I was studying the early chapters of Genesis about God's creating the earth and man. They were His delight and He said it was very good. After everything else He created He said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." Isn't it astounding that we are created to "take after" the likeness of God the Father and Jesus?
Within our bodies is a special place called our spirits that God put in us so that He could dwell there. The Bible tells us that God is spirit and He communicates to us in spirit. That in itself is so incredible. How could we have any self-image problems when we are created in the image of the Almighty God, Creator of Heaven and Earth!
But more than that, I noticed something else. In Genesis 1:28 it tells us that God blessed them (Adam and Eve). When I looked up the Hebrew word for 'blessed' I found that it meant, "to kneel, to adore." Think about that! God kneeling down before His crowning creatures adoring Adam and Eve. NOT in worship or as if man should be worshiped.
The definition of the word "blessed" has nothing to do with worship. It is simply the picture of a Father overwhelmed with love for a child that has just come from the Mother's womb. He adores that child and can hardly believe it is something that was created from within himself. He holds the child and prays blessings over it. The definition for the word "adoration" is this: Profound love or regard. Imagine this! Doesn't it make you feel special and so well loved?
I've heard it said that the "death" that occurred after the Fall was the death of relationship with God as He originally intended. Man's reaction was to cover up and avoid God. Adam said he feared Him. God still loved His crowning creation but He couldn't allow them to live in the Garden because if they ate of the Tree of Life they would live forever and that now meant they would live forever in sin, because it had entered into them with their choice to believe the lies of the devil.
Sin increases once it enters into a man. This is why God had to destroy so many people in the Old Testament. They couldn't be saved - sin had not been atoned for through Christ, so they were stuck in the sin that they made themselves part of and to prevent the whole human race from becoming contaminated with sin, these people had to be destroyed.
He had done that once with a flood, but after that He promised that He would never do that again, but God had to destroy sin to preserve a people unto Himself. How would He ever have a virgin who could bear the Son of God? Sin was passed down through generations and sometimes even the animals were full of sin since having "relations" with them was the norm in idolatrous religions.
One of the first steps toward sin is dissatisfaction with what we have. This is what Satan used to deceive Adam and Eve. He made them think they were missing something when they had everything. People who are secure in who they are in Christ will not fall for the temptations of the devil. Although the Lord wasn’t the one responsible for man committing sin, He took responsibility for covering man’s nakedness after he sinned ... still a God of love. Man could only make aprons from fig leaves.
View Enlarged Image Bees on Bull Thistle Shenandoah National Park |
Timing is something we don't understand since the Bible says, "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day" (2 Peter 3:8). But we know that Jesus did come and that "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world" (I John 2:2) That means for all future time. Before we were born our sins were atoned for. When Christ said, "It is finished," it was.
Our Father wants to bless us. "He who did not keep back His only Son, but gave Him up for us all, will He not with Him freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32)
Our Abba Daddy wants to have relationship with us like He had with Adam and Eve. To walk and talk with us daily. In the temple or synagogue the Holy of Holies is where God resided and only the priest could enter there and only once a year. When Jesus died, the temple veil (curtain) of the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom breaking wide open the access to the area where we could fellowship with God. Now we are His temple. He resides within us and wants to dwell with you in love.
I have gained a lot more understanding of the mystery of this from a book that my sweet friend, Lynn, gave me. It is one that I read a few pages at a time and then asked God to reveal to me what He wanted me to know from that information. I've read it more than once and keep getting a new revelation each time. The title is "The Temple Within: Fellowship with an Indwelling Christ." This link takes you to Amazon where you can read some of the book and also reviews.
One of my favorite Scriptures that makes me smile and melt before the Lord is Zephaniah 3:17. I like to personalize it when I read Scripture. "The Lord my God takes great delight in me, He quiets me with His love, and rejoices over me with singing." God literally adores you!
He says, "And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart" (Jer. 29:13).
It takes more than the five minutes you have before your favorite TV program. It takes more than a list of requests in prayer at bedtime. But the rewards are awesome. You will be able to rise above circumstances. You will find peace and joy unknown to you before. Seek Him .... with all your heart!
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