As God has created us, we might ask and answer this question at this point - Are we holy, since God made us in His image? When God originally created man and woman, they were holy - that is they were altogether different than anything else that God had made - set apart to God, morally pure, and righteous (without sin). We did not come out of some evolutionary process. We are not animals, but are God’s pinnacle of creation - made in His image.
To be made in God’s image does not mean that we have every single attribute of God, so therefore we are ‘gods’ or can become a god. Remember that God said - ‘And who is like Me?’ (Isaiah 44:7). Instead this does mean that God created us to have His communicable attributes - thus we for example we are persons who possess a will, are moral, rational, and relational beings. Because people are made in God’s image we also have a spirit or soul which is created eternal. This means that though we die physically, our soul will never die.
When the first people were created - Adam and Eve - they were perfect and were created to live eternally in a glorious and perfect union with God, one another, and all that was created. Adam and Eve were given immense freedom and one command that they needed to obey. Genesis 2:16 tells us - And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die. " Because God created man with the ability to choose, this was a test for them to see whether they would obey or disobey God’s clear command. Satan appearing in the form of a serpent went to Eve and tempted her to disbelieve and disobey God’s Word.
We pick up in Genesis 3:6 - When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. But then something went wrong. It was through this single act of disobedience that - through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men (Romans 5:12). Man’s perfect relationship with God was now broken. The destructive consequence of disobedience became a reality, and man died spiritually. Instead of perfect fellowship and love for God, their sin brought about shame, guilt, fear, separation from God, and physical death. And so death spread to all men.
How does God view man now? What does God think of you? In order to answer this question we must look to God’s Word to understand our own nature. The Bible says ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23). It also says, ‘There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one’ (Romans 3:10-12). This describes us and how we appear before God. What keeps you from Him is sin, therefore you do not do what God desires.
In fact you could not do what God wants because of your sin - you are spiritually dead - ‘The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God’ (Rom. 8:6-8 NIV). You are invited to continue reading in Post 3.
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