Here
is why I believe that I was once a design in the mind of God my Designer. In
the first chapter of the Bible, we read these words: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after
our likeness.’”[1] This shows us a picture of God planning something he was going to
do. This is the draft-room of heaven, if you will, where God designed his final
and greatest act of creation.
On
one side, this tells me significant things about my Designer. God is the one
speaking. He is talking to someone else, including this other in his plans by
saying “us” and “our”. The context tells us, “So
God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male
and female he created them.”[2] From this we see that only God did the work of
creation, and this work of creation was only in one image, the “image of God”. The conclusion may be
strange, but it is not difficult to make: God is speaking of himself in the
plural.
It takes the rest of Scripture to bring this out fully, but
this description of creation in Genesis 1 is saying the same thing as the
description of creation in John 1. There we read: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was in the beginning with
God. All things were made
through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”[3]
Genesis 1 tells us that God is “us”, meaning plural in some way. Together, this “us” of God designed and created man
(more on that later). John 1 tells us that the Word, clearly referring to Jesus
Christ the Son of God, was there “in the
beginning”. He was with God, present when God spoke to someone and said
they would create man in their shared image and likeness. And, Jesus was God,
fitting the revelation that God could speak to someone else who was also God,
who shared an image, and together they could create man.
Now, on the other side of this is the description of what
God was planning to do, the design of what he was about to create. He said, “Let us make man,” which brings me into
the picture. I am a member of “man”. The context shows that, “male and female he created them”,
meaning that “man” includes both the
male and female sides of our design. If you are reading this, you are a member
of “man”.
Which brings us to the specific description of our design: “our image… our likeness.” God
and the Word, God the Father and God the Son, designed man after their own
image. Their image is the design for my existence.
Without getting bogged down in the details of how much or
little we are like God, we need to stand in awe of this, that, after God had
filled the sky with birds, the seas with fish, and the land with animals, when
God wanted to make his final creature, he looked at himself and saw the design
he wanted to use. This last creature, the one named “Man”, would be in their image, and their likeness.
While I see full well the corruption of mankind all around
me, and I know my own sinfulness, and weakness, and brokenness, and failure
with greater intensity than I ever would have chosen, I still see magnificence
in man that points back to the design that is found in our Designer. When I
consider the highest operations of our bodies, the most intricate capabilities
of our minds, the deepest longings of our souls, the broadest range of expressions
for our emotions, I see that, even in such a broken mess as we find so many
lives today, there is still this evidence that the design we started with had
to be absolutely amazing.
And, that it is. For the design of man is God looking at
God, choosing their shared image, and setting out to do what they wanted to do.
Because they designed man to be like them, they made man to be like them.
Because sin corrupted the image of God in man, The Word came in the image of
man to restore us to the image of God. Because they chose themselves as our
design, there is coming a day when we shall see Jesus, and be just like we were
designed to be.[4]
It all begins with design. I am a Designee of the greatest
Designer, using the greatest design possible, the image and likeness of the
Designer themselves. I will stop using words to express such worship as our
Designer deserves, and let the wonder of beloved children carry on in its own
delightful way.
From my heart,
Monte
© 2014 Monte Vigh ~
Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise
noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible,
English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway
Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)
No comments:
Post a Comment