The Message of the Cross (5) God Creates Man
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December 22, 2019 |
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 “Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).
The first chapter of Genesis describes the process of God creating the heavens, the earth, and all things in them, and mankind. The second chapter tells us that God made the Garden of Eden and led the first man there. Now let’s look into the reason why God created man.
1. Man Created in the Image of God
Genesis 2:7 reads, “Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” While God created everything else in the universe by His Word, He personally formed and created man with dust from the ground. God flawlessly created man, and then the man became a living being after God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
Some people might say with doubt, “How can an image formed from dust of ground move with life?” But think about robots, computers, artificial internal organs, or artificial skin. Men can make such things, and then of course God was capable of creating man. Because a limit was set in their thoughts, they cannot believe the power of God.
After creating Adam and Eve, God the Creator gave them the seed of life so that they were able to give birth to descendants. A man has a sperm and a woman has an egg, and the sperm and the egg contain all their attributes such as appearance, personality, intelligence, habits, etc. So their children resemble them. Then, whom would Adam, the father of mankind, resemble?
As we read in Genesis 1:27, “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them,” Adam was created in the image of God. In addition to the outward appearance, man’s spirit came from God and resembles His spirit. Adam was a living being.
Adam’s spirit, like that of God, was filled only with goodness, light, and the truth. After Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and thus sinned against God, all his descendants became drenched in sin and evil and ended up losing God’s holy image.
2. The Reason Why God Created and Cultivates Mankind
If we are to seek and understand the answer to the question, “Why are we here?” we need to be able to answer the question, “Why has God created us and why and how is He cultivating mankind?” In the Bible are many parables referring to cultivating the land and harvesting crops. In Matthew 13, Jesus likened the heart of man to four different kinds of field. With “a parable of the wheat and the chaff” in Matthew 3 and “a parable of the weeds” in Matthew 13, the Bible tells us of the Judgment to come.
With such parables found in the Bible, God tells us that His providence in creating mankind and governing the world’s history is much the same as cultivating a field and harvesting crops from it. Just as a farmer cultivates his field for the harvest, God is cultivating us today.
God desires to gain true children with whom He can share love. With His wondrous power and as a fearsome judge, God the Creator possesses undisputed authority and strict righteousness on the one hand. On the other hand, He also possesses human attributes that are characterized by love, compassion, mercy, and the like. For God can rejoice, grieve, or lament just like human beings, instead of being alone He wanted those with whom He could share love.
He already had countless heavenly hosts and angels by His side. However, God wanted true children who would obey Him from their heartfelt love of Him and in their free will.
Suppose at home you have a robot that will do everything you tell it to do and you have your child who may at times cause trouble but, as he grows up he will eventually be grateful for his parents’ grace and love and share love with you. Between the two, which would you deem more precious? No matter how obedient the robot may be, it could not be compared to your child with whom you can share your heart. Likewise, God created mankind because He wanted to have children who would obey Him and share their hearts with Him in their free will.
3. The Wheat and the Chaff
No matter how diligently a farmer may have worked, at the time of harvest he will reap the chaff as well as the wheat. However, because the chaff is inedible and will harm the wheat when stored together in the same barn, it can only be used as compost or burned.
By the same token, when human cultivation is over, God will set the wheat apart from the chaff. Matthew 3:12 reads, “And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Here, “unquenchable fire” stands for the fires of Hell.
At the time of God’s choosing, in the last days of the age He will bring human cultivation to a close and judge every individual who has ever lived in this world. At the Judgment, those who are like the chaff will fall into the flames of Hell.
“The wheat” here refers to people who have accepted Jesus Christ and lived by the Word in their love for God. They have diligently cast off sin and evil and recovered His image. On the contrary, “the chaff” refers to all those who did not believe in God and did not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.
One thing you have to keep in mind here is that not everyone who attends church is “wheat.” If they forsake God’s Word and instead live in accordance with their worldly desires, in God’s eyes they are “chaff.” This is why Jesus told us in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”
God desires all men to know His heart, become “wheat”, and receive salvation (1 Timothy 2:4). For this reason He has given us His only begotten Son to die on the cross on our behalf.
Despite all this, those who continue to live in sin without accepting Jesus as their Savior will be unable to recover their true worth as people who have been created in God’s image. They are merely like the chaff. The chaff cannot be gathered into Heaven. If people filled with hatred, jealousy, greed, quarreling, and other forms of evil were allowed to enter Heaven, it would be corrupted.
What would happen to people barred from entering Heaven? Since the spirit in each person is immortal, it cannot become extinct. They will be gathered together, confined in Hell forever, and according to the wages of their sins, each of them will receive everlasting punishments in the unquenchable fire of Hell (Refer to Hell authored by Dr. Jaerock Lee for more information).
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will come forth as wheat-like believers, that is, God’s true children, taking after God and coming to possess a sanctified heart and share love with Him and live forever more in Heaven.
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