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
If we are to know how man is to live, we must know something about the God who created him. What is God’s image? What does it mean to have the likeness of God? The more we understand God, the more we understand man.
No one knows what God looks like! God demands that we make no images of what we think God looks like, so how do we understand His image? God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. I will give a simple attempt to understanding God’s image. It has helped me through the years and maybe it will help you.
We will let these three lines represent the godhead. These lines do not tells us what they look like, and that is good, because looks have nothing to do with who God is, and may I say it has nothing to do with who we are. We all represent God, yet we all look different. Our God is a trinity, which means three persons in one. This is difficult for many people to understand, especially the Jewish people. The Bible clearly tells us that there is ONE GOD and we are created in His image, yet there were three. Just as God is ONE, He created ONE man! He didn’t create men! God created ONE man and that man was a male and a female.
God created Adam and Eve in marriage. God said it wasn’t good for man to be alone. That was the first time God said that something was not good! Until then, God’s comments were, “And it was good.” After He created woman He said, “And it was VERY good”. I don’t know if that comment was because He was finished creating or because the addition of the woman brought beauty and made it very good. Anyway, God was very pleased with His creation. Notice, God did not create Eve to be Adam’s buddy or his friend. God brought Eve to Adam as a wife, and they were one. As friends they would not have been able to fulfill God’s command, which was to multiply. The marriage, or the family, is the image of the godhead. While there is no sex in the godhead, the godhead works through the same image that marriage is designed to work through. Do you understand why Satan hates the family now? A family, a husband and a wife, who work together in obedience to God’s created design, shows God’s image and His likeness to mankind. The greatest testimony to the person of God is shown in a godly marriage. No wonder this world does not seem to understand who God is. Look at our broken and wounded homes today.
Before we go any further, we must mention that we do not have to be married to be complete as a person. The Heavenly Father is GOD! The Word is GOD! The Holy Spirit is GOD! Together they make up the godhead and they are all ONE, yet as individuals they are still God. Many single men and women have done great works for God and have chosen to remain single in order to do that work. God uses lives in and outside of marriage to accomplish His works, but He designed marriage to show His image and His likeness in a complete way. If you are a male and single, you carry your father’s name and do the work of a son (blessing or cursing your father’s name). If you are a woman and single, you carry your father’s name and do the work of a daughter (blessing or cursing your father’s name). But if you are a married male, your life reflects upon your father, but the rewards of your works go to the building of your family. If you are a married woman, you cease to carry your father’s name and the rewards of your works go to your husbands name. Whether single or married, you are living under someone’s name. What we do does affects others!
When we became born again believers, we were given God’s name. We are sons of God! Everything we do is to be done in the “name” of Christ. Our work receives its authority and power by the name we use to do the work. Names represent honor or shame. That is why, in times past, a man’s name was his collateral. To give your name was to give your word. Everyone who has been born is of the seed of Adam. In the spirit, we who have believed can claim Christ as our seed and have right to His name.
God is a trinity that works in unity! Satan works alone. Satan has no structure through which to work. When Satan fell, he rebelled against the system. He was going to be god! He was going to do it his way. Satan uses other fallen angels, but he has nothing to offer them, since he is going to be defeated and his head is going to be crushed in the end! He does have an instrument that he uses to defeat and kill man. That instrument is the great whore, Mystery Bayblon. When he is finished with her, he will watch, as she is destroyed by his cohorts. God loves woman and created her to be a help-meet to man, while Satan deceives woman and uses her to help destroy man!
How can we work and show the likeness of God? The godhead works “within” one another, which makes them ONE. The triangle is the best example of how the godhead and marriage operates.
Next month we will look at how the godhead unites as ONE.