Fri, 5 January, 2007: Today’s Bible readings.
1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.
God has created everything, and as we saw in Genesis chapter 1, all that He created was declared to be good. But we also saw in chapter 1, and it is reiterated in today’s passage, that God created man in His own image.
What do we learn from this?
We is some way bear the likeness and image of God. That image has been badly marred because of Adam’s fall in chapter 3. We’ve seen the depths of this fall in the last chapter where Cain murders Abel. But still there is some way that we bear God’s image.
God has made us to know Him. He has made us to desire Him. We have a deep spiritual desire for God that can only be satisfied by Him, for we are like Him in a fundamental way. We are created in His image.
Where is Christ in this passage?
Our desire for God can only be satisfied by God. But we can’t come into God’s presence due to our sin. We must deal with the guilt of our sin before we can come to God to be satisfied by Him. We must have the works of righteousness that He requires.
None of us, in and of ourselves, have that righteousness. We all stand guilty before Him, based upon our own deeds. In our own fallen nature, we can never come to God seeking His satisfaction, and find it in Him. All we will find is wrath and righteous judgment.
But, Jesus Christ has borne the guilt of the sins of all who come to Him in faith. He grants His perfect righteousness to all who repent of their sins and trust in Him for salvation. So, all who are in Jesus Christ are accepted by God. They can come to Him seeking the satisfaction they can only find in God because of the work of Jesus Christ on their behalf.
