The Bible account of the Creation story conspicuously projects God in His leading creative acts. It also
documents their incontrovertible dramatic fruitful impact in real time. These events are eye-openers to
the divine possibilities even today. For, God has not stopped needful creative interventions. However,
He reckons on available human vessels willing to be His burden bearers in their generations.
For instance, before this planetary space became our earthly home, it languished in uninhabitable
chaos. Everywhere was subsumed in darkness. The absence of God’s manifest light must have
opportune the dominance of evil forces. This was the undesirable state of things even while God’s
Spirit was hovering over the face of the waters.
It took God, to conceive its purposeful conversion. He then moved to effect His desired transformation
according to the divine plan. Hence, in seven great days of landmark creative acts, beginning with the
proclamation of His light, He eventually actualized His dream of a beautiful habitable earth, with man
as its visible creative manager.
Then God said, Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every
creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 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.
From the beginning, God needed a manas a work partner. He was, however, to remain man
principal enabler and spiritual guide, as man creatively engaged the diverse realities created for his
relative fulfillment in the world. Respecting that essential order was crucial to keeping the partnership
healthy and sustaining divine approval.
Being made in God’s image was God equipping man for godly exploits. He needed small gods (in
human form) to express themselves in and through their physical bodies. It was God Himself choosing to
position man as His defacto representative here on earth. Psalm 82:6 and John 10:32-34 are timely
reminders to reckon with that plan and expectation of man’s Maker.
Expectedly, since God Himself is Spirit His work partner would need to be enabled for spontaneous
spiritual communication with his principal. Furthermore, he should be able to receive God’s thoughts,
feel God’s desires, and pursue God’s decisions. These should be essential abilities in man’s makeup,
despite impressions gained from the natural world by his bodily five senses. Hence, God’s infinite
wisdom envisaged our triune composition. Genesis 2:7 reveals how man became such a fused trinity of
spirit, soul, and body.
In all of this, God was intentional, relevantly equipping man to be His burden bearer on earth. The idea
of representation was, however, not to be abused by converting it into a rebellious push to replace God
and His authority over man. Whereas representation is anchored on promoting and protecting the
interests of the one we represent, a rebellious replacement of our principal leads to unbridled
independence and liberty. This was the error committed by man.
The Bible reveals how such instigated misadventure of our first parents transformed us into the fallen
human race. Man’s basic makeup became spiritually damaged, being incapacitated for the necessary
spontaneous communion with his Maker.
Today, our fallen humanity has greatly multiplied biologically. It has widely spread its influence and
continues to have a dominant impact on the affairs of the nations. It has even partaken in the creative
applications of our highly esteemed nature-based knowledge, largely acquired by our soul acuities.
God is, however, willing to recover His fallen burden bearers for a more inclusive victory. His redemption
plan for mankind is, therefore, to spiritually restore each willing vessel. This is to enable them to recover
their wholesomely working spirit-soul-body; equipment. It is this restored capacity that God still
intends to use, under His leadership, to champion the establishment of the heavenly glory upon the
earth.
This is why the biblical testimony of Romans 3:23 is that all have sinned and come short of God’s glory.
However, recovering the latter remains God’s free gift, receivable as eternal life and by faith in His Son
provided to be our Saviour. This is our Maker’s merciful intervention to translate us from being lost
souls to the saints or sons of God. Therefore, John 1:12-13 can be a timely guide to access this great
grace.
Patrick and Glory TAYO