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In His Image
Part 1 of 8 Articles
From the Writings of Marvin J. Rosenthal
Published in Zion's Fire Magazine in March/April, 1995
“And God
said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over
the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image
of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:26-27).
The climactic,
crowning act of God in creation was the creation of man. Created last
in time, he was first in importance. To man was given the divine right
to be king of the earth. He was to have dominion – to give names to the
animal creation – to rule and reign.
From among
all of creation, only Adam and Eve were fashioned in the image and likeness
of God. That is, they possessed mind, heart, and will – intellectual capability,
emotional capability, and volitional capability. Adam and Eve could think
God’s thoughts after Him, respond to God’s love, and do God’s bidding.
The potential for an intimate, satisfying, eternal relationship with God,
the Potter, was fashioned into the bosom of man, the clay. He was created
to proclaim with his mouth and demonstrate with his life the intrinsic,
eternal perfections of God and to enjoy Him forever.
It is in
that solitary fact that man is set apart from and infinitely higher than
the animal creation. It is that same fact which gives to mankind its dignity,
nobility, and worth. Animals can think, feel, and do. Like man, they possess
intellectual, emotional, and volitional capability, but that capability
can only be exercised with great limitation horizontally toward the finite
world. It cannot be exercised vertically toward the infinite God.
Since mankind
was created with the potential for a perfect and eternal relationship
with God, the worth and dignity of man can only be understood to the degree
that the greatness of God is comprehended. The psalmist said: “By the
word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the
breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an
heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the
LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he
spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.“ (Psalm 33:6-9).
Put negatively,
if God is relegated to the position of being an opiate for the masses,
if belief in a Creator is scoffed at as being the result of blind, unreasonable,
and unreasoning faith, if man is simply the product of billions of years
of evolution beginning with some unknown gases or primeval slime and mud,
then man is not to be significantly distinguished from the animal world
from which he supposedly sprang, and life loses purpose and worth.
So why not
war? What’s a few hundred million lives, more or less, in this overpopulated
world of more than five billion? Let the bombs fall! And why not drugs?
How important is it that a mind is blown and a body ruined? And why not
a physical crime? What’s the big deal if a man is killed or a woman violated?
And why not a permissive society? After all, if there is no eternal God,
surely there are no eternal principles of morality. And why not corrupt
government and self-seeking politicians, many of whose primary concern
is to perpetuate their power and longevity? Never mind that millions of
people are “ripped off.“ And why not a terminated pregnancy? Who’s really
hurt if an unwanted child is never born? If man is not to be distinguished
from animal, why not live like the animal?
And that’s
right where twentieth-century man is. He’s lost his way, and life is dirt
cheap. He’s like a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that
isn’t there, and unless man realizes that he was created in the image
of God, that he is an everlasting being, that he is accountable to his
Creator, he will continue to sail his broken craft on a sea of despair
and hopelessness, often unwilling to admit that he has no map or compass
for the journey. His heart will continue to itch, but he won’t know how
to scratch it.
And the enormity
of man’s need is only heightened by the reality that a sure remedy is
available – available to all – free of charge, his for the reaching out
and taking. But, with limited exceptions, most people refuse to break
the chains of pride that bind them and acknowledge accountability to a
higher Being. In the words of a popular song, they go through life singing
“I did it, my way!“ without giving thought to the fact that if God should
withhold the ability to breathe for a few minutes, they would fall flat
on their faces – dead!
But,
make no mistake about it, humanity’s dilemma is of its own making. Mankind
is not a super-sophisticated computer that can only print out what was
programmed in. Having created man in His own image with the ability to
choose, God gave man a choice. Fruit from the one tree in the midst of
the garden – the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil – was not to be
eaten. Disobedience would bring death. To the first man and woman God
said:
Do you
understand with your mind? – Don’t eat.
Can you
feel with your heart? – Don’t eat.
Will you
obey with your will? – Don’t eat.
Adam and
Eve chose to eat, and as the federal head and therefore official representative
of humanity, they brought sin into the world. And, with sin came its inseparable
companions of decay, weeds, pollution, disease, corruption, and death.
Every crushed
heart, every broken body, every disturbed mind – the collective tears
of the human race – can trace their roots back to the sin of Adam and
Eve in the Garden of Eden. And, with that sin, a chasm separated a God
whose holiness is as a consuming fire and a people who, born with a sinful
nature, commit sinful acts. If left to his just desserts, the epitaph
over mankind could be written in a few words:
World,
here lies the man
Created
to reign.
He disobeyed
God,
Life was
all in vain.
But, God
did not leave man to his just desserts. Instead, the all-powerful Creator
revealed His eternal plan of redemption, a plan so simple that the most
unlearned can comprehend it – so profound that the most educated cannot
exhaust it – so loving that eternity itself will not be sufficient to
proclaim it – so powerful that no force in heaven or earth can withstand
it – and so mysterious that it would take a Lamb that will one day roar
like a Lion to unfold it. Man’s extremity became God’s opportunity.
The next article (2 of 8) is entitled “A Word of Hope.”
In His Image
From the Writings of Marvin J. Rosenthal
Published in Zion's Fire Magazine in March/April, 1995
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