For Creating Man
At the centre of the gospel story and the plan of redemption is an important central fact. This is
one of the main points that aligns us with God and pivotal to what the scriptures says, “Let Us Make Man in the Image of God”. This the most powerful thing in the entire universe.
What is it?
The Free Will of Man
It is the most powerful thing in our universe because not even Our God can go against the Will of Man. It is in the Free Will that a man is made in the Image of God. God being all powerful is able to what ever He likes, but chooses, uses His Free Will not to do certain things. This ability to decide what to do and what not to do produces a freedom of existence that is uncommon in any other creatures or beings.
You see the way I look at it is, Our God was so desired to have deep and personal relations with someone like Himself, that man was first thought about. Here was the problem. Man had to be placed in an environment where he needed to make choices not to do certain things while acting to do other things freely that were for the betterment of Mankind. The issue was he was in a perfect world and there were no opportunities to exercise the right not to do certain things because there were no rules about what was right and what was wrong.
Without ‘that’ tree which, was in the midst of the garden, the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” , Man had no way of fulfilling his role of being God-like. Here is the central point of the first chapters of Genesis. Man had to decide to take up the challenge and whereby be disobedient to God, he was told not to eat of “that” tree. Also, he was told that in the day you eat of “that” tree you would certainly die. This was a good reason not to eat of “that” tree.
This is where the ‘serpent’ comes and adds to the knowledge about “that” tree. “That Tree” will make you like God, the serpent said, and you won’t really die. Here the serpent was not being totally honest, but this new information creates a discussion. Being able to make decisions between right and wrong would give them the ability to act like God in the fallen world that they would enter. Refusing to eat would prevent them from having any influence in that fallen world they had come down to help.
It is interesting that it is the woman with the greater level of intuition takes up the discussion with the serpent and presents to the man that this is the way to act to fulfil their ‘Task’. Also, it has to be noted that the Man takes ownership of the decision because when God comes looking for them in the Garden later God addresses Man first about the decision they have made.
Now I need to go back to a thought above. With no Law, Command, there can be no chance to break that Law, Command, and thereby Sin. But that also means there is no way for Free Will to operate. Without the "Knowledge of Good and Evil", eating from that forbidden tree, he can't act "like" God. So here is the delema. God in His Righteousness can not tell The Man to eat of "that tree", but not eating stops him from being in a position acting"like" God. The act of eating now places him where he is able to decide not to do certain things and do anything else, act "like" God. So Man starts out living his life kowing there are certain things He is "not to do" and what he is able to do, that is being obedient to God's Word. Here Sin can now be judged "Sin", because there is a Law that defines Sin. Not being Obedient to God's Word.
I can possibly hear your heads whirring around with lots of thoughts at this point but please hold all this lightly and allow time to bring more clarity. Further to this discussion I will expand on these points later which, I hope will bring more understanding. At that point I will discuss why Jesus was described as The Last Adam and not the Second Adam or why this terminology is used at all. Suffice to say that Jesus had to take on the horror and dread of Man’s sin so that sin could be completely done away with, at least as far as the “Christian” is concerned. I will suggest that the First Adam chose much the same thing to begin the process.
There is a secondary aspect, but just as important, that Man is “Made in the Image of God” which I will expound next. Follow the link to the next section.
PaulT.