – Genesis 2:6-7

There is currently a fascinating art display up at Solid Grounds. The artist has combined a multitude of different mediums, elements, and techniques to create some very original and thought-provoking pieces. He must be an interesting person. Art always reveals something about the artist. Art is a display of what’s going on in the artist’s heart and mind. Creating art – whether it be music, poetry, painting – is a very intimate endeavor because it invites others into the sacred space of our inner life.

God is an artist, but he’s not an artist like you or me. He creates living, breathing things. Genesis 2:7 states, “then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” With a lot of effort and innovation human beings can create amazing masterpieces, but only God can take dust and breathe life into it. Scriptures affirm the relationship between God and humanity is akin to the connection between an artist and her creation. In Ephesians 2:10, the Apostle Paul writes, “For we are his workmanship.” The word translated ‘workmanship’ is from the Greek word ‘poiēma’ – which could be translated ‘poetry’ or ‘song.’ We are God’s poetry. His song. His art.

One interesting thing about art is how the price or value of each piece is sometimes determined by the identity of its creator. It doesn’t matter what Rembrandt, Picaso, da Vinci, or Van Gogh painted – it’s valuable because they did it. Now, how much more valuable is humanity if our creator is the almighty, all-powerful, all-knowing God? People have immense value and worth because they’re created by a magnificent God. And, it is precisely because all people are God’s creation that God demands we both treat others and are treated with honor and respect. God goes so far as to state that he doesn’t want our religious festivals and worship services if we’re unwilling to actively honor and value his creation (Isaiah 58). Today spend some time thinking about how you might participate with God in striving for social justice and taking part in changing the humanitarian crisis across the globe. If you are looking for some ideas, read this great article.

 

For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand,
that we should walk in them.
-Ephesians 2:10

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By Ryan Paulson

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You have been created with purpose in mind

[/ultimate_heading][us_separator height=”20px” size=”custom”][us_sharing providers=”email,facebook,twitter,gplus”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]Nearly every culture has maintained some sort of narrative about how the universe and humanity came into existence. Many ‘myths’ attempt to explain both how life came into existence as well as its purpose. For example, in ancient Mesopotamia, Enuma Elish suggests the god, known as Marduk, fought his rival, Tiamat, and defeated her in battle. After tearing her body in two, he used one half to fashion the heavens and the other to create the earth. Subsequently, Marduk executed Qingu, for the crimes of this demon god, and mixed the blood with clay to make humanity. Marduk declared, “I shall compact blood, I shall cause bones to be, I shall make stand a human being, let “Man” be its name. I shall create humankind, they shall bear the gods’ burden that those may rest.” According the Enuma Elish, human beings are created to serve the gods and give them rest.

When the author of Genesis writes the Hebrew creation narrative, he would have been aware of Enuma Elish. He doesn’t intend to address the questions of the new atheists nor does he address issues of science or discoveries by the Hubble Telescope. Those things hadn’t happened yet. However, the Genesis account was written to rival and correct the erroneous ideas of the nature and character of gods that were rampant in the Ancient Near East. During those days, culture was infiltrated with paganism and entrenched in polytheism. Therefore, Genesis speaks into this world with a resounding declaration. Listen to the words of the author of Genesis 1:26-27:

²⁶Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Here, we notice several differences from the competing creation myths of the day. First, there is one God who creates the earth and every human being in it (Acts 17:24-27). Second, people are not created to serve the gods, but to serve alongside God – to partner in his endeavors. Creation is for people to inhabit; it is designed for their well-being and for them to commune with God. Third, people carry the image of God. Now, what is true of God’s creation narrative in Genesis 1, is true of you as well. You have been created with purpose in mind – created to partner with God as a steward of his creation. You have been designed to carry his image by representing him and reflecting his nature and character. You have been birthed from a place of love and desire. Spend some time today reading through and meditating on Psalm 139:16-19. Try to take in the wonder of God’s hand in your unique design.

 

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By Ryan Paulson

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